Auctioneers

Saturdays are returning to something like pre-Covid “normal” – that is, getting out and about to watch auctions in the local area!    It’s quite a spectator sport. In addition to seeing inside local houses and getting an idea of prices, I find myself evaluating the performance of individual auctioneers.

Every auction is different, and, to me, the skill of the very best auctioneers lies in their ability to “read” the crowd.   One of the local auctioneers stands out in his ability to do this.  Sure, the effect on the outcome probably only amounts to a relatively small proportion of the ultimate purchase price, but to me, it’s his ability to get those last bids out that makes his style stand out.

I recently attended an auction by another auctioneer who wasn’t up to the same standard.   Sure, he got a decent price, but he failed to slow things down at the “pointy” end of the process.  

Just because the likely under-bidder says he or she is done doesn’t mean that you should leave it at that.   The local expert doesn’t take that for an answer:  he slows things down and teases a little and more often than not extracts more bids.   And by slowing the pace down, there’s an opportunity for the “dark horse” to emerge.   It’s by no means uncommon for the auction seemingly to be close to the end and for a bid to come from a bidder who has not previously participated.   But if the process is rushed, the chances of this occurring are lessened.

At a different auction, the auctioneer seemed to get all the likely bids out, and had achieved what I thought was a good price, before pausing to “seek instructions”.    I was surprised when we were told that the reserve price had not been met.   Even if this was the case (surprising to me, because the price seemed a good one), I would have thought that by putting the property “on the market” at this price – which must surely have been very close to the reserve – would have got more interest.   As it was, the property was passed in without any further bids.  However, perhaps this was the vendor’s decision, not the auctioneer’s, and in any event there was soon a “sold” sign on the board.

It’s all like any sport:   it’s easy to be a spectator, but perhaps it’s harder when you’re the person who has to get out there and “do it”.