 |
|
|
Main Menu
Home Current Auctions About Me Online Bidding Contact Larry Richie 502 Reservoir Rd Loami, IL 62661 217 624 2901 Favorite Links    |
Larry Richie Auctions Inc.IAl4440000335
Larry Richie Auctioneer IAl 4410000100 Mike Crabtree Auctioneer IAL 4400000256 502 Reservoir Ln Loami, Il. 62661 (217) 624-2901
How to find and select an Auctioneer
Whether you are looking to sell your home, personal property, estates, vehicle or excess inventory from your business, you should consider selling your property at an auction. Auctions offer a fast-paced way in determining what price the market brings for your property. With the combination of solid pre-sale marketing and the auctioneer's ear-catching chant, you could have enthusiastic, attentive buyers competing to purchase your property. Often, items sell for far more than their estimated value. In comparison, placing an ad in the classifieds, or posting a "For Sale By Owner" sign, may garner only a lukewarm response or "tire kickers" just looking. It may take months before you finally sell your property, and even then you may have to accept a price much lower than you had hoped. But holding an auction takes a bit more time than simply contacting an auctioneer and collecting the cash after the sale. For you, it means determining if your property is right for auction and finding and contracting with an auctioneer that meets your needs. A decision of whether or not your property is suitable for auction can be a very diffcult task. An experienced auctioneer can help you with those decisions. For the auctioneer, it means marketing your merchandise, preparing and conducting the sale, and tallying and dividing the proceeds from that sale. What follows is a brief look at the steps you need to take to determine which auctioneer best meets your needs. Choosing the right auctioneer. When a decision is made to dispense of property, then you are ready to begin looking for an auctioneer. · First, you should talk with an auctioneer to see if your property is right for auction. · Second, to find the right auctioneer. Finding an auctioneer is easy. Hiring the right auctioneer takes a little more effort. You will want to weigh several factors carefully before signing a contract. Price should not be the only determining factor in making your decision. As a general rule, the cheaper price results in cheaper performance. You should also consider: Auctioneer Specialty. Many auctioneers specialize in only a few types of auctions. They will best know the market; the value of your property and how to attract the buyers most interested in your property. Experience. Auctioneers can conduct anywhere from a few dozen or over 100 auctions in a year. Seasoned auctioneers know the market and know how to get the best price for your property. Referrals. Auctioneers have plenty of success stories to share. But don't just take their word for it. Ask former clients for their thoughts on their sales. You need comments from sellers. Licensing. Many states require auctioneers meet professional licensing requirements. Municipalities may also require auctioneers have permits or licenses. Services provided. Be sure that the auctioneer provideds the best services for dispresal of your property. Professional Affiliation. Members of the National Auctioneers Association and state auctioneer associations keep abreast of their respective specialties, regulatory requirements and changes in your market. More importantly, NAA members are governed by a Code of Ethics, which ensures professionalism and protects both you and the buyer. Reputation. While less tangible, an auctioneer's reputation is crucial to the success of an auction. This is a blend of experience and character. An auctioneer who is trusted and respected in their community will more likely attract a devoted group of buyers willing to attend and bid at their auction. Talk to former clients and people who attend auctions frequently. If in doubt, ask questions. What type of auction is best for my property (on site vs. facility)? What types of services do you offer? Where will the auction be held? How soon will I receive the proceeds from the sale? Learn what you can now to avoid any misunderstandings later. Be prepared. The auctioneer will have some questions for you as well. How soon must your property be sold? Why are you selling now? Have you tried selling before through other methods? While you're trying to choose an auctioneer, the auctioneer will be determining if they can meet your needs and get the best price for your property. Once you've made your choice in an auctioneer and determined the services you want, you'll cement the partnership by signing a contract. The contract will spell out your responsibilities, the responsibilities of the auctioneer, commissions, expenses you'll pay and when you'll receive the proceeds from the sale. Read the contract carefully and make sure you know the details of the contract before you sign. If you're unsure before you sign, ask questions. Auctioneers boast they can sell just about anything for a tidy profit. After researching your property, an experienced auctioneer can determine its value, but it doesn't hurt to have your own ideas about your property's value. So how much is your property worth? It depends upon the market for your particular piece of property. Some commodities, like real estate, depend largely upon the geographical area and sale prices for similar properties. Other, more specialized commodities, such as manufacturing equipment or heavy equipment, will attract smaller groups of buyers across a much larger area. It also depends upon the condition of your property. Knowing the age of your property, the manufacturer, the types and extent of repairs and keeping records of regular maintenance may help determine value. It doesn't hurt to conduct your own research by visiting stores and consignment shops, reading classified ads or by checking web sites for property similar to yours. Always remember when checking prices, the shopsetc. are selling at retail, therefore the price at auction can be lower than they are asking. While you are conducting your research, you must make sure that you own the property. This is particularly true of real estate. Without a deed or title to your property, it will be very difficult to sell your property at auction. Conducting an auction requires far more than placing items on the auction block and collecting money. Before you finalize an agreement with an auctioneer, what can you expect on or before auction day? Before, during and after the sale, your auctioneer will be juggling many duties: Marketing. Your auctioneer will need to generate interest in your auction, and the best way to get the word out is advertising. Depending on what you're trying to sell, the auctioneer could use a blend of newspaper ads, radio spots, ads in newsletters and specialty magazines, custom brochures, direct mail pieces and sales bills. The Internet now plays a significant role in marketing upcoming auctions. Many auctioneers post details about upcoming auctions on their web sites, or they could use auction lists on other auction sites, such as the National Auctioneers Association's Find an Auction function. Finally, some sophisticated auctioneers develop email lists of registered buyers who are interested in specific items that are offered for auction. They may use that list to generate interest in your auction. Type of sale. There's more than one type of auction, but which one is best for your property? Absolute auctions set no minimum amount for a piece of property, despite its appraised value. For example, if a car is appraised at $600 but only garners a high bid of $550, the high bidder walks away with a bargain. Likewise if the car sells for $650 or more, you benefit from the greatest advantage of an auction—the market determines the value. Always remember "an appraisal is one persons opinion". Price guides takes a long time to put together, in reality, the market has changed drasticaly by the time these guides are available. Reserve auctions allow you to set a minimum amount you're willing to accept for your property. That amount will not be disclosed prior to or during the auction. You have the right to accept or reject any bids at a reserve auction, and you can remove the property from consideration before the auction is completed. Typically potential buyers will shy away from Reserve auctions. There seems to be a block that says why go, they are not going to sell it. Your auctioneer will be able to explain this in detail. There are a few other details your auctioneer will handle, such as absentee bids or proxy bidding. Also, some auctioneers use the Internet to accept bids, through email prior to or during the auction, or by streaming video with the ability to accept bids in real time. Preparing items for sale. After inspecting and appraising your property, your auctioneer may suggest minor repairs or maintenance be made to increase the value of your property. For example, if you're selling a house at auction, painting the exterior or cleaning the lawn may make it more saleable. It could be your responsibility to complete these tasks or the auctioneer may do them on your behalf. Sale Day. Your auctioneer will be plan and execute your auction from start to finish. This includes: Setting up and cleaning up the facility Organizing and displaying your property: The auctioneer and their staff will catalog your property, tag it with lot numbers and organize it for display. In some cases, such as real estate auctions, they will allow buyers to look at the property a week in advance. At the very least, buyers can view the property on the day of the auction. Answering questions about your property, terms of the auction and the auction. Registering bidders. This includes taking basic information from individuals wanting to bid on your property: name, address, phone number and drivers license number. Calling bids Collecting money from winning bidders Money collected the day of the auction is usually deposited into an escrow account, a third-party bank account that holds the proceeds until the auctioneer can tally receipts and expenses. Before you collect your share of the sale, the auctioneer's commission and expenses must be deducted. Auctioneers are usually paid on commission, a percentage of the gross proceeds from the sale. Some auctioneers are turning to charging a buyer's premium to collect their fee. A buyer's premium is a percentage added on to the final price of the item. You'll need to discuss how your auctioneer will be compensated before you contract with them Beyond the auctioneer's commission, your auctioneer will have other expenses they've taken on your behalf. For example, if they've placed a classified ad in the local newspaper for your auction, you can expect to pay for that ad. Or they may have rentals, catering, set up and auctioneer staff. Those charges may also be deducted from the gross proceeds from the sale. Or they may charge a buyer's premium and use that to pay the expenses. Avoid unpleasant surprises by asking the auctioneer about their commission, what services they'll provide and what additional expenses might be involved in the sale. Some auctioneers will provide a budget or a cost estimate for your sale. Auctions are an excellent way to sell a range of property, from real estate, to unwanted business equipment to collectibles. Finding an auctioneer who specializes in your property, and who has the right blend of experience and training can help make your sale more rewarding. Larry Richie Auctions Inc. 519 South Miller Waverly, Il. 62692 (217) 435 - 9692 e-mail auctioneer@springnet1.com Services provided and available services Advertising . Each individual auction requires a comprehensive study of where to advertise, also, the dollar amount to set aside for advertising. Different types of auctions include, Real Estate, Industrial, Farm equipment, Specific collections (farm toys, Glass, Hummel’s, baskets, antique tractors etc), Estate, moving, downsizing, bankruptcy, along with others. We have had the opportunity to be involved in each type of auction listed and have experience in advertising each. Typical advertisement will include, Direct mailing, bills, Radio, Trade Journals, Antique Journals, Internet. Advertising is at an all time high. The newspapers are escalating prices monthly. They are necessary for a successful auction. Buyers are relying on web sites and internet advertising more and more. Your auctioneer will be able to look at your auction an give you an advertising budget. Also, where the advertisements will be placed. You may talk to your auctioneer about other areas where you think advertising would work.Services Total commitment from time of signing contract to writing of check at completion of auction. We are proud to offer complete computerized clerking and cashiering. This eliminates the lines at registration and checkout. With computerization, we offer a complete back up for all entries, buyers are able to check at anytime during the auction as to their purchases and the amount of money they have spent to that point. At completion of the auction, we provide you the seller a complete print out of all items sold in the order they were sold. Along with this, we provide a tape recording of the complete auction. Payment to the seller is immediate. After the auction is completed and the books are closed, the seller is paid immediately. Live internet auctions We offer live-on-line internet auctions. Specific auctions do very well on live internet. Typically large antique auctions, toy auctions, some estates, coins, farm equipment, collectables. Live internet requires one extra staff person, plus a few extra hours to take photo’s and preparation. With live internet, all items are catalogued.Staff We are continually training our staff to the auction industry. Our staff will be attending ringmaster school this fall. This will train them to do their job more professionally, we feel this will enhance the auction method of selling our items. All staff dress alike with their names and our company name embroidered on their shirts. This helps buyers identify auction personnel so questions they have can be answered quickly. NA staff meeting is held 15 minutes prior to each auction. This helps to assure that we each know the order of the auction and any suggestions or questions can be handled at that time.
Compensation/ commissionEach auction can and generally will have a different commission structure.Always remember cheaper is not always better! We offer several different commission structures. We offer straight commission, sliding scale commission, also a flat fee auction service. Sliding scale: Example would be $0.00 - $100.00 would be 25% $100.01 - $500.00 would be 20% $500.01 - $1500.00 would be 15% $1500.01 - would be 10% This sliding scale commission rate is utilized mainly on industrial and farm related auctions. With the computerized clerking and cashiering system, the scale is entered and completed immediately. Straight commission: This where we will offer to sell your items for a straight commission of 5%, 10% , 15%, 20% or whatever commission rate is agreed on. Flat Fee service: We do offer a flat fee service where the seller pays all expenses from there pocket, then pays the auctioneer a flat fee to sell there items. Typically we do not suggest this for Estates, farm auction, and collectables. Sometimes when selling on flat fee some auctioneers do not try as hard to achieve the value for the items being sold as they would when working on a commission. Buyers premium: What is it and how does it work? Buyers premium was started in the United States in the mid 70’s by a auction firm in the New York area. The popularity of buyers premium has grown since then to a point that it is estimated that 65% of the auctioneers are offering it. In central Illinois, there are 10 - 15 auctioneers that offer buyers premium to their clients. Buyers premium belongs to the seller. It is used to offset the cost of your auction. We offer the use of buyers premium at 5% or 10%.It is up to the seller as to whether they wish to utilize the buyers premium. We have realistically not noticed a reduction in prices achieved at auctions where we have used the buyers premium. Yes, we all hear the dealers and others, even other auctioneers complaining about the buyers premium. It is a proven method to help reduce the cost to the seller. This past winter we had the pleasure of conducting a very large Estate auction. The advertising for this auction was around $2500.00, plus the rental of a large facility to conduct the auction. The seller opted to a 10% buyers premium. We had buyers from as far away as New Mexico. When the auction was completed, the buyers premium paid for all advertising, the rental of the building, plus part of the labor cost for the auction. It is the sellers choice! Preparation of your auction: Listing and advertising; Your auctioneer and one staff member will list your items to auction. Then a sale bill will produced to send to the advertising media. The auction will be placed on the internet web sites etc. The next step will be preparation. The auctioneer along with staff will start sorting like items, placing them in boxes, boxing some items, cleaning furniture, washing glasses in preparation to remove items to setup the auction. This work is done prior to sale day. It makes things a lot easier on sale day to set up. If the auction is to be held off site, we pack like items together, wrap furniture, have everything ready to move. Make the move, and then start setting up the auction at the facility.
|
 |
Admin Box |
 |
 |
 |