If you’re one of the many who would like to learn how to make money Online and you’re concerned with the health of the planet and our environment, the timing has never been better for you to get involved with one of the many booming, eco-friendly green home-based businesses that are currently popping up all around the Internet.Maybe you haven’t noticed, but over the last few years there’s been a tremendous amount of attention being given to, and money being made by, businesses and individuals, who are selling products and services tied to the environmentally friendly focused, green movement. During this same time period there has also been a huge number of people turning to the Internet to generate Income.Think of the potential when combining these two merging trends. There has never been a better time to get involve in a combination of both. Look around. There are now companies in a mad rush to develop the next break through energy saving product. Every week another major, fortune five hundred company announces a new advancement in alternative energy options. Each day there’s another commercial advertising a new green product. So what if you could get involved and start making your share of this green money while the market is ripe? Let’s take a few minutes to examine just how easy it is for anyone from any back-ground to take advantage of this important green movement to make money Online with their own eco-friendly green home-based business.First off, when establishing your new Online green home-based business, it is important to consider what specific green niche you will be marketing. Take some time to consider what product or groups of products you will be marketing. Ask yourself where your interests lie? Do you want to focus on tangible products like solar panels and wind turbines or perhaps how-to kits and ebooks, teaching how to make your own? What area of the green industry will you focus on? Are you interested in green automotive products designed to reduce emissions and save the user money on gasoline, or perhaps, you’re interested in promoting green cleaning products?The choice is yours and it is vast. There are literally hundreds of green home-based business opportunities available for you to choose from. With focus and attention, you are sure to find the one that suits you. Just remember, there are many companies, products and services to examine when establishing yourself and your new Online green home-based business, so make sure to give this a good bit of attention. After all, it is your reputation on the line.Now, one final note. When setting up your new green Online home-based business, it has been proven that for you to seek the help of and use a personal business coach or Online mentor, your chances of success more than triple. No matter what type of business you have, when at all possible, always seek the help of others who have already found success. Simply by being able to seek advice when faced with new challenges is invaluable and can prove to be the difference if you make money Online with your green home-based business or not.
7 Productivity Tips For Your Home Based Business To Make More Money
Being productive in your home based business is one of the first things you want to get really good at. For one very vital reason. When you have a job you are paid for your time. When you have your own business your paid for your production. So the faster you learn how to be supper productive, the sooner you will have success in your home business, start to earn money and get the lifestyle you want. Here are 7 tips to get you on track for being super productive and successful.1. Take control of your “busy work.” What do I mean by “busy Work?” It is the non income producing activities that can steal your entire day. This is time spent disguised as work. Examples of these are, answering phone messages, answering emails, checking Facebook or Twitter. Income producing activities need to be 80 to 90% of your work time. “Busy work” is one way we all spend our time when we are procrastinating on doing something else that we are usually uncomfortable with or that is new and we are not quite sure of. Tell yourself you can do it and get started on the task!2. Set goals and tasks before the day begins. Know what you need to get done the next day before you go to bed at night. You need a clear picture of your next days schedule. Have goals set for the next day, week, and month. The best way to know where you are going is to have a clear path. Include a finish time or deadline for each task. Hold yourself accountable for when each task needs to be completed.3. Work in 50 minute intervals with a 10 minute break for each hour. Have a stop watch or some type of timer so that you have a set amount of time a task needs to be completed. I use the timer on my cell phone (it is silenced). It is amazing how much more concentrated your efforts are when you know you have a set time that the task needs to be completed by.4. One of the things that can really slow down our production is the feeling of being overwhelmed. This is a big problem anytime you are starting your home based business and learning a new skill. In order to keep the feeling of being overwhelmed under control, pick just one marketing technique and focus on it. Master it, become proficient at it prior to trying a new tactic. Your goal here is to pick one technique and make it a habit. Make the new tactic part of your schedule and routine until it becomes a habit. Give yourself about 3 months to really learn the technique, before adding a new marketing technique to your business.5. No multitasking. Multitasking is an inefficient use of your time. It takes your brain about 15 minutes to refocus on the task when going from task to task. It actually takes longer for you to complete your work when you multitask. Batch your activities into time blocks and focus on one activity at a time.6. Take time everyday for motivation and learning. Motivation and learning are crucial to your home based business success. Motivation is the one thing that you can never skip in your daily schedule. The time you spend on motivation and learning is separate from your income producing time. This is another place people can get stuck and use to procrastinate. Don’t spend time learning new marketing techniques and not put them into practice. The only way to earn money in your home based business is to take action on what you are learning.7. Journal your time for 1 week. Take a few seconds each hour for 1 week to see how you are really spending your time. Evaluate at the end of the week. Where can you improve? Are you spending 80-90% of your time on income producing activities?Bonus tip: Keep your life in balance. Schedule fun time, time with your family and friends. Schedule time to take care of yourself, to exercise and eat right. Know why you want to have your own home based business and review your why every day.Incorporating these tips into your daily schedule is vital to your business success. We all get the same 24 hours in the day but how we use the time will make or break your home based business. Remember you are paid for productivity not hours, and you are in control of how you use your time. The sooner you make these tips a habit the faster you build the foundation to your business and the sooner you get the lifestyle and money you are dreaming of.
What Yogi Berra Can Teach Small Business Owners About Estate Planning
According to baseball legend Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” Yogi’s one liners often make me laugh, but they also make me think. His quip reminds me of the importance of having a plan when engaging in any endeavor that will impact our personal situations beyond the immediate here and now. That includes the process of estate planning. Now, I will grant you that Yogi probably wasn’t thinking about estate planning when he offered this particular slice of wisdom. Nonetheless, his words are absolutely spot-on insofar as the importance of planning for that day which we will not live to see. As important as having an estate plan is for all of us, it is of even greater importance for the small business owner. I think it is no exaggeration to say that thoughtful estate planning is an essential component of every small business owner’s overall business plan.I think of a successful small business owner as someone who recognizes an opportunity to provide a needed product or service, and then invests the time, devotion and energy to developing and implementing a plan to seize that opportunity. I admire those thoughtful risk takers who harness their vision, business acumen and moxie in order to create, nurture and guide a sustainable business venture. I have found the small business owners I counsel to be thoughtful, deliberate and attentive to detail in how they go about the work of managing their businesses; i.e., they plan for the future. However, what I have also noticed from time to time in otherwise prudent and successful small business owners is a lack of any plan for their business when they die or are otherwise unavailable to manage it.It is easy to understand how even successful small business owners who are otherwise consummate planners might prefer to avoid estate planning as it concerns their business operation. In at least one respect, these successful business owners are a lot like most people; that is, they are not accustomed (or inclined) to ponder their own mortality. It is a subject, even if not loaded with angst, which easily lends itself to defer consideration for “another day.” Yet, the stubborn reality remains that absolutely none of us will get out of this life alive. For the small business owner, Yogi’s wise counsel merits some thought, and action.If you are a small business owner and have yet to start the estate planning process, let me suggest some relatively easy first steps to get you started. First, locate and then review your company’s organizational and governing documents. If your business is incorporated, these would include the corporate bylaws, shareholders’ agreements and those other documents your lawyers drafted when the business was getting started. If your business is a limited liability company or partnership, you will want to look at the company’s operating agreement or partnership agreement. Review these documents with the following questions in mind:- How will your death (or permanent incapacity) affect the company’s existence?- How will your successor be chosen, by whom and how much say do you presently have in that decision?- Will your death trigger a buy/sell provision by which a co-owner, or the company itself, is allowed to purchase your interest in the business, notwithstanding the wishes of your own family members?A brief review or discussion with your lawyer of questions like these may then prompt you to begin thinking about your vision for the company’s future when you are no longer able to guide it. A next step might be to consider how you would want the business operated in the event of your temporary incapacity or unavailability. A durable power of attorney will allow you (as the “principal”) to designate someone else (the “agent”) to make business decisions during your incapacity, while allowing you to retain the ability to withdraw or revoke the POA when you are ready to resume control of the business.The POA itself might serve as the genesis of a comprehensive succession plan, by which you map out a plan to reduce your own involvement in the business and allow others to assume greater management and decision making responsibilities. An orderly transition plan is apt to increase the company’s odds of survival when you are gone. And, such a plan may help you to “let go” of control and devote more efforts to mentoring those who will eventually run the business you created.Ultimately, you will want to focus your planning on what you want to happen to the business when you have died. Here, a well-designed trust agreement will allow you a great deal of flexibility, both in terms of retaining a degree of control while you are alive, and identifying your intentions with respect to the business after you die. The trust agreement enables you to select those who will administer your stated intentions when you are gone. You can, for example, provide for the sale and/or dissolution of the business over time, or provide for its eventual transfer to one or more family members. A trust agreement allows the owner a great deal of flexibility and for that reason makes it an extremely helpful tool in the business owner’s estate plan.The bottom line is that you, as the small business owner, have the ability to ensure that with careful planning the company you created will survive your passing. This is a process that can be tackled incrementally over time. Given the uncertainties of life, however, the estate planning process should become a component of your overall business plan. There is no time like the present to start this process. Don’t be lulled into putting this task off for “another day”. None of us know how much of a future we will have. Or, as Yogi puts it, “It may be getting late earlier than you thought.”© 6/16/2015 Hunt & Associates, P.C. All rights reserved.
The Best Home-Based Business for Beginners: 4 Important Tips for Starting Your Business!
If you’re a beginner in the home-based business world; whether it’s online or predominantly “on the street;” you can find a million web sites that claim you can make money right away! Many “wealth gurus” say they can make you fast cash!
However, millions of home based business ideas on the internet are failing to produce their claims.
Why?
Because most home-based business ideas are usually too difficult for the beginning entrepreneur. Or, in an effort to make them simplistic, most of the benefits are in favor of the owners.
In fact, many programs are usually challenging for the intermediate and advanced Internet marketer.
You’ve heard it before… “You can make $150,000, $500,000 and even $1 million a year with no experience, not time, no money and no brains!”
You’ve heard these outrageous claims before and they get old after a while! It makes it hard to know the difference between the hype and an online home business or home-based business idea that can deliver a real promise!
So if you’re trying to get out of the 9-to-5 rat race and work for yourself, the best way to prevent wasted time is to find a dependable mentor and invest the required time and money to get the necessary foundation that can help you make money from “jump Street!”
It’s common for the average home based business entrepreneur to invest 10, 20 or $30,000 in training and tools before finally getting the right skill set to make things happen. In fact, it probably happens to over 70% of us who get into home businesses. Of those, most fail.
In fact, I was no exception. Before it finally made some sense to me I had invested over $20,000 in training, software, tools etc.
The biggest tragedy is; I could have spent $500 or even $1000 and received the same or even better results! However, I started like most of us do. spending $10 here, $25 there, etc. But that’s like trying to put a 500 piece puzzle together and purchasing five pieces at a time.
So you’re faced with the choice of constantly being persuaded by all the get rich quick scams and jumping from one hot idea to the next!
Don’t Repeat the Same Mistake most Home-Based Beginners Make!
Like many of us, I took the plunge into online and home-based entrepreneurship and experienced instant failure! Even though I began working on the internet when it virtually started. I worked many home-based businesses as early as when Amway was very popular.
I failed at over 50 different home and online businesses with every marketing strategy you can think up.
I fell for several of the web site gimmicks that told me to “just purchase a sleek looking $500 web site and get rich! One such opportunity was a car web site that I worked on for five years. During those years I never made one dime!
I purchased e-courses, signed up for all the free programs, I spent many hours posting to free ad boards, ad blasters, banner ads, studied SEO, basic HTML and much more. I probably tried every kind of internet business and strategy on how to make money!
I tried an equal amount of home-based businesses that do most of their work on the street instead of the internet.
Basically, I was spending all my free time draining my bank account and still didn’t make one penny!
Don’t let anyone fool you; although working in the home-based business world can be very lucrative, you are going to have to make an investment in time, money and dedication before you get the results you desire. The good news is, it takes much less time and much less money than in the “brick and mortar” world.
Important Tips for Starting Home Based Beginners
OK Mike, you told me all the bad news! So what can I do that will work!
Glad you asked!
Good money can be made with a home business idea, and lots of it! In fact unlimited! But these secrets are important.
If you are making tons of money without them, you should be able to at least DOUBLE your income with them!
1. BEST HOME BUSINESSES Concentrate on programs or products that need to be purchased monthly!
There are many great products and services for you to support. You can earn big commissions to represent them. HOWEVER, would it be better to make a $39 profit just one time, or a $10 profit over and over again indefinitely?
2. BEST HOME BUSINESSES know it takes some money to make money!
Despite all the hogwash you read about making $1 million and never spending a dime; ladies and gentlemen, it might happen once in a million years! But don’t hold your breath!
It’s always going to take some money to make money. The good thing is it takes a whole lot less to start a work from home business.
Also, even though you can join many programs FREE; realize it only gets you in the door; and without benefits to actually make a financial profit fast.
3. BEST HOME BUSINESSES “put their eggs in several baskets!”
The best home businesses entrepreneurs diversify their businesses. Getting involved in a program or selling a product with multiple sources of income or sources of prospects is what I’m talking about! If your business has more avenues of income, it will be more stable and you will be less likely to go under.
I would keep in mind that because of our unstable economy, a rewarding home-based business idea should not solely be dependent on the online world. You can conduct your business online and “on the street” but what if the internet goes down for some reason? Just something to keep in mind.
4. BEST HOME BUSINESSES invest in a business with a solid financial foundation.
Can you imagine if you invested all your time and effort in a program and after one year it closed its doors! Make sure you don’t invest all your effort into a program that is weak in the first place!
Also, when you have a “business developer mindset”, instead of a “recruiting mindset”, you will have a friendly team of associates to keep your business going.
Do People Like Advertising?
Firstly, is the question “Do people like advertising?” the primary concern that business owners should have when creating their campaigns? Well let’s go back to the primary purpose of creating an advertising campaign in the first place. Do you advertise for people to like your advertising or do you advertise to get more customers and sales? These 2 things are 2 very different outcomes and will dictate the style of advertising that you choose. If you want people to like your advertising, here is the question you should ask yourself: What will they do as a result of liking my advertising?
If they like your advertising because it’s funny and entertaining: They will laugh and they might even talk about your advertising at parties. If that is the case your advertising is producing the outcome of making your company look or sound cool, and you are getting positive brand awareness as a result. Will people buy from you because of this? Maybe but there is no guarantee.
If people like your advertising because the graphics and colors are classy. Again you will get positive brand reinforcement and people who are sensitive to aesthetics. If the style you have chosen is an honest representation of your true values, then the perception of your company will be the right one. But again this is not necessarily getting you sales. I have seen many beautiful ads for Audi SUV and I am not driving one. Your prospects may find your advertising very pleasing for the eye but they may be loyal to another brand because of its pricing. This kind of choice is more likely to be rife in a tight economy.
The psychology of liking advertising…or not, is changing. On average a human being is exposed to about 1500 advertising messages every single day, so are we getting over it? if you believe what people do to avoid advertising, muting the TV or radio during the ad breaks, skipping the ad sections in the newspapers etc.. there is no doubt that people like advertising less and less. This is why “permission marketing” is now a rule on the internet. This is also why business owners are increasingly turning to relationship marketing like social media, where advertising is no longer static but by enlarge based on “the conversation”, what’s new and exciting.
Pretty advertising versus PR and advertorials. For those who have read a few of my articles on advertising you will be aware that I tend to favor telling your story in a newsworthy way, and letting your people know exactly how they would benefit from doing business with you, and why they should contact you now. In a lot of cases this alone will create an instant response that you couldn’t dream of creating with an expensive graphic designed advertisement.
What to choose? Advertising that people like, or direct response advertising? Frankly it depends on your budget. Big companies still do both, on one hand they will produce TV ads where picture quality or innovative humor will be the main draw card and on the other hand they will look closely at direct response, conversation based marketing through facebook, twitter, YouTube and the likes. We are living in the era of automation but it seems like the backlash is an increased desire for a true “one on one” relationship between providers and their clients.
Many companies are making ongoing success without doing any traditional advertising and without ever wondering whether or not people like advertising. Does “advertising that people like” still suit your budget and your style of product? If your marketing strategy includes testing and measuring the results, you will soon know, but you may save yourself a lot of money by observing and studying current trends and going for the one most likely to grow your business at the lowest cost.
The Finer Points of Internet Auctions
WHAT IS A PENNY AUCTION?
Penny auctions have exploded in popularity with the massive growth of the internet. However, few people know the true origins of penny auctions.Beginnings actually stretch back to the Great Depression. Those were hard times for everyone, but even harder for farmers. Farmers struggled to bring in steady income because of droughts and crops not selling as well as they had previously. As a result, the banks would foreclose on the farmers who couldn’t keep up with their mortgage payments.
The banks weren’t satisfied with just repossessing the house, they wanted to raise as much capital as possible, so they resorted to selling off the possessions of the owners of the repossessed houses. There was not much the farmers could do about it so they began bidding ridiculously low prices, pennies, on the items while threatening others who dared to bid higher than a few pennies.
The auctions of today hardly resemble their tremulous beginnings. Being part of a penny auction today is exhilarating, fun, and addictive. It combines the selling format of auctioning with a little bit of chance factored in.Auctions are a game of strategy but also a game of luck.
The premise behind penny auctions is giving people the chance to win an item at a drastically reduced price.Auctions make that possible by spreading out the cost of the product among multiple bidders. In order for a person to take part in an auction, they must pay a set price for each bid. For example, if a person wanted to bid on a fifty dollar Amazon gift card then he would spend a dollar for each time a bid placed. If he ended up winning the gift card, then he would only have spent a few dollars for a fifty dollar gift card. Usually penny auctions sell bids in packages.
HOW PENNY AUCTIONS WORK!
The main foundation of penny auctions is the pay-per-bid format. It is the key that allows bidders to win items at the fraction of their retail value and allows the auction owners to keep their site profitable. Most y auction sites run on the same premise: people pay a set amount for each bid, whenever a person places a bid within the closing seconds of the auction time will be added, the last person left with a unique bid after the clocks runs out will win the item. There are a large variety of items that can be won, but they tend to be popular electronics or gift cards to popular stores.
There are two types of auctions: lowest unique bid auction and highest unique bid auction. Lowest unique auction sounds confusing but it is actually quite simple. A unique bid is when only one person has a bid at a certain price. Bids usually start at one penny, a bidder can then place a bid at two pennies. Until another bidder places a higher bid, the most recent bidder will be the lowest unique bid because that was the only bid at two cents and nobody bid higher. However, penny auctions generally don’t stop at one penny. It is not uncommon to find auctions that end up at a couple hundred dollars based on the popularity of the item being auctioned. However, the same principles apply for those auctions. Highest unique bid auctions follow the more traditional auction format such as eBay. The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction wins the item.
Auction site owners turn a profit by selling bids. Say twenty people are bidding on a ten dollar gift card at one dollar per bid, at the end of the auction if there were twenty bids placed in total then the site owner would have made twenty dollars with a ten dollar profit.Auctions do seem like a win-win situation:The site owner makes money while the bidder gets an item for dirt cheap. However, not everyone wins in penny auctions. The people who paid one dollar each bid but left with nothing to show for their investments will not be so happy.
HOW TO WIN!
Penny auction has a lot of chance mixed into it, but one can incorporate strategy that will help raise the chances of winning. Playing smart can make all the difference between gambling and auctioning.
The first crucial tip to winning penny auctions is to know how to manage your bids. Your goal should be to win as much as possible without spending a ton of money buying bids. Managing your bids means that you should already know how much you are willing to risk in order to win an item. The amount of capital you are willing to risk will determine how many bids you can use. Once you know how many bids you have to spend on an item, then you will be better able to manage how and when you place a bid. That will keep you from blowing away all of your bids in the first few seconds of the auction.
The next tip is to practice time management. When fighting in the trenches of penny auctions, you have two enemies: other bidders and time. Knowing when to bid is a must if you want to have success. Placing a bid when there is a lot of time left on the clock is never a good idea. You have to remember that the key to winning a penny auction is being the last one standing when the clock runs out and that each bid increases the amount of time left. It would be a good practice to wait until the last few minutes of the auction before you begin to bid.
The final tip for successful auctioning is to keep your emotions under control.Auctions have a lot of similarities to gambling, and just like gambling, your spending can get out of control. If you keep your emotions level, it will keep you from making rash decisions and blowing loads of cash. Keep your mind clear so that you can gage the behavior of the other bidders and outsmart them.
HOW TO AVOID SCAM SITES!
Penny auctions are a great addition to the web whether you want to win an item that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford or if you simply enjoy the thrill that comes with bidding in auctions. Unfortunately, scam sites have tarnished the reputation of the legitimate penny auction sites. However, there are ways that you can protect yourself from scamers and enjoy your auctioning without having to worry about losing your money due to dishonesty.
Checking the reputation of the auction site before you start spending your hard earned money is always a good idea. Chances are other people have tried the site before you and some of them have left reviews. The reviews are your way to gage whether a auction site is trustworthy or not. If a site is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews, then that is a clear indication that you should steer your business elsewhere.
Another tool you can use to protect yourself is checking the Alexia ranks of the auction sites. Alexia rank will give a solid view of how much traffic the auction is getting. If you see a huge difference in the amount of traffic Alexia is projecting and the amount of active bidders on the site, then warning signals should be ringing in your head. Some auction sites have been known to set up robots that automatically bid on projects in order to keep the auction going and inflate the price. That is known as shill bidding. You can sniff out those sites by comparing the traffic the site should be getting to the amount of users using this site.
CONCLUSION!
New legislation may come out later down the road that will officially make penny auctions gambling, but until then, it is a fun, exciting auction that allows one to win the item they’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford.Auctions are also quite lucrative for the site owners because of the pay-per-bid strategy they’ve incorporated. Penny auctions had humble beginnings with farmers who just wanted to get back at the banks who kicked them out of their house. More recently, auctions have enjoyed an explosion in popularity with the rise of the internet.
There are two main formats fora auctions, lowest and highest unique auction, however they both run on the same premise where the last unique bid wins the item. Winning a penny auction will require a certain amount of mental tactic and a bit of luck. However, you can increase your odds of winning by practicing certain techniques such as managing your bids wisely, learning how to work with the time, and keeping a level head and your emotions under control. When you combine those three strategies to your bidding plan, you will find that you win a lot more often.
It is important that you do your due diligence to protect yourself when participating in auctions. Not every auction is run by honest and trustworthy people. There are people out there who just want to take your money. You can protect yourself by ensuring that you only bid on sites that already have a very positive reputation from real users.
How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items
Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.
Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.
There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.
There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.
Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.
There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.
Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?
Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.
Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.
A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.
Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.
When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.
When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.
Hiring An Auction Company
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.
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.
Real Estate Auctions – The New Land Rush
On a sunny afternoon in Florida, an energetic crowd gathers on the lawn of a high end luxury estate. A loud and eager banter between an auctioneer, a group of bidders and bidder assistants fills the air. For several minutes the auctioneer asks for the next highest bid and the bidders respond. Suddenly the bidders grow silent. The high bidder holds his breath in anticipation of winning the auction. The auctioneer calls for one more bid. In a loud clear voice which rolls over the audience he says, “Fair warning, last chance” the auctioneer pauses, “SOLD!” And in less than 10 minutes another multimillion dollar estate has changed owners.
Successful real estate auctions like the one above are happening all over North America and the Caribbean. Recently real estate auctions have been on the rise, the increase in popularity is partly driven by growing inventories and fading buyer confidence. Properties that were selling in weeks using traditional methods are now languishing on the market unable to attract buyers even as seller’s lower prices. Many say the real estate boom is over but savvy buyers and sellers are profiting from real estate auctions.
Real Estate Auctions Work in Up or Down Markets.
Regardless of trends or market cycles, real estate auctions provide an open and transparent process for buyers and sellers. Properly conducted real estate auctions attract ready and willing buyers and motivate them to act now.
The auction method removes the “wait and see” attitude which serves to further depress real estate values. Buyers are always concerned about overpaying. Buyers gain confidence with their purchases at real estate auctions because they can see what others are willing to pay.
When market demand is high and inventories low, real estate auctions can deliver selling prices well above what a willing seller would have accepted in a negotiated private treaty sale. In good selling climates many property owners using traditional real estate methods; negotiating with one buyer at a time, leave thousands of dollars of equity on the table. During up markets real estate auctions are the best way to establish top market price.
Evaluating Your Real Estate for Auction
Not every property or seller for that matter makes a good candidate for auction. First of all sellers must be ready to sell now and for the current market value. Also a real estate auction will not fix problems caused by a downturn in market value of your property, if you owe more than a willing buyer will pay, be prepared to come to closing with your check book.
Properties that do well in real estate auctions have a high uniqueness factor. Ask your self, “What makes my property different from most others?” Maybe you own a resort property or high end luxury home, commercial properties and land do very well at auction. Real estate auctions thrive on uniqueness. If your property is like everyone else’s, the best thing you can do is offer the most competitive price.
Most importantly sellers must be reasonable about setting a minimum bid. A seller must look at the lowest, most current comps and price below that to generate the interest and urgency necessary for a successful real estate auction. Once the auction begins and qualified bidders start competing against one another you can watch the selling price increase.
Locate a Qualified Real Estate Auctioneer
Start by checking with the National Auctioneers Association, the best real estate auctioneers belong to this organization. These real estate auctioneers are well trained and adhere to a standard of practice and a code of ethics. Many attend the annual International Auctioneers Conference where the latest techniques and innovations in the real estate auction industry are presented.
Find out if the company you are interviewing is a full time real estate auction firm. Many real estate agents are getting auction licenses yet have no experience with the auction method of marketing. Conducting a successful real estate auction is nothing like (private treaty) traditional real estate sales. Go with a real estate auction pro.
You’re probably better of with an auction house that specializes in real estate auctions. There are many qualified auctioneers who have generations of experience selling personal property; furniture, dishes, lawn equipment and the occasional rare painting. Selling real estate at auction is a complex matter that should only be attempted by full time experienced real estate auction professionals.
Commissions and fees may vary, sellers must pay all marketing expenses up front and buyers typically pay 10% of the sales price to the auctioneer of which a share goes to participating real estate agents.
Types of Real Estate Auctions
Auctions are effective because they create a seller’s market. Professionally conducted real estate auctions create urgency, a reason to buy today and competition for the property. Terms and conditions of sale are established ahead of the auction. Real estate auctions will follow one of these three approaches:
Absolute Auction
The property is sold to the highest bidder regardless of price- using this process often returns the highest sale price.
Minimum Bid Auction
Seller agrees to sell at or above a published minimum bid price – this method is useful for internet auctions.
Seller Confirmation or Reserve Auction
With a reserve auction, the seller “reserves” the right to accept or decline any bids usually within 48 hours of the auction. Reserve auctions are used when there is a lien on the property from a lender or a court ordered sale with a minimum selling price.