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Five Tips for Selling at Live Auctions

Ah, the old-fashioned country auction! The idea of a country auction conjures up certain images for people. The image of a fast-talking auctioneer offering up an antique table or chair is a popular example.

People who are buying household goods or collectibles are looking to get their items at the lowest price possible. However, the people who are selling their items at auction are hoping for the highest price!

Unless a person is in the business of buying and selling antiques or other items, not a lot of thought goes into how goods are prepared for sale via the auction process. However, if you are one of the growing number of people using auction venues to sell your collectibles or other inventory, there are a few things to learn first about how to sell at auction before you bring a truckload of stuff over to the next event.

Tip 1: Make sure the things you want to sell are a good “fit” for the auction house you’ll be using.

Never bring a load to an auction house without actually having been to one of the previous auctions. It’s important to get a feel for the type of goods that the house sells. For example, at one very rural country auction it was common for the owners to sell live chickens, pots and pans, car parts, and farm equipment.

After close investigation, this would not be the right venue for selling your daughter’s “Hello Kitty” collection. On the other hand, the spare John Deere parts that you bought at last week’s yard sale might be just the right thing for the buying crowd at this auction.

Tip 2: Be sure you clearly understand the terms and policies of the auction house.

Visit with the auctioneer ahead of time. Call to find out what the best days and times are to visit. One of the worst possible times to drop in for an informational visit with an auctioneer is the day of the auction. Call ahead and ask. While you’re at it, find out what are the best days and times to drop your stuff off.

Once you have a little time with the auctioneer, you’ll be able to find out what type of commission he or she takes from consigners (which is you), and what type of paperwork might be needed. Some auction houses send out Form 1099 tax forms at the end of the year. An auctioneer may need to see your identification and have you fill out a W-9. Be prepared.

Find out what happens to your items if they don’t sell. For example, some auctioneers may have a minimum starting bid. If, for some reason, one of your items does not sell, it may be grouped with another one of your pieces. Know the auctioneer’s strategy beforehand so that you aren’t surprised on pay day.

Tip 3: Make sure the auctioneer knows what you’re selling.

It might be perfectly obvious to you that the signed print you are consigning is a rare and valuable piece of art. However, the auctioneer may not know this particular artist. Make a note of anything particularly special about your items, and leave the note with the piece. Be sure to tell the auctioneer about it as well. He or she might determine that this is something to highlight on the company website or in the newspaper listing.

Tip 4: Present your items neatly.

No one likes to have to dig through a box full of grimy and greasy car parts to see what treasures might be in there. Separate the parts and lay them out on a flat, or use more than one box to de-clutter the lot.

There is no need to buy fancy display boxes. It’s easy enough to go to the local convenience store or supermarket and ask if you can have the emptied boxes or flats that they are discarding.

While it’s good to present clean items, take care not to ruin the value of anything by over cleaning. For example, if you find some old cast iron cookware, clean the obvious dirt and grime, but don’t scrub it to its original finish. For many people, this ruins the value of the item. So, clean and tidy and organized is the key here.

Tip 5: Don’t complain to the auctioneer if your stuff doesn’t sell for as much as you’d like.

The phrase to remember here is, “You win some; you lose some.” That’s just the way it is. There are some days where an auction house is loaded with people who all seem to want what you’re selling. There will be other days where the crowd is sparse, and the bidding is simply not competitive.

Remember that it’s in the auctioneer’s best interest to sell your things for the highest possible hammer price. But sometimes, it’s just not going to be a stellar sale. The auctioneer is only human, and is also disappointed if a sale doesn’t go as well as planned.

If you notice that every time you bring a bunch of goods to sell that you’re not realizing as much as you think you honestly should, try another auction venue and compare apples to apples. That is, bring the same types of items to the new auctioneer and compare the results.

Unless the auctioneer is particularly disagreeable or inconsiderate to you or buyers, there is no reason to confront him or her about a sale. If you find you just don’t care for an auctioneer’s style or methods, find another one. Believe me, there are plenty of them out there!

The primary thing to remember as you learn how to sell at auction is that the business is unpredictable at best. You will have good days, some not-so-good days, some great days. The more you sell, the more experience you will gain, and the more enjoyable the business will be.

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Auction Listings Are Vital to the Success of Fundraising Auctions

Fundraising Auction Tip: You should always provide potential bidders with a printed Auction Listing of both your Live and Silent Auction items at any Fundraising Auction. A printed Auction Listing is vital for several reasons:

An Auction Listing informs bidders of the order of sale, and what is coming up next. If you keep your bidders guessing, they will simply not bid.

If bidders are not 100% certain of what they are bidding on, they will not bid. A printed Auction Listing should answer any and all questions about what is being sold in order to encourage bidders to bid as much as possible.

Bidders often need time to plan their bidding strategies, especially on multiple and/or larger value items. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.

Couples often need time to consult with each other about what they are willing to spend on something. A printed Auction Listing helps them to do that.

Potential bidders need to know the specifics, the benefits, and the restrictions on any item they are going to bid on, especially on travel and/or other higher value items. A printed Auction Listing should answer all of their questions, in writing.

After bidders see that they have lost an item to another bidder, a printed Auction Listing makes it easier for them to re-strategize on what else they can bid on.
Printed Auction Listings generally come in 3 forms:

Printed in the Event Program or Auction Catalog.

Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-inserted into the Event Program or Auction Catalog.

Printed on loose sheets of paper and hand-delivered to all attendees, or left on each dinner table in the room.
Auction Listings cost practically nothing to produce and they can make the difference between the success and failure of a Live and Silent Auction. You should never conduct a Fundraising Auction without one.

A Case Study

Let me share a real-life experience with you. Once I was hired to conduct a Fundraising Auction for a nationally renowned organization. The event was held in a major hotel, in one of the country’s largest cities, with several hundred “black tie” participants attending. It was an extremely professional event, with the music, singing, lighting, speeches, and awards all perfectly timed and choreographed. Everything was done to perfection… exception the Fundraising Auction.

Although I had signed an agreement to serve as their Auctioneer nearly one year in advance of the event, no one bothered to contact me for any advice or help. Approximately one week prior to the Auction date, I contacted the group to see if they had replaced me with another Auctioneer. But they said that I was still their man.

Upon arriving at the event I asked for a copy of the Auction Listing. I was told that there were none. I’m not sure whether they felt that the Auction Listing wasn’t necessary, or whether someone forgot to have them printed. This was never made clear. When I asked what I was to use at the podium, I was told to copy the list of Live Auction items from a committee member’s computer. It took me about 30 minutes to copy three pages of hand-written notes in order to prepare for my role as their Auctioneer.

I knew that they had created a PowerPoint program showing the various Live Auction items. When I asked whether the PowerPoint slide order corresponded to the order of sale I had copied from the committee member’s computer, I was met with a blank stare. The committee member left to check the slide order, and returned to let me know that the slide order did not correspond my notes, and he provided me with the correct slide order… hand-written on a paper napkin. This forced me to re-arrange my three pages of hand-written notes before taking the podium.

There was a Live Auction Table with descriptions of the Live Auction items that were to be sold, but the table was not clearly marked, and it received significantly less attention than the Silent Auction Tables, which were clearly identified. Since the Live Auction Table was located adjacent to the “Raffle Table”, it appeared that most people thought it was part of the raffle and therefore paid very little attention to it.

According to the event program (which did not include an Auction Listing), I knew approximately when I was to begin the Live Auction. At the designated time the Master of Ceremonies announced the start of the Live Auction to the several hundred people in attendance, and introduced me as Auctioneer. As I approached the podium I realized that photographs of award winners were still being taken… directly in front of the podium where I was to stand… which required me to stand aside for several minutes until the photographers were done. Can we say “awkward moment”?

As the photographers cleared, I approached the podium and began my Live Auction introduction. Approximately one minute into my introduction, the “Raffle Committee” approached the podium and stopped my Live Auction Introduction in order to pull the 8 or 9 Raffle Winners. These drawings lasted about 5 minutes. Upon it’s conclusion I was allowed to resume the start of the Live Auction.

When standing at the podium two intense and extremely bright spotlights were pointed directly at the podium. The lights were so bright that I literally could not see the center 1/3 of the room. I could see the tables on the right, and on the left, but was totally blinded when looking straight ahead. It took perhaps five minutes before the spotlights were turned off.

While at the podium and describing Lot #1, I had to ask someone to start the Lot #1 PowerPoint Slide… because apparently no one was assigned that job.

So with only the Auctioneer’s verbal description, and a PowerPoint slide, it appeared that few people in the room had any idea about what we were selling… or when we were selling it… until it was announced by the Auctioneer. As a result, bidding was extremely light and the final results fell several thousands of dollars short of where they should have been
The learning experience is this:

The Live Auction is where you place your better items, and where the real money should be made at any Fundraising Auction. Let bidders know as far in advance as possible what you will be selling, and the order of sale, so they can get excited about the Auction, and plan their bidding strategy accordingly.

Auction Listings are absolutely vital to the success of both Live & Silent Auctions. In my opinion, revenues at this Auction fell thousands of dollars short of where they should have been, because no Auction Listing was provided to the guests.

If bidders are not perfectly clear on what is being sold, including both the item’s specifics, benefits, and restrictions, they will not bid.

When you have a committee of volunteers, especially volunteers having full time jobs and/or very busy schedules, the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer can help to keep the committee on track.

And once you retain the services of a professional Fundraising Auctioneer… use the services that you are paying for.

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10 Ways Network Marketers Can Use Resell Right Products to Generate Leads and Sales

The resell right product marketplace is a cornucopia of marketing knowledge and tools that can benefit anyone selling products and services online or offline for that matter. Direct sellers, affiliate marketers, eBay entrepreneurs and network marketers can all benefit tremendously from these products. However, my specific intent as the title of this article suggests is to focus on how network marketers can benefit from resell right products. My reason for this is due to the fact that there is a high degree of dysfunctional training prevalent in the network marketing industry which contributes to an appallingly high failure rate in excess of 80%. I know this from personal experience because I started out as a network marketer and wasted a lot of time and money using outdated recruitment methods that were painfully ineffective.

Through the use of resell right products I was able to create fully automated lead generation and sales systems that literally cranked out leads an sales while I slept! It really is a wonderful feeling to turn own my computer in the morning and see that I have notifications of new leads and sales without ever having to deal with a lead broker or call someone on the phone and deliver a sales pitch. Next, I’ll give you a brief overview of the resell right product industry and afterward share specific ways network marketers can use resell right products to accomplish exactly what I’ve just described.

Resell right products have been in circulation on the Internet since the early nineties and have been a powerful and profitable marketing tool for those savvy enough to harness their full business building potential. These products exist in a wide variety of forms such as eBooks, reports, graphics, web site/blog templates, videos, audios, scripts and software. The products most commonly exist electronic media formats but may also be rendered in printed paper format. Authors who are highly skilled at creating such products profit by selling them to others along with the right resell the products and retain all proceeds from the sale. Although I generically apply the term, resell right, to these products, they are often conveyed with other types of redistribution rights specified in a licensing agreement as follows:

1) Giveaway Right – The recipient obtained the product for free and has the right to freely distribute it to others but not sell it.

2) Personal Use Right – The purchaser can use the product but not resell it or give it away for free.

3) Master Resell Right – The purchaser of the product has the right to resell the product along with the right to resell it. This differs from a simple resell right scenario in which the purchaser can resell the product to others who can use product but not resell it.

4) Private Label Right – The purchaser of the product legally has to the right to place his name on the product and claim it as his own creation. The purchaser can sell the product with simple resell right, master resell right or just personal use right.

There are more variants of usage rights but this list should give you a basic understanding of the concept. Of the redistribution rights described above, the fourth is the most valuable because it offers the most flexibility for marketing. By nature these redributable products are quite prolific and if you have ever subscribed to a newsletter based on an offer that included a free bonus such as a report or eBook, there is a strong probability that the product you received originated as a resell right product. Now lets explore in depth, 10 ways you can benefit from these products.

1) Web Presence – Every network marketer needs a powerfully compelling web presence to effectively generate leads and sales. Unfortunately too many networkers erroneously believe that the replicated web site provided by their companies is all that is needed. As beautifully designed as those web sites may be, they possess two major weaknesses. First, they lack uniqueness as every associate web site is identical. Second, the sites are not customizable with the exception of being able to add a photo and a phone number. Therefore it s impossible for an associate to distinguish himself from other associates in the same company in any substantial way by using a replicated site alone.

By using web site or blog templates that are readily available in the resell right market place a network marketer can easily create a unique web presence that will enable him to rise above the crowd by showcasing his unique selling proposition and sharing information that will allow visitors to relate to him on a personal level. Marketing studies have proven that people conduct business with those they know like and trust and a personal web site is critical for establishing trust and rapport. In the resell rights market place there are web site/blog templates and graphics collections for every conceivable marketing niche. By choosing the right template and customizing it, a powerful web presence can be established much faster that it would be possible by starting from scratch.

2) Squeeze Pages – Once a web site is established one or more squeeze pages can be integrated. A squeeze page also known as a lead capture page is a simple page the presents some compelling information designed to get a visitor to leave their contact information so that additional marketing information can be delivered. There are tons of squeeze pages and lead capture tools available in the resell right product market place. I obtained one of my favorite and most effective squeeze pages from a resell right product package over 5 years ago that cost under $30. The page is about the size of a computer screen with text areas for a title, some bullet points, a small blurb, and a video. I customized the page for a few marketing niches and it has been responsible for generating many thousands of dollars in income and I’m still using it today.

3) Incentives – Everyone likes to get free stuff which is the reason you see the word, free, commonly used in advertisements for all types of products and services. If used correctly, incentives or giveaways can be a powerful factor for generating leads and closing sales. One common marketing technique for increasing the effectiveness of squeeze pages is to offer a free bonus bonus report or eBook in exchange for contact information. So where would you get a high quality product for little or no cost that could give away for free? Well if you guessed, the resell right product market place, you guessed correctly! Freely giving away a quality product helps to establish good will, trust and evoke the law of reciprocity. When you give something to someone they often feel obligated to give you something in return. That “something in return” could be giving your offer extra consideration over that of a competitor which results in a sale for you!

4) Autoresponder Content – Marketing studies have revealed that a person typically needs to be exposed to an offer 5 – 7 times before feeling comfortable with making a purchase. The autoresponder is the perfect tool for steadily exposing a potential customer to the information needed to make a purchase decision via a strategically crafted set of email messages. If you are unfamiliar with email marketing, the task of creating an autresponder followup series can seem daunting.

Fortunately, within the resell right marketplace there are prewritten autoresponder message series covering a wide variety of niches that can be transferred into any autoresponder service giving you an effective autoresponder campaign in a fraction of the time it would take you to create one from scratch. Once your initial autoresponder campaign is setup you can easily customize the messages with affiliate links and add more messages if you want. Then you can integrate a squeeze page and subscription bonuses like a free eBook or report to make it more robust.

5) Sales Pages – A sales page is strategically written to close a sale by appealing to a prospect’s sense of logic and emotion to induce a purchase decision. A sales page is roughly equivalent in principle to a sales pitch script that a network marketer might obtain from their company, however it is far more powerful because once it is written and tested, it can literally close sales automatically. If you have ever purchased a product or service after reading a sales page then you have experienced its power. Expert sales page writers can easily charge thousands of dollars to write a single sales page. Fortunately, you don’t need to be an expert to create a sales page that is effective for your purposes. Most resell rights products are packaged with a sales page designed to sell a specific product. By examining a few resell right product sales pages and familiarizing yourself with their structure and style you can choose one related to your marketing niche and customize it to crank out enrollments and sales for your business.

6) Traffic & SEO – There are many resell right eBooks and instructional videos available from which you can learn the fine points of traffic generation and search engine optimization (SEO). In addition, you can find content-rich search engine optimized blog templates that can be quickly and easily installed with a web hosting service and modified to suit your needs. Remember, it is much easier to modify something that exists than it is to create something from scratch. This is how leveraging off of resell right products saves time and effort.

7) Self Funding Proposal – Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get people to pay you up front to take a look at your business opportunity? This can be accomplished by using a resell right product as a template to create your own product that is embedded with advertisements for what ever you wish to promote. This can be done very effectively with an eBook. Create a sales page for the eBook combined with with some other quality products as bonuses and sell it as a package. The proceeds from sales made from selling the product will defray your advertising expenses and quite possibly result in a profit if you have a finely tuned advertisement campaign. This technique works very well with any form of paid advertising such as per-per-click search engines.

8) Direct Selling – Take a resell right product and sell it directly to generate income. This is after all, is their main purpose. As I mentioned earlier, most resell right products include a sales page. They may also include a squeeze page and autoresponder messages that are ready for use after being set up on a web server. Although a resell right product may be sold as is, it is always best to modify the sales materials to add a bit of uniqueness to distinguish yourself from other marketers who may be selling the same product.

9) Multiple Niche Marketing – With resell right products it is very easy to branch out an explore the profitablility of marketing niches other than that of your primary business. Here is an example based on my own experience.

One day a saw an ad for a dating affiliate program that intrigued me so much I decided to join it although I had no experience with the dating niche. I searched my hard drive for some dating related resell rights products I had downloaded in the past. I chose the best one to test and installed the prewritten squeeze page, sales letter and autoresponder message series onto my web server and linked it to a new domain name. I customized the materials a bit just as I have recommended in this article. To quickly test it I setup some pay-per-click ad campaigns. The results shocked me! I was stunned at how easy it was to generate regular and predicable income in the dating niche. The success I experienced inspired me to setup sites in other niches some of which include, pet rescue, natural healing, and self-defense. I would never have done this if had not been for the availability of resell right products for these niches.

10) Education – The authors of resell rights products are very adept at staying current with the latest trends in Internet marketing so that the products they create will be in high demand. You can learn a lot about all aspects of marketing by studying and applying the in information contained these products.Remember, knowledge is power!

I hope that this article has given you a solid foundation of information upon which you can leverage off of resell right products to grow your own business. In actuality I have given you much more than a list of ways to use resell right products. I have given you a blueprint for automatically generating leads and sales. You don’t need to be a “computer wiz” to use these products. All you need is basic computer skills like reading, typing, copying, cutting, pasting uploading, downloading. That’s all! What I’ve described may seem like a a lot of hard work but it is really not. Of course effort on your part is required but all of the hard work was done by the people who created the products. All you have to do is profit from their effort by using them.