ATTENDING AN AUCTION

By Staff
Published on September 1, 1996

Summertime not only brings us show season, but auction season as
well. This article will explain terms and how consignment sales
work.

First, the bidding process. First step, listen to the
auctioneer. If you go to enough auctions, you’ll see all the
auctioneers in your area and know their lingo. In general, listen
for a few minutes and concentrate. It’s not a foreign
language.

Next are the terms. Let’s use a box of drip oilers as an
example.

‘ALL ONE MONEY.’ You are bidding on the box. One price,
high bidder takes all.

‘CHOICE.’ You are bidding on one oiler. High bidder can
take one or the whole box. If the high bidder doesn’t take all,
the auctioneer will put the remainder back into the ring. This
leads to our next term.

‘SAME WAY.’ The oilers are still buyer’s choice.

‘TIMES THE MONEY.’ You are bidding on one oiler. High
bidder must take all, highest bid times the number of oilers.

Now, let’s consider the price of oilers new. Bid carefully.
If there are 10 oilers in the box and you paid $100 ALL ONE MONEY,
you made a good purchase.

Keep track of what you buy. There are lines on the back of your
buyer’s card. Write down your purchases. This will help you
remember what all you bought and keep track of your budget.
Remember to destroy all records before you get home. This will
avoid that conversation that starts with, ‘and how much did you
pay! ?…’

Also, be prepared to haul your purchases. Many a time I’ve
seen fellow hobbyists pass up things because they left their
trailer at home. Remember to pack chains, binders, and ropes.

Let’s say you decide to sell something through consignment.
In general, the following is a basic idea of how consigning works.
As an example we’ll use a tractor valued at $1,200. $1,200 is
your reserve. No one can buy it for less than this. You turn the
tractor over to the auctioneer and you’ll be issued a
receipt.

You will probably pay a buy back fee up front. Buy backs are a
percentage based on sale price. Example 10%.

Commissions are based on sale price, also example 20%.

Now, let’s look at a sale and a no sale.

Highest bid $2,800.

Reserve $1,200.

This tractor sold. Commission of $560 is deducted from the sale
price. You will receive a check from the auctioneer for the
remainder, $2,240.

No sale highest bid $950, reserve $1,200. You forfeit your buy
back fee ($120), and keep your tractor. Check your commission rates
and keep that in mind.

Well, that’s it. Hopefully, this will clear up any auction
questions you may have. My disclaimer: Check with auctioneers
before selling. Individual rates may differ. This is a basic
explanation based on what I’ve seen.

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