1. Use a product measuring stick.Is this product/service something I would consider using/owning? This is very important because if you do not stand behind your product, you will not be comfortable in sharing your business with others.Is the product a good value? It is easy to keep a customer with a quality products; however, if you have an overpriced or substandard product you will be constantly trying to develop new customers.Will I be required to “stock” product? Some companies require a minimum amount of product you must keep on-hand for your customers and/or require an “auto-ship”. An auto-ship is where the company will send you a certain level of stock monthly regardless of your sales. Both ways usually end up with the rep having unused product sitting around their home.Does the product limit your customer base? If your product is geared to a specific gender, race or age group you will be eliminating a certain group from your list of potential customers. For example, if your product targets only women you will not be able to market your product to 50% of the people you know; thus, limiting your income.2. Evaluate the company.What is the company’s Better Business Bureau rating? This can be checked at the Better Business Bureau’s website. The company should be listed and graded. Anything less than a “B” letter grade should be highly scrutinized.Can you easily find out the leadership of the company? If a company is hiding the leadership, question why they are not forthcoming with this information. A legitimate company will acknowledge who is making the decisions.Does the company make a contribution to the community? Integrity of a company can be determined by how it helps the community- locally, nationally and globally.Are there geographic territories? If so, be careful. You may have friends and family you are unable to approach because that “area” belongs to someone else.3. InvestmentWhat is the investment cost? Normally, there is a fee to become a representative of a home-based business. Insure the fee is small. Do not be pressured into paying a large amount, this is usually a tacit used by “pyramid” schemes. These type of companies are illegal and the recruiter gets paid by recruiting other people, not by selling product/services.Does the company have it’s policies in writing? Be sure you know exactly what you are getting into. Legitimate companies will be more than willing to put the offer in writing.Do you have to pay for a website, samples or catalogs to start showing your company to customers? If the answer is yes, this should be considered part of your start up investment.4. Compensation PlanHow will I earn money? The comp plan should be explained to your satisfaction. If the plan is sketchy usually the business is also.Does it seem to good to be true? If the answer is yes, it usually is. The plan should be structured and offer good income possibilities. All legitimate companies will offer you an income disclosure statement to insure you are well informed. A home-based business is like a gym membership, it is an opportunity and will take some work on your part.5. Training, Tools and SupportDoes the company offer any type of training? In order to be successful in your home-based business, you will need to have training available to you. A company should offer a variety of training such as one-one/classroom, written, audio, video, websites, webinars and telephone calls. Some business ship you a box and very little instruction on how to develop you business. Basically, call you friends and beg.This type of company is not committed to your success.What type of tools are available to you? Tools should be in place for you to easily implement into your lifestyle.Can you call any person for help? Some companies require you to go through a chain of command in order for you to get answers. If the person above you does not know the answer to your question you will have to wait until they contact the person above them. When someone does know the answer to the question, you will have to wait until the answer is filtered down to you. A great company will allow you to call other members, leaders and the home office.6. BenefitsDoes company offer health insurance? One of the ties binding people to their jobs is health insurance. Some great home-based business are offering healthcare. The healthcare plan should be comparable in price and quality to ones available in the workplace. With this benefit it allows you to have the flexibility to do you home-based business full or part-time.What type of perks can I receive? Just as in the corporate world, some home-based business offer perks. They can range from free education, travel, cars etc.Does the company have bonuses? Just as the word applies bonuses are additional product or income. Usually, you will need to reach certain level. Be sure to check out when bonuses can be available to you. Some companies lure reps in with these bonuses only to find out the bonus are virtually unobtainable.After countless hours of research, education and evaluating all of different companies, comp plans and benefits, I chose to go with WorldVentures. If you have a genuine interest in improving your financial outlook and quality of life, please feel free to fill out our short form and watch the video HERE. We will be accepting select individuals to join our winning team.
4 Great Benefits That Will Change Your Perception of a Home Based Business
The world is not exactly how you view it – beautiful, easy and simple. More often than not, it’s the total opposite. If you’re experiencing life’s sucker punches and finds it a challenge to make both ends meet through your regular office work, this might be the perfect time to change the path of your career. How are you going to do it? Simple! Consider a home based business. If this sounds new to you, now is the time to test the water, take the plunge, and discover the many benefits of working from home:You own everything – your time included!This is one of the greatest things of working from home as your time becomes flexible that you need not follow specific standard working hours. Everything depends on your own pace, time and availability. Starting up a home based business can pave the way for you to enjoy your time whilst earning as you need not burn your seat from hours of working. You can always choose to loosen up for a while especially when the need calls for it.You hold the title of being boss – of your own self!Yes, you read it right – your own boss! Gone were the days of always following a cruel superior’s orders, overboard company policies and dealing with other difficult authorities. Now, as you make your own home based business, you likewise freed yourself from the shadows of monster-like people who boss around and give relentless commands. When you work from home, you somehow eliminate if not lessen dealing with this kind of people and be your own boss.You become King or Queen of both worlds – your household and career life!Yet, to an elevated degree! You may be working from home with a home based business with almost all of your time meant for work, but still, you remain to be king or queen of both worlds. Picture this: When you work at an office, you give your household less importance because most of your time is spent at your workplace. Unlike when you work at home full time, you both get to focus on two major things in your life – your household and career.You create better relationship with the family – something money cannot compensate!The biggest problem of busy people is time. They find it difficult to juggle between their professional careers and their family life. Given this, they somehow create barriers in their family relationship. They slowly become paying guests at their own house. The only connection left is the roof above their heads. If you’ve been like this for so many years, now is the time to consider working from home. This provides you better opportunity to mingle and communicate with the family more often.In A NutshellA home based business is indeed worth a try. By all means, you won’t lose anything. Instead, you gained a fallback. If you think that your regular work isn’t doing enough for your finances, trying this new venture will certainly change how you view working from home.
Why Regular Personal Self-Development is Essential to Succeed For Home-Based Business Entrepreneurs
Personal self-development may sound like some new-age hocus pocus, but it’s actually a serious issue that should be very important to any home-based business entrepreneur today. If you’re running your own business from your home but you’re not paying attention to you, the business will invariably suffer. A business – particularly one where a single person runs it from his or her home – is only as good as those who work for it. For a large company, it’s relatively easy to remove people who are causing a problem in order to keep the business moving forward. However, for the home-based business entrepreneur that’s simply not possible. If only one person is involved in the business, the strength of its success depends solely on the strength of the entrepreneur.Personal self-development plays a huge role in this. Of course, it’s vital to develop the business itself, but it’s equally important to develop the home-based business entrepreneur as a human being. Both are valuable, and both are necessary. Anyone who’s interested in personal self-development can learn a great deal from self-help books and by listening to his or her “gut.” In other words, if something is nagging at you, and you feel like you need to understand something better, change course, or take a break, you probably should. Intuitive decision making is necessary for a successful home-based business entrepreneur to practice, and you can enhance this skill through personal self-development.Learn all you can about your business and about yourself as a business owner and as a person. That way, you’ll realize sooner if you’re off track, and you’ll be quicker to make necessary changes. As you grow as both an individual and a business owner, you’ll be able to increase and expand your business more effectively. Your customers will notice and appreciate the changes. Staying relevant is vital to business today, particularly for the home-based business entrepreneur. Personal self-development plays a big role in this relevancy, and it can keep a business owner in the game, even as competitors fail.Another key aspect of running a home-based business, particularly an internet marketing business, is the speed at which everything changes. Because it is technology based, there is a natural tendency for massive evolution in business processes as the internet becomes more complex and users become more sophisticated. Even more critical are the best known methods (BKMs) that top internet marketers use to ply their trade online. As new strategies, tools, tactics and processes are developed, the playbook changes rapidly, in some cases, daily.If you plan on becoming a highly successful home-based business entrepreneur engaged in internet marketing, it is essential that you also make a deep and permanent commitment to personal self development. There is simply no way to get around it. If you fail to stay current with the trends the successful industry leaders are using to grow their businesses, you will undoubtedly be left behind.Luckily, most internet superstars are very willing to share the secrets of their success. Sometimes they give this information away for free, sometimes you will need to invest a little money to get it. Regardless of how it becomes available, it’s critical for you to plug into the information, digest it, and understand it. When it comes to being a successful home based business entrepreneur, personal self development is the key.
Home Based Business – 3 Simple Reasons Why NOW Is The Time To Have an Online Home Based Business
With recent job losses due to outsourcing of work to other countries, major banks filing for bankruptcy, and the real estate market crash due to the subprime mess, many people are finding it hard to survive financially. Because of this, NOW more than ever is the best time to start an online home based business. Here are the 3 simple reasons why TODAY is the right time to consider starting one.1) Downward Economy = Opportunity to Look for Other Means of IncomeLet’s face it. The economy is not at its best right now and who knows when it will recover. While being an employee for a company may have been the best solution in the past, now more than ever, it’s up to us as individuals to find other ways to generate income to survive. With an online home based business you are in control of your financial destiny. It allows you to be your own boss and has the potential of replacing or exceeding your income expectations.2) The Internet…True Leverage at it’s best.With technology and the Internet, applications such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, & LinkedIn are examples of free Social Media tools that enable you to promote your online home based business. If done right, you can attract potential prospects who can eventually become customers or partners with you. Also, Fortune 500 companies such as Starbucks & McDonald’s are now offering free wireless Internet access to their customers. With these technologies in place, working from home or having a virtual office is now possible more than ever from anywhere around the world.3) Tax AdvantagesJust like any traditional business, such as a franchise or a corporate business, an online home based business has tax advantages as well. You can write off your expenses related to your business such as your Internet connection, usage of your cell phone, business travel expenses, having a home office, and education and training events that you’ve attended. Keep in mind these are some of the things that can be written off but please consult a professional tax expert or CPA for any tax advise that you may need.So while many people wonder when the economy will improve and/or how to survive in today’s unpredictable financial situation, having an online home based business makes more sense NOW more than ever. It allows you to be your own boss, leverages technology and the Internet, and gives you great tax advantages that you ordinarily would not normally get as an employee.
8 Ways the Government Can Help Your Small Business
The government may seem indifferent to the needs of small businesses, as it rolls along spending like there’s no tomorrow while small banks and businesses struggle to just keep up. There are some ways that the government can help, however, and here are a few of the top sites to look for guidance on everything from business plans to building plans.1) The granddaddy of them all, the Small Business Association, offers general advice about starting a business, along with counseling, mentoring, SCORE teams, and how to apply for loans, government contracts, and disaster assistance. Go to sba(dot)gov for a long list of articles aimed at answering questions for new or aspiring entrepreneurs.2) From the Department of the Treasury, to the United States Department of Agriculture, just about every agency has a program embracing small business. Many have the Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization link, along with other service provisions, but pick an agency, and find out what they have to offer small business. The Department of the Treasury offers information on things like State Small Business Credit Initiative information and Small Business Lending Fund.3) The Federal Business Opportunities site at fbo(dot)gov claims over 25,800 listings of opportunities to do business with the federal government. No matter what business you are in, it is likely that the government spends money in that sector.4) If you have product to sell, and want to try to sell it overseas, check out the export dot gov site, where export related information such as trade leads and export counseling can help you open up a whole new market.5) At business.usa(dot)gov you will find a broad range of business topics under one umbrella, from starting, financing, and growing a business, to learning about taxes and credits, beginning or expanding exports, and learning about veterans opportunities or health care changes.6) At the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer site, you will find resources for applicants, investors, and agencies, connecting small businesses that wish to do research and development work for the government with products that have commercial value. Go to sbir.gov/about/about-sbir to learn which agencies are participating, and how to engage in the three-phase program. Statistics on the site point to over 15,000 firms receiving $21 billion for research and development projects, awarded seven patents each day through the work of 400,000 scientists and engineers.7) What to do with all of that excess stuff. With its own garage and attic full of things they do not want or need, this site is the gBay of the United States, offering government goods at auction. If your business needs equipment, you just might find it here, and might get a good deal on it as well. govsales.gov/html/about-us.html features different items at any given time, but often has computers, boats, cars, office equipment, jewelry, homes, and land listed on its auction site.8) For ten years of statistics collected by 100 agencies, head to fedstats.gov. Searchable by agency, by state, or an A to Z search, this is one of the most comprehensive statistical databases on the web. Need to find a stat for your state? It is probably here.
Top Home Based Businesses
The tough part, after deciding that you really want to establish your home based business, is determining what business you want to go into. The most-often heard of advice is to stick to your strength and engage in a business that you know best. However, there are other factors in play in having a home based business. There are questions that need to be answered such as, What if your desired home based business is not feasible or What if I do not have enough capital or equipment to establish my business? If things do not seem to fall into place, do not fret. A lot of options are available to you in organizing your home based business. Remember that you do not have to be limited with your choices.
According to a survey conducted in the United States, the types of home based businesses that have made it to the top of the list are those that involved selling one?s services. The reason behind this is that services are more affordable to a would-be employer if done by an outside person or contractor. On the part of management, the outsourcing of some of its services entails only the payment of the agreed fee without the corresponding need to pay for a regular employee?s benefits or bonuses. On your part, as a freelance businessperson, you can schedule the work to be done according to your flexibility and need not be burdened with the hassle of going to work, being stuck in traffic or being subjected to office politics.
Based on the survey, the top home based businesses include building a web site, copy writing, performing consultancy work as well as marketing services, joining affiliate programs, and engaging in auction sales, among others. The beauty of all home based businesses, whether belonging to the top list or not, is that these can be done part time with only the appropriate deadlines set between you and your client to be met.
Small Business: Secrets To Success
Being a successful businessperson, as the saying goes, is about “1 percent luck and 99 percent hard work.” Being passionate about your work also helps. This article discusses the secrets to being a successful businessperson and running a flourishing small business.
Objective
Have a clear goal when it comes to your small business. Write down both short-term and long-term goals for your small business. Set a realistic date for the objectives to be achieved. This helps you focus on goals, rather than being tossed about in the competitive business world like a rudderless ship.
Business Plan
No business, big or small, succeeds without a business plan. After you have decided what direction to steer your small business in, you need to plan how to get there. A business plan can go hand-in-hand with an objective date, with both helping you focus on the ultimate goal.
One Step at a Time
Once you have prepared your business plan, put it into action. Work on reaching your goal on a daily basis. Taking small steps at a time will help you get there while also allowing you to monitor your progress.
Take Time Out from Business
Some “me time” is also crucial if you don’t want to burn out early. Take small breaks from business and spend time indulging in a hobby or enjoying the company of family and friends. Learn meditation techniques to keep stress away, and exercise regularly to maintain good physical health.
Pareto’s Principle
Keep Pareto’s Principle in mind to enhance your efforts: 80 percent of the results are due to 20 percent of the causes. Instead of wasting time and resources on many issues, focus on the key aspects of your small business.
Products
The success of your small business depends on the products you sell. Analyze your sales in order to discover which products are bestsellers and which ones are drains on the system. In general, about 30 percent of products bring in the greatest profits.
Customer Relations
Customer relationship management is an integral part of small business management. Identify potential long-term customers and those that will bring you the greatest profits. Focus on building relationships with them in order to enhance your business.
Associates
Build sound relationships with your business associates, including suppliers, vendors, franchisees, and business partners. Maintain regular conversations with all of these people, so you are up-to-date on trends and other changing conditions.
Passion
Passion is the single most important factor in making your small business succeed. If you are passionate about what you do, you will be successful in your small business, since you will be able to put in the requisite work without feeling stressed out and you will see extra work as necessary to achieving your goal.
The factors mentioned above are the secrets of success for many small businesses. With passion, dedication, foresight, sound planning and relationship maintenance, you can make your small business a winner in a very short time. If you think you need help in turning your small business into a success, you can hire the services of a professional small business advisor. Alternatively, you can use software for helping you run small businesses.
The Finer Points of Internet Auctions
WHAT IS A PENNY AUCTION?
Penny auctions have exploded in popularity with the massive growth of the internet. However, few people know the true origins of penny auctions.Beginnings actually stretch back to the Great Depression. Those were hard times for everyone, but even harder for farmers. Farmers struggled to bring in steady income because of droughts and crops not selling as well as they had previously. As a result, the banks would foreclose on the farmers who couldn’t keep up with their mortgage payments.
The banks weren’t satisfied with just repossessing the house, they wanted to raise as much capital as possible, so they resorted to selling off the possessions of the owners of the repossessed houses. There was not much the farmers could do about it so they began bidding ridiculously low prices, pennies, on the items while threatening others who dared to bid higher than a few pennies.
The auctions of today hardly resemble their tremulous beginnings. Being part of a penny auction today is exhilarating, fun, and addictive. It combines the selling format of auctioning with a little bit of chance factored in.Auctions are a game of strategy but also a game of luck.
The premise behind penny auctions is giving people the chance to win an item at a drastically reduced price.Auctions make that possible by spreading out the cost of the product among multiple bidders. In order for a person to take part in an auction, they must pay a set price for each bid. For example, if a person wanted to bid on a fifty dollar Amazon gift card then he would spend a dollar for each time a bid placed. If he ended up winning the gift card, then he would only have spent a few dollars for a fifty dollar gift card. Usually penny auctions sell bids in packages.
HOW PENNY AUCTIONS WORK!
The main foundation of penny auctions is the pay-per-bid format. It is the key that allows bidders to win items at the fraction of their retail value and allows the auction owners to keep their site profitable. Most y auction sites run on the same premise: people pay a set amount for each bid, whenever a person places a bid within the closing seconds of the auction time will be added, the last person left with a unique bid after the clocks runs out will win the item. There are a large variety of items that can be won, but they tend to be popular electronics or gift cards to popular stores.
There are two types of auctions: lowest unique bid auction and highest unique bid auction. Lowest unique auction sounds confusing but it is actually quite simple. A unique bid is when only one person has a bid at a certain price. Bids usually start at one penny, a bidder can then place a bid at two pennies. Until another bidder places a higher bid, the most recent bidder will be the lowest unique bid because that was the only bid at two cents and nobody bid higher. However, penny auctions generally don’t stop at one penny. It is not uncommon to find auctions that end up at a couple hundred dollars based on the popularity of the item being auctioned. However, the same principles apply for those auctions. Highest unique bid auctions follow the more traditional auction format such as eBay. The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction wins the item.
Auction site owners turn a profit by selling bids. Say twenty people are bidding on a ten dollar gift card at one dollar per bid, at the end of the auction if there were twenty bids placed in total then the site owner would have made twenty dollars with a ten dollar profit.Auctions do seem like a win-win situation:The site owner makes money while the bidder gets an item for dirt cheap. However, not everyone wins in penny auctions. The people who paid one dollar each bid but left with nothing to show for their investments will not be so happy.
HOW TO WIN!
Penny auction has a lot of chance mixed into it, but one can incorporate strategy that will help raise the chances of winning. Playing smart can make all the difference between gambling and auctioning.
The first crucial tip to winning penny auctions is to know how to manage your bids. Your goal should be to win as much as possible without spending a ton of money buying bids. Managing your bids means that you should already know how much you are willing to risk in order to win an item. The amount of capital you are willing to risk will determine how many bids you can use. Once you know how many bids you have to spend on an item, then you will be better able to manage how and when you place a bid. That will keep you from blowing away all of your bids in the first few seconds of the auction.
The next tip is to practice time management. When fighting in the trenches of penny auctions, you have two enemies: other bidders and time. Knowing when to bid is a must if you want to have success. Placing a bid when there is a lot of time left on the clock is never a good idea. You have to remember that the key to winning a penny auction is being the last one standing when the clock runs out and that each bid increases the amount of time left. It would be a good practice to wait until the last few minutes of the auction before you begin to bid.
The final tip for successful auctioning is to keep your emotions under control.Auctions have a lot of similarities to gambling, and just like gambling, your spending can get out of control. If you keep your emotions level, it will keep you from making rash decisions and blowing loads of cash. Keep your mind clear so that you can gage the behavior of the other bidders and outsmart them.
HOW TO AVOID SCAM SITES!
Penny auctions are a great addition to the web whether you want to win an item that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford or if you simply enjoy the thrill that comes with bidding in auctions. Unfortunately, scam sites have tarnished the reputation of the legitimate penny auction sites. However, there are ways that you can protect yourself from scamers and enjoy your auctioning without having to worry about losing your money due to dishonesty.
Checking the reputation of the auction site before you start spending your hard earned money is always a good idea. Chances are other people have tried the site before you and some of them have left reviews. The reviews are your way to gage whether a auction site is trustworthy or not. If a site is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews, then that is a clear indication that you should steer your business elsewhere.
Another tool you can use to protect yourself is checking the Alexia ranks of the auction sites. Alexia rank will give a solid view of how much traffic the auction is getting. If you see a huge difference in the amount of traffic Alexia is projecting and the amount of active bidders on the site, then warning signals should be ringing in your head. Some auction sites have been known to set up robots that automatically bid on projects in order to keep the auction going and inflate the price. That is known as shill bidding. You can sniff out those sites by comparing the traffic the site should be getting to the amount of users using this site.
CONCLUSION!
New legislation may come out later down the road that will officially make penny auctions gambling, but until then, it is a fun, exciting auction that allows one to win the item they’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford.Auctions are also quite lucrative for the site owners because of the pay-per-bid strategy they’ve incorporated. Penny auctions had humble beginnings with farmers who just wanted to get back at the banks who kicked them out of their house. More recently, auctions have enjoyed an explosion in popularity with the rise of the internet.
There are two main formats fora auctions, lowest and highest unique auction, however they both run on the same premise where the last unique bid wins the item. Winning a penny auction will require a certain amount of mental tactic and a bit of luck. However, you can increase your odds of winning by practicing certain techniques such as managing your bids wisely, learning how to work with the time, and keeping a level head and your emotions under control. When you combine those three strategies to your bidding plan, you will find that you win a lot more often.
It is important that you do your due diligence to protect yourself when participating in auctions. Not every auction is run by honest and trustworthy people. There are people out there who just want to take your money. You can protect yourself by ensuring that you only bid on sites that already have a very positive reputation from real users.
How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items
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.
Hiring An Auction Company
Estimating your assets value:
Typically, one of the first questions a business owner will ask me is, “how much will the assets bring at an auction”. After taking the time to review the assets, the auctioneer should give the client a conservative estimate of the sale based upon his experience and the current market trends. It is important that the company give realistic expectations so the seller can make informed decisions based on their best interest.
Compensation and Expenses:
Is the company you are considering working for you or against you? The agreement you decide may determine this.
A business owner should carefully consider how the auction company is compensated. The most common commission structures include: straight commission, outright purchase of assets, guaranteed base with a split above to both auctioneer and seller, guaranteed base with anything above going to auctioneer or a flat fee structure.
In a straight commission structure, the company is paid an agreed upon percentage of the total sale.
In an outright purchase agreement, the auctioneer simply becomes your end buyer. The company purchases your assets and relocates them. While this can be an option in some unique situations, keep in mind that they will want to purchase your assets at a very reduced price to make a profit at a later date.
In a minimum base guarantee, the auction company guarantees the seller that the auction will generate a minimum amount of sales. Anything above that amount either goes to the auction company or split with the seller. While a seller might feel more comfortable doing an auction knowing that he is guaranteed a minimum amount for his sale, keep in mind that it is the best interest of the auction company to secure a minimum base price as low as possible in order reduce their financial liability to the seller and secure higher compensation for the sale.
In a flat fee structure, the auctioneer agrees to show up for the sale and call the auction. There is no incentive for the auctioneer to get the best prices for your assets. The auction company is compensated regardless of the outcome of your sale.
What is the best option for business owners? In my experience, an agreed upon straight commission structure. This puts the responsibility on the auction company to offer the best outcome for everyone involved. There is an incentive for the auction company to work hard for both parties, set up and run a professional sale, get the highest bid and sell every item on the inventory. Successful auctions translate to a higher bottom line for both the seller and the auction company.
Auction Expenses:
In most auction agreements the expenses to conduct an auction are passed to the seller. If the auction company pays for the expenses, it is simply absorbed in higher commission rates.
All expenses should be agreed upon in advance in a written contract. Typical expenses will include the costs of advertising, labor, legal fees, travel, equipment rentals, security, postage and printing. A reputable auction company will be able to estimate all expenses based upon their experience in previous auctions. An agreement should be actual costs charged as expenses, not an estimated amount.
Advertising is typically the highest cost in conducting an auction. The auction company needs to set up an advertising campaign that will promote the sale to its best advantage and not overspend to simply advertise the auction company.
Once the auction is complete, the auction company should provide a complete breakdown of all expenses to the seller, including copies of receipts within the auction summary report.
Buyer’s Premium:
What is a buyer’s premium? If you attend auctions regularly, you are very familiar with this term. The auction company charges a fee to the buyer when they buy an item at auction.
The buyer’s premium has been around since the 1980′s and is standard auction practice. It was first used by auction houses to help offset costs of running brick and mortar permanent auction facilities. Since then, it has spread to all aspects of the auction industry. It is prominent in online auctions and allows auction companies to cover added expenses incurred from online sales.
It is the responsibility of the auction company to provide clear disclosure of the buyer’s premium to both the buyers and the sellers. Those not familiar with auctions are often taken back by the buyer’s premium. They looked upon it as an under handed way for the auction company to make more money. Reputable auction companies will provide full disclosure within the auction contract, advertisement and bidder registration.
Typically, an auction company will charge online buyers a higher buyer’s premium percentage than those attending an auction in person. Extra fees are incurred with online bidding and are charged accordingly to online buyers. This provides the seller a level playing field for both online buyers and those attending the auction in person. Without the buyer’s premium, there is no way to do this.
Pre-Sales:
We’ve all been there. We’re looking forward to attending an auction only to find that some items were sold prior to the auction date.
As an auctioneer with over thirty-six years of experience, I can honestly state that pre-sales will hurt an auction. When a company decides to liquidate their assets, it is easy to sell off high-end pieces of equipment through online sources, equipment vendors or to other businesses. The seller receives instant cash and avoids paying a commission to an auction company.
Auctioneer’s find themselves appearing to acting in a self-serving capacity when potential clients say they are planning to sell off parts of their inventory prior to an auction. It’s hard not to consider the auctioneer’s commission when they warn you not to pre-sell anything. Yes, the auctioneer wants to earn a commission on those sales but it is more important that the auctioneer protect the sale from potential negative backlash that comes from pre-selling. The buying public knows when an auction has been “cherry picked” prior to the sale and it reflects in their bidding. It becomes a sale of “leftovers” and that impacts prices.
A buyer who purchases prior to the auction usually does not attend the sale. They already bought equipment at a good price with no competition. If they do attend the auction, they tend to let others know of their great pre-sale purchases which again, impacts prices and the overall excitement of the sale.
It is important to understand that auctions work best with a complete inventory. You want competition on your higher end equipment. The easy to sell items make it possible to gain respectable prices for hard to sell items.
When a business owner decides to liquidate their equipment assets, there is only one opportunity to do it right. Hiring a reputable auction company will assist you with a professional, orderly and timely liquidation.