As more and more marketers join the ranks of affiliate marketing today, there is a growing need for individuals to learn how to build a successful home based business and do so in a short time. Personally, it seems with the rush of growth in this market so many start out with a great drive and purpose but quickly fail at building that business due to not having a good plan.So what will you need to do to make your business successful? I suggest the following 5 things:1.) Find Professional Support:You will need to find a community of people that will support your efforts, help you as you learn, and give you positive direction and encouragement. I have found such a community and do suggest that you join as soon as you can once you decide you want to try to build a successful home based business.2.) Find Personal Support:This can come in many forms. Spiritual, Emotional, and in my personal opinion your health being a main concern. When people decide to “do what it takes” to build a successful home based business they quickly learn that it is not as easy as they might have thought. This in itself can lead to issues or problems with their health due to long hours working hard on their business. So, find support for these three areas and give yourself time to rest.3.) Find Hope:Did you know that hope drives all humans? Hope is what we feed off of and dream about. Hopes can become dreams and those dreams are what drives us to our goals. The hope is to build a successful home based business. That hope builds in us to become a dream to do so. That dream then becomes the drive and motivation we need to succeed.4.) Find Personal Goals:As we just saw, dreams build up in us and motivate us but where does that all go? If you set goals for your business you will be successful because you know have aim. You have gone from hope to a dream to an action and you must aim that action like a gun, so to speak. Set goals, make the attainable, pursue them with your action and follow through!5.) Find Success:If you have done all of the above, you can become that great Internet marketer you have dreamed to become. Success is not just making money. Success is building your home based business into something you work hard to achieve and something that you are proud of once it is built. Find success in even the little things and that right there will drive you to greater goals!
Choosing the Best Home Based Business
How do you choose the best home based business? There are a lot of factors to consider because there are many different kinds of work you can do. You may also need to consider factors such as the amount of money it will take to get started and whether you have the skills to succeed.What are you good at? The best home based business for you is going to be one that makes use of the skills you already have. If you don’t know how to cook, starting a catering service is probably not a good idea. Think about all of the things you know how to do already. What jobs have you had in the past and what skills did you develop while you were working there? What are your hobbies? Do you know how to build model airplanes or repair a leaky faucet? These are all skills that can be made into businesses.Why should you base your home based business on your existing skills? Your best chance of success is to do something you already good at. If you decide to design jewelry but you have never made a single necklace, it is going to take you some time to get good at it. There is a learning curve for everything. Start a service that depends on your existing skills to cut out the learning curve and go straight to the point where you are able to make some money.How do you get started with a home based business? The best way to start is by telling your friends and family about it. Tell them what you are doing and ask if they know anyone who might need your services. You can also post flyers on notice boards at local stores or place a newspaper ad advertising your service.
How To Discover Your PERFECT Home Based Business – The 4th Of 7 Keys – Fits Your Desired Lifestyle
What makes an opportunity P.E.R.F.E.C.T.? There are 7 key requirements for a home business to qualify as being “PERFECT”. Each letter in the word PERFECT stands for one of the 7 keys. In the first three articles in this series, we learned that the “P” in PERFECT stands for “Profitable”, that the first “E” in PERFECT means “Easy”, and that the “R” stands for “Real”.Key Number Four-The “F” in PERFECT stands for “Fits With Your Desired Lifestyle”. What lifestyle do you want to live? Many people who want to start a home business want “FREEDOM”. Freedom to do what they want, where they want, and when they want. Don’t start a business that fights head on with the lifestyle you desire. A PERFECT home based business will not only fit with your dream lifestyle, it will even help you achieve that lifestyle.”Fits With Your Desired Lifestyle” means:•Something that you love or are passionate about. Too many people do work they hate, just to make a living. You’ll have a much happier lifestyle if the core products and activities of your home business mesh with something you have a passion for and love. There’s that passion thing again:-).•Leverages your creativity. A PERFECT home based business allows you to do something once and get paid over and over again for the initial effort. Don’t exchange one hour of your time for one hour’s pay (don’t be a wage slave like just about everybody else).•Can be operated from anywhere in the world and from home. No more long commutes. Hey, my commute is 30 seconds…from my bedroom to my home office. Decide where you want to live and then work from there. All you need is electricity, a phone line or cell phone network, a computer and an internet connection.•No employees are required (but you could and should use independent contractors, or outsource some of the work). Avoid all the hassle of having employees. A PERFECT home based business can be run by just you, or you and your spouse if you would like.•Helps a lot of people. If this is not part of your desired lifestyle, it should be, because the more people you help, the more money you will make.•Time required to build the business to an acceptable profit potential is not long (less than 6 months desired).Who wants to work on their business for two or three years before it becomes profitable? Most people couldn’t afford to do that. Yes, it might take a year or more for your business to reach its full potential. But, there are tricks of the trade that can make it much more likely you will see an exciting level of profit within 6 months (you will not “get rich quick”; sorry, but that is reality…don’t quit your day job quite yet).•Low initial investment required (less than $1,000 preferred). Many people don’t have the $5,000, or $25,000, or more needed to start some home based businesses. There’s no need to sell your firstborn or mortgage your house to get your business started.•Product(s) that you have control of (you are the gate keeper, which means you created the product, or have the exclusive right to market it). If you control the product, you can build a sales force of hundreds or thousands of affiliates that will grow your business for you even while you’re on vacation. They will market your product for you for a share of the profits.Even if you don’t yet have your own product, you can get started quickly by selling other people’s products as an affiliate for them. But, it is still best to eventually create your own products.•Enables you to earn enough money to become financially free. Decide for yourself how much you need to be “financially free”. Whether that’s an extra $500 or $1,000 a month, or $100,000 per year or more, your business needs to have the potential to earn that.•Enables you to have free time because it requires less than 20 hours per week after the initial set up period. Spend your free time with your family, on your favorite activities, or use it to start and build another business.•The business is aligned with how I understand God would want it to be. This is a personal requirement for my business and lifestyle. It means that my business must provide real value, must benefit people, and must be legal, ethical and honest. If you make sure your home based business does this as well, whatever your views about God, you will be miles ahead of all the scams and quick buck artists that are all too common.It’s all starting to come together now. A PERFECT Home Based Business must FIT WITH YOUR DESIRED LIFESTYLE. And, it must be PROFITABLE, EASY, and REAL. Still with me? Good. More to come in the rest of this article series.Read the other articles in this series, or Click Here For Your Free Report: Discover The PERFECT Home Business.
Home Based Small Business: How to Start a Home Based Business
Home based small business is a nice idea especially if you do not want to work in a traditional office scenario. This type of business is also ideal for anyone who doesn’t have the capital to start a business. Most of the home based businesses have no startup costs. They offer you a flexible working environment while helping you achieve your dreams. Still, there are things you need to consider when planning to have a business right at the comfort of your home.Decide what business you would like to start. You can choose a business that sells a service or a business that sells a product. Each of these two has its pros and cons. Make sure that the home based small business that you choose fits your needs. Most of the time, service businesses don’t require start-up costs. These services will include graphic designing, computer programming, accounting, and copy writing. They are ideal if you do not have a college degree. But when selecting a business idea, you have to be creative. So, apart from putting up a daycare center or pet care service, you can also look for opportunities online. The opportunities offered over the Internet do not require a startup cost. As long as you have a decent Internet connection and your own computer, you will be ready to start your own home based small business online.Find resources you need. If you want an online business, then the things that you will need are computer and Internet connection. You may also need a desk where you can work on. You should also gather your friends and family and talk about your business. You can ask them to disseminate information about your business to their friends. In this way, you do not need to invest more money on advertising.Whatever type of home based small business you choose, you should always develop a regular work schedule. Although it offers flexible time, you still need to work hard to bring in more customers. Your workspace should also be a place where there are no distractions. Therefore, it is recommended that you come up with an organized workspace to help you think better while working at home.Having a business at home can be overwhelming at first. You may experience lack of organization and focus at times. However, if you have a designated workspace, your home based small business can be run in an organized manner and free from any distractions. You can have a sense of organization each day. Do not allow your family and friends to disturb you during your work hours. And do not be tempted to engage in activities that have nothing to do with your work.
The True Value of the Small Business Consulting Community
The Small Business IT consulting community is a dynamic and exciting community to be active in at this time. Many different opportunities are gaining some serious momentum in this underserved marketplace in Canada. The Small Business marketplace will be the fastest-growing segment in the information technology market. Currently, approximately 97% of the businesses in Canada have five hundred employees or less, which equates to a fantastic market to specialize in.Microsoft launched their Small Business Specialist program in the summer of 2005 at their annual partner conference. Since that time, a number of information technology consulting firms have taken advantage of this program to commence their consulting practice. The Small Business Specialist program is designed to promote Microsoft’s offerings to small business. It establishes SBSC members as leaders in the small business IT consulting marketplace that has been thrust into the spotlight for growth potential.The Small Business Specialist program serves as a best resource for IT professionals to access information, promotions, partnership opportunities and assistance to service a small business oriented client base. Groups have emerged on international, national and regional levels that assist the small business specialist in obtaining not only technical but also important business assistance. In addition, each year SMB Nation brings together the small business consulting community to network, learn, share and play.The small business consulting community has grown out of the leadership of corporations like Microsoft, SonicWALL, and Symantec. It has also grown because of people like Harry Brelsford of SMB Nation and several other leaders in the community. Their leadership has provided Small Business Specialists with additional resources to sharpen their craft long before the official launch of programs from corporations like Microsoft.The SMB community is open to sharing experiences, ideas, concepts and best practices so that emerging IT companies can seek knowledge to develop and grow. “I like focusing on a market segment where I can really get to know my clients and have a direct, tangible impact on their businesses,” claims Jeff Anderson, General Manager of Red Deer’s Bulletproof Networks, the city’s leading Small Business Specialist. Business development, however, is often overlooked by those text book technicians who have decided to start their own businesses. Learning from others in the SBSC community allows the small business consultants like Jeff to learn two or three markets and become the expert specialist in that field in order to have the potential to gain new business clients.New service offerings are demanding small business consultants start planning now on how to bring them to their client base. Clients today are in search of options that are evolving and they must be presented in a manner and language that they understand. Managed services, remote monitoring, software and hardware as services are starting to gain some traction in the market and as a new offering they need to be available from their SMB consultant. Small businesses want a company that they can trust. “When you and your peers are representative of 97% of the Canadian marketplace, it makes sense to be working with the very businesses that share the same concerns and deal with the same issues you do. Who better to give them the right tools to succeed?” states Elisabeth Vandervelt of Conamex International, an award winning Microsoft Small Business Specialist in Montreal.Today’s small businesses need innovative solutions to keep them competitive in the fast paced, on-demand, we-needed-it-yesterday and downtime-is-not-an-option environment we call today’s business world. SBSC members have the luxury and the ability to have direct interaction with decision makers therefore sales cycles are generally shorter while the demand for services has never been higher.Another luxury in the small business community is the ability to share work with each other across regional, national and international boundaries. Many firms are partnering locally to provide a one stop shop for their clients who need a specialized service or coverage in other locations where their clients may have a remote user or branch office. Partnering in the SBSC community is critical to the success of the small business consultant’s business since it gives small firms the reach and abilities of a much larger IT company and can be the their advantage over their competition in today’s marketplace.The Small Business Specialist can rest assured that they have the pride and recognition of a job well done combined with a community to back them up. All of these positive aspects provide an overwhelming sense of accomplishment for participants in the SBSC program.I reflect back to when my youngest son was in Beavers and their leaders consistently reminded them of the Beaver motto, the same motto that is the cornerstone of the SBSC community and all other small business consulting groups: Sharing, Sharing, Sharing! Share your successes with others; help others who are struggling; and share of yourself to make our community strong.
Christian Home Based Business Opportunities – Key Secrets to Personal Integrity
Can’t Trust “Get Rich” Scams and Empty Promises
Home Based Business models and opportunities are everywhere on the internet. Very few are considered highly ethical or Christian Home Based Business Opportunities in which Personal Integrity plays a huge role in small businesses. Since the downturn of the economy, many money from home seekers hungered for “get rich” work at home jobs, soon discovered to be a facade, fake opportunities, SCAMS! Unfortunately, you can’t trust the content, support, training or even making money claims.
Seekers fled from the Job Fairs and Employment Community Meetings. They flocked to jobs from home, internet home based business models to making money online, and other creative ways to earn extra money. No one has to search long to see all the money making ideas on the internet trying to promise small businesses FREE traffic, MLM leads, a MLM opportunity, legitimate online data entry jobs, and various business ideas. Consequently, very few are concerned about ethics, honesty, honor, respect, and doing the right thing.
A Valid Question
People tirelessly have looked here and there for that “right” home based business income, an income that would deliver them from their current state of financial bondage. A Christian home based business opportunity could be the answer. Or at least businesses that encourages personal integrity.
So, why the important search to find a job from home that exemplifies value and integrity? What does the Entrepreneur get out of finding a business founded on integrity or involves himself in Christian opportunities?
Key Secrets of Personal Integrity
Purpose
Value
Respect
Positive Relationships
Love
Joy
Peace
These qualities attract people to create their own business at home, to write their own paycheck. Highly respected and valued desire.
People often experience extreme joy and excitement to make money from home and the number of work at home jobs increase daily. More people are driven to an affordable home based business that has integrity as a core value.
WOW! A REAL honest, money making online business opportunity!
What’s Really Important In Life
Although small businesses and at home jobs rarely develop any substantial home based business income quickly, it’s obvious why making money isn’t all there is to jobs from home. Home based business and personal integrity IS vital because people genuinely desire to:
leverage time to be with family and friends
earn extra money for vacations and travel
RELAX and enjoy life to the fullest
use their business or home opportunity to help others succeed
give to the needy
Your Immediate Challenge
Whether you want to earn money, develop internet home business, or began a home based business online, when it comes to success in life or business, discovering your purpose, your “why”, and key secrets of personal integrity, will place you miles ahead your competition!
Become serious about what you do and why. Christian Home Based Business Opportunities aren’t the only work from home jobs that can make a difference. You can too!
Big Advertising Builds Big Brands
When you are trying to build a brand, the bigger the better as far as promotion methods go, which is why big advertising works so well. Unlike other forms of promotion, Out Of Home advertising has not been affected too much by the recession. In fact, it is a growing and fast developing sector, with all types of large-scale advertising being more in demand now than ever.
Types of Big Advertising
The generic term big advertising is used to describe a wide variety of large format print as well as other forms of advertising display, including:
Billboards – Normally found on the side of motorways, in shopping malls and town centres, their sheer size and eye-catching designs means that billboards are impossible to ignore. This makes billboard advertising ideal for conveying marketing messages to thousands of drivers and pedestrians.
Posters -Probably the oldest form of advertising, posters have been used for over 200 years to promote events and products. They are still widely employed today to promote everything from films and tourist destinations to political parties. Poster advertising is popular with advertisers because of their ability to reach thousands of consumers at a relatively low cost. Some iconic poster campaigns have become legendary, among them the “Hello Boys” advert for Wonderbra and more recently the Littlewoods Mylene Klass bikini poster which stopped traffic in Glasgow.
Banners – Advertising banners printed on long strips of PVC can be used to promote new store openings, venues and local services. Their unique ability to target local audiences makes them indispensable to small businesses seeking to attract customers in their area. Passing travellers and tourists often rely on banners to find food outlets, accommodation, events and local attractions.
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.