Why do I have a hard to time finding feedback on auctioneers/liquidation services?

[GarageWarrior]

I've been going through a process of downsizing and selling-off shop equipment/tools/assets and continuously amazed by HOW LITTLE is known about various auction houses, consignment shops, re-sellers, auctioneers and liquidation services.

Most local auction houses/ auctioneers/ consignment shops/ estate liquidators barely have a static web-page, no reviews, and I could get very little feedback through the word of mouth. That's for business that been around for 10, 20, 30 years and longer ... Seems like they all prefer to exist in some murky shadowy world where at the end of the day the only thing guaranteed is their fat fees and commissions. Just for comparison, take restaurants - full menus online and published prices, dozens of detailed reviews, plenty of feedback ... and that's on any odd restaurant that just opened 6 months ago. Who's being served here?

Hard to find even basic guidelines like: what type of items they can (and can't) sell successfully; recommendations for packaging, bundling and displaying of items; what type of facilities they provide (or bring-in for on-site sales); what's the typical turn-around time; what type of prep,packing, moving and clean-out services do they offer and how much it cost; what kind of crowd and turn-out do they get? And finally how about typical selling prices?

I've been winging it for 6 months now between CL, yard sales, auction houses and liquidators. It's frustrating, stressful and tiresome to constantly deal with this vagueness and run-a-rounds. Fortunately I've had enough time and resources, and close to getting done ... can only imagine what it would be like going through this under strict deadline and with a busy schedule -must be like swimming in the shark tank during the feeding frenzy.

Anybody willing to put a little spotlight on what's up with the used goods marketplace?

Have you tried liquidating an estate? What was your experience like? How much work (and what type) was needed to keep things moving? What was the turn-around time? Selling prices? Sale channels? Hired help? What kind of problems did you run in to?

Feedback much appreciated! Tks

 

[DTE]

Here in NC auctions are a big thing so there are a lot to attend. Unless you have some really desirable stuff that will bring a lot of money the auction co. will only do so much prep. A lazy auctioneer is the buyers friend. Here they get 20% commission and now a lot of them charge the buyer anywhere from 6 to 10% buyers premium. Your best bet is to attend some auctions if possible and see how they sell. A good auction co. has no down time between items and they are not looking around trying to decide what to sell next. A 5-6 hr sale of tools, car parts , items like that a good team should be able to sell from 500 to 700 lots. Auction zip is my favorite site you might take a look at it.

 

[36truck]

Auctions are hard to put in a box as the things being sold are so different form one sale to the next. Prices vary widely from one sale to the next depending on who's there & how bad someone wants it.
I tried to get an auction company to come & look at what I had to sell as I was moving & down sizing. Took them 4 months to show up. Then the prices he gave me was so low it was funny. So I sold it myself. I did some advertising put out some street signs. Sold the vast majority of it. I have a few things yet to sell. I made way more money then the auction guy said.

 

[Scott r c]

All the auctions I have been at the places are full of bozos paying more than full retail for ratted out tools and equipment.

 

[Art From De Leon]

I considered selling the contents of my storage unit, and enclosed 24 foot gooseneck, which has my mechanic's tools, boxes, shop equipment, and lawn and garden equipment, I brought with me when I moved up here from Texas.

I contacted an auctioneer in Greeley, CO, to discuss them selling this, and when asked if he had a place to sort thru, and store, what I had, until it could be auctioned, the answer was NO. He wanted me to bring everything to a consignment auction, and sell the items directly off the trailer. **** HIM AND THE HORSE HE RODE IN ON.

At some point, I will contact Aumann Auctions, who has sold off my farm and construction toy collection, and a few years later, sold my farm and construction equipment literature collection.

 

[GarageWarrior]

Just got results back from my big boxed-lots tool auction at Petrowski Auctioneers. Brought in several K. Good guys, very professional, can highly recommend.

Looks like things went for good money. Nothing close to retail, but better than trying to ebay it piece-by-piece. Labor and shipping would have been more than the pay-out.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Just go attend a few auctions. See how the stuff is presented and how the auctioneer works the crowd. Many sales will have a wide variety of stuff and a good auctioneer will know what just about all of it is and what is worth the effort to work harder for higher bids.
Some auctioneers will specialize (coins for example). Some auctioneers will combine similar merchandise (or stuff that may be of interest to the same buyers like guns and tools) from various sellers so they can attract more buyers.
Most will have ads for previous and upcoming sales.
Most auction houses and auctioneers have regular customers that go each week, or follow them around.

 

[Wanna Ride]

All the auctions I have been at the places are full of bozos paying more than full retail for ratted out tools and equipment.

Same here. Nothing but old coots that don't realize you can buy a decent set of jack stands BRAND NEW for less than $100.

 

[GarageWarrior]

Just go attend a few auctions. See how the stuff is presented and how the auctioneer works the crowd. Many sales will have a wide variety of stuff and a good auctioneer will know what just about all of it is and what is worth the effort to work harder for higher bids.
Some auctioneers will specialize (coins for example). Some auctioneers will combine similar merchandise (or stuff that may be of interest to the same buyers like guns and tools) from various sellers so they can attract more buyers.
Most will have ads for previous and upcoming sales.
Most auction houses and auctioneers have regular customers that go each week, or follow them around.

Yep, that's what I've been doing - going to various auctions and keeping track of they sales.

Auctions are hard to put in a box as the things being sold are so different form one sale to the next. Prices vary widely from one sale to the next depending on who's there & how bad someone wants it.
I tried to get an auction company to come & look at what I had to sell as I was moving & down sizing. Took them 4 months to show up. Then the prices he gave me was so low it was funny. So I sold it myself. I did some advertising put out some street signs. Sold the vast majority of it. I have a few things yet to sell. I made way more money then the auction guy said.

So how much were you getting vs retail and what did auctioneer think it would bring? Also how did you market and display your stuff, and what kind of items did you have?

I found that large equipment and stationary tools sold well on craigslist, but less expensive items they were harder to move, took too much time to list, and too much space to display. They also brought in less through private sales.

Here's my yesterday's $500 row:

Auctioneer had everything sold in 5 minutes including the carpet that the toolboxes were sitting on:

There was a lot of stuff being sold through the day, some rather strange, dolls?

All in all I like auctions - they bring in crowds and create competitive environment.

Couple shots from Petrowsky Auctioneers from a week ago:

Same here. Nothing but old coots that don't realize you can buy a decent set of jack stands BRAND NEW for less than $100.

I need to send some stuff your way. Here most items are selling for a good discount, some stuff goes for more than retail, but it's rare.