Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, 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.

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article 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 this article to help you with your auciton adventures.

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 perseverance all these things are possible.

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 fund raising auctions and many more.

Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.

There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.

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 attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?

Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an 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.

Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? 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 makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.

A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not 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.

Good auctions 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.

When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.

When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult 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, to keep you coming back.

Home based businesses are probably the most popular new business venture of this century.According to Forbes Magazine 79 millions American are going to start their own business in the next 3 to 5 years and a very large percentage of them will be venturing into an home based internet business. On the other hand it also says that 97% of them will fail within the same period, this means that only 3% will succeed. Stats also shows that more than 90% of entrepreneurs operating an home based business spends most of the income produced by the business running the businessWhy are those stats so depressing yet people still can’t wait to start a new home based business?First people are dazzled by the ads and the possibility of making thousands of dollars. The classifieds ads in every new paper are full of ads showing how people are making fortunes running those businesses… the internet classifieds are also plastered with them.The ads makes it sound so easy to start a business and to produce income beyond anyone’s dream.
Unfortunately many of these are totally miss-leading and thousands of people are suckered in by them.
The fact of the matter is these statements are partially true, however they leave the most important fact out which is the person who did the fantastic income did it only once and it took him several years of trying different things.There is a very successful top earner who did a million dollar in one day; he himself will tell you it was purely by chance he has never been able to duplicate that performance; he had a unique product, at the right time, on the right web site and he had been at network marketing for years trying to make money.Secondly the other fact which the ads doesn’t tell you is: the total income was generated from an MLM platform (multi level marketing) that took years to build and he had thousands of people in his down line, One top earner actually used his down line he had built over the years with another company and introduce them to a new product and turn his contacts into thousands of sales overnight.As you can see most of the statements the ads are making partially true but cannot be replicate by someone like you or me starting out.We all know what MLM now stands for: make little money; unless you have a huge down line of followers you will not make big bucks.Traditionally MLM businesses do not pay large commission in dollar value, the ads may claim paying 50, 60 or up to 70% commission but 70% of $5.00 represents $3.50 you need to make a lot of sale to make $1,000 per hour. This percentages is often a combination of all the commission that can be collected from the different levels
Let look at it in dollars and cents if you had to pay to advertise your web site and the sale came from someone who click on it, chances are that ad probably cost you more then the $3.50 you made on the sale.For comparison purposes a banner ad use to cost $0.25 to $0.75 per CPM years ago now if you can find some around $2.50 to $3.00 per CPM your lucky and chances are the site doesn’t get much traffic. On a site with lot of traffic it an banner ad will cost you $10.00 to $15.00 per CPM so if you only get one sale per CPM that sale is costing you $10.00 to $15.00 and you only pocket $3.50. Not to long ago you could buy and ad word for a few pennies now you are looking at a few dollars for the same word, internet advertising is no longer a cheap media.When you are looking at an online business common sense has to prevail. It is costly to do business on the internet so don’t get excited with high percentages of commission look at the product, the possible demand for that product and the dollar value of commission, do quick calculation of how may sales you will need per day to make what the ad says.But you will argue there are all kind of free advertising available… yes that is true but there are also thousands of individual like yourself who is doing the same thing… you have heard the saying “best things in life are free” which is true but on the other hand there is a saying that says ” you pay for what you get” unfortunately free things are not worth much.If you are going to venture in an home based business stay away from an MLM business that claims you will be making thousands of dollars in a short period of time because the only people that do make money with these marketing strategies are the owner of the company not you the entrepreneur.
Make sure you follow the 7 steps in choosing a home based business. If you do not know check my blog postingsFinally learn how to successfully operate an online marketing business before you sign up, if you do not know where to get training I can help you with that.Pierre

Auctions are those events where properties or goods are sold to the highest bidder. Auctions are mostly public events, where bidders make a series of bids and purchase a particular item for a high price. During auctions, bidders decide the price of an item rather than the seller. It depends on bidders to decide the amount they would want to pay for a specific item. During an auction, a bid is a proof of a legal binding. Bidders agree to pay the amount that they have bid. In a high profile auction, bidders may have to pay a deposit in escrow accounts or give a proof that they can pay for those items.

Types of Auctions:

Different types of auctions take place around the world. Below mentioned are some types of auctions:

1. English auction:
This is a basic type of auction. In this type, people can see the item and then start bidding. Bidders slowly raise the value of their bid until everyone gives up. The highest bidder is the winner. An auctioneer manages an auction, keeps records of the on going bid and decides the winner. Sometimes, the seller will quote a minimum amount for an item to the auctioneer, below which the auctioneer cannot sell that item.

2. Dutch auction:
In this type, the auctioneer sets a particular price and then gradually lowers the price. People in public will start bidding and later decide which prices are suitable for the item. A seller may use this type of auction to sell large quantities of same products to the public. For instance, a seller may want to sell a large amount of hay and will thus, decide to sell this hay to people for the same amount, once a reasonable price is decided.

3. Silent auction:
In this type, the bidders in public will present their bids in a sealed format. These sealed bids open at the same time and bidder with the highest bid wins. There could be a modification in this type of auction. The bidders are allotted a specific period to bid. They can roam in a room displaying the items, and write their bids on an associated sheet of paper. The bidders are allowed to see bids of other bidders and can choose a higher price for an item. At the end of the allotted time, bidder with the highest bid is the winner.

Examples of Auctions:

Auctions can be of two types either public or private. Sellers may trade any kind of items in both types of auctions. Some areas where auctions take place are:

1. Antique auction: An antique auction consists of a trade opportunity as well as provides entertainment.

2. Collectable auction: In a collectable auction, the seller may put up collectables like coins, vintage cars, luxury, stamps, real estate, and luxury for sale.

3. Wine auction: In wine auction, bidders can bid for rare wine, which may not be available in retail wine shops.

4. Horse auction: Bidders can bid for young horses of the best breed.

5. Livestock auction: In livestock auction, bidders can buy pigs, sheep, cattle, and other livestock.

The other examples of auctions may not be public. These auctions are for bidders from corporate levels. Some examples of private auctions are:

1. Timber auction
2. Spectrum auction
3. Electricity auction
4. Debit auction
5. Environmental auction
6. Auto auction
7. Electronic market auction
8. Sales of business auction

Bidders in an auction need to examine the items displayed and decide an appropriate price for an item. Thus, auctions help buyers in getting the best deals and in gaining better profits for sellers.