Studies show that over 57% of all Americans have attended a live auction. Further, with the Internet, there is more awareness than ever of what auctions are and how they work. Therefore, with more and more people familiar with auctions, more consumers understand the power of auction marketing, and desire the assistance of an auctioneer.
Can you do it? Yes you can. Nobody is born knowing how to be an auctioneer. All auctioneers are trained, either by their family members or by formal classroom training. Once you complete our training, you too will know how to be a successful auctioneer. So, who are the auctioneers operating in today's economy? A study compiled by Michigan State University Eli Broad Graduate School of Business in 2010 showed that:
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90% of auctioneers are men
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47% are college graduates
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30% are between the ages of 36-50, and 46% are 51-65
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10% are under age 36
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56% cite the auction business as full-time
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82% work as primary bid caller at their own business
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18% work as contract bid callers
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40% belong to their state and national auctioneer association
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62% conduct one or more auction per week
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51% reported gross sales revenues of $500,000 or less
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78% of auctioneers selll via live auctions, without any use of online bidding
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73% reported gross income at $25,000 or more per year
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45% reported gross income at $100,000 or more per year
As an auctioneer, you are charged with management of a wide variety of responsibilities. Your activities involve first meeting with a client to discuss their auction needs, to properly preparing the items, advertising to the right outlets, staffing the auction with all the other staff needed, to properly accounting for the auction once it is complete. For your client, you provide a variety of counsel, consulting and expertise to help them with their auction needs.
Much of what you do prior to the auction is assess circumstances. Virtually any property will sell for fair market value at auction, and the accompanying story surrounding why the property is in need of sale, or the timeframe in which it must be sold, is the paramount information. No item of real or personal property is intrinsically an auction property, so the skill of the auctioneer to listen and ask the right questions is essential.
Too, besides all these responsibilities, the day of the auction is when you are "on stage." Your ability to manage the auction event, work with both buyers and sellers, and to engage the audience with your skills all leads to higher prices. By selling items for what your crowd feels are fair prices, you will gain their confidence to sell their items someday, and increase the likelihood of them being return buyers as well.
Your auction career will be greatly enhanced by your staff. Those needed to conduct any live auction include a clerk, cashier and ringman. The cashier is responsible for registering buyers and taking payments, while the clerk is charged with documenting the auction as it progresses. The ringman assists the auctioneer with catching bids and displaying items. You will want to be familiar with these positions as well -- to hire the right people for those jobs -- and assist when needed.
A career in auctioneering can be a very interesting and rewarding occupation. The variety of real and personal property that an auctioneer encounters is alone more interesting than what many jobs offer. Yet, the true fascinating part of an auctioneer's job is the people. By assisting people with what they often cannot do themselves, or given their other responsibilities of moving, handling an estate or dealing with other changes, the auctioneer can acquire great satisfaction.
Start your auction career today!
