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.

Top 7 Reasons For Advertising

The simple answer to the question ‘why do we advertise?’ is that either we have something we want to sell, or someone else has something we want to buy. Alternatively, we may want to give something away, seek an exchange or invite donors or gifts. We advertise, or make known, our offer or need. We bring together people who would not otherwise know of the existence of those able to supply and those with a demand, very often complete strangers. Most people use advertising at some time, either privately or in business. And most people respond to advertisements and so enjoy the choices available to them in every sphere of life.

The elementary answer applies whether we want to sell a private house, raise funds for a charity, sell the production of a million pound business, buy a pre-owned car, attract buyers to our store, launch a new product, engage staff or simply find a pen friend. The technique is same: there is merely a difference of magnitude and sophistication between an inexpensive classified advertisement to sell a charter yacht tour plan and a global campaign on the World Wide Web to sell the same. In short, advertising is the means by which we make known what we have to sell or what we want to buy.

However, with growing numbers of online users across the world, we notice a transition of our interest from paper-based advertisement to online advertisement. We may call it a ‘platform escalation’ that results from rapid progress of technology. But, whatever the modes of advertisements are, their objectives and reasons have been all similar. Let’s discuss them.

Specific Reasons for Advertising:

To announce a new product or service
To expand the market to new buyers
To announce a modification
To announce a new pack
To make a special offer
To educate consumers
To maintain sales

To announce a new product or service: Announcements for a new product or service are very necessary to make them known to the public. To promote something new the entrepreneurs have to take up this means at the very onset of starting with their enterprise. If they can make their promotional appeal bold, dramatic, persuasive and convincing, they can expect a quicker success for their business.

To expand the market to new buyers: A good example of this is when a solar energy system has been used successfully for industrial or commercial purpose, and is then packaged and promoted to the consumer market. The do-it-yourself (DIY) markets are full of such products; put there by advertising. The advertising in such case is likely to have greater impact because the goods have already been proved in professional, commercial or some other accepted use.

To announce a modification: An existing product may be given a ‘face-lift’ with an additive, a refinement, a new finish or casing, or perhaps even a new pack or container. The attempt may be made to revive the sale of a product whose life-cycle is waning too quickly because of competition or some other reasons.

To announce a new pack: Pack identification at the point-of-sale is always important, and is a reason why packages are shown in advertisements. Colorful advertisements work well in this regard. This becomes even more important if there is a change of pack.

To make a special offer: For various reasons, such as competition, slack season, policy to expand sales, advertising may be used to make a special offer. It could be a banded pack, a premium offer, a limited time price reduction or free gifts or samples. New products may be launched with ‘introductory’ special offers. Dry cleaners, cloth merchants, and others may make such special offers when trade is quiet. Again, travel agencies may also offer special low rates to public during out-of-season weeks of the year.

To educate consumers: Rather unfairly it is sometimes said by critics of advertising that there are two kinds, informative and persuasive, and that the former is more socially acceptable or ethical than the latter. The educational advertisement is necessary when a commodity, service or an offer needs careful explanation. This technique can also be used to show new uses for a well-established product. The market can often be extended if extra uses can be suggested.

To maintain sales: One of the secrets of successful advertising is that it should be continuous, in one form or another, however seasonal the main emphasis may be. Not all advertising is aimed at promoting new and exciting products or services. There are everyday products, such as toothpaste, branded beverages, and many more which have been on the market for generations.

These days, the platform of advertisement has widened much greater than the previous days. This has been possible due to the popular Web World. Now, reaching out to millions of customers spread all over the world is just a click away dream, and it has helped all volumes of businesses to expand their business sphere beyond the limits. Though traditional advertisement is still going on, the craze for online advertising has outgrown it to a surprising extent. It has been possible due to greater visibility, wider scope and much lower costs. But, whatever the advantages and distinctions there are, both of their objectives are similar.

Home Based Business – 3 Tips to Making Your Home Based Business a Success

The main consensus is that if you start your own home based business is that there is little work, and tons of income.Nothing could be farther from the truth.1. Working your home based business take time, training and yes, moneyIf you are seriously thinking that you want to work your own home based business please take a moment to digest some helpful advice.Home based businesses whether they are working with digital downloadable products or inventory products, takes work. You cannot simply sign up with something and expect not to do anything to make it work. You will have to put training, time and money into it.Now before you leave me because that is not what you want to hear, consider this. You went to school and got your education, you put time, training and more likely than not money, to get that education. You got the education which got you a job. You more than likely had to train for a period of time before they left you to your own, and you probably had to buy cloths or tools to work that job, and you put your time in everyday. This will be no different.If you are working a job or career it may take you a little longer to get things moving with the home based business, simply because you will have to divide the remaining time in your day to be with the family, friends or other commitments plus try to work your business. You may even find that you will have to lose a little sleep so that you can work without distractions.2. HonestyBe honest with yourself and with others. There is nothing more devastating than being deceived. If you have tried to work from home in the past and joined a program because they made you believe it was going to be so easy and that you will become rich in no time. You know how you felt when you did not make a penny, and that you spent your hard earned dollars for nothing. You felt mad and cheated.Do not use trickery to sell your products, this will only generate returns and bad business. If you are selling a product, know that product either by using it yourself or by doing major research on that product. It is easier to sell a product if you know it works.The more honesty you use the more repeat business you will get because people will trust you.3.DiligenceAs defined by Wikipedia: a zealous and careful nature in your actions and work, exemplified by a decisive work ethic, budgeting of your time, monitoring your own activities to guard against laziness, and putting forth full concentration in your work. If you have the determination and the drive to work hard, your home based business will have no chance at failure.When you find what you want to do for your home based business make your schedule board right at the very beginning. Put it in your work space where you will be able to see it every time you are sitting there getting ready to work your business. Follow it without fail, this will become routine and you will eventually be able to take it down, or use it for other purposes.My work space board (to do list) has my list of things that I need to do along with my goals for a 3 month period. I sit at my work space first thing in the morning and go from top to bottom of my list. Then I look a little further down and see if I am getting close to my goals. If I am not, then I work a little harder at getting some of them accomplished.If you are not doing well in a business do not hop around for something else before you ask yourself these few questions: Did I try hard enough? Was I being realistic when I pick this particular business to get in, or did it just sound good? Did I follow through with the training?Those are good questions to ask even before you find your business. If you answer no to any one of those questions, you did not pick the right business for working from home.