« Older Entries

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.

Tags:

Online Home Based Business Strategies – Earn Solid Income From Your Online Home Based Business

You might have heard or seen people starting their own businesses, or stories about rags to riches, and you would like to have your own business. If you prefer to work at home rather than working at office – probably setting up an online home based business might suitable for you. The main problem is this – how do I start earning money when I work at home? You would feel not very comfortable especially when you start your business from zero.If you’ve decided to build your own internet business – don’t be too hasty. Here’s the checklist to get started:1. Always have something to offer for your targeted audienceBefore you start a business, you need to find a niche so that you can have something to offer. For instance, finding a niche that you’re familiar with – is indeed important to provide continuous information to your readers. Starting business is not for a short while – you must have a far-sighted view and provide valuable information that attracts your potential readers. That’s the way of building credibility of your online home based business, as an ideal way of gaining trust of your readers. In short, if you’re able to build a high-credibility internet business – it’s easy to have your sales bloom, revenue increased spectacularly!2. Branding – start with a brand new name for your businessLet’s not discuss about the well-known products such as Apple, McDonalds and Prego, when you want to create a sustainable identity of your home based business. Firstly, you need to find a new name for your business and your website domain. If you couldn’t find one suitable name for it, you can think of a name related to your niche. For example, if you want to start a clothing online store targeting plus-size community, you can name it as “PlusSizeClothing101ForYou.com” – and this domain name has high-relevance to the selected niche that boosts the rankings of your website in the search engine results page (SERP).3. Market your online home based business at the right channelBesides focusing on what you’re offering to your audience, you need to figure out a solid way to promote your internet business. There are two ways to market your website – Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) and article marketing. You can try one way or both, to drive traffic to your website. High-targeted traffic is the most concerned factor to get the right group of visitors, who are highly interested at your product, service or business – thus, such traffic is the key success of prolonging your online home based business. Always remember the following line – “No traffic, no sales, and no joke!”With all the hard work and perseverance, applying these tips above could bring positive impact on your internet business – making your business prosper than ever!

Tags:

5 Tips for Small Business Success

As a small business, we face certain challenges that can add stress and anxiety to our daily lives. It is not always easy meeting payroll, hiring, figuring out what platform to market on and managing the finances. But, millions of small business owners do these things every day and their businesses thrive.Here are 5 Tips for Small Business SuccessWrite Down Why You StartedAs a small business owner, you may find yourself living on a rollercoaster. Some days you feel like you are going to take over the entire universe while other days you fire yourself and walk off the job. And, early on in the small business process, you have more firing and walking off the job kind of days. It is in these days that you must remember your “why.” Why are you doing this? Why are you so passionate?During the days that you are “taking over the universe” and are more clear minded, write down the answers to those question so when you get discouraged you will remember why you started and you will be less likely to give up. List out support systems and create vision boards so that when times feel dark, you know who you can reach out to and have a physical vision of the direction you want to go.Step AwayAs a small business owner, you probably take your work home, talk to your partner about it, and answer calls on the weekends. But never taking a step away can lead to burnout. The last thing a business owner should do is make decisions based on feelings like stress, frustration and impulsivity. Working on you and/or your family independently of your business is a great way to refresh and gain clarity so you can be even stronger in your business. Successful people take breaks.Give yourself at least one day a week where you step away completely. Set boundaries with clients or customers and they will respect your time even more. If you really feel that you cannot take one day, start small with time away. Take 30-60 minutes at least one time per day to do something that clears your mind. Do not answer business calls during this time, instead, try something like getting in touch with nature, taking a bath, or working-out. The better you are to your mind and body, the clearer decisions you will make for your business, clients and customers.Hurdle the Tough Times Quickly & Learn From ThemAs a small business owner, you are learning something new every day. Business owners switch hats all the time; from finances to legal to day to day operations to HR. And, it is no secret that mistakes will be made.If you want to be successful in business, don’t ruminate, internalize and dwell on those mistakes. Instead, chop it up to a learning lesson and press forward being cautious not to make that mistake a second time. Hurdling barriers and setbacks quickly will help you to minimize your stress and preserve energy in order to continue growing your business.Get a MentorSo many people have been in your shoes before you. They know the puddles you should not even try to step in and they can also give insight into decisions you are facing.Reach out to these people and ask them for their mentorship. If you do not have a mentor, try networking to meet likeminded people that can share ideas with you. However, as your business grows, if you do not have a mentor, keep your eyes open for someone that you can call on for support. Most successful people want to help you grow and develop and will be glad to guide you. Just make sure that you are open-minded when your mentor talks with you and that you come with questions or a direction to the meeting as to not waste their time.Make Sure You Have Financial OptionsWhile you switch hats, ride the rollercoaster, take calls from customers on days off, and try to somehow maintain life balance, the one thing a business owner must have peace of mind and security with is finances (personally and professionally).As a small business, make sure you work with a banker or company that is transparent and that you can trust. As your business grows, there will be growing pains, and that is a good thing, especially if you have a banker or lender who supports small businesses and simplifies things. Be sure to speak up to your lender about various types of resources, loans, business credit cards, and cash advances that best fit your niche.

Tags: