Auction selling sequence

[Anonymous-0]

After attending Auctions for 55 years, I have observed something that bothers me, Other opinions please. I attented a Auction last Saturday with about 90 old tractors plus several other items. I had a certain amount to spend and waited all day for the last tractor to sell, this was the choice item for me. I did not have the highest bid, therefore I went home with a pocket full of cash and a empty trailer. I contend that a Auction should sell the higher value items first, therfore in my case I would have the chance to bid on other lessor value items, I know the Auctioneer claims he hold the best to last to maintain the crowd. My answer to that is, he might hold the crowd , but most of them will not be bidders but only spectators. What U say?

 

[shoe]

It is the choice of the auction company to sell in the order they choose. Most companies pretty well sell in much the same order. I think they have it figured out which is the best way to hold the majority of the crowd.

 

[[email protected]]

Look at it this way.
If they sent all of the high value items to the front, then the wives would say "you spent enough, you need to get home." Then you would load your one item on the trailer and leave early in the day. With the lower value items first, guys will bid things up and walk out with several items sometimes spending more, early in the day. Higher value items hold their value, retaining crowds and good bids.

 

[RobMD]

a large auction is done by wolgemuth auction in leola PA every year in february. i love it there. you can see the junk piled on one end and as you go through 400 tractors, they get in better and better shape, with the restored putt putts at the end of the run. Just think, you start off with a corrupt farmall H for 200 bucks all the way up to a 430 af utility restored for 22,000

 

[mnjoe]

I went to an auction this summer and they sold the good stuff first. They sold the little things last. I bought a pull-type NI picker with a sheller. It was the 3rd item. I couldn't get out of the yard for 2 hours with all the cars and trucks parked along the driveway.

 

[JM in Merit]

I like it when they mix items up, some high dollar things then low dollar items. Seems like though every time I go the item I am there for is at the end. No really good way of doing it I guess
But I been in same shape as you are if I knew it was going to go that high I bought something else

 

[Anonymous-0]

They can add all the junk at the beginning and a lot of bidders will show up a little later for the good stuff. If the junk was last, everybody would have gone home. Dave

 

[n8terry]

One solution is when the auctioneer announces when the large items will sell, ie 1pm sharp.
After that, they go back to the small items.

 

[Anonymous-0]

as a relatively new auctioneer, i start my auctions with the better quality small items and save the junk for last, it will bring nothing at the end all the same as the beginning of the auction. as far as tractors go I seel the most expensive first, then the folks that did not get the tractor are able to spend there money on possibly another tractor. otherwise they save there money for the highest price tractor and not bid on anything else.

 

[Howard H.]

The custom out here in West Texas has usually been to sell large items last or at an announced time (I've been going to them for 15 years).

I know one auctioneer from downstate Oklahoma cost a local guy a lot of money when he sold some tractors right off the bat at a big sale last winter - several guys arrived later (and missed out) thinking they'd be the last items to sell.

I guess it just depends on what everyone is expecting and how they want to approach the sale.

Howard

 

[Sid]

What"s the problem? You saved a pocket full of cash. If I go to an auction and they sell the machinery first and I have to wait all day for trinkets to sell before I can get my stuff outa there I will quit going to auctions. They have been doing it the way you mentioned because it works. It is good for the seller. What is good for the seller is good for the auctioneer. The auctioneer works for the seller not the buyer.

 

[GeneMO]

That is why I rarely go to autions, my free time is too valueable.I would rather find an item I want through other methods and pay 10% than waste my time watching a bunch of junk sell.

Gene

 

[Anonymous-0]

I think the auctioneer is right, but at the same time I see a lot of farm auction sale bills with "sale starts at 9 AM, large items sell at 1PM" or words to that effect.

 

[ILikeCase]

I know exactly what you are saying. A while back I did the same thing. I passed on several bargain tractors and piles of reasonably priced tractor tires as I wanted to save my money for one particular tractor. It was within the last six sold and I went home emty handed. But it wasn't all bad as I didn't spend a bunch of money on things I really didn't need. A blessing in discise I suppose.-----Plus later I got a better tractor (same size/type) for less money than the one on the auction.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I"ve never been to an auction where I was completely happy with the way it was run. The selling order never quite fit my needs. The auctioneers tactics never were exactly what I needed to get what I wanted at a price I liked.

It"s almost like they were trying to put you in a position to pay as much as possible for any item you wanted

It would be a safe assumtion that a GOOD auction firm knows what works for their interest, which SHOULD be in the best interest of the selling party. If it were all about trying to give things away, they wouldn"t call it an auction. It would be called the Democratic Party.

Keeping the BIG TICKET ITEMS "till the end keeps the guys with deep pockets there until the end. I"m sure any auctioneer, given the choice between a crowd of poor boys and a hand full of mega-buck big spenders would take the busks up guys every time.

 

[Mathias NY]

If the big ticket items were first, most people would leave. Think of it like an action movie, if the big action scene was in the first 10 minutes, why would anyone sit through the next hour and a half?

General rule of thumb for auctions: When you win an item, everyone else will think you overpaid.

 

[1936]

Close out farm auctions usually have a few tractors and combines and the rest of the stuff that goes with any farming or livestock operation. All expect small to big for order of sale. The collector sales of tractors vary all over the place. Was at a polk auction this summer and had about 40 tractors and they were mixed up in the order with the lesser ones last. The King auction In IN the tractors are driven into the ring running and back out side before the hammer is dropped. The sale can handled about 400 tractors in a day. The buyers all have sets. Before the day and a half of tractors usually have a day and a half of parts with three areas selling at once. Broken up by color. I watched a BO with full metal for orchards as new go for 22 grand. Has a program book for the tractors with a order of sale. Soo each sale can be different. The auctioneers know what works for his sale. Sullivan in central IL has a classy approach. In side a large heated building with trams from the parking to the building. Another has wireless from the auction truck to the check out trailer. Buy your item and walk to the cashier and leave in a matter of minutes. Best to go on inspection day and this way no suprised on the set up for the sale. The ones I enjoy is no house hold stuff before the machinery.

 

[Mike M]

I have seen them ran all sorts of ways. You can usually call ahead and ask what time they think something will sell and I usually get an accurate answer. I have even been to one where one of the auctioneers helpers was live on the cell phone to someone bidding from out of state. So there are alot of options.
The ones that really burn me up are where there is a tractor in full dress with 3pt. and weights and you have to buy the tractor then next thing you have to turn around and buy the weights and 3pt etc. Or the time I went to a farm sale with a JD R and saw the owners manual for it mixed in with the odds and ends. I mentioned it to the auctioneer and asked if it was going to whoever bought the tractor ? They said they were going to sell it seperate.

 

[rrlund]

With 90 tractors,I assume it was a consignment auction? In that case,I think the tractors should sell in the order that they were consigned. They're usually numbered sequentially as they come in,so why not sell them that way.

 

[paulatclf]

It sounds like the auctions I attend must be much smaller than the ones you do. Most of the auctions here are for household/estate and moving sales. Farms in this area are being developed into housing tracts, and many have been run on a downslope for decades prior to the sale. Small items usually come first just to get the ball rolling. Sometimes the auctioneer will mix in a little bit of stuff "for the ladies" to keep them interested. Big items go off at a set hour usually noon. The auctioneer knows what's best for his and the owners interests. Keep the majority if big bidders around for the big ticket items. After the big items are sold the auctioneer is usually giving stuff away for less than scrap value.
I'll tell you something else--as a buyer it pays to have a good relationship with the auctioneer. Make yourself known, friendly, and offer information to the auctioneer from time to time (on items you aren't interested in), and you may find that the auctioneer will adjust the selling schedule just a little bit for you which works out well in the end.