How to find a great auction!

Hi,

my name is Walt. I'm an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the states of MA, VT & NH. I own Quick Auciton Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions. The types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I've run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions. For more info on my company and our upcoming auctions please visit my site at quickauctionservice.com or feel free to email me at quickauctionservice@charter.net if you have any questions. You can also find me on ebay as auctionwally.

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for this page is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience. Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in your visit to this page. If your an auction pro, please email me with your tips or stories! I am always looking to for fresh input. Please note that I may reprint what you send.

There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on ebay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality. Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little luck and some perseverance any of goals can be met.

Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar? You bet! Many times I've seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction for a good profit, although be advised, this should be done AFTER the auction is over in order not to interrupt the auctioneer.

There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fundraising auctions and many more.

Since the auction world encompasses a huge variety of subjects, I will target a certain flavor of the auction business each time I revisit this site.

So let's start with: Article #1 Tips on How to Find a Good Auction.

There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some ways to find the REALLY GOOD AUCTIONS.

1. Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. ie: If your looking for a good antique auction to start attending, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right?! But here is what to listen for,... listen to what the dealer DOESN"T say. The more a dealer speaks poorly or negatively about an auction he or she attends, the more likely they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?

2. Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy are indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, ( a set price on an item). And usually a very enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.

3. What to find out before you go: If there is a phone # in the ad, find out the terms. Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that EVERYONE who purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions in our days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable.

4. A good auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and attend! Never attend an auction if you can't make the inspection, never, unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell "as is". They simply don't have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.

5. A good auction will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.

6. When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. Ask them where there are other auctions in the area that they attend.

7. When you do find a good auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales you help increase the bottom line of that business helping to ensure that they'll stay in business. It's tough for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, and keep you coming back, but more on that in my next article.