For five or more years I struggled with the dream of a home based business. I learned a lot of things, one was not to try them all at the same time, pick a category that you are good at and stick with that one idea and turn it into a business.If you’re not sure what business to get into then, you must follow some good advice and do a lot of research. When I think back a few years ago, I went into this working from home idea totally blind, I didn’t do my research, I grabbed at this straw and that straw, this sounds good I think I’ll try it, that one sounds better I think that’s for me, around and around I went, day after day week after week spending hours on my computer, watching my savings account dwindle to low numbers, it wasn’t worth the effort, I was working in the wrong direction.After five years of this, you can tell that I’m not a quitter, I do not give up easy, but after pulling my hair out by the roots, my family telling me a home based business is a bad idea, I quote, “everybody is doing it, there is no more room for another business, your wasting your time and money” I listened to this about every day, but I ignored it and kept on struggling but after so long I did give up, sorry to say, but I was at my wits end, I couldn’t do it anymore.Well guess what? A past contact called me and suggested I take a look at a new home based business she had just gotten into and the thing was rocking and rolling ,I was skeptical at first, but I still had some of the entrepreneurial spirit left in me and I called her, checked out the website, found out this was it for me. I didn’t realize at that time just how fantastic this home based business was designed and the amount of guidance that was available through the upline and the training that was available to me. Now life is taking a turn for the better, I’m glad I tried one more home based business opportunity, and I finally found one that really works.If you’re struggling don’t give up just yet, you may be closer to success than you think.
5 Quickest Ways to Identify the Best Home Based Business For Moms
If you are a working Mom, especially when you have a child under two years of age you know how it feels to leave your child at the day care and go to work. This feeling is still intensified when your child is recovering from sickness and you need to be home but you cannot stay home because of demanding work schedules or to keep food on the table. These moments are gut wrenching and hart warming. Times like these make you think of your priorities and what really matters to you most.Thanks to the technology and growing number of home based businesses for moms. If you really choose, you can stay home and generate the income without feeling guilty about staying away from your children.Imagine the feeling of staying home with your kids and still making money. It is like having best of both worlds. It is not a day dream any more as it has been proven by countless other moms.Here are five quickest ways to identify the best home based business for moms:Flexible schedule
Look for a proven home based business which allows you to work part time. It has to be something which gives you tangible results for 2 or 3 hour work you put in each day. You should be able to do it in addition to your day time job and after putting your kids to bed.Easy lead generation
You should be able to generate prospects or leads to your business with easy methods instead of going out and meeting strangers or handing out product samples. The business should have multiple lead generation methods to choose from so that you can pick the most suitable method that fits your personality.Sound educational and support system
The home based business you choose should have a proven educational and support system to help you get started and running quickly. There should be live support personnel to talk to in case you need help with something you don’t understand.Great compensation plan
The bottom line for starting a business is to make money. The compensation plan must include great upfront commission as well as lucrative residual income. A couple of high end sales a month on your computer from your home office should make you decent five figure income.Great community
The business should have a great community of leaders who share the knowledge on a daily basis and help others to learn from them. Initially when you come home after a busy day of work and sit on the computer to work your business, it feels good to know that you have team of people who support you when you need help. It will boost your energy and gives you more confidence to accomplish the tasks you set out to do in your business.
Easy Methods To Generate Home Based Business Leads
Having home based business leads is mandatory should you be looking to explode your business and looking for ways to be a top earner in your business. On the other hand the problem is that we waste too much money on the home based business leads and also we lose all our money before we even have chance to make profit. I will go over some methods that you might use immediately to explode your home venture in a record time. I will discuss the free and paid methods you might use to produce this leads.The 1st free methods that you can use to create home based venture leads are through article writing. There are actually diverse things that you know right now that other people might benefit from. Write about it. Create something interesting. Create about something very educational. Whenever you do this, you’ll create followers. Some of these followers off course will opt to work with you. You can find free websites where you can post your articles or blog posts. You are on one of them now.Another free procedure that you might use to produce Home based business leads is through video marketing. You tube is the second most visited internet site now. Shoot a video. Let people know who you’re. Let them know about your business. Offer them success tips and also value through this video. Again just like write-up marketing, they’ll follow you. As soon as they become far more comfortable with you, most of them will join you in your home venture.Social media is another way that you could use to generate home based enterprise leads. Social media could take a lot more time. But the idea is still precisely the same thing. Do not post on your friend’s Facebook wall as well as start pitching your home venture. You must create relationship with individuals on Facebook or Twitter. Chat with them. Offer value. Be positive on there. Make positive comment to their statuses and profile. Whenever you do these, you’ll create followers.The quicker way to create home based venture leads is through paid traffic. Basically you pay money for web site like Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook, Twitter plus even You tube to strategically place your ad. As you could guess, in terms of traffic, Google is your best bet. Realize that you could easily lose money with this paid ways of producing home based venture leads. That is why you need proper training for these.There is where an attraction marketing system comes into place. You can get thousands of benefits of having an attraction marketing system. One of it is the trainings that you are going to get. If you are not properly trained, you’ll easily lose thousands of dollars on paid home based venture leads generation.
Ideas for Home Based Businesses for Women
If you are a woman, and a wife and mother for that matter, have you ever wonder what would happen if you or your husband lost your job? Or if your kids start school or go to college? Have you asked yourself if your day job lets you and your family live comfortably? If you’ve got several questions to this tune, then perhaps it’s time that you try some home based business on the side that’s specifically tailored for women.Women, mothers especially, are always ready to take over when the need arises, especially now that the country is gripped by the recession, moms all over the country are exploring the infinite possibilities that many home based businesses for women are promising.Business ideas can sprout from anywhere and women entrepreneurs are quick on the uptake. Fields such as home and childcare, healthcare and nutrition, fashion, crafts of all sorts are some of the usual business opportunities that the ladies would be more likely to be great at running and managing.To give you a head start, you can choose from among the various suggestions below regarding home based businesses for women like you who are intent on achieving the best for herself and her family:* Utilizing social networks to sell products and servicesA lot of working women have been making use of sites such as Facebook and Twitter to sell various products ranging from health products such as multivitamins and diet pills, to clothes, sports gear, fashion accessories, purses and wallets, and even electronic gadgets and motor vehicles. One can create a page for free in these social networking sites, and for someone starting out, this is definitely a great home based business for women.* Keeping blogs / websitesAnother wonderful home based business for women would be keeping a blog or website. You can choose to blog for the noble and aesthetic reason of documenting your own exploits and adventures and making money out of them by running ads, or you can blog for the sole purpose of doing paid article-writing jobs for search engine optimization (SEO) companies.* Creating and hosting a social network siteStill another home based business trend for women is creating your own social network site. You can start small with a handful of friends and you can eventually increase your site’s membership through email invites or however you want to market it. Examples of these sites are bookieboo*com and socialmediamom*com. Once you get enough members or guests visiting the site, that’s when the profits come in-now you can charge advertisers in your site.* Creating mobile phone apps targeted for women and/or moms as audiencesYour neighbor whose right hand is stuck to her iPhone all the time may well be operating her new home based business for women who love baking cakes and pastry. For all you know, the app that you just purchased to help you with your baking measurements is the same app that she developed while nursing her youngest son. App developers are mostly men, but women are now joining them and coming up with ingenious apps like the “Baby Bump” which is a pregnancy tracker and a baby names database.These are some of the hot home based businesses for women and there are still a lot that no man, or woman, has ever thought of yet. Be the first then and join the hundreds of women who were dedicated to improve their lives with successful online businesses.
Small Business Advertising: Why It Is Important to Advertise
Starting and running a small business can be an exciting opportunity for anyone. But far too many small business owners overlook the importance of advertising as a revenue driver. The fact is that advertising is the engine that drives global business, representing around $500 billion annually. But even though major international companies have been consistently advertising, demonstrating their recognition of its importance, the small and local business market has been slow to catch on.Either these small and local businesses either are not advertising at all, or, when they do, they make considerable mistakes doing so. After all, small business owners are not typically trained in the details of marketing, so they are deprived of the basic understanding of how to create an effective advertising campaign. And to make matters worse, most small businesses don’t con side the importance of learning how to advertises, or how to engage outside help to be successful.So what often happens is that, after a few negative ad campaign experiences, many small and local businesses cease advertising, and struggle to find other ways to promote their business. A phrase commonly heard among this crow goes something like “advertising just doesn’t work for our business.”Worse yet are the small businesses who get mediocre results from their advertising. They may be aware that something is wrong, but are unable to identify what exactly it is that is limiting their effectiveness. There’s a famous saying on the subject that goes something like “I know half of my advertising is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” This notion is particularly important for small and local businesses, because they can’t afford to waste the budget that they have spent on advertising. That’s why it’s crucial for small businesses to recognize the common mistakes they need to avoid, so their ad campaigns can be as successful as possible.Some mistakes include not recognizing who they are advertising to, and, as a result having a weak message that doesn’t resonate with anyone. Another very common problem is lack on constancy in the message of the ad and the destination website where an ad points. Finally, many small businesses neglect to take advantage of capturing leads and following up with them, even though the technology and the systems are so readily accessible.Small, local business advertising is easy to do. You just need to understand some basic rules, and know what mistakes to avoid. To help small business owners who are looking for help, I’ve prepared a report on 7 mistakes local businesses should avoid in their advertising. If you think it would be useful for your business, you can get access to it at http://baeronmarketing.com/7mistakes. Remember that advertising is a vital part of the economic success of most businesses. Don’t overlook the importance of budgeting for and constantly promoting your business to both prospects as well as your current clients.
Home Based Business – 7 Reasons to Start One
Are you tired of working for someone else, always working more but never getting paid more? Are you tired of never being able to show up for your child’s school events, because you have a boss breathing down your neck?
Millions of Americans are starting their own Home Based Business. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, have a masters degree or a high school diploma. You could start your own home-based business tomorrow with very little start up cost. I’m going to give you a few reasons why you should do this.
1. More time with family – Isn’t this what we all really want. Think about this. You work 9-5. This is eight hours a day spent with your boss and coworkers, not counting the hour it took you to get to work and back home. You arrive home at 6pm. Your kids are so excited to see you. They want to tell you about their whole day at school, but you still need to cook dinner. After you have all eaten and maybe watched a television program together, it’s time to put the kids to bed. It’s now 8:30 pm. You read the kids a short bedtime story. They quietly drift off to sleep. You look at their precious little faces, and your heart aches that you don’t get to spend more quality time with your family. Why should you have to give your boss and coworkers the best part of you.
If you’re a parent with a traditional 9-5 job, this is probably something you deal with everyday. You go to work day in and day out, spending the best part of the day with your boss and coworkers. You are left with just a few short hours when you get home every evening to spend time with your kids and husband while in between you are trying to cook dinner. This isn’t how it should be, but you ask yourself what else can you do? You are stuck in the daily grind of your job. You still have bills to pay and groceries to buy. Why not think about starting your own home based business.
You don’t have to be worried about quitting your current job to do this. Get on the internet and start looking. You will be overwhelmed at first, but sort through and find what interests you the most and start from there first. A home-based business can offer you the quality time with your family you truly deserve.
2. Flexibility- How many people can honestly say they go to work in their PJ’s every morning, take a break whenever they feel like it, and run errands whenever they want to? A home-based business can offer you this kind of flexibility. Most people can’t afford to quit their day job to start a new business, but that’s ok. Here’s where the flexibility part begins to play in.
Most home-based businesses can be started on a part time basis. You may only work your business a few hours a week. It’s not the quantity of time, it’s the quality of time you put into it that matters. Work your business whenever it fits into your schedule. It may be late after the kids go to bed or it may be early before anyone gets up. You decide!
3. No Boss- Do you ever get tired of punching a time clock, someone constantly looking over your shoulder, telling you when and where to take break? With your own home-based business, your the captain of this ship. You are the boss. This means you are going to have to be disciplined. No one is going to do it for you. Just because you are at home doesn’t mean you can spend six hours a day watching your favorite soap opera.
Write down some goals in the beginning. This will help keep you focused as you grow your new business. Always know your “why”. You may stray from time to time but this will help keep you on the right path. You’re the boss now. You have to be responsible.
4. No Commuting- How would you like to save the money you spend every week on
gas and use it towards a vacation. The average american is spending anywhere between $2.15-$3.00 per gallon of gas. What if you are driving sixty to a hundred miles round trip to work. Look at the money you could be saving in gas alone if you do not have to commute.
Plug in the numbers and see for yourself what kind of savings you could have.
Not only are you going to be saving on gas, but the wear and tear on your car. You probably won’t need to replace your tires as often. This all adds up quickly.
5. Financial Stability- Do you avoid checking your mail because your afraid there
may be a bill inside? Does your phone ring off the hook because creditors are hounding you? If this sounds like your life, you may want to think about starting your own home based business. Starting your own business can give you that extra income you need to pay off some bills without quitting your current job. Once you get your feet on the ground, if you are willing to give your business 1-3 years for growth, you could surpass your current income while saving in other areas.
Most americans carry $8-$10,000 worth of credit card debt. Almost anyone can get a credit card these days. Most people should only have one credit card for emergencies. Think about getting one with only a small credit line. If you only have a $1,500 credit limit, you can probably handle this. If you have one with a $5-$10,000 credit limit, you can get in over your head before you know it.
Financial freedom is something we all dream about, but for most of us it’s not going to happen with our current jobs. The right home-based business has the ability to offer you and your family the financial freedom we all long for.
6. No Daycare- Wouldn’t it be a great feeling each morning to wake up and know
your children are going to be with you and not some stranger all day. This is one of the hardest decisions we as parents have to make after having children. Having a home-based business allows you to stay home with your children full time. You will be the one to hold them when they are sick, see their first steps, and hear their first words.
If you are one of the lucky parents who are fortunate enough to have friends or family who can watch your children when you are at work, great! But most parents aren’t that lucky. You have to rely on daycare to take care of your children when you’re at work. You try and tell yourself, ok, these are licensed staff members I am leaving my children with. But the thoughts of leaving them with strangers at all, makes you sick. Maybe your kids cry everyday when you leave them. That makes for a long, guilt-ridden day at work. I say this because I have been there and know what it feels like.
Your kids are going to get sick from time to time, but the odds of them getting sick as often if they are home full time with you are much less than if they are in daycare everyday. This means no calling into work, telling your boss you can’t come in because you have a sick child. You will be home with your child to comfort him or her when they are sick, play with them, and take care of them when they are hurt. This is priceless and no can do it better than you.
7. Tax Advantages- Many people don’t realize the tax advantages offered with a home-based business. I definitely do not claim to be a tax expert, but there are many common things which can be deducted depending on what your business is.
Just to mention a few, advertising, business miles, supplies, business building information, ex. audiocassettes, DVDs, just to name a few. If you decide to be one of the millions of Americans to start a home-based business, talk with your tax advisor. He or she will be able to give you more specific information about what deductions are available to you.
I hope by writing this, I have opened your eyes to the many possibilities a Home Based business can offer you. Good luck in your decision to start your own business!
Starting Up a Small Business Concerns
Volatility
In a previous article I dug a bit deeper into small business volatility but it is worth mentioning again especially in the context of getting a business started. Small business exists because large business has carved out a method to meeting the needs that doesn’t reach everyone in a market place. In other words small business is small business because large business has deemed the pursuit of such market places not worth the effort. Large businesses seek opportunities that exist in well-established mature markets. These would be markets that yield smaller margins but are also less volatile. Consequently this leaves the more dynamic and volatile markets for the small businesses. This is part of why small businesses don’t last long, they compete in an ever changing market place.
So, what does this mean for you? It means that the opportunities that will exist for you and the business you aspire to open will be opportunities that require quality and custom solutions quickly. This also means there will be a good deal of work involved in order to gain market share for you niche. Abandon any idea of providing a single product or service, you will need to diversify your products/service, customers, and possibly industries. To combat the ebb and flow of the small market place you will need diversify all aspects of your company.
Alignment
Ok, now that you understand a little about the realities of the small business market place the next thing to look into is how well your potential business aligns with who you are. In the beginning stages of a business the founder is the business and the business is the founder. To offer the most value the business should be the embodiment of you and you should be the embodiment of the business. The realization of a single opportunity should not be the only deciding metric for starting a business. As an example; A few years ago I had the opportunity to start a frozen yogurt shop in my town that would have been modeled after a profitable model that was doing well in other cities. I did my homework and found that for $40,000.00 I could have everything I needed to open the doors and start selling yogurt. I decided against it for two reasons, 1. I live in a four season’s area and I did not want to have a feast or famine demand and 2. I am not that crazy about yogurt. Now, the opportunity was there, and since then many of these shops have opened, but I didn’t want to invest 80 hours a week into a frozen yogurt business.
Market Positioning
So you have an idea that aligns with who you are, and you have come to understand the nature of the small business market place, how are you going to position your product or service? How are you going to meet the needs of the customer? The answer is somewhat laid out above, but because of the nature of the small business market place you will need to become a high quality, quick turnaround company. Small businesses have the advantage in small volume custom areas. Your competitive advantage will be your ability to cater to the specific needs of your customer. As a small business you have no business competing on price.
Margin
You are your business, and chances are you do not have much capital behind you. This means that achieving a positive cash flow situation as quickly as possible is key. Cash is king and without it you don’t have a business. The upside is small volume high quality work demands top dollar. That’s right, by being a small business you are competing in a large margin arena. The mark up on your products and services can and should be high. The market will let you know when you are too far out of range, but a healthy profit margin is to be expected with small businesses. Individuals that fail to understand this begin to lower their prices in hopes of gaining some sales but what they don’t realize is they are diluting the market and putting themselves out of business. So, don’t be afraid to charge for your work!
Growth Strategy
The last thing I will mention for those looking to start a small business is that a growth strategy is imperative. You need to have an idea of where you are going if you ever expect to make it as a business owner. By nature small businesses should only remain small for a while, if you company is not growing it is dying. Markets mature, customer needs mature, and guess what… your business should also be maturing. Knowing where your business is headed will allow you to take the appropriate measures today to set up for tomorrow’s market. A growth strategy can be vague. You don’t need to define every variable, but you should use your intuition to determine where you should position your company.
If you are planning on starting a small business understand it is a lot of hard work and there are no rules. There is no one telling you what to and not to do, you will be responsible for your success or your failure. You must be persistent and willing to invest more of yourself than the next guy in line. If it were easy everyone would do it, but because it is demanding there are only a few to compete with.
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.