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OT- Post your questions for auctioneer interview video

Milacron

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Staff member
Joined
Dec 15, 2000
Location
SC, USA
Example would be how do you decide where to put the more expensive machines in the lot list ? How did the buyers premium come about ? That sort of thing :typing:
 
Just saw an article about auctions, forced to go online only and getting 3 times the participation.
Ive noticed the same lately, prices are higher.
The good stuff is always at the end of the auction to keep people present.
Buyers premium is set by the auction house I believe , prices vary around here 10 - 18 %
 
why don't they have someone at least TRY to round up accessories for each machine?

particularly manual lathes, change gears, steadies, collet sleeves, centers, because they are basically scrap once separated .
for mills and CNC machines, a bit less so, but if the tooling was at least presented as a matching or compatible packaged lot maybe? it would obviously not be attractive to scrappers and most machinery dealers, but end users might pay more, "lot of 3 chucks, 45 tool holders, and collet set for lot #123 Haas ST10". at least offer as an option?

just thinking on the fly there.. maybe its been tried over time, and doesn't pay off, however I get the feeling its more that it would take some level of intelligence and effort on the part of the auctioneer that most don't or can't muster...
 
As I go through bidspotter auctions at times, they normally put the good items to hit at around half way or more. This way it keeps people there. They normally put the accessories for the big machines right after it so the person who buys the big items is basically required to purchase them now. I seen a press brake for sale that had the same quad die for my press brake. I wanted the die, but it went for 3,400 when I can buy a brand new one for 4,000.

Misc, cheap, and misc standard items usually go first like drills, clamps, end mills, etc. Good standard items are last like racks, misc metal, fans, etc so the people who buy a big item just make a good run and buy a bunch of misc items since they will have a trailer anyways.

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I bought some Gear machines from Bidspotter from the Sewall Gear Auction in St. Paul back in 2017 ( I think)and that turned me off on buying from them again.. Their policy in the small print was that oly their machine mover were allowed on the property. This also included small hand carry package pick-up was not allowed. They carried smalls out to your car. Really sucked.

Cucchi Machinery in Bolona Italy bought several to be shipped in containers and they paid the same $$ for loading then what they bought the machines for.

I would ask them about Loading Policy and be sure to put that on the brochure. I know many of us were upset.
 
Perhaps I misread the OP’s post but I read it as Milacron is asking us what questions we’d like to ask an auctioneer. If I read it right (and I don’t claim that I do), here are my questions:

1) someone already asked about rounding up the accessories to a machine to be labeled as such and listed in close proximity to the machine lot number

2) shipping. Does adding rigger service that will allow shipping of small items up to freight of larger items — does it increase the sale price? Is it worth the effort to expedite shipping? If it is, why don’t more auctioneers do it?

3) for online only auctions that stop at a given time, does dynamic closing increase the sale price?

4) live auctions augmented by online bidding — does the online bidding add value? i.e. what percentage is sold online vs on site?

5) what do I do as a seller to optimize my shop for auctions to get the highest sale price?

6) what are the optimal (and worst) times of the year to sell/have an auction?

7) social media marketing and auctions — it’s not done, why? Virtual inspection of machines or videos of walk-throughs of the shop aren’t done all that often, why?
 
If they are doing it on line at the same time do they indicate in the description if a machine is up or down a flight of stairs or is too big to fit thru a door without enlarging the opening?
More than one photo of each lot?
Do they take a CLEAR photo of the machine data plate as one of the photos?
Do they take video of the machine moving?
Do they describe the version of control ie, not just "Fanuc" for CNC machines?
Can they indicate a loading price (or indicate free loading if that is the case) if you will be loading or have a rigger there for that?
Will they indicate if there is a loading dock?
 
here s a FYI not msny know........buyers premiums were originally applied to art auctions ,and funded a pool to indemnify buyers if the item turned out to be a fake ,and the seller/forger had already got his money and skedaddled....Think Sotheby s or Christies ,and millions for the like of "Blue Irises",or "Sunflowers"...both turned out to be fakes associated with the famous financier Alan B**d......Any hoo ,with the great proliferation of auction houses in the 80 s as state governments were forced by legal action to allow more licenses,profits disappeared ,competition grew fierce ,and some house stated offering "zero comission" on big sales and government disposal.....and charged buyers comission via "buyers premiums ".....in most jurisdictions ,a change in laws was needed to allow buyers to be charged ..........premiums started at around 3-5%,spiralled up to current levels of up to 25%.Ive seen it all ,had a license for some years,and a buyer for 50 years.....not any more though ...auctions are a straight ripoff ,nowdays.
 
I bought some Gear machines from Bidspotter from the Sewall Gear Auction in St. Paul back in 2017 ( I think)and that turned me off on buying from them again.. Their policy in the small print was that oly their machine mover were allowed on the property. This also included small hand carry package pick-up was not allowed. They carried smalls out to your car. Really sucked.

Cucchi Machinery in Bolona Italy bought several to be shipped in containers and they paid the same $$ for loading then what they bought the machines for.

I would ask them about Loading Policy and be sure to put that on the brochure. I know many of us were upset.
This auctioneer typically includes free loading for machines up to 5000 lbs and free handling to take tooling to nearest UPS store for boxing and shipping.

In the case of my auction, everything that requires a forklift will be free loading...including two 15,000 lb machining centers.
 
You put the absolute best most desirable items at the end so no one leaves early.

Yes and no. Only do that if you can actually get to them in a reasonable time. I've been to auctions where they started at 9 or 10 AM and saved those cherry lots to the very end and it gets around 7PM and most of the crowd is gone. But yes I think we've all been to auctions where those last lots are selling for $10 a pop for a pallet of tooling.
 
...................... How did the buyers premium come about ? That sort of thing :typing:

Heck, I can answer that one for you. 25 years ago the buyer paid what they bid plus any sales taxes although I think back then in North Carolina there wasn't one charged but I could be mistaken. The auctioneer took his commission out of the bid and gave what was left to the seller. Then some enterprising auctioneer decided to tell the potential seller that he would take his cut by ADDING it to the buyer's bid, so the seller gets the full bid amount and tah-dah, now he gets picked to run the auction instead of one of the other six auctioneers in the area. For a while I would only go to auctions without a buyers premium but I think it only took about 2 or 3 years for all the other auctioneers to make the switch.

Steve
 
How can we arrange to have videos an really excellent pictures taken and posted online as soon as possible?
How much space is available for descriptions?
Do you have someone available to help me with above?
 
Just saw an article about auctions, forced to go online only and getting 3 times the participation.
Ive noticed the same lately, prices are higher.
The good stuff is always at the end of the auction to keep people present.
Buyers premium is set by the auction house I believe , prices vary around here 10 - 18 %

Yes I like to go to auctions but hate the on line ones like bid spotter and so rarely buy. They seem to pull in people who pay way too much for used beat up stuff. I am not sure if it is the P.T. Barnum syndrome- That there is a sucker born every minute that forgets about the buyer's premium, shipping/packing/etc. costs and does not read the fine print about required riggers with high fees. I also see that some bidders are from far away or rural places where perhaps there are limited buying options so these bidders are willing to pay more. However, I sometimes see stuff you can still by brand new go for more than 80% of the new costs before shipping so I think a lot of these buyers are just dumb. In any case unless it is something rare or I need right away I am not will to pay high prices for a used item that I can not closely inspect or test.
 
Early in the ebay days, one would sometimes see out-of-the-mainstream but still very much available new, cameras, sell at auction for more than the price of a new one.
And you could buy the new one on-the-spot from New York, have it shipped overnight. So get it faster and cheaper than what it sold for on ebay.

Whether this is because people thought these cameras were rare, or it was just some odd bit of auction pyschology, I don't know.
 
The usual strategy was to put up the "headline" items at midday,and a set start time for the say half dozen or so top value /new machines ........or put the vehicles and mobile up separately ,starting at a advertised time......The junk items in pallets could drag on till midnight sometimes ......used to be marvellous to hang around late waiting for a specific lot ,only to find another buyer also hanging round for the same item......I would often hit them up for a fifty to walk.
 
Speaking of auction has the date been set yet?
Starts on Bidspotter.com sometime next week, ends May 28. Below is link to my first ever "full length" video (22 minutes). My wife did much of the camera work. Now that we have iMovie figured out we're stoked to do more of this sort of thing.

 
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So a question arises w.r.t. rigging and shipping of things too big for UPS. Say some remote bidder buys one of the larger machines, how is rigging arranged? How is shipping arranged? (I don't know if my local rigger is open, guess I could give them a call. But I for shure know zero riggers in SC)
 
So a question arises w.r.t. rigging and shipping of things too big for UPS. Say some remote bidder buys one of the larger machines, how is rigging arranged? How is shipping arranged? (I don't know if my local rigger is open, guess I could give them a call. But I for shure know zero riggers in SC)
Arranging large machine shipping is responsibility of the buyer, but in this case the auctioneer will load even the largest machines at no charge. What I forgot to ask is what happens with items like a lathe chuck or mill vise that just barely are under UPS weight maximums where a heavy wall box is needed....do UPS stores have such boxes ?
 








 
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