So you want to start a home-based business. Well you aren’t alone. Did you know that in the United States there are about 12 million home-based businesses? A lot of people have chosen to abandon their 9-to-5 rat race. So let me ask you, why do you want to work from home?”I’m tired of answering to someone else. I want to be my own boss.”Good answer, but remember, when you become your own boss, the buck stops here. You have no one to blame but yourself. And, speaking of bucks, don’t expect a consistent bi-weekly or monthly paycheck. But the sky is the limit!”I want work as often as I want, when I want.”Another good answer. Flexibility. Your new-found freedom will allow you to attend your kids’ ball games after school or take your spouse on that mid-afternoon date. Maybe your outlaws (sorry, I mean in-laws) are visiting. You won’t have to disappear for 8 hours every day. Are you a morning lark or a night owl? You can choose to work at times when you are most productive. The more you work, the more you make. You can put in as many hours as you want, and get paid based on amount of work you do, unlike that salaried job.”I’m tired of making money for someone else.”Great answer! In a home-based business your profits are yours to keep. They don’t go to someone else’s bottom line. You’ll also find it’s a lot easier to give yourself a raise when you’re the boss.”Wait a minute! I can’t afford to quit my job and start cold turkey working from home.”Then what are you going to do? Fortunately, there is a great option for those who need to “ease in” to the home-based business world. AND, the start-up cost can be as much or as little as you want to make it. I’m referring to the home-based affiliate marketing business.What is affiliate marketing? Considered a widespread method of website promotion, affiliate marketing rewards an affiliate for every visitor, subscriber and/or customer provided through its efforts. It is a modern variation of the practice of paying finder’s-fees to individuals who introduce new clients to a business service or product. In a nutshell, as an affiliate, businesses pay you for sending them a new client/customer. In some cases you can get paid whether or not they purchase a product or sign up for a service.The beauty of a home-based affiliate marketing business is that it allows you to begin building your business part-time until you reach a point that you’re affiliate business is generating as much revenue as your 9-to-5 salary. That is when you “fire your boss.”Let’s see…..be my own boss, or fire my boss. Your choice.
Top 9 Items To Look For In A Legitimate Home Based Business
If you are someone who wants to start a home based business, how do you go about finding a legitimate home based business in a sea of scams? And not only a legitimate home based business, but a successful home based business. What do you look for? You need to keep the M.O.N.E.Y.T.R.E.E in mind when evaluating companies.Accomplished author, Robert Allen, has devised a method for assisting individuals looking for a home business. He calls it the M.O.N.E.Y.T.R.E.E. I’ll provide a synopsis of what he discusses here.
‘M’ stands for Multiple Streams Of Income. This means that the business must create multiple ways, or streams, of generating income.
‘O’ stands for Outstanding Product. This is just what it says. The company must have a product, or products, which are at the top of their industry. If you don’t have a good product to market, your odds of success are not as good.
‘N’ stands for No or Little Money Down. You don’t want to break-the-bank getting into a home business. So you need to look for something that does not require a large investment.
‘E’ stands for Employee Resistant. One of the main purposes of starting a home business is the ability to work for yourself. You don’t want to get into a home business which requires a lot of employees, if any at all.
‘Y’ stands for Yield. Here, you’re looking for a business which not only has opportunity, but also the potential to make a lot of money.
‘T’ stands for Trend. This simply means, you want to be involved in an industry which is trending up. For instance, you probably don’t want to get involved with selling Beanie Babies right now…that trend has passed. With Baby-Boomers hitting retirement age, the next big trend is health.
‘R’ stands for Residual Income. The business you select should be able to offer you residual income. Meaning, as you put in the effort and grow your business, your business begins to make money for you even when you are NOT actively working it. An example would be the author of a book. Significant time is put into actually writing the book. But once it is published, the author is making money even though they are not actively working on the book. If you can make money while you sleep, you have found a Residual Income Business.
‘E’ stands for Essential Products. These are products people want and need every day. This serves two purposes: first, it creates repeat business. If you are selling bowling balls, generally a customer might only purchase one every couple of years. Or even in a lifetime. However, if it is something they use every day, they will continue coming back. Second, it makes your business recession proof. If your product is something people can do without, then odds are you will lose that business during an economic downturn.
‘E’ stands for Enthusiastic. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a single day in your life” ~ Confucius. I think that sums it up pretty well.
So when you are looking for, or evaluating, a home based business just keep these points in mind. By following this method, the odds of finding a successful home business will increase. And the result will be something you love.
Why You Should Get Into the Home Based Business Industry
There are many reasons why the home based industry is a good investment and business option for people today. In the light of the recent financial crisis, many large organizations and land based businesses are collapsing while the home based business industry is thriving. This is because the online market remained unaffected by the recent recession and has only benefited from the many new online home businesses starting up.A home based business is great idea if you are unemployed, need a second income or if you are a stay at home parent. Even if you are a homemaker with valuable degrees to boast of, or a college student with a lot of free time, an online business is a very lucrative and simple way of making money. Even if you are someone with a steady job, it is always good to have a backup plan just in case. Get ready to get into the home based business industry and you will soon find yourself well on the way to achieving financial security and a great future. Also, once you get the business up and running, you can step back and let it run itself.One of the first steps to starting an online business is doing some groundwork to find the right home based business that suits your qualifications and interest. There are several home based business opportunities for you to choose from and you make a good choice with a bit of effort and concentrated research.Remember never to rush into a home business just because you have a great money making idea. Understand the risks and know that even with all the planning that you put into your business there is a chance of success, only if you are able to market yourself properly.Starting an online home business is a relatively simple option if you have an internet connection, a personal computer and a good business idea. Even marketing knowledge is not required as you can hire someone to market your online business for you. An online business will allow you to work flexible hours and if you are a parent, you will not feel guilty that you are not at home for your children.Building the right home business will reap huge benefits for you. However, do not be greedy and expect results right away. Instead, have patience, put in hard work diligently and eventually the money will come in.
Five Ingredients for the Best Home Based Business
The key aspect to starting the best home based business is to ensure that you are able to provide a product or service to a selected target audience, who want or need that product and service.That audience have to be willing to buy it from you and there must be sufficient numbers of customers to buy the product or service. Also, and most obvious, you need to be able to make a profit or else you have no business.The best home based business is one that is online. There has been a huge consumer shift over the past few years of people buying products and services online and this new digital economy is growing at a phenomenal rate.The five fundamental ingredients that the best home business: A Solid Business PlanThe best home based business model needs the perfect mixture of recurring income (when you sell something once and get paid every month, such as a membership website), affiliate income (when you sell items and get paid a commission) and high ticket income (products or services that you sell where you earn in excess of $1000 per sale).A List Building StrategyThis is s system that allows you to build a list of customers who are interested in your product or service. You will need an autoreponder system and something of value that you can give away to encourage people to subscribe to your list (like a free report or DVD).A Marketing FunnelThe best home based business marketing funnel follows on from you list building strategy. Once your prospects have subscribed to your list, the marketing funnel helps to build a relationship and trust so that your prospects make that all important first buying decision.Paid and Free Traffic SourcesCustomer traffic is the lifeblood to any home business and you must ensure that you have the appropriate skills to use both paid and free customer traffic that is relevant and will convert into customers.Peer Group, Mentors and MindsetIf you want to build the best home based business you are going to need help. It is important that you invest in your home business education to learn from those that have gone before you. Learning from someone who’s already successful will make a big difference to your results.The best home based business is one that does not have an expensive set up cost, has a huge audience of potential customers and allows you to offer specific and popular products without having to buy them first and hold them in stock. This form of home based business is called online affiliate marketing.Online affiliate marketing is where you, as an affiliate, sell products and services and receive a commission when they are purchased. You do not need to buy the products first. You simply locate a vendor that has a popular product (and there are many of these) and sign-up as an affiliate for that product. This does not cost you anything. You then promote the product to your list of customers via email or online or offline advertising. When a person buys the product from you, the vendor will then pay you a commission. You do not have to worry about the product fulfilment or delivery, as the vendor will do this. Also, a good vendor with a good product will supply all the necessary training and marketing materials you will need to help you sell the product.Many entrepreneurs want the best home based business as they have come to realise that relying on one salary from one job no longer provides fro a secure financial future with all current economic round of job cuts, pay freezes, fewer working hours and lower pay.The internet offers the best home based business opportunities. To put this into some perspective, the holiday season online retail spending for 2012 was a 16-percent increase over 2011. This includes November 26 (aka Cyber Monday) which became the heaviest online spending day on record at $1.4 billion. Just having a small slice of this would good for any home based business!
Starting a Small Business – How to Work Smart, Not Hard
More people dream about starting a small business than they do about going to college or seeking promotion.However, owning a small business is more than just a full time job, it can become your lifestyle.The lifestyle you create depends on the small business that you create. It is important to find the best small business to start.There are two types of businesses namely the one where you have to work incredibly hard or the other where you work smart and not hard.Owing a small business can become your life if you are not careful and disciplined. For example a typical store owner can be in demand twenty four hours a day. His or her day doesn’t end when they go home or when the store closes. Even if they are fortunate enough to be able to afford sufficient staff and are able to successfully delegate, it can be difficult to find staff that you can trust. There are times when it can seem that everyone needs their attention – the staff, the customers, the reps, the family and even the mobile phone. Often business owners are seen to the outside world as being wealthy, prosperous and extremely lucky. Little do they know the hard work and effort required to succeed in a small business. There can be many sleepless nights and worry over how to pay the bills, wages and to buy new stock not to mention the responsibility for the health and safety of staff to comply with the Employment Law. There are also the issues of ensuring equal opportunities and of paying the business taxes and insurances on time on top of bank loans for the business. No wonder many small business owners have health problems due to the pressures that they face.There is however another type of small business that is less costly to set up and less stressful to run namely a home based small business. The main advantage of this type of business is that it is open to ordinary people as most small businesses can be run from any small room in a house like a study, bedroom or even a garage without incurring huge costs that other businesses and franchises incur. There are no costs for staffing, travelling or rent for the business premises. The turnover, profits and return on your investment can be as big or small as you choose. There are no limits to what you can achieve with this type of small business.Many choose to start a small business as it offers independence. Many business owners left their jobs to become their own boss as they wanted to make their own decisions, take their own risks but more importantly to reap their own rewards from their effort.There are many home based business opportunities and it is important to carry out research to establish the best small business to start. There are many internet home based opportunities now available, many of which offer the opportunity to make sales from home. There are unlimited trading possibilities with these types of small businesses due to the global market available. The overheads for these types of businesses are low as there is often only the need to own a computer and a phone. You can also work flexible hours based around your own needs because an internet business does not close down. It is open for business twenty four hours a day. You can even be earning money as you sleep!This type of small business is often an easy business to start. It can be the best home based business to start as often one to one coaching is offered to help you start a business from home.This type of business is a successful alternative to a “bricks and mortar business”. It can provide the opportunity to earn more money, work less hours and help provide more time to spend with friends and family. However as with any other small business your business success will be determined by the time and commitment you put into your business but with the right mindset and motivation it is possible to achieve great rewards both financially and on a personal level.
The Role of Marketing and Advertising Agencies in Business
An advertising or marketing agency is the third-party offering advertising and marketing services to organizations and businesses. They are the best source to acquire complete information about the market. With the help of various methods like culture knowledge, market research and modernized sales techniques, advertising agencies provide detail information about the current market scenario.
What services do advertising agencies offer?
The services of an advertising agency include creating gorgeous color schemes and logos that can drive consumers towards their client’s ads. Amongst the services, they also prepare brochures and slogans and create descriptive copies for the sales materials. Most advertising agencies use various media platforms for promoting their client’s organization and business. Magazine advertisements, TV commercials, websites, radio commercials, newspaper ads and infomercials are few of the media used for marketing.
Before marketing, the agencies must know about the services and products of their clients. This helps them to decide the demographic to promote the products and services to consumers. Together with outsourcing of product promotion services, businesses have now started outsourcing the marketing functions.
Marketing Agencies and Their Functionality
Often businesses are unable to decide how to market their services and products or what type of marketing will be effective for them. This is where the marketing agencies come to help. They work coherently with their client companies and offer them professional assistance to plan their marketing strategies. The primary aim of these agencies is to boost up the sales of their client company. They offer marketing strategies which would reach out to the largest number of prospective audiences.
Marketing agencies also do a lot of market research. They study about the sale points and demographics for supplementing their services across the market. Marketing agencies work together with the advertising agencies delivering them strategic inputs about the marketing ways, geographies, target audience and the market study. Hence, they both can promote a company in the true sense.
A company can drive its target audience and consumers with the help of these two agencies. These agencies make certain things like brand recalling and control over the market more effective for a business organization. The strategies of these agencies are highly efficient in establishing a company among its competitors. Companies can sway their consumers in a remarkable way. Now, it might be a costly affair to engage these agencies for a company but it is worth the investment it makes.
Both marketing and advertising agencies survey the market thoroughly which is not at possible for any business to do. They study the market and use varied tools to make a company and its business poplar in the market.
Online Advertising Strategies
Online advertising is all about getting your website in front of the people who are interested in your product or service. There are a number of different ways in which a website can get itself advertised on the web like contextual ads on search engine results pages, banner ads, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, online classified advertising, integrating pop-ups on a visited site, advertising networks, and email marketing, including email spam. In most cases it will prove preferable to include a variety of types of media and different versions of online advertisement.
Search Engine Advertising is a method of placing online advertisements on Web pages that show results from search engine queries based on keywords and phrases entered by internet users or potential buyers. The three biggest sources of this type of advertising are Google, Yahoo. Search engine advertising works on the simple principle of supply and demand.
Contextual Advertising, also known as content-targeted advertising is based on keywords in the surrounding content or context, which means that your advertisement is shown on a Web site that is ‘in context’ to your specific product or service. This advertising technology works by publishing your text or rich media advertisement on the relevant affiliated Web sites that best match your selected targeted keywords or channels. This is usually less profitable than search advertising which is based on user intent expressed through their keywords.
There are three common methods of purchasing online advertising space for various types of advertising tools:
* Cost Per Click also referred to as the Pay Per Click means that payment for advertising is proportional to the number of unique clicks on advertising banners. Cost Per Click differs from Cost Per Visit in that each click is paid for regardless of whether the user makes it to the target site. Either a flat-rate or a bid-based pricing scheme one can choose from for a Cost Per Click ad. A drawback to the Cost Per Click advertising model is that it can be compromised by click fraud.
* Cost Per thousand impressions means that the method of payment is based on the number of views. This advertising model is generally reserved for websites with high traffic volume (more than one million pages viewed per month). The total price paid in a Cost Per thousand impressions deal is calculated by multiplying the Cost Per thousand impressions rate by the number of Cost Per thousand units. For example, one million impressions at $10 Cost Per thousand impressions equal a $10,000 total price.
* Cost Per Action or acquisition, also be known as or Cost Per Lead means that payment is based on performance, and is a common method in affiliate marketing programs. In this advertising scheme, the publisher takes all the risk of running the ad, and the advertiser pays only for the amount of users who complete a transaction, such as a purchase or sign-up. According to industry observers, this is the best type of rate to pay for banner advertisements and the worst type of rate to charge.
Online advertising is so flexible and cost effective that even small businesses can afford to look into advertising online as in many types of ads there is no pay unless there are results. This type of strategy can make advertising very cost effective, especially for those who do not have large advertising budgets. Online marketing services are incomplete without online advertising, without the powerful advertising marketing can never be successful.
In this world of businesses the need of online advertising company is crucial. An online advertising company can play a major role in assisting its client companies advertise their products on the Internet and reach their target audience. The future of online advertising and online advertising companies looks bright and very exciting to be sure.
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.