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.

Product creation is basically an easy concept, if you can use your creativity and ingenuity in creating something unique and useful to others. Remember that knowing and deciding what to do can be considered to be victory over half the battle.

Today the most profitable products for creation are e-books and software in addition to video tutorials and the selling of them as information products. e-books that are informative are most popular as they are practically free and are easy to maintain and distribute. People are always on the look out for information that teaches them the art of new skills; and they are ready to pay for the product.

Software products too are popular as they have a higher perceived value than e-books and can be sold for more. However software do cost more when you have to maintain the software by updating the software in a regular basis. Even video messages and audio recordings are rather popular among customers because no one is actually patient enough to read over fifty pages in text and would rather prefer to watch or listen to any information through other sources.

Finding the right and hungry crowd offers success to the product creation as different people have different needs. it is only if you can find niche markets and can satisfy the needs of customers will you be considered a success in product creation. Use keywords in the website of your product so that there will be more people directed to your product creation. All these steps induce success with your product creation.

A car auction may possibly take place just anywhere – in any city, town, and even other countries, also. If one takes the United States, for example, approximately each state possesses at least one car auction facility and possibly even more. General public, auto sales dealers and business owners, who are very much interested in purchases of cars, are all constant consumers of the car auctions. There are also special online auto auctions for the ease of the purchaser. Moreover, the types of car auctions are numerous too, for example, such as car salvage auctions, wrecked motorcycle auctions, repairable car auctions, and car parts auctions. In fact, there is a wide net of car auctions all over the USA. And what is more, American car auctions are held nearly each day. So, all individuals and businessmen will agree with the fact that the opportunities to buy vehicles by the use of auctions are multiple.

What is usually auctioned off at the car auction? Individuals can find practically all kinds of vehicles here. Cars are presented here by make, model, and year of production. Their condition may be very different as well – beginning from comparatively new and repossessed cars to wrecked vehicles. Insurance companies, city and state government organizations, and banks and other financial institutions have large possessions of cars for auctioning off. The price of storing these cars is nearly unaffordable; these institutions feel free to put these cars for auctions rather than to go on to lose cash on the storage. In taking part in a car auction, persons do not have to contact with sellers. Nevertheless, the consumers should be ready to check the desired car and set a price which they are able to pay for this car in order to place bids on it and to purchase the car. One more point the consumers should remember, if they are taking up at online auctions, they will be in charge of paying the supplementary transportation fees to ship the vehicles to their locations.

Auto auctions have a long history of existence. They give an option to standard ways of taking up a car. Instead of going to a car dealer and looking and driving a car, the buyer is expected to check the car himself. After that he waits for the auction to begin, and then places his bids on the car. The highest bidder gets the rights for the car and becomes the winner. Modern technology simplified the whole process of purchasing. Auto auctions online might be considered to be one of the most popular and common ways to acquire a car. The vast number of auction vehicles has been tested and are in running condition. Buyers can be assured that they will drive securely after purchasing an online vehicle, from a trustworthy company. The downside of an online auto auction is that a purchaser is not able to see the car in person. There are typically many photos of the car, as well as a good description. The vehicles in the auction have been road tested and mechanically sound to ensure that the customers drive safely, and are pleased with their purchase. Another major ground for choosing an online auction is the diversity of vehicles available. Buyers are able to place bids on cars that are all over the globe, not just in their neighborhood. Individuals can come across just about anything they desire online. The only drawback is that they must have the capability to pick up the car. In some cases the vehicles can be shipped to you locally, making it much easier and more convenient to buy a car on an auction.