My company recently ran the “Do you hire auctioneers?” ad campaign. We received so many calls from other auctioneers that share concerns and frustrations about the ethics in our auction industry. It is even more apparent that there is a distinctive need for the industry to police itself and that policing begins with each Arizona auctioneer.

Along with auctioneers, we have heard from many clients of auctioneers — possibly your clients. Most had easy questions to answer about the terminology of “absolute” or “reserve”. We explained these terms and sent out a terminology sheet that also reviewed the typical auction process. We heard from other clients that had stories of bad auction experiences and just wanted to vent their frustrations.

The worst story we heard was from an Arizona auctioneer’s client less than 200 miles away. Three days prior to his call to my company; his mother’s lifetime doll collection had been sold at absolute auction. I was shocked as the client told me that he found original boxes and packaging for the dolls in the trash behind the auction site. If the packaging and dolls would have been left in tact — the doll’s value would have substantially been raised.

The client read a proposal from the Arizona auctioneer that made it sound like minimum prices were guaranteed to the estimated amount of $40,000. The words “absolute auction” never appeared in the auction contract. Contract headings did not match the contents of sub-paragraphs. The client felt uncomfortable with the whole contract process and tried to terminate the agreement within twenty-four hours of when it was originally signed. The Arizona auctioneer said “no”, it was too late as advertising had been placed for the upcoming auction.

The client in a determined effort to put his mind at rest contacted previous clients of the Arizona auctioneer. Adding to his uneasiness the client heard some very disturbing rumors about prescription cialis generic the Arizona auctioneer. The client attempted to discuss these rumors with the Arizona auctioneer and the auctioneer’s response was a demand that the client reveal the source of the rumors. Never once did the Arizona auctioneer deny the rumors or stand by his business practices.

The estimated $40,000 auction was in reality a $13,000 auction with about $3,500 in expenses. The client was disappointed in the outcome of the auction and the auctioneer’s response to his client was “hire a lawyer”.

This is not an attempt to embarrass an Arizona auctioneer or share an auction failure — every auctioneer has had one or two. This is a way to remind ourselves of the basics of good business practices. There are several business lessons to learn from this truly tragic story.

Explain every detail of the auction. Terminology such as tag, lot, sort, group, box lot, sold, absolute, reserve and minimum are not common to most auction clients. Make a terminology list for your clients to refer to during the auction process. This ready reference will be of comfort to your client and will save you and your staff many questions.

Know the auction product or find someone else who knows. As an Arizona auctioneer you are not expected to be an expert on every product — you are expected to know an expert. One phone call to a doll auctioneer would have told the auctioneer in our story that he needed to sell the boxes along with the dolls. The auction industry must police itself to instill ethics into the industry.

Author Bio: Deb Weidenhamer is CEO of Auction Systems, the Southwest’s most active auction and appraisal company. Check out our Arizona auctioneers, or call 800-801-8880 for more information.

Category: Culture and Society/Consumer
Keywords: Arizona auctioneers