Over the past few years a large number of people have started with their own business ventures and most of these ventures fall under the ‘home based business’ category. Home based businesses have gained in popularity and given the current job scenario more and more people are looking to start with their work-from-home stint.You have a large number of options to choose form if you want to start working from home. The internet provides people with fantastic opportunities and those who make the most of these opportunities end up making loads of money in a short span of time. In order to be successful, you need to know what to look for and where to look. Depending upon your field of expertise there are a number of job opportunities that you can convert into a business in the latter stages.Various books and ebooks over the internet provide you with good information about the various options you have. These ebooks provide you with information on the various websites and forums where you can bid and find projects to suit your field of expertise. These books also offer tips on how to bid for a particular project and how to meet deadlines successfully.You can find a large number of tips related to home based business over the internet. These tips are written by people who have successfully managed to form a full-fledged home based business and have successfully run the business for a long time now. These tips prove to be very effective if you have to start from the scratch and have no idea about how things work in the world of internet.Once you read a book, you would realize the importance of those full-of-fun websites like twitter and
Facebook. You would come to know how these websites form an important part of the online marketing strategy of businesses across the world. You should also try to get your hands on information about web2 and how things work in the present era of online marketing.Initially you may find it tough to establish your name over the internet in a particular field. However a few months down the line, you would well be on your path to establishing a successful home based business. Once you get a few regular clients, you can look to expand your business and take it to a higher level.
Finding Information About Home Based Business
Home Based Business – What Are the Benefits?
Are you in the right job for you? Do you enjoy going to work? What about on the Friday, are you still as keen? Or do you tend to check your watch every minute after lunch time hanging for the day to finish.Maybe a day to day job is not right for you.I understand that with pressures of family and other commitments, that is isn’t that easy just to pack up and leave a job. I wouldn’t recommend quitting your job and starting a home based business anyway, because depending on the business, it could take some time for you to actually make an income from it. Regular income is a big plus, but why settle for something that you are not 100% happy with? What is stopping you from looking at what else is out there?So with a home based business, what are the benefits?1. The best thing about a home based business is that it can be flexible. You can do it in your own time. (In your pyjamas if you really want).2. With the internet at hand, you can potentially do everything from home! From price comparisons, to ordering, to delivering items, to calling, e-mailing, even to Skype (a free telephone service available all over the world).3. One huge advantage is, that you could even work on it when you’re not home. Work overseas, or even when you are on holidays.4. Most home based businesses create a passive income, so the income you can make is unlimited. No more ‘waiting for that big promotion’. You create your own success. If you are focused on achieving your goal in the business, you can make it happen.5. Once your business is up and running, and making you the money you require, you can then chose to quit your day job, and concentrate solely on your home based business. If you are a stay at home parent, or don’t have a job yourself, but can cover costs with some other source of income for a while, you can also build quite a substantial business if you put your mind to it.So, if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone; the regular pay cheque that comes with a day to day job, and are open to the idea that you can be so much more than you are now, then maybe you should take the step to start your own home based business.
Running an Online Home Based Business – Avoiding The Usual Pitfalls
While an online home-based business can be a very exciting endeavor, there are some pitfalls to be avoided if you are going to have some success.Some of these pitfalls include the following:* Getting distracted by other business opportunity offers;
* Getting distracted by other online based activities;
* Being bombarded with a tremendous amount of information that results in information overload.
* Being susceptible to a high level of business scam.Of course the above is not exhaustive but is enough to be cause for concern in running your online business.So how do you ensure that you at the very least avoid these pitfalls and get on with the task of running your business?The simple answer really is adequate preparation. Prepare yourself mentally in knowing what these pitfalls are for one, and the level of danger that they pose to the success of your business.Understanding how each of these threats can undermine your efforts at running your online home business is important in avoiding them and managing any attendant effects. For example, do you understand the danger posed to your own online business when you constantly pursue other business opportunities to you?Are you sufficiently aware of how allowing your enthusiasm to be driven by nothing but a slick sales pitch can negatively affect your mindset ultimately? Do you understand the linkage between this and the fact that you probably are guilty of jumping from opportunity to opportunity with no success to show?Do you understand the difference the importance of seeing yourself as an online home business operator and not an online consumer? Here is a clue – slick internet marketers love when you see yourself only as a consumer because then you tend to forget what your business is about. You become an easy sell.Businesses make rational buying decisions after careful thought and based on a good feel for how what they are buying fit into their business model. Consumers make decisions based on impulse and what they feel will bring them satisfaction.The lesson – you cannot be an online consumer trying to run an online home based business. You have to be a professional business operator.If you are going to have a good chance of running a successful online home based business, you have to get to understand the above issues at a very deep level. Just knowing that you should not waste time with e-mails or chasing other business opportunities when you should be doing something for your business is not enough.You have to have a deep understanding about these issues so that the negative consequences are drilled so deep into your consciousness that it becomes painful every time you even attempt to do anything like these that will undermine your own efforts. And we all know that most likely you will automatically seek to avoid the pain.That is your most effective approach to avoiding and dealing with the pitfalls that you are bound to face in running an online home-based business.
Home Based Business – A Rising Trend
The number of home based business is rising rapidly. With corporate downsizing and the current economic downturn, most people are exploring the new opportunities coming up putting the concept of telecommuting into use. There are quite a number of advantages that come with this especially for those who are looking for flexibility and a more balanced life.Increased Work TimeIt goes without saying that most people spend close to an hour a day travelling from home to their offices and way back to their homes. You have to grapple with daily heavy traffic issues, harsh weather and enduring hours of small talk with people you meet along the way. This does not only reduce your useful working hours, but it also leaves you fatigued and drained. When it comes to a home business however, all you need to take is a few steps to set up your home office and you will start earning your own money. You also do not have to worry about office close time as you can work for as long as your work permits. This leaves you with more time to respond to client phone calls, emails as well as handle other pressing business concerns.Increased ProductivityAlthough working from a corporate office may offer a wide base of clientele drawn especially from the walk-in clients; home business allows you to take advantage of all the business tools that come your way. Internet marketing is one crucial tool that is being used by both small and large business organizations to increase their sales. Online advertising gives a home-based business organization to enjoy level field in-terms of access to the market. A small company can also effectively launch an online advertising campaign just like large corporate organizations.Reduced OverheadsOperating a home business reduces your recurrent budget as expenses such as rent, service charges and other major office expenses are reduced. For most companies, you will find that rent is a major component of the recurrent expenditure as it has to be paid regardless of whether the company makes money or not. The global market is driving property rates higher to an extent that startups often find it hard to put up businesses in certain localities and neighborhoods. A home based business eliminates this unnecessary anxiety and pressure.Ease of Making DecisionsWhen you rent office space, you unintentionally make your landlord a part of your business. It hence becomes hard for you to make decisions about the business size without involving him. With a home business, the decision to upscale or downscale can be made easily as it does not involve other players. You can add more staff or reduces your staff size to suit the demands of your business.Unmatched FlexibilityIt goes without saying that more than 50% of startups fail in the first year of business. With the current global market trends, it is hard for a new business to survive unless properly managed. In this age of internet marketing and advertising, home based business allows you to try new ventures without incurring huge outlay costs.
Should Small Businesses Start Hiring Again Or Fear the Future?
Many small business fear expansion right now, they fear hiring additional employees, and they are completely worried about the future. Should they be? We know that community banks are worried and there are not a lot of small business loans going on right now. Indeed, as a former franchisor before retirement it is my contention that I wouldn’t pour money into a small business right now, much less touch it with a ten-foot pole. Let me explain;Why would you want to start a business where you had to hire people with all the new Obama administration rules, and this latest AFO-CIO appointment to the Department of Labor is scary too, it’s going to be really tough on small businesses. Not long ago, I was explaining all this to an acquaintance who was buying an existing business and considering the hiring of a employees to help her in her business and she asked me; “tell me more. My guess is that I would have a couple part-time women.”So should my acquaintance start her business and hire two part-time employees? Don’t know, no one knows what was in that darn Health Care bill, small business doesn’t know, information flow sucks, the Administration hasn’t said, it’s all vague and NO Small Business Person in their right mind would risk going into business right now knowing they’d hire employees. The President got on TV and made some vague inane speech about how this would help small businesses? No details, none forthcoming, terrible communication job. Terrible – and quite frankly it’s completely and absolutely un-acceptable.This group of leaders doesn’t know what the heck they are doing. We need a better team, and some common sense behind it. These people have never had to make a payroll in their lives, it ought to be a pre-requisite for public office, how on Earth can anyone believe they can run things without working knowledge of the realities of running a business? Now then, I was reading in some trade journals in various industries all the phase-ins for health care insurance law compliance, it’s a mess.Worse, it’s going to be an absolute hardship on small business, and medical costs are still rising, and rising, and rising. Over the last decade these costs have outpaced inflation by 10:1 and they just keep going? Hard to say what fuel they are using but we need that for the Space Shuttle – seriously folks, this is a disaster for the business community, and it isn’t going to help anyone, only raise costs.And people wonder why jobs are not returning? 75% – plus of our jobs are through small business in America, but the politicians are too busy coddling lobbyists of large corporations to even worry about it. It’s all a show, it’s all BS, and until things change, I’d be leery of the unknown or future business risk taking. So, you asked me to tell you more? There you have it. Am I the only person in this whole country that gets it? What the hell are they doing?The Small Business Administration director hasn’t a clue. My god, this dog and pony show never stops, WTH is going on. And the media hasn’t helped, what small businesses are supposed to go pay an attorney and accountant to tell them the new law changes? Sure, pay the professional parasites to tell you about the “new rules” I mean, do these legislators (all lawyers) even hear themselves think? And as the economy expands and gets back to normal, which jobs come back first? Legal jobs of course, what a totally screwed up system.So, the business people have to pay lawyers, accountants just to prepare for the law changes, scared out of their wits they might make a mistake and the big bad government is going to fine them, jail them, put them out of business? How do I know this is how it goes? Because I set up 187 franchises serving some 450 cities, I know exactly how small business works and how business people think. Meanwhile, we have a perceived “small business hater” president who never explained the comments about his “joe the plumber” gaf, and although it was blown out of proportion.That indeed, was a definite psychological hit to small business, one we still haven’t gotten over and we must to insure small business confidence, if we truly want those jobs – I am beginning to think they don’t by the actions of the Obama Administration, but don’t doesn’t understand and Obama’s PR team there is unfortunately too “unwise” to understand, so they laugh it off, and ramrod some BS health care legislation with a 2800 page health care bill, and then Pelosi is on prime time TV and says; “Well, you’ll just have to vote for it to see what’s in the bill.” You have to be kidding me?Why should small businesses have to contact a lawyer to explain the health care rules? And may I ask with what money are they supposed to pay the $2,000 bill to set it up properly so they don’t get fined? Small businesses have been battling this recession for 35-months now, they are barely hanging on. If you own a small business and “Need the Money” well, get in line, every small business does and there is nowhere to borrow it. No one, me included, or any bank would be foolish enough to take the risk to lend money now. And no one knows what this Administration or Congress is going to do next?They are unpredictable, perceived unstoppable and willing to shove any 4,000 page bill down America’s throats. And don’t you dare argue with me, next could be Cap and Trade, and energy costs will skyrocket and you’ll be stuck in a business watching your energy costs go up 45%! How about that? Then you can expect shortages and mandatory “Energy Ultra Efficient” equipment which will be required, above your already efficient units, air-conditioning system, solar panels, computers, along with new lighting, above and beyond what you have.If you don’t you will be fined or shut down. If you cannot or do not want the presence of an attorney one will be appointed, if you want to stay in business the SBA will give you loans, GREAT borrow more money, as they destroy your business, go into more debt, is their answer, interesting, that’s the problem in the first place, the government is broke, now they want all the businesses to be as broke as they are and pay for all their mistakes in higher costs, taxes, fines, and fees. Enough already!And if you think I am blowing smoke, it could easily happen in the next six to 18-months, and I wouldn’t put anything past this Administration or Congress, they are absolutely out of control. Do you think that if your energy costs tripled in your business you could keep your prices at the current level? Of course not, and if you double your prices, 30% of your customers will not come back, and the others will come less often, easily taking at hit of 40-50% in revenues? Well, think it can’t happen?It did in CA when the government imposed rules, raised energy costs, had shortages then black outs, and it happened twice one decade apart. Now tack on health care costs for employees, yourself – mandatory let’s say, because I don’t know, no one does yet, can you then really make money> NO, NO YOU CAN’T. And so you work harder, lay off your employees who stop shopping – no money – and other businesses suffer because unemployment is so high. See what’s happening? Where we are headed?You want me to tell you more? Sure, I could go on for 48-hours straight, with examples in the real world of what happens when government gets a stick up their rear-ends into what is supposed to be a free market economy like the USA. End of rant, end of article.Please consider all this.
Keep It Simple With a Marketing Triangle
“Keep your eye on the target and your marketing plan simple and focused”
Keep it Simple with a Marketing Triangle
Let’s face it, you are the busiest you have ever been. You are trying to keep up with all your learning, staying active in the community, marketing and implementing (or keeping up with) technology, and of course making money! There is a lot of “noise” out there and it is easy to get distracted and thrown off course from your main goal of building your business and adding clients.
It is time to simplify things and when it comes to your marketing, it doesn’t have to be difficult. You have heard me say before that marketing is simply telling people what you are doing in your business. It’s that simple. But the problems happen when we get stretched too thin and get off course from our strategic approach or message. We get involved in too many different “shiny sparkly objects” or marketing programs, and become exhausted. We wind up doing nothing!
Here is a simple principle I learned that will help you get your marketing in line, it is called the marketing triangle and it is an easy to remember strategy for building your marketing plan – Market – Message – Media.
MARKET: you need to choose a target market. Wean out the wrong people to get to the right people.
• Is it large enough?
• Is it easy to reach?
• Do they have money to spend?
• Do you have a natural affinity with it?
• Do they need your product or service
• Do you know their pain and how to solve it?
MESSAGE: you need to speak to your market in THEIR language, in a way that they will respond. Talk like they do, get on their level so to speak. RELATE to them. You would need to market differently to a group of senior citizens as opposed to a group of seniors graduating from high school, wouldn’t you?
• Be bold in your message
• Be clear in your information
• Be consistent
• Tell your compelling story with passion
• Be authentic, let your message reflect who YOU are
MEDIA: Don’t limit yourself to online only – there are thousands of possibilities here!
• Diversify your marketing
• The Internet is a media all it’s own
• Consider speaking and hosting workshops
• Direct mail
• What is the best way to reach my target, my list, my prospect?
• How does my target customer preferred to be contacted?
• Create online or print white paper on your industry/market
• Create online or print newsletter to your SOI
• PUSH your content to the social networks in a systemized program
• Consider a blog to share your message and educational posts
BE CREATIVE – DO YOUR RESEARCH
What would catch your attention? How would you pay attention?
MARKET – MESSAGE – MEDIA
To be successful in your business you need to have your target market, your message and your media all line up:
• Pick a plan and stick to it
• Choose a marketing method that is tried and proven that will leverage your content on the web
• Work your plan
• Get rid of fear you might miss out on something and stay focused on the plan you choose – STOP BUYING marketing programs and WORK the method you have!
• Use my TIME-IMAGINATION-BUDGET practice to guide you in building your plan
Times may change but marketing 101 does not change. “Master the marketing basics and your business will grow”. Just like any world-class musician or athlete – they practice, practice, practice AND PRACTICE to bring perfection to their craft. Mastering your marketing through repetition of a proven, strategic plan, will bring you success.
Evaluating Different Methods of Advertisements
Advertising in today’s economy is just as important as it has ever been before. The reason is simple; people are watching where they are spending their money. In addition, the methods of how to advertise have changed over the past decade. Large companies are now pushing more for advertising online and people are increasing their shopping and browsing online. We now have three main methods to advertise. We have online advertisement, television advertisement and brick and mortar advertisement. These can all be effective but some cost significantly more than others and may not yield the desired results for the money invested. So, what is the best way to advertise, you need to review what methods you think will work for your business
Television advertisement is the most expensive and can yield the quickest benefit depending on which slot you pick to advertise on. In other words, you will most likely benefit more to advertise during the 5:30-9:00 time slot if you happen to be a car dealership. The reason being is several people work during the day and you want people that are working to see your advertisement. Therefore, you will end up paying more for this type of advertisement. So make sure you reap the most benefit you need to look at your business and decide if when would be best for you spend money on this type of advertisement. You also should keep in mind if you should use this type of advertisement during one particular time of the year.
Brick and mortar advertisement is something similar to a shotgun blast and can be very effective for a decent price. However, you lack the ability to enforce branding as much with this type of advertising that you often can accomplish with advertising on the TV. The brick and mortar method consists of using advertisements in the local paper, billboards and even on the radio. These can be effective if people running your campaign can provide statistics on the genre of the group that responds to ads from each source. As an example if you selling products that cost thousands of dollars you would not want your advertisement playing on a radio station that predominately targets a younger audience that may not be able to afford your product or services.
Online advertising can be the cheapest but also the most difficult to achieve because you have to rely on people to go to your website or find your advertisements. Large companies are getting better at online advertisements by using search engines to advertise for them while including website address with their TV commercials. Larger companies are training people to regularly visit their website by offering specials online.
I discussed three different methods to use advertise. You can advertise on TV, brick and mortar advertising which includes radio, billboards and newspaper advertisements or you can advertise online. The way to select any of these groups is to know the age, gender and potential income of your audience in addition to seasonal adjustments in their buying patterns.
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.