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What Is An Auction?
An auction is a sale of personal or real property conducted
by a sales and marketing professional called an auctioneer.
Auctions are usually open to the general public and are
generally characterized by the auctioneer asking for bids
until he obtains an opening price. Once the bottom price has
been established, the auctioneer will keep increasing the
price until a final hammer price is obtained. Auction
prices, due to the competitive bidding by potential buyers,
are considered by many authorities to be the true measure of
fair market value.
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What
Happens At An Auction?
Most auctions throughout the country contain the same
general agenda elements. The first and perhaps most
important part of the auction is the preview period. This is
a time period that is set aside for potential bidders to
inspect the items that will be offered for sale. Since most
auctions offer no guarantees or warranties on purchased
items, it is imperative that auction attendees use this time
wisely to determine what items they want to bid on and how
much they are willing to spend.
The next major event of the auction sale is the actual start
of the auction. At this time the auctioneer will introduce
himself and his staff and provide several important
announcements governing the sale process. The opening
statements will most likely reiterate the fact that no items
offered for sale have warranties or any guarantees. Other
important statements may include but
is not limited to discussing what forms of payment will be
accepted, the order in which the merchandise will be sold,
whether there are any sale day deviations that are in effect
which contradict earlier printed matter, reminders that only
registered bidders can participate in the sale, and sales
taxes are in effect.
At this point the auction is now in full progress! All
attendees will now be focused on the item(s) currently up
for sale. Now the auctioneer will successively ask for bids
until he obtains an opening price. Once the bottom price has
been established, the auctioneer will keep increasing the
price until a final hammer price is obtained. At that point
in time, unless there are any reserve bids which
are not met, the item is officially knocked down to the last
bidder. The details of the transaction (bidder, amount,
hammer price) are recorded by the clerk and this entire
process is repeated until all lots in the auction are sold.
When the lots you are interested in are all sold, the
settlement process begins. At this stage all buyers take
their bidder cards to the cashier so that they can be
presented with an itemized bill that records the details of
all of their purchases. Only after a buyer's account has
been paid can he then remove his purchased items from the
sale site. In nearly all cases, unless prior arrangements
have been made, all items must be removed from the premises
within a specified amount of time.
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What
Types Of Items Are Sold At Auction?
This list is virtually endless and includes but is not
limited to the following items: automobiles, fine art and
antiques, residential, commercial, and industrial real
estate, livestock, stocks, bonds, and other financial
instruments, mineral and drilling rights, FCC broadcast
rights, song royalties, trademarks, and copyrights, and much
more. In short, anything that is legal, whether
tangible or intangible, can be successfully sold at auction.
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Why
Attend An Auction?
Auctions are a lot of fun! Only at an auction sales event
can you receive clean and wholesome family entertainment,
such as witnessing the drama of an unfolding bidding war for
a treasured item and acquiring an opportunistic chance to
buy items and services at significant discounts.
Furthermore, the variety of items available for sale are
unequaled by regular retail establishments. You just
never know what interesting, rare, or unusual items will
be sold. So if you are looking for wholesome fun, an
opportunity to save money, or need to locate an unusual
antique to complete the decor of your living room, plan
on attending an auction today.
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How
Much Does It Cost To Attend An Auction?
Auctions do not have admission fees. As such, whenever you
come down with an acute case of auction fever, feel free to attend the closest auction (hopefully it'll be ours) and buy
something! All you need is a valid driver's license to
register at our Auctions.
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Why
Would I Want To Have An Auction?
The reasons why someone would want to sell items at auction
are as numerous and as varied as the circumstances why
people want to buy at auction. Some may wish to employ the
services of a professional auctioneer if there has been a
loss of loved one and an estate to settle. Many others may
do so because desire they desire to close their businesses
and liquidate their holdings, while others call when they
wish to reduce their inventories of items and create more
space for other items. However, in every case of an item
sold at auction, true market value will be obtained, the
item is guaranteed of being sold, and you know exactly when
it will be sold. So before you have a going-out-of-business
sale or a garage/estate tag sale, call a qualified auctioneer ASAP!
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How
Long Will It Take To Schedule An Auction?
The amount of time necessary to adequately prepare for a
professional auction is different for each sale as specific
characteristics may radically differ. For example, a
business liquidation auction will require a state-wide
county by county Uniform Commercial Code search. Likewise,
an auction of real property will require a title search, a
Seller's Disclosure Statement, and most likely an open house
before the sale is conducted. Other variables that may
influence the time needed to prepare for a sale include the
sale location, quantity of items being sold, time needed to
comply with local laws and ordinances, time needed to
document, itemize, clean, transport, and organize items, and
our auction schedule availability. With all that being said,
an auction of respectable size can usually be conducted
within a 30-day time frame or less.
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How
Much Does It Cost To Sell Items At Auction?
There is no quick and easy answer to this question.
Generally speaking, auctioneers are sales and marketing
professionals who are paid a specified commission of the
sale's gross proceeds. In most cases, the cost to the seller
depends on a variety of factors that are unique to every
individual's circumstances. The most pertinent issue that
should be considered is the quantity and expected sales
price of items that are being consigned for a sale. All
things being equal, the sellers should expect to pay higher
commission rates for small quantities of items that bring
relatively low sales prices.
Other factors that can affect and influence the selling
commission rate include whether the sale is on-site or
off-site, the amount of advertising needed to locate any
needed specialized buyers, the number of personnel necessary
to conduct a professional sales event, and the amount of
research necessary to maximize optimum prices.
One thing to keep in mind when trying to determine the best
method for disposing of and liquidating your property is
that auctions in the long run are cheaper. This is due to
the fact that if you conduct a sale yourself or hire a tag
sale company, you will not receive the best prices your
items are capable of bringing, you will have leftover items
that must be dealt with, and your personal time investment
and amount of time the premises will be tied up will be
increased anywhere from 200% - 600%.
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How
Long Will It Take To Receive The Proceeds From My Sale?
After your item has been successfully sold at auction, you
should allow 10 business days to receive payment. In most
cases, your proceeds will be processed and paid earlier.
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Can
you conduct auctions at my location or do I have to bring
the items to the auction facility?
We conduct many
business liquidations and estate sales on
location. To conduct an on-location auction, we
generally need to inspect the auction items to determine if
there is enough to warrant an on-location sale. We also need
to check to see if the site is feasible for a sale in terms
of parking availability, room for display of items,
compliance with city ordinances, and if there is room to
handle the amount of people we expect to attend.
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When
can I bring my auction items and when will they sell?
Items received on an Appointment basis. Please call
719-275-1439 to arrange a time.
Your items will be placed on the next available auction (not
necessarily the next auction, if that auction is already
filled.) If you have a specialty item, such as an antique
piece, coins, firearms, etc., we might suggest to you that
you place them on one of our special auctions that we try
to schedule each month.
Entire Estates can be sold at once for Estate Settlement
purposes.
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What
about "AS IS, WHERE IS" and the "all sales final" stuff?
This means selling the property without warranties as to the
condition and/or the fitness of the property for a
particular use. Buyers are solely responsible for examining
and judging the property for their own protection. Otherwise
known as "As Is, Where Is" .
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Why
do you sell things "as is" anyway?
Because, we don't own the goods we sell. They are consigned
by companies or individuals or from Estates. We can't afford
to provide warranties for the small commission we charge our
clients. We do try to call whatever problem there may be
with an item, if we know ourselves.
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If
I buy something, can I return it ... ?
No. You buy it, it's yours. The auction company freely
discusses any known problems about an item, before it is
sold.
If you feel terribly mistreated, talk to us. We
want your continued business and will try to treat you
fairly.
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What
happens if I bid, and don't pay for my purchases?
There will be legal action. Buying at auction is a
contractual obligation, and you should be aware of the terms
and conditions before you buy.
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Who
sets the prices at the sale?
You do. The auctioneer may start with an asking price, but
ultimately its the bidders that determines the price.
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More
Questions?
Of course, these aren't all of the Q&As. If you have a
specific question that needs an answer that we haven't given
here, please feel free to
e-mail us with your question.
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