News & Views

Is your auctioneer providing an experience?

17 January 2019

If one group of people have difficulty with change — it’s auctioneers; and if there’s one group of people who have changed — it’s also auctioneers.

The biggest changes? Probably live auctions to online auctions, and maybe more importantly the changing customer/client desires and demands. In that regard, I found interesting a quote from Disney’s current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer:

Auctioneer says this guy is a deadbeat?

15 January 2019

Auctioneers, auction associations and others regularily share information on so-called “deadbeat” bidders — bidders that don’t pay, write bad checks, give false information, etc.

For the most part, this is really good information in that other auctioneers can take note, and take precautions to avoid the same these people/problems. We were recently asked, “Is there any concern posting such information?”

Auctioneers and the standard of care

14 January 2019

Sellers routinely hire auctioneers and in doing so — generally — hire one they feel can adequately handle the subject property’s sale in order to maximize net proceeds in the shortest amount of time.

Today, we explore what standard of care any auctioneer has regardless of how they hold themselves out to the public. We answer a question we received in court the other day asking, “Is there a minimum standard?”

Are auctioneers the next travel agents?

11 January 2019

Kenny Lindsay has been trying to tell us but I’m not sure everyone is listening — or maybe not understanding? Our question today is, “Are auctioneers the next travel agents?”

In case our question seems confusing — when was the last time you used a travel agent to book a flight, hotel or rental car? For most, it’s been a while. We could have as well asked about blacksmiths, telephone answering services, video stores, cab drivers … maybe even some fast food cashiers?

Why are we looking for “tie bids?”

9 January 2019

A tie? The three horses above finishing in a dead heat. Two teams with the identical score at the end of regulation. Politicians with the same number of votes after all are counted. Is this ever the desired result? What’s the theme here?

Are auctioneers “hired guns?”

27 December 2018

Auctioneers work as auctioneers for their own auctions, and often hire other auctioneers (commonly referred to as “contract auctioneers”) to assist them. Similarly, an auction barn, facility or the like may secure consignments, and need to hire one or more auctioneers.

We wrote about traits to look for when hiring a contract auctioneer here:https://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/the-9-important-traits-of-a-contract-bid-caller/

Online auctions and shipping times

24 December 2018

Consumers these days value two things when shopping online — free (or low cost) shipping and quick (or reasonable) shipping. If you’re an auctioneer who is selling anything online these are important considerations.

Given this premise, we discuss here what are reasonable shipping times for auctioneers. In this regard, we reference this the 30-Day Rule which states:

"If you don’t make a statement regarding shipping time, you must ship within 30 days–thus, the 30-Day Rule. The 30-day window begins when the business receives a completed order and payment.