Global Auction Blog

We've Moved !

2008-01-09T22:40:00.000-06:00

We'd like to thank Google and Blogger for offering this great service to help aspiring bloggers get started.

We have taken the plunge and moved our blog at our own server, so you will be able to find our future posts at the new Global Auction Blog

Be sure to update your feed URL !

Dwayne

AuctionWally a new auctioneer podcast

2007-12-27T17:26:00.000-06:00

I stumbled upon this podcast recently at AuctionWally.com , and finally had time to listen to all his current and past episodes. A very interesting listen to keep you amused as you drive down the highway I must admit.

Whether you are an auctioneer or an auction enthusiast you may find something amusing here.

What happens when you drink too much Labatt's Blue ?

2007-12-27T15:30:00.000-06:00

You look like like these guys ! Thanks to those who organised the media outing for us while attending a recent convention in Las Vegas to attend the Blue Man Group show.

It's amazing how there are comparison's between how the Internet of today works like the original network that connects everyone's home.........Plumbing !

To Share...or Not to Share ?

2007-12-13T08:53:00.000-06:00

While looking through my log files today I came across a spike in referrals from an antique industrial equipment enthusiast site called Practical Machinist . While that on it's own is no great reason for a blog post, a thread I found on that site regarding auctions was most informative.

If you were going to an auction sale locally, would you broadcast to fellow enthusiasts the details about the sale which could potentially increase the competition for items that you would want to buy cheap?

It is a very interesting read, and not the usual type of warm fuzzy feelings you usually find at a collectors website.

Be sure to read my comments in the thread, which I feel sums up how the collectors would want to be treated when it's their turn for a sale.

10 FireFox Tips To Rock Your World

2007-11-27T20:23:00.000-06:00

Been meaning to write a post exactly like this for sometime, thanks to Newest On The Net for the post.

Without a doubt, my favorite application on my computer is my mozilla Firefox browser. Here are 10 awesome mozilla Firefox tips that I recently discovered.

1. Open a new tab by double clicking on an empty space in the firefox tab bar. This is the coolest firefox tip that I have recently learned. I hated going up to the file menu and clicking on the new tab button. Now I don’t have to!!

2. One of my favorite firefox addons is All-in-One Gestures. This firefox add on allows me to make gestures with my mouse and control my firefox browser. By right clicking my mouse and drag it to the left, I can go back to the last page I was browsing. I can close a tab by right clicking my mouse and moving it down and then to the left. I love how this speeds up my web browsing.

3. For those of you with blogs, I highly recommend installing the Scribe Fire Firefox addon. ScribeFire is a great blog editor that integrates with monzilla firefox.

4. You can go back a page by hitting the “Backspace” key. This is a very convenient way to move back a page.

5. Configure your Firefox addons by going to Tools => Add-ons and then right clicking the firefox addon you want to configure. I did not know that Firefox addons had options you could set. I would like to thank Geekenough.com for this tip!!

6. Did you know that you can tag your firefox bookmarks? Simply go to your firefox bookmarks folder, right click on a bookmark and then go to properties. On the properties page, you can assign a keyword to that bookmark. Then you can go to that bookmark by simply typing that keyword into your address bar. Thanks Lifehack.org!!

7. I am sure that many already know this trick, but I recently learned it. You can bookmark a site by hitting “Ctrl + D”. I am a little embarrassed that I did not know this until recently. You will notice that I added this tip to my blog template hoping that people will bookmark Newest on the Net. I would like to thank seologs.com for introducing me to this shortcut.

8. Another cool way to bookmark a site is to place your mouse pointer over the page’s favicon, left click and drag it to you bookmarks folder. This is a great tip. Thanks Techlicious.TV!!

9. The Mozilla Firefox website has a great list of all of the keyboard shortcuts for Firefox. Instead of listing filling up this article with keyboard shortcuts, here is the complete list. I would like to thank WrongAdvices.com for leading me to this list.

10. Do you have several sites that you like to have open at all times? Well, Firefox allows you to open multiple home pages at one time when you launch Firefox. This save me a lot of time. To implement this go to Tools => Options => Main. From the Main menu you can ask Firefox to use a bookmark folder as your homepage. Put all of the websites that you want to automatically launch into a special bookmark folder and then select that bookmark folder to be your home page.

If you haven’t downloaded the latest mozilla Firefox browser, here is the latest download.

How to be Unreachable & Productive

2007-11-26T19:57:00.000-06:00

Here is a great post from the Web Publishing Blog I don't know if you need to go to this extreme, but it is interesting.

Of the nearly 500 auctioneers that we work with there are only a selected few that have my cel phone number. And of them, even a smaller number have my programmers phone number. These particular auctioneers give me great feedback, and they will only phone me after hours when it is for a serious problem. For that they get my trust.

Be sure to setup a junk/spam email address to use online. Grab a Hotmail / Google / Yahoo email account or setup a junk@yourauctioncompany.com email address. It will only take your host 2 minutes to setup, so don't let them overcharge you.

By Andrew

I never got around to applying The Four Hour Work Week, but I have followed a few lessons from the book. Most specifically, eliminating distractions and “Become(ing) and Ignoramus.” (page 92)

For a moment lets just forget blog RSS feeds, forums, and CNBC — instead consider your daily personal contacts and work interruptions.

Step 1 — Create an “personal” e-mail address. Its brand new and no one even knows what it is.

Step 2 — Get a new “personal” phone line / number. Again, its brand new and no one knows it yet.

Step 3 — You have two options, either have an employee become your intermediary to filter out the garbage, or give out this personal contact information to only your most important contacts.

For example, a company that you do 5/6/7 figures of business with a month may qualify as high priority. A company that you used in the past does not. This also means from time to time you may need to create a new “personal” contact system.

Have two sets of business cards. If you go to a conference, give one to the people trying to sell you something. Give a second to the important people you need to contact. If you have met me, you know I do not even give out any business cards. I’ll take yours, and contact you on my own time.

Because my company is very tiny (in employee size) I do not have anyone filter my contact information for me. I am sure there are many people who are pissed that I answered their voice mail 2 months after they left it. Thats ok, because if I spent my time reading through every personal correspondence, there wouldn’t be much business left.

Ironically you will notice I have a personal contact email on this blog (as of the time I write this.) Your contact structure does not have to be limited to two tiers. It can be very beneficial to make it multi-channeled. As the business owner, if might be ok for your press contacts to have direct contact information. Or perhaps there is a more “casual” contact point that you can access after work that you know will never contain urgent news to break you away from family time.

Consider these ideas and build yourself a custom solution, if you haven’t already. As always, these aren’t rules; test things out and figure out what works for you.

More Fast Talkers doing TV work

2007-11-25T18:22:00.000-06:00

Watching the Grey Cup Today (Go Bombers !) and seen a few different commercials using Fast Talkers to squeeze as much info into 30 seconds as possible. Purolator Courier had a great one, and here is an Expedia.ca spot

Benefit Auctioneer Tom DiNardo is First US Auctioneer to Become a Credentialed Sommelier

2007-11-25T18:03:00.000-06:00

(PRWEB) November 16, 2007 -- After successfully graduating from the International Sommelier Guild's grueling eighteen month long Sommelier Diploma Program, renowned charity auctioneer Tom DiNardo is the first auctioneer in the United States to become a fully credentialed sommelier. A sommelier is a person with extensive knowledge about oenology and wine and food pairings. "Completing ISG's comprehensive wine education program was far more intense than my meeting the basic requirements in completing my Bachelor of Arts degree" recalls DiNardo.

Benefit Auctioneer Tom DiNardo is the first auctioneer in the nation to become a sommelier diplomate.Tom DiNardo grew up in a Sicilian-Irish household in which wine was a part of every dinner. Prior to the founding of DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers in 1993 Tom DiNardo had worked within the wine industry in both California and Washington. "It's only natural that my lifelong passion for wine has carried forward into my auction career. Pursuing my sommelier education has been the ultimate education accomplishment in my auctioneer career path so far," said DiNardo.

Unafraid of challenges, Mr. DiNardo has firmly built his nationally recognized fundraising auction firm upon a track record of his achieving many firsts within the benefit auction industry. "I am one of the very few professional auctioneers to date who has pioneered the ultra exclusive niche of charity wine auctions within the United States." Charity wine auctions such as the Naples Winter Wine Festival, Auction Napa Valley and California Winemasters are amongst the top fund-raising auctions events in the nation today. "I was the first charity auctioneer in the country to join the Association of Fundraising Professionals in rallying fellow benefit auctioneers to charge their non-profit clients only a flat fee versus charging them a percentage commission," recounts DiNardo. Charity auctioneer Rowlan Hill of Phoenix, Arizona said, "The results of Tom DiNardo's forward thinking, such as joining AFP and other innovative actions he has chosen, have created many trends that are today being followed by many other successful charity auctioneers."

How did your career as a wine auctioneer begin? Tom DiNardo left a sales career in the wine industry to begin a new career in the auction industry in 1993. Mr. DiNardo said he realized early on that the fundraising auction niche was highly competitive. Tom recalls, "I had to find a niche within the auction industry that set me apart from my competition immediately, and charity wine auctions was the answer." Early on in his career Tom DiNardo remembers that there were far more ambivalent people than clients interested in asking him questions about his auction firm's services. "Ultimately I landed my first charity wine auction gig, but I knew that the road was going to be a steep uphill climb without my earning and possessing more wine credentials" says DiNardo. A huge fan of continuing education, Tom DiNardo received his training and designation as a certified appraiser, specializing in wine appraisal, and today he is a master wine appraiser registered with the US Appraisal Foundation. Tom DiNardo further persevered in building his wine auctioneer credentials by becoming a freelance wine writer for esteemed wine magazines such as Wine Enthusiast, Decanter, Santé and Wine Adventure magazines as well as becoming a full time contributor to WineSquire.com and WineandSpiritsJobs.com. Tom DiNardo ascended another career peak becoming a contract auctioneer with ERI's retail wine auction gallery in Chicago.

Your credentials as a benefit auctioneer and charity wine auctioneer are impressive! Why did you decide to pursue a sommelier education and diploma? "I wanted to achieve something that no other charity auctioneer had ever done. I wanted to become the best qualified charity wine auctioneer in the country," said DiNardo. Mr. DiNardo examined the successful careers of many of world's top wine auctioneers such as Michael Broadbent, Fritz Hatten, Ann Colgin and Humphrey Butler in making the choices that would ultimately benefit his personal career. According to Tom DiNardo, "There are many sommelier training programs available throughout the world, but only three sommelier organizations that offer wine credentials that are recognized worldwide. After I discussed the various wine education programs that are currently available with various wine industry colleagues and fellow sommelier David Le Claire, I had narrowed down my program choices to the International Sommelier Guild, the Court of Master Sommeliers, or the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. The International Sommelier Guild's sommelier diploma program is an intense eighteen month long commitment to excellence in learning as much as humanly possible about wine and oenology. I chose ISG's program and I became a sommelier diplomate," states DiNardo.

What made the sommelier training so intense? "Juggling my career and the demands of my company, class studying and homework, and managing a personal life made it difficult, but my commitment carried me through. My first two International Sommelier Guild classes, Fundamentals I and Fundamentals II, were held in Vancouver, British Columbia which also added a bit of an international challenge," says DiNardo. Mark Davidson, the former ISG Vice President and current guild instructor, said "The Sommelier Diploma Program class lasts for several months, one day a week, and each class is eight hours long. Tom faced an incredible challenge completing his sommelier diploma, as he commuted once a week from Bellingham, Washington to Los Angeles, California in order to graduate from the class."

Are all sommeliers credentialed? Tom DiNardo emphatically states, "In my humble opinion: yes! Unfortunately, today there are far too many people laying claim to sommelier credentials that they have not justifiably earned. I have met some people who have taken only one wine course out of a series, or worse someone who possesses no wine training at all, and then these people arrogantly misrepresent themselves as sommeliers. The wine industry refers to these people as "wannabes" or "cork dorks"! Now even in the charity auction industry, there are a few individuals who lay claim to sommelier credentials they simply have not earned. The old adage would appear to apply: the proof is in the pudding, or in an actual sommelier diploma. Don't get me wrong; as I truly wish more people would take wine classes. There are many wine courses offered that are geared to fit a range of experience levels from beginner to advanced connoisseur or oenophile." Will your sommelier training and education continue? "The wine industry throughout the world is literally changing almost on a daily basis. As a sommelier, it is important to keep up with those changes and advances. Being a sommelier is a passionate journey and a personal lifelong experience," says DiNardo.

What are your future career goals, Tom? "DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers is a fundraising auction firm first and foremost. Charity wine auctions are not all that we do, but are a unique area of specialization and a niche that I personally believe that my company caters to best! Of course, I am looking to grow my fundraising auction firm, and I would like to become more involved in some larger charity wine auctions, but I have plenty of time. Currently, I have many other irons in the fire, as I am receiving more frequent requests for wine appraisals, freelance wine writing assignments, wine educator opportunities, and the occasional wine consulting job. In the meantime I will be enjoying a well deserved break."

Video: RSS in Plain English

2007-11-25T17:37:00.000-06:00

From the Small Business Trends Blog

If you do a lot of reading of news, magazine and blog sites on the Web, chances are you’ve run across the little orange RSS icons. Maybe you even are a pro at using RSS feeds, in which case you can skip this video.

But, if you are still learning how to use RSS feeds, watch this Commoncraft video. It’s a little over 3.5 minutes long, but interesting and informative — and apparently popular, too, with over 160,000 downloads to date.

To find over 70 auction sale feeds that will get you only the sales you really want, goto Global Auction Guide RSS feeds

Buyers Pounce on Deals as Homes Go on the Block

2007-10-23T22:26:00.000-05:00

From the NYTimes.com

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 21 — In a down real estate market, they came to buy. They came early, they came in numbers and they came with bank checks for $5,000.

By 10 a.m. Saturday, more than 700 people filled a hall in the convention center here for what real estate agents say is the largest auction of foreclosed properties ever in Minnesota, with more than 300 houses or apartments for sale in two days. Opening bids ranged from $1,000 — for a three-bedroom house — to $729,000, for a five-bedroom house on 11.9 acres. The crowd was standing-room only, with more waiting to enter. Some were looking for homes, others for investments.

“It’s a symptom of the foreclosure crisis,” said Jim Davnie, a Democratic state representative in Minnesota. Mr. Davnie said he had concern that areas already hit by the foreclosure crisis would now be hit by investors buying properties to rent them out, “which makes neighborhoods less stable than owner-occupied housing.”

But in the loud, overcrowded hall, the misery of subprime loans, exploding adjustable rate mortgages and slumping sales meant one thing: opportunity.

“Who’s got $150,000?” said the auctioneer, Mark Buleziuk, motor-mouthing the sale of a four-bedroom house that he said was worth $234,000. “It’s a buyer’s market,” Mr. Buleziuk urged.

The auction, like others that have proliferated around the country this year, tapped the contradictory forces of the current real estate market, in which mass foreclosures and sinking home values, along with predictions of more pain to come, still stoke the urgency to buy right now, before it is too late.

“The market’s really low right now, so you can get a good price,” said Lori Crook, a food server at Keys Cafe who said she was looking for a place she could fix up and sell. “Even if you can’t sell it right away, if you just sit on it and sit on it, it will go up.”

The auction involved a tiny fraction of foreclosures in the state. Julie Gugin, executive director of the nonprofit Minnesota Homeownership Center, projected statewide foreclosures at 20,000 this year, up from 11,000 last year, based on data from sheriffs’ sales.

Representatives from two big lenders that have been hit hard by the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, Countrywide Financial and Bear Stearns, were on hand to provide mortgages — fixed, adjustable, jumbo or interest-only. Both have been criticized for giving loans too freely, leading to a wave of delinquencies and a rush to sell debt securities backed by those loans.

Countrywide and an affiliate of Bear Stearns were also among the lenders selling properties at the auction. Both have been hurt by defaults on mortgages.

“This is such a stark and dramatic illustration of how serious the problem is,” said Ron Elwood, a lawyer at the Legal Services Advocacy Project, which lobbies in the interest of low-income residents. “The reality is, half the reason 300 homes are being auctioned off is that speculators tried to make a killing and failed to do so.” In Minneapolis, 55 percent of foreclosures this year involved houses not occupied by their owners, according to county records.

But instead of alarming buyers about the risks, the auction of so many foreclosures at once was an invitation to speculators, small and large. Some, including Bryan Kihle and Jim Casha, who bought a four-bedroom house for $145,000, bid without seeing the properties. “I just looked at the picture and thought if we got it cheap enough, we could rent it for a year, then sell it when the market goes back up,” said Mr. Kihle, a building contractor. One public interest housing group bought eight properties to restore for low-cost housing.

Others just saw a chance to enter the housing market. “It won’t always be low,” said Pearl Dobbins, who said she was willing to spend up to $50,000. “This is our chance to buy a home and start our financial future.”

What they all found was a mad scene. As men in tuxedos raced around, waving their hands at bidders and goading them to bid higher, Mr. Buleziuk delivered a nearly indecipherable sales pitch, amplified to exhausting levels.

Jeff Groskreutz, shouting to be heard, said it all felt familiar. “It’s just like any other farm auction I’ve been to,” Mr. Groskreutz, a former farmer, said.

For Mr. Groskreutz, 39, the object of his desire was a five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath ranch house in Forest Lake, about 25 miles northeast of Minneapolis, which had a starting bid of $169,000. According to the auction program, the house was “previously valued” to $457,000. But when the bidding reached $250,000, Mr. Groskreutz dropped out. “That was my top,” he said.

The boom in foreclosures has also meant opportunity for companies like the Real Estate Disposition Corporation, based in Irvine, Calif., one of several across the country that hold auctions for lenders that need to unload the record number of properties they have repossessed this year. The corporation, which ran the auction here, started in the 1990s but was dormant from 1998 until this year, said Michael Schack, a senior vice president. When the market was hot, banks sold foreclosed properties without auctions. But since holding its first auction in May, the company now has at least one scheduled every weekend this year except Thanksgiving.

If the winning bid does not exceed an unpublished minimum set by the lender, the seller can decline the sale.

Paul Schoenecker, owner of a local franchise of HomeVestors, the people who post the “We Buy Ugly Houses” billboards, said a minority of the sales were true bargains.

Even so, Mr. Schoenecker bid on some properties. Buyers were required to provide a $5,000 bank check, along with a personal check to bring their contribution up to 5 percent of the purchase price. Upon placing a winning bid, they proceeded to financing tables in the back — with no opportunity to further inspect the property or negotiate repairs.

The bidding for most houses took less than three minutes. Over two days, 85 percent of 340 properties were sold.

Nathan Harris, 23, bought lot 8A, a four-bedroom house near the University of Minnesota, for $80,000. He had been willing to bid as high as $150,000.

Since he is still a part-time student, Mr. Harris chose an interest-only mortgage, which will convert to a 25-year adjustable rate mortgage after five years, the type of exotic mortgage many critics and lawmakers blame for the foreclosure crisis. But he said he was not worried: in five years, when his mortgage adjusts, it will still be on a principal of only $80,000.

For Tina Sunda, though, the day was not to be. Miss Sunda, who is single and works as a facilitator for a special education program, has never owned a property, and paid repeated visits to inspect a duplex house she thought was worth $175,000 to $200,000. She brought a friend who is a real estate agent to advise her.

“It’s over-stimulating, but it gives people a chance to buy low,” Miss Sunda said of the auction environment. “They’re trying to whip everybody up.”

When Mr. Buleziuk called for the opening bid of $99,000, she shot her arm up, and again seconds later, and again after that. But at $150,000 she dropped out, watching the house go to another bidder for $165,000, less than she thought it was worth but more than she was prepared to pay.

The next day, Miss Sunda was philosophical. “I’m proud that I took a risk, and that I didn’t let the excitement push me over my limit,” she said. “I’d do it again, but I was pretty exhausted by the time I left.”

Antique tractor fetches $400,000 at auction

2007-10-04T21:24:00.000-05:00

From @gOnline.com

A rare 1913 Case Model 30-60 -- one of only five known to exist -- brought a whopping $400,000 at auction in late September. At that price, the antique Case cost more than the most expensive modern tractor currently sold by Case IH.

The $400,000 final bid also stands as the highest price paid for any antique tractor at a public auction, according to Dave Mowitz, editor of the Ageless Iron Almanac and Successful Farming magazine Machinery Editor.

The Case 30-60 was sold during the George Schaaf Truck and Tractor auction held near Frankfort, Illinois. Schaaf had amassed one of the nation's most respected collections of antique tractors and trucks.

Although this massive auction included many rare trucks, it was the tractors that ruled the day. The next four highest priced items were all tractors that included a 1918 Huber Model 35-70 (which sold for $250,0000, a 1918 Advanced-Rumely Oil Pull Model 30-60 ($165,000), a 1923 Avery Model 45-60 ($150,000) and a 1918 Aultman Taylor Model 30-60 ($95,000).

All told, 65 items sold during the Schaaf sale, which was conducted by Aumann Auction of Nokomis, Illinois. Click here for more information about the action.

Great photo album from a old time farm auction

2007-10-03T21:12:00.000-05:00

Check out this photo album from the "Mackenzie Farm" auction near Gainsborough Hall south of Portage La Prairie , Manitoba Canada on June 9th 2007

Photos were taken by Doug Wilcox - Gainsborough 4H Club Photography Instructor

Marks4Antiques.com helps users easily decipher ceramics

2007-10-03T21:00:00.000-05:00

Antique & collectible ceramics have a secret to tell and Marks4Antiques.com helps users easily decipher those secrets, allowing collectors & consumers to determine their hidden value.

San Francisco, California - September 29, 2007 - A typical household in the U.S. has dozens if not hundreds of plates, cups & saucers, vases, bone china, figurines, steins and other ceramic items. Many of these pieces have been passed down through many generations of a family or have been acquired over many years. Vintage ceramics have a story to tell and part of that story is that the value of some of these items is much higher than the owner realizes. To unlock the hidden value of vintage ceramics, the first step is to determine who made the item and when. What most people don't realize is that hidden away on the underside of many vintage porcelain and pottery pieces is a manufacturer's mark that can give insight into who made the piece and in most cases, where and when it was made. A website called Marks4Antiques.com can help users easily decipher the secrets of manufacturers' marks on Porcelain, Pottery or China and vintage ceramic pieces.

Many manufacturers' marks on ceramics can be like complex codes and can provide a lot of information. For example, in addition to the name and location of the Porcelain factory or Pottery, some of these marks can give detailed data, which may also include the person that designed or decorated a particular Pottery Vase or a Porcelain Figurine. Also, marks for the same manufacturer can also change over time, so a mark used in the 1800's may be entirely different from a mark used today, by the same maker. Especially for China or Dinnerware, a particular Pattern may also be produced over many years, with earlier pieces having more value than newer pieces with the only visible difference being the maker's marks. With so many issues related to marks, using a reliable source like Marks4Antiques.com is an absolute necessity when trying to determine accurate information about a vintage ceramic.

This is particularly helpful for online Sellers and Buyers, for example on eBay. It is estimated that a Seller on eBay has at least a 60% better chance of selling an item successfully if the Item Title and Description include the name of the maker and the period it was made. Since Buyers mainly search by a specific maker's name, having accurate information on a Porcelain or Pottery or China piece, helps eBay to display more relevant results in a more prominent position, and therefore achieve higher prices.

The service has been available since 2004 and has received some very complimentary reviews from users.

"As usual, you are absolutely amazing, from every point of view...! I just can't thank you enough, I wanted to bid on and hopefully win the set as a wedding present, but the intended recipient, a very close friend of mine, is a real Art deco fanatic and so I didn't want to make the mistake of giving her something that was say, early 1950's...Many, many heartfelt thanks again for your help, in this case direct, and many, many times indirect, through your fantastic website..." Ambra
--
"Your information was extremely helpful and much appreciated. You have eased my mind regarding the age and authenticity of this Meissen piece. I was concerned that it may have been a recent reproduction. I am grateful to have come across your site as it is certainly an asset for antique lovers like myself. Thank you again for the insightful information! Best Regards, ~Martha :)"
--
"I am just writing to thank you for your reply to the inquiries I recently submitted. I am impressed by the speed with which these inquiries were dealt with, and the information that was supplied is invaluable. I am only a new member and am so very impressed with the service, I will be a member for a long time, and will recommend your service to everyone I meet. Thank you for your time. Kindest Regards, Frances"

"We've spent a great deal of time evaluating customer feedback and using it to create what we consider to be an invaluable tool for researching vintage ceramics, silver, antiques and collectibles." said Peter Coleman, marketing specialist for Marks4Antiques.com. "Our goal is to empower our users with the knowledge they need to make an informed and accurate evaluation of their antiques and collectibles."

About Marks4Antiques.com
Marks4Antiques.com was created to help Collectors and Dealers to research Antiques & Collectibles. The successful launch of Marks4Ceramics.com in 2004 was quickly followed by Marks4Silver.com in 2006 and then Values4Antiques.com this year. All websites were designed for use online in order to accommodate the growing number of mobile Antiques and Collectibles Dealers that roam the country to different Auctions or Shows and those that sell or buy online (eBay etc). Subscribing to any of the websites provides easy and fast pictorial methods of identifying and self-appraising items. An active member can also contact the experts of each website for personal assistance when a mark is not already in the database at no additional cost. To facilitate an unbiased Antiques Research & Evaluation environment, no Trade (buying or selling) of items is allowed through these sites as they are totally dedicated to Research. All staff are avid Collectors, Appraisers and professional Dealers. The company is owned and operated in
the State of California, USA.

2007-10-02T09:17:00.000-05:00

The 25th Anniversary of the Auctioneer's Association of Canada's 2007 Convention & All Round World Auction Competition was held in Milton, Ontario on Sept. 27 - 29, 2007. Association President and former champion Michel "Hoss" Bertrand congratulates this year's winner Michael Kelso from Brampton, Ontario.

Runners' up were Bill Warner from Colborne, Ontario taking 2nd place, and Dean Brown in 3rd place from Ohio.
Novice champion is Peter Vanderheyden from Ontario.

The 2007 convention offered 2 days of education & seminars and networking among national members followed by the All Round World Championship Auctioneer Competition. The competition was held at Hume's Auction Barn outside Milton, and was followed by a barbecue and barn dance.

For more information on membership benefits and opportunities and the next convention dates and locations visit www.auctioneerscanada.com.

Global Auction Guide Announces Appointment

2007-09-26T09:07:00.000-05:00

Global Auction Guide Media Group is proud to announce the appointment of Nicole Smallwood as Sales Manager for the Auctioneer Division. Nicole will be tasked with helping new auctioneers to use our Industry leading auction advertising network and getting the most out of their Internet advertising in general.

Nicole comes to Global with an extensive career in the publishing and sales area with an emphasis on Internet marketing.

Nicole will be representing Global Auction Guide Media Group at her first Auctioneers Association of Canada convention in Milton Ontario this weekend (Sept 27 -29 2007) and she is looking forward to meeting many of you for the first time in Milton and answering any questions you may have

Be sure to check out our blog at www.globalauctionblog.com if you are unable to attend as Nicole will also be reporting the results from the World Auctioneering Championships.

Nicole can be reached directly at 888-725-4504

Global Auction Guide Media Group is the Internet's largest auction advertising network with over 50 different websites carrying syndicated auction content which include many newspapers and radio networks. In operation since February 2001, www.globalauctionguide.com has advertised over 40,000 auction events with millions of items for sale at public auction. Global Auction Guide Media Group is owned by Dwayne and Chris Leslie and have corporate headquarters located near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada

Auctioneeers ! Find Used Auction Equipment

2007-09-13T09:26:00.000-05:00

Just had this note from Sheldon at Kuntry Kustom RV telling me about their new site for auctioneers to buy and sell used auction equipment, Toppers, trailers etc. Be sure to check it out at usedauctionequipment.com

Our priniciple business at Kuntry Kustom RV is to build auction trailers and auction truck toppers for the auction industry. This business has been successful because of our ability to build a trailer from frame up that is designed specifically for the auctioneer and his unique office needs. In the middle of our working to help auctioneers own new equipment, we were finding auctioneers who contacted us with used equipment to sell, while the next day of work would bring us calls from auctioneers who were looking for used equipment. After trying to connect these two parties together by phone calls or emails we found a better way to serve our customers by launching a web site dedicated to the auctioneer who would like an easy, affordable way to advertise and sell his current equipment, and to the auctioneer who may be new to the business or just doesn't feel like they are comfortable with the investment into new equipment.

The usedauctionequipment.com website is organized similarly to national auction websites. An auctioneer can log onto the site, write the description of what they would like to sell, and upload pictures. The purchaser can then make direct contact with the auctioneer if they have more questions on the listing. The site is limited to selling just the type of equipment an auctioneer would use in the operation of his business. There is a small fee of $85 to list on the site in order to cover the cost of the site development and maintanence. Our hope is that the site is a useful enough tool so that the auction industry can take full advantage of this potential to help the auctioneer grow his business.

New Syndication Partner for Global

2007-09-05T12:15:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Weekend Treasure.Com, a great garage sale website that incorporates their listings into Google Maps so you can quickly find a garage sale in your area.

They have incorporated a feed of our Antique and Collectible sales into their website so auctioneers will benefit from having their information available to active buyers.

They are also big on using videos to blog their site, so be sure to watch the video below to see how they make out at a local auction sale.

Auction antics

2007-08-28T19:34:00.000-05:00

From the Capital Press Blog

By Kevin Duling

There’s nothing quite like a good auction for used farm and ranch equipment. These auctions are known to bring farmers and ranchers together from across state and county lines. “Just where in the world did those folks come from?” is a phrase commonly used when attending such an auction.

Realizing there is an art to picking up great “deals” at an auction is something I became aware of just out of college. Having a roommate who talked his sweet grandmother into giving him her prized moped so he could “get around the farm easier”, then selling it one week later for $100 made it clear to me what kind of people might have to be dealt with at auctions.

After attending a few auctions, I understand clearly that an auctioneer’s job is to take a big piece of junk and market it in a way that you just can’t live without it. Since I am disciplined on my auction homework, I know I will never be talked into buying a big piece of junk.

While listening to an auctioneer tell how this pile of rusted metal pipe was used to save lives during World War II and how the price of scrap steel would surely be at least $6 per pound by next spring, I noticed three men sitting on the hitches of some tillage equipment. I asked my roommate why these men were sitting like that. He stated that people will sit on the equipment they intend to purchase, therefore intimidating anyone else from bidding on it.

I was curious how it could be considered intimidating to see a one-toothed man with a shirt sleeve missing sitting on an old springtooth with a flat tire. I guess I’ve been scared of lesser things. Perhaps I can use this trick just in case I find something I want to purchase someday.

I remember a farm equipment auction that was very close to my home. I was excited about it because I knew the equipment. I live in a very remote area where most buyers would not want to travel.

On the day of the auction it was 35 degrees with a very soaking rain/snow mix. This sale had the marks of being an epic auction because no one with a sane mind would stand out in that weather.

Perhaps great minds think alike. Apparently every farmer and rancher in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho realized this could be an opportune auction and standing out in the 35 degree sleet was well worth the chance at getting a “deal”.

After spending months doing homework on buying things at auctions, I figured this was the one to try my luck. I found it slightly unpleasant trying to sit on a high-lift jack for 4 hours. I remember thinking I heard the auctioneer talking about how the ear tags in a certain box of “stuff” being auctioned were the ear tags used on the cattle in the legendary John Wayne film “Big Jake”, but his voice was muffled due to my uncontrollable shivering.

On the way home my roommate asked me if I had picked up any good deals. I was happy to announce that I had bought a slightly used high-lift jack for only $220. Apparently the other bidders found me fairly intimidating. I told him I wanted to buy those special ear tags, but they were priced way too high, even if they had been used in a Hollywood movie.

After attending auctions off and on for the last 10 years I’ve learned some valuable lessons. Always put a limit on your spending, never trust a man who would sell his grandmother’s moped, and never, ever buy a steam cleaner that has the words “run good” written on the side of it.

Kevin Duling is a wheat farmer and freelance writer from Maupin, Ore. Kevin’s stories will be posted every Friday on the Capital Press Blog. Comments are welcomed at kevinddul@aol.com

Copyright, August 2007

Auction uncovers unknown collection

2007-08-27T08:34:00.000-05:00

Auction uncovers unknown collection

By David Kranz

Argusleader.com

Published: August 27, 2007

CORSICA - When hundreds of auction-goers drove up the quarter-mile dirt road just off 382nd Avenue to Jerald Wolbrink's farm northwest of Corsica late last month, they entered uncharted territory.

Thick groves of trees shield the house where Wolbrink, 84, lived until recently with his sister Trena.

It was July 28, and they had come to bid on the property of two "very private people." The sale came just one month after Jerald's death and his sister's move to Corsica.

Some people knew what was in store. Others soon learned what secrets the house held. More than 430 bid numbers were issued, says a member of the auctioneers' staff.

Jim Dunn of Harrison was one of those driving up the long driveway, past the trees and on to the property where a partially painted 115-year-old house stood out among other farm buildings.

"It was like Ichabod Crane in 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,' " Dunn said.

Dunn, a disabled Vietnam veteran, has a passion for going to auctions in search of antique tractors, particularly International Harvesters. Even though he has slimmed down his collection a bit, he came to the Wolbrink auction in hopes of finding a few things.

But this was a different kind of auction.

"I have been to hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of auctions before," Dunn said. "This has to rate in the top three."

There were guns and more guns. Rifles, deer rifles, pistols, shotguns, guns still in original boxes. Ammunition was plentiful, enough to fill a hay rack. Pocket knives were just as plentiful, found everywhere in the house. Things kept showing up, making it a challenge for auctioneers. Antique tractors, about 30 of them, were parked around the farm property. Coin collections surfaced.

"To look at the house, you would wonder if it was an abandoned house," said auctioneer Alvin Timmerman of New Holland.

"It was unreal, old shells, stuff related to guns. I think there were about 120 guns, various kinds, including pistols, a lot of deer rifles, all kinds. Some of them were in new boxes. It was the most items we sold at auction in a day, 1,300 items."

Auctioneer Ray Porter of Geddes will mark his 50th year in the profession next year. He said this auction was like no other he has ever seen.

"It was a lot different from the others because the stuff was so different, stuff from 100 years back, and there was a lot of interest, a lot of people, but there were also a lot of exaggerations," Porter said.

Because of what they found, some people might have wondered if Wolbrink was arming himself, protecting his property - a case right out of a detective magazine.

"If you didn't know them, one would wonder if somebody was living here who was going to shoot you," Dunn said. "But this guy was harmless, a man of few words."

Allen Vanden Hoek of Corsica, a nephew of the Wolbrinks, shed some light on what was going on.

"He was a collector. Didn't have any causes or anything like that, but he was an NRA member. He believed in his right to bear arms, liked to hunt deer and elk in the Black Hills," Vanden Hoek said.

The guns were so important to Jerald Wolbrink that it required a family policy.

"They didn't go out much. Because they had all the guns, if one of them went to town, the other had to stay home and guard the guns. If there was a funeral in the family they would go to it, and one would have to hurry home to guard the guns," he said.

Even Vanden Hoek was surprised by the quantity of things tucked away in various places on the farm.

"We didn't realize half the stuff he had stashed away. The guns. A Tiffany-style lamp that is unusual. The buildings were all filled to rafters," he said.

Vanden Hoek thinks now about what will come next.

The possibility of burning the house was talked about, but there was a caution.

This sale was a subject of rumors. What was there. What wasn't. Why the guns?

Most prominent in the unsubstantiated rumors is that guns, knives and coins were being pulled out of the walls while the sale went on.

Not to the knowledge of Vanden Hoek, Timmerman or Porter.

But no one knows for sure. That's why Vanden Hoek says they are reluctant to light a match to the house.

"Nobody opened up the walls before. The walls would have to be checked," he said. "We don't know what else we might find."

David Kranz's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Call him at 331-2302 or write to him at the Argus Leader, Box 5034, Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5034.

Upgraded Search System !

2007-08-26T22:33:00.000-05:00

We have made some major upgrades to how you can search through the hundreds of auctions currently listed. We have increased the amount of words surrounding the search term in the results so that you can better see the context of the search term.

Also you can now put "parentheis" around a search phrase so that it will only find the exact combination you are looking for.

This will save you some time finding the exact item that you are looking for.

Check it out at www.globalauctionguide.com

THIRTY YEAR PETROLIANA COLLECTION TO MOTOR ACROSS THE BLOCK AT FRANK'S

2007-07-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2007

FRANK’S ANTIQUES AND AUCTION
HILLIARD, FL
Sale August 17,18,19, 2007

Frank’s Antiques and Auction will present a major collection of petroliana collectibles from a lifelong North Carolina collector on August 17,18,19

HILLIARD, FL – Veteran Florida auctioneer Frank Speal, owner of Frank’s Antiques and Auction in Hilliard, Fl, will offer an inventory of major gas station collectibles from the thirty year collection of a dedicated North Carolina enthusiast. Speal has known of the collection for many years and the collector was a customer of Speal’s in his early auction career. Now that it is time to lighten up the load he asked Speal to handle the sale of his lifetime accomplishment.

The collection has a heavy emphasis on items relating to Texaco stations and products and features gas pumps, globes, air pumps, oil cans, porcelain signs, Texaco airplanes and die cast trucks. The sale will also feature antique advertising, thermometers and hundreds of signs including a Lone Ranger Merita Bread sign, a Maury’s Paint sign and a 6½ ft diameter Texaco sign on an 18½ft tall stand.

The 1,500 lot three day event will also feature a wide selection of country store items including a rare museum quality round ribbon and lace cabinet, circa 1872, a large spool cabinet and several glass front display cases plus tobacco cutters, some vintage cigar jars and a Tom’s Toasted Peanuts jar.

Among the gas pumps featured in the sale is a Fry ten gallon visible pump, 30½in diameter by 110in tall, topped by a Texaco globe. A Fry five gallon visible pump, 28 ½ in diameter by 101in tall, carries a Gulf globe. Also included will be an Indian Gasoline enclosed pump from the 1930s and an Art Deco style bright orange Gulf pump from the 1940s as well as an analogue Texaco Sky Chief pump.

More than fifty gasoline globes will cross the block including some rarely seen models from Rocor, American, White Flash, National White Rose, Derby, Hygrade, Kant-Nock, Hudson, Hornet, Dixie Oils and Crown as well as vintage globes for Standard, Essolene, Sinclair Power-X, Spur and Pure among many others. Gasoline and oil signs include a wide variety for Texaco products plus Wolf’s Head, Essolube, Pure Premium, Atlantic, Pennzoil and Quaker State plus many more. Oil containers include those from Sinclair Tenol, Skelly Tagolene, Ranger Motor Oil, Hi-torque, Red Indian, Transport, Thrift-Lube, Sinclair Palene and Super Galena.

For a sale this large refreshment will be in order and a 300 lot Coca-Cola collection will be offered to serve up the "Pause That Refreshes." The collection includes 1927 and 1928 Soda Jerk trays along with many other style trays and a wide selection of clocks, thermometers, signs and picnic coolers. For a little entertainment to go with the refreshment, a completely restored 1946 Wurlitzer 1015 jukebox will find a new home and several vintage slot machines, including a 25 cent Watermelon and a Watling Blue Seal slot, will be available to help balance the budget.

The sale will be held without reserves on August 17,18 and 19 in the Frank’s Auction facility located at 551625 US Hwy 1 in Hilliard, FL 32046. The Friday August 17 portion will begin at 4:00PM and the Saturday and Sunday sessions each begin at 10:00AM. Preview will be the week before the sale from 9:30AM-5:30PM Monday through Thursday, Friday at 10:00AM and Saturday and Sunday beginning at 8:00AM. For more information and to view the inventory and bid online visit the website at http://www.franksauctions.com/ or call (800) 481-6825. Seating reservations can be made by email at mailto:franksauct@aol.com or by phone at (904) 845-2570.

written by:
Fred & Gail Taylor
http://www.furnituredetective.com
800-387-6377

PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR FRANK’S ANTIQUES AND AUCTION
Hilliard, FL
August 17,18,19

A Fry 10 gallon visible gas pump with Texaco globe.

Atlantic White Flash gas globe.

1934 Watling Blue Front Wonder bell slot machine.

Indian Gasoline pump circa 1930.

1946 Wurlitzer 1015 jukebox fully restored.

1926 Buddy L coal truck.

Economic models explained by cows

2007-07-05T21:36:00.000-05:00

Borrowed from the Inflection Point blog

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the
milk away...

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons

AMERICAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a
debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to our listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public then buys your bull.

THE ANDERSEN MODEL
You have two cows. You shred them.

FRENCH CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

JAPANESE CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.

GERMAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.

ITALIAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.

RUSSIAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

SWISS CAPITALISM
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.

CHINESE CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

INDIAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows. You worship them.

BRITISH CAPITALISM
You have two cows. Both are mad.

IRAQI CAPITALISM
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the **** out of you and invade your
country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a Democracy....

NEW ZEALAND CAPITALISM
You have two cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.

AUSTRALIAN CAPITALISM
You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate

The Movie of the Year !

2007-07-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

Not Auction related, but it will be the cultural event of the year !

Auction Videos

2007-06-17T13:12:00.000-05:00

YouTube and Google Videos are great places to find some auction videos.

farm auction from ryan danforth on Vimeo

Philip Weiss Auctions tops $1 million at June 9-10 sale

2007-06-17T12:41:00.000-05:00

Philip Weiss Auctions tops $1 million at June 9-10 sale

[ Fri Jun 15 2007] Philip Weiss Auctions topped the $1 million mark in a two-day, three-session multi-estate sale held the weekend of June 9-10. Top lots included six original Charles Schulz “Peanuts” panels (totaling $193,230); two Lou Gehrig palm prints ($82,490 the pair); and an original oil painting by American artist Douglas Gorsline ($31,640). The sale grossed just about $1.1 million.
“I had a good feeling about this auction,” said Philip Weiss, owner of the firm that bears his name. “We had some fabulous consignments, in a variety of categories. I predicted we might make $1 million, but when we actually hit it I think everybody here just felt jubilant. A lot of hard work went into making that number. Hard work, and wonderful items. It was a great way to end the season for us.”
About 1,500 lots changed hands in a sale that had two sessions on Saturday – one starting at 10 am and one at 5 pm – and a third session that lasted all day Sunday. “It was exhausting but exhilarating,” Mr. Weiss said. He estimated about 300 people made it to the firm's spacious showroom facility. In addition, there were nearly 3,000 registered online bidders and about 200 phone bidders.
Philip Weiss is a name nearly synonymous with Charles Schulz. It seems every sale boasts a few original “Peanuts” panels, and this auction was no exception. The star lot was a “Great Pumpkin” Sunday page from October 24, 1965, right before Halloween. It soared to $62,150. The comic featured Lucy and Linus writing to the “Great Pumpkin” and was even accompanied by a letter from Schulz.
An original daily panel by Schulz, this one actually drawn on Halloween day (October 31, 1967) realized $32,770. The piece – measuring 28-1/2” x 7” -- showed Snoopy and Linus in the “Great Pumpkin” patch. Also, an original “Peanuts” Sunday page, dated May 3, 1959 and with a baseball theme – hammered for $31,640. The excellent 22-1/2” x 15” panel featured Lucy and Charlie Brown.
The signed Lou Gehrig palm prints – one left and one right – came from the estate of Alice Denton Jennings, a palmist who took palm impressions of her famous clients, who later signed them. Her collection was so extensive it spanned several sales. The signed right palm print of Babe Ruth also sold, for $37,290. Another signed Ruth palm print sold for $26,000 at a Philip Weiss sale in January.
Other highlights from the sale follow. All prices quoted include a 13% buyer's premium.
A large oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist Douglas Gorsline (1913-1985) sailed past all estimates to gavel for a record price of $31,640. The previous record for a work by Gorsline was $2,800. The colorful, mid-20th century street scene depicted a nattily dressed couple. The unframed canvas – measuring 38” tall x 32” wide – even had a few scrapes and tears that didn't deter bidders.
The original cover art for “Amazing Spider Man” # 92 (January 1971), by renowned comic book artist John Romita, sold for $30,500. The cover, featuring Spidey's nemesis “Iceman,” was hand-signed in ink by Romita along the left edge. The fresh-to-the-market piece contained all original paste-ups and had some in-line corrections, white-out marks and color notes. It measured 11-1/2” x 17-1/2”.
A large abstract oil-on-canvas work by the Italian painter Mario Nigro (1917-1992), titled “Il Crollo Degli Dei” (1956), fetched $10,170. Information printed on verso included Nigro's address in Livorno, Italy, and the date of the painting: October 1956. The sizable work measured 51-1/2” high x 39” wide. Nigro was one of the fathers of the Concrete Art Movement, founded in Milano in 1948.
A beautiful Tiffany vase in the shape of a long-stemmed tulip, etched on the base “LCT 48693” and standing 18” high, garnered $14,405; a vintage oil-on-wood panel by the Polish-born American artist Ladislaus Bakalowicz (1833-1904), in a gilt frame and titled “Lady In Mirror,” made $6,7880; and a rare Confederate carte de visite of an unidentified Naval officer commanded $2,315.
Philip Weiss will take a well-deserved break for the rest of June before coming back strong with a trio of sales sure to set the industry buzzing. The first will be a huge one-day sale of general collectibles and memorabilia, slated for Saturday, July 21. Featured will be over 800 lots, including toys, trains, toy soldiers and more. This sale replaces the Annual Tag Sale, normally held in August.
Then, on the weekend of September 8-9, Philip Weiss Auctions will present the lifetime collection of Steve Rathkopf, a dedicated collector of western TV and comic book characters from the 1940s through the 1960s. Included will be comics, pin-backs, non-sport cards, puppets, marionettes, wallets, bracelets, premiums, vintage lunch boxes, 200+ mint paper doll books, posters and more.
It only gets better in October, when the contents of a home on Long Island – sealed for 25 years but bearing countless treasures – are sold in a true fresh-to-the-market estate auction. The unassuming, two-story brick home had been boarded up and looked to the causal eye to be a run-down residence with nothing of value inside. Nothing could be further from the truth. And it will all be sold.
Two truckloads were required to transport the trove that sat, undisturbed, since the early 1980s. Featured will be a turn-of-the-century 5-foot-tall cigar store punch figure; numerous early trade and advertising signs; over 400 occupational shaving mugs; rare 18th- and 19th-century folk art carved ships' figureheads; turn-of-the-century barber and pharmacy bottles; and a cast iron toy collection.
Philip Weiss Auctions is one of the premier full-service auction houses in the Northeast. To learn more about the company and these important upcoming sale dates, you may visit them online by clicking www.philipweissauctions.com. To consign an item, estate or collection, you may call them directly, at (516) 594-0731. Or you can e-mail them at phil@philipweissauctions.com.

Warm weather produces hot trade at Kirmington machinery auction

2007-06-15T21:43:00.000-05:00

Farmers Guardian

15 June, 2007

Only a couple of passing airplanes interrupted the strong bidding at Brown & Co machinery auction at Southfield Farm Kirmington, adjacent to Humberside Airport, earlier this week.

The sale of modern farm machinery - on behalf of Messrs J M Dodds, Lancaster & Sons and W Sowerby & Co - was the product of a new joint farming agreement between the parties. Lots included three combines, seven tractors and an extensive array of exceptional arable machinery and equipment.

With plenty of interest, bidding was highly competitive. A 2003 John Deere 9660 WTS combine fetched £68,000, a 2000 Claas Lexion 430 realised £50,000 and a 2004 John Deere 6920S tractor fell to the hammer for £28,000.

Auctioneer, Ken Pritchard, from Brown & Co’s Brigg Office said; “The exceptional trade is a result of good national and local advertising and highlights the importance of the auctioneer’s contact list of buyers.”

A Farm Auction (We can't drive past one.)

2007-06-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

From the Hick Chic Blog

On Saturday morning, my Dad and my Boy and I went to TSC for some essential things like a front tractor tire, two tubes of horse de-wormer, and a new John Deere hat. We didn’t head back to the farm though, because on the other side of town there was a farm auction...and let me tell you if you don’t already know...it’s really hard to not go to a farm auction.

The land in this township is flat. We could see the vehicles lined up on the gravel shoulders from the next concession back. Every kind of pickup truck was there: shiny new ones, nasty beat up ones, a ‘55 Ford F100, a ‘59 Fargo, a few with trailers behind them, and a big 5ton truck from a scrap salvage company.

We picked our way onto the farm. I was just kicking myself for not bringing my camera. This is the kind of event that fires me up in many ways. I love all things rural, I love junk, I love old stuff, I love the stories, real or imagined, that come with it all. I was walking into a gold mine on this hot Saturday morning.

Along one edge of the farmyard was a row of implements. It was obvious that they’d been yanked out of their resting spot just for this occasion. They were all covered with last year’s long dried grass stalks. Five old haybalers in a row still had ancient crusts of hay leaves stuck to them; they’d never been cleaned off before they were left in a shed or out in a field. My Dad, being the kind of guy who’s willing to fix up a junker if he feels it’s worth it, just shook his head. “The scrap guys are gonna be on this stuff like flies.” And we kept on walking.

Over by a hay wagon full of tangled objects, an old buddy of my Dad’s caught up with us and filled us in on some juicy info.

Big Dan’s not well eh?
Josie came back. They’re together again.
Yeah, he says after that big hog barn got put up next door, his property value went down about $100,000.
You know Big Dan used to work for the government eh? This place never had to make a living for him.

I heard a few more stories about Big Dan that sounded pretty far fetched. I’d met Dan and Josie briefly years before, likely at my aunt’s farm, but I couldn’t say I knew them. I just knew who they were. I stood there listening to the gossip and thinking that either Big Dan was more interesting that I thought, or he was a heck of a story teller.

The auctioneer turned on his microphone just before 10 am, as the crowd grew and the heat of the day got heavier. “We’re gonnastartat five. Who’s gotta five, five, five, gotta five, fourfifty, fourfifty, who’s gottafourfifty, fourtwennyfive.”

Another interesting thing about auction sales is the crowd. Farmers of all shapes and sizes and ages; guys with pot bellies in suspenders; thin guys in T shirts, dudes in work boots; women in denim shorts and T shirts advertising the local feed mill; kids with filthy knees and big grins; and every different splinter group of Old Order Mennonite and Amish. Of course anybody there could be Mennonite too, around that neck of the woods. Including us.

There were two Old Order women helping each other out with their kids. They each had a very modern stroller, but they were wearing long dark dresses. They had the most beautiful purple bonnets on their heads. I would love to wear a purple bonnet like that.

When my son and I went into the wooden shed to buy a bottle of water, we handed over our dollar to a pretty young woman with a white apron over her blue plaid dress. She wore plain eyeglasses, had her hair centre parted and covered with a white net covering like the ones both my grandmothers wore. She was so friendly. Later I saw a newlywed Amish couple. How did I know they were newlyweds? His beard was short and fresh, and she wasn’t pregnant. Yet. At least visibly. Two strapping young Amish guys cruised around checking out sale items and likely, also checking out young Amish girls with the small head coverings, the kind without the strings that tuck into the dress.

Dad registered for a bid number, as the Boy and I looked at the rows and rows of furniture in the front lawn. There were about ten TV sets, four recliners, three couches, six dressers, two china cabinets and a church pulpit. I wanted that church pulpit.

Another buddy found my dad. I perked up my ears for more stories.

Big Dan’s dying. He’s only got one lung now.
He never threw anything out. Can ya tell?
Don’t know what this place’ll sell for but the new owner’ll have to spend a few thousand to get it cleaned up.
Yeah, Josie came back to him and they’re speaking to all of their kids again, and the grandkids. They’re making up for lost time before he’s gone.

We did a tour of the house. I was stunned. It’s not that big a house...and yet with all of that stuff on the front lawn, there was still a huge amount of stuff inside. Being a packrat myself, I’m always fascinated and repulsed by other people’s collections. I swear if I ever buy a farm- which I plan to do- I’ll hope they leave as much stuff behind as possible. I’ll spend months going through it and wondering about it. We checked out the addition that never got finished. As we came down the stairs, there she was, Josie herself, in her fuzzy terry cloth housecoat, telling us that all of the building materials to finish the addition were right there in the corner. She looked tired. She didn’t recognize my dad.

Behind the house, two sheds were caving in on themselves, and behind that, a crumbling stone foundation was all that was left of the original bank barn. A Dutch neighbour was discussing the difficulties of the property.

It’ll cost about five grrand to get a backhoe in herrrre and bury that foundation.
I think a bulldozerrrr would be the best way to get this place fixed up.
You knoooow, Big Dan yused to work forrrr the Mounties. He collected money frrrom people.

The Boy and I wandered down the bush lane a few feet. Inside a steel shed, the buggy horses were resting in the shade swishing their tails. The sweat was dripping down our faces by this time. There was absolutely no breeze.

We looked at two identical black buggies parked in the grass. They appeared to be a century old in style but they weren’t. In green pinstriping, one stated on the back axle “2006” while the other said “2003”. Each one had turn signals, and a Department of Transportation sticker. They even had lights. I want one.

I’ve been to quite a few auctions and one thing never fails to amaze me: Get a bunch of farmers together and let them wander over a place and listen to them talk. Everybody’s a critic and all are experts. It’s fascinating. It’s horribly uncomfortable actually. But it’s universal. Your average suburban housewife has nothing on these guys and I know that firsthand.

The Dutch neighbour pointed out to me where Big Dan’s 50acres started and ended. My covetous imagination went wild. I mentally stripped down the two steel sheds and sold them for scrap. I salvaged all the lumber planks from the two falling down sheds. I pictured how I’d finish the inside of that house, how I’d scrounge up glass door knobs and thin hardwood floor strips to match the original 1930’s part. There’d be an inflatable pool in the yard. I had the old stone foundation cleaned up, and all kinds of clay pots full of herbs and flowers and wooden chairs. I pictured the wooden shed all fixed up with my truck, the Jetta and a little John Deere parked in it. I had fences up from the shed to the highway and all the way over to the tree line. Where the steel sheds were disappearing in my mind I had a nice little four stall post and beam barn, with a sand ring in front of it.

The Dutch neighbour was tallying up how much it could sell for. The auctioneer was planning to sell the property at the end of the sale, about two hours on.

We were looking at the goats and chickens in the steel shed. The nannies all had numbered tags on their ears, while the goat kids snoozed in beds made out of plastic barrels. They were awesome goats; roman nosed, curving horns, and smart eyes. They were white with patches of colour.

“I want those goats,” I told Dutch. “I hate mowing lawn.”

“Jah, goats are good for grrazing weeds down.”

“They poop less than dogs.”

“Jah, that’s rrright.”

“I’ve got a good fence to keep them in,” I said.

“How much land do yoooou have?” he asked.

“Sixty feet by a hundred and twenty feet,” I said. “I live in a subdivision.”

“Oh,” he said, “you need to moooove.”

“Yes I do.”

My Boy stuck out his hand but the goats just looked at him. I looked at the two hens clucking around in there. They were pretty black and white chickens. I wondered if, after a life of scratching around in the dirt, they’d taste better than those pasty chickens on pink styrofoam trays in the grocery store. I figured I’d like knowing that they had a chance to be chickens before they became dinner.

“We’re gonnasell everythingonthewagon, and then we’re gonnasell thewagon. Gottanice rubberhose here, whoneeds a rubberhose. Gimme a dollah dollah gimme a dollah.”

It was all getting very overwhelming. The still air, the harsh sun, Josie not dressed for the day yet, the decrepitude of the buildings, all my covetous urges, the lack of camera, the sweat soaking through my son’s T shirt. Men were milling around, waiting beside the thing they wanted to buy until the auctioneer made his way there, still criticizing the farm’s faults, still sharing everything they knew about the circumstances that brought on the sale. My chest ached from the need for 50 acres of farmland, a purple bonnet, a church pulpit, a black buggy, some bandy hens and Boer goats. My writer’s brain was cataloguing all the details. There was so much to remember.

There is something sad for me about auctions. When I was sixteen, my mother’s parents sold their beautiful yellow brick Victorian house in town to move to the nursing home. It was 1987, and a year later my grandpa would be gone. At the sale, I tried not to cry as all the familiar things got carted away by people, some strangers, some we knew, who had converged on my second home and clucked over all the objects, muttered and whispered, and then stood there, faking out all the other bidders, careful not to run the bid too high on what they wanted. The house sold for $80,000. For a decade after that, I wondered what would have happened if I’d been a little older and had a good job...

It was time to go. We were hot and tired and Dad didn’t see anything he needed.

On the way out, we walked past Big Dan. I wouldn’t have recognized him if Dad hadn’t nudged me and quietly pointed him out. He was settled in a big wooden chair, and he was half the size I remembered him from the rare neighbourhood event. He had an oxygen tube in his nose, his black straw hat on his head. People were gathered around him and he nodded, and smiled weakly. Big Dan, local man of mystery, rumoured secret agent, non-discriminating collector of antiquities, gentleman farmer, held court under a shade tree while the auctioneer rattled on.

“Half a dollah, half a dollah if ya goddit, gimme half a dollah...”

2007 Manitoba Auctioneering Competition

2007-06-13T23:02:00.000-05:00

2nd ANNUAL AUCTIONEERING COMPETITION

St-Claude MB (fair grounds)

Saturday, July 14, 2007 at 4 pm

Come have some fun & bring one or two donated items!

PRIZES FOR THE 1st, 2nd & 3rd best auctioneer!

204-379-2826

MONSTERS OF MYTHOLOGY WILL HEADLINE AT MATHESON'S IN MELBOURNE, FLORIDA

2007-06-13T22:59:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2007

MATHESON’S AA AUCTION
Melbourne, FL
Sale July 28-29

A collection of works by R. J. Horner featuring full bodied winged griffins from a Miami estate will highlight the July 28-29 sale at Matheson’s AA Auction in Melbourne, FL.

Matheson’s AA Auction owners Lloyd and Jan Matheson have assembled 900 lots of furniture, art, antiques and pre-Columbian artifacts for another of their two day, free wheeling sales that have attracted national and international attention recently. Items from five major estates have been consigned to Matheson’s by the heirs and there will be no additions.

The focal point of the sale will be a collection of eight pieces of furniture and accessories made by R. J. Horner & Company of New York. After working as a clerk in a lace business Robert. J. Horner opened his own curtain and lace shop and then opened a retail furniture outlet in 1886. He soon began making his own furniture to sell and specialized in the Aesthetic Movement. Following that he turned out many heavily carved pieces in oak and mahogany that utilized classical figures such as caryatids and the mythological creature the winged griffin as a primary element. His full bodied griffin images are legendary and this collection has its share as well as other Horner trademarks.

Four of the pieces display griffins. Three desks use full bodied griffins as columnar supports. Two outstanding elaborately carved mahogany partner’s desks have a full bodied figure at each corner supporting the top and a heavily carved slant lid desk with a secret drawer uses two griffins as front posts. A 54in wide console table with two drawers also supports the top on the creatures. A triple door mahogany bow front bookcase with a heavily carved frieze panel above the doors has full bodied male figures in high relief on each column supporting the top of the cabinet. A 92in tall Horner mirror doesn’t have griffins but it does have a demonic head with horns in the heavily carved crest while two 36in high mahogany fern stands demonstrate Horner’s classical figure ability in a male and female figure.

A large collection of pre-Columbian artifacts, mostly vessels and figures, will be offered. There is large selection of Chancay, Peru terracotta figures from the 12th century including several "cuchimilco" style figures with extended arms and a Zacateca terracotta couple from Zacatecas, West Pacific 250-550AD, 14½in tall and number of terracotta figures from the Mochica, Peru area circa 250-500AD among many others.

Other lots include a very unusual American rosewood double quilting settee from the Rococo period accompanied by its built in large pincushion and a corner rosewood storage box as well as a Biedermeier desk in Circassian walnut veneer and an early 19th century walnut German kas, 92 H by 76in W, with an elaborately inlaid inner panel in the door.

The fine art section of the sale will feature an oil on canvas by Dutch artist Jacobus de Jong (1866-1920), 16 by 12½in, an Audubon elephant folio print of "Barnacle Goose", 24 by 36in and a watercolor on paper laid down on cardboard bearing the monogram "1/1" from 1948 of Charles Burchfield ( American 1893-1967), 9 by 15in, as well as works by Russian-American artist Nicolai Cikovsky (1894-1934), Fernando de Szyszlo, Peruvian artist (b.1925) and George Rouault, French (1871-1958).

The sale begins at 11:00AM Saturday July 28 and continues at 12:00 PM Sunday July 29. Preview will be Friday July 27 from 11:00AM to 6:00PM and two hours before the start of the sale on both days. Matheson’s AA Auction is located at 600 E. New Haven Avenue in Melbourne, FL 32901. Seating for 180 can be reserved by phone, (321) 768-6668 or by email at aaauctions@earthlink.net. Selected portions of the catalog are available for viewing on the Matheson’s AA Auction website at http://www.mathesonsaaauction.com/.

The auction will be called by 33 year veteran auctioneer and auction co-owner Lloyd J. Matheson, Jr. Phone and absentee bids are welcomed. For more information call auction owners Lloyd or Jan Matheson or Auction Manager Carrie Lucas (321) 768-6668.

written by:

Fred & Gail Taylor

http://www.furnituredetective.com

800-387-6377

PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR MATHESON’S AA AUCTION
SALE OF July 28-29, 2007

Griffins – This mahogany partners desk has full bodied winged griffins at each corner.

Couple – Terracotta couple, 14½in high, from Zactecas, West Pacific, 250-550 AD.

Bookcase – A triple door bookcase with full bodied figural columns by R. J. Horner, 85in wide by 67in high.

Buddha – Large Thai limestone standing Buddha, 7th century, Mon style, 31½in high.

Slant front – Profusely carved Horner slant lid desk with winged griffins and secret drawer, 45½in high by 42in wide.

Tapestry – 17th century Flemish tapestry, 7 by 12ft.

Weighing Worth

2007-06-12T22:48:00.000-05:00

From Agwired.

Weighing Worth

When it comes to purchasing farming machinery and equipment, it just got a lot easier to shop around. Successful Farming, the nation’s leading agriculture magazine, has released a modern price guide for equipment manufactured from 1970 through the present. Successful Farming says “What’s it Worth?” is based on the magazine’s editorial expertise in machinery.

For years, Successful Farming readers have asked “What’s it worth?” Now they will know exactly what to ask for when selling or purchasing all types of agricultural and construction equipment. The one-of-a-kind guide compiles more than 14,000 actual sales prices from Greg “Machinery Pete” Peterson. Peterson also provides the reader knowledge to research accurate price points, identify realistic “asking” prices, determine assets when applying for a loan, establish depreciation schedules, and evaluate an estate. A bonus section provides a “how-to” guide for effectively buying and selling equipment.

“If you are planning on buying or selling used machinery in the future, you need the ‘What’s It Worth’ book,” says Dave Mowitz, Successful Farming Machinery Editor. “Knowing what comparable machinery has actually sold for allows you to confidently set a solid price for equipment you are buying or selling. This data is based on actual prices people have paid for machinery over the past year.”

Buy “What’s It Worth” in stores or at www.successfulfarmingbooks.com. Retailers may email diana.willits@meredith.com if they would like to carry the book in their retail locations.

Founded in 1902, Successful Farming was the first magazine published by Meredith Corporation and has a circulation of 440,000 and 1.1 million readers. Successful Farming is one of the most successful and recognizable brands in the Agricultural industry. Its Web site, Agriculture Online, established in 1995, was one of the first agricultural Web sites in America. It has since received the Jesse H. Neal Business Journalism Award for best Web site, was listed among BtoB magazine’s Media Power 50, and was named Best of the Web by Media Industry News.
In addition to the magazine and Web site, Successful Farming properties include the Successful Farming Radio Magazine®, Successful Farming Data Solutions, Market Research, and custom publishing.

2007-06-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

A nod to our friends at AuctionZip to end the week.....

Category Requests on Global Auction Guide

2007-06-08T14:43:00.000-05:00

On a fairly regular basis we receive requests from auctioneers wanting to expand our list of auction categories or auction type. We have been wrestling with this issue since February 2001 when we launched our first website and I can honestly say that there is no easy answer for this question.

In our database bidders are able to search by keyword, browse by location and company, and browse by selecting a date on the calendar. At no time are they able to narrow down the results by auction category.

Why not you ask ?

The more narrow the classification, the more likely someone is going to choose not to look at your upcoming sale. Because most sales are a combination of many types, to give a sale a very narrow type will limit the exposure you receive.

But the one area that you can certainly add a wee bit more detail would be in your auction title. If you are having a coin auctions, it is certainly worth mentioning that in the title and that will get more attention.

There is also a backend issue with adding too many new categories , as all our types are cross referenced with the categories available with the Central Auction Hub. This is so when you send a sale to another site, everyone knows which category it will be called when it is received at the other end.

I hope that explains it a bit better.

Keep sending us your comments and questions, we are always interested in offering an even better service.

Have a great weekend
Dwayne Leslie

South Dakota Auctioneers Association convention

2007-06-08T14:22:00.000-05:00

Coming to you live from the South Dakota Auctioneers Association convention in Rapid City SD. I visited with a great group of friendly auctioneers last night in the hospitality room. Lots of informative seminars on tap today, with many geared towards their Continuing Education Credits.

Here you can see President Jeff Storm presiding over the group.

Activities continue until Saturday Evening at the Best Western Ramkota.

Always wanted to buy the school desk you sat in as a kid?

2007-06-08T12:49:00.000-05:00

Here was your chance in Chamberlain SD this week as Ted Petrak worked dilgently to sell the surplus equipment from the local school.

B-1 Bomber from Ellsworth AFB

2007-06-08T12:29:00.000-05:00

One worthwhile stop near Rapid City is the Museum at Ellsworth AFB. They have a very nice display of static aircraft and tours are available of the base. If you are lucky enough you can see a B-1 bomber coming in for a landing just adjacent to the museum

The things you see along the Interstate

2007-06-08T12:24:00.000-05:00

I-90 in South Dakota has a speed limit of 75 mph and at least 10 billboards per mile advertising Mount Rushmore, Wall Drug, Deadwood, and other notable stops for a bored weary family.

Curiousity got the best of when I had to see exactly what the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD really was.

Want to move to a small town in the Midwest?

2007-06-08T11:43:00.000-05:00

If you do, you missed out on a great bargain to buy a small motel with full occupancy in Marion South Dakota this week. The property was offered by auction by Chuck Sutton and Tom Souvignier The property sold for 60,000$ , a real deal if you wanted a very nice place to live with rental income

Nixon Auctioneers, Antique Farm Equipment Specialists

2007-06-08T11:35:00.000-05:00

Had the pleasure of visiting with Denise Simpson of Nixon Auctioneers this week. These Auctioneers are very well known across the country and travel long distances to do auctions in their specialty of Antique Farm Equipment over the past 27 years.

Keep up the good work !

Concorde parts for September auction

2007-06-08T09:31:00.000-05:00

Published by ukinfo under Auction News on June 8th, 2007

Spare parts made for Concorde - the world’s first and only commercial supersonic transport - are to be auctioned in Toulouse in late September, organisers said today.

The Aerotheque Association said it arranged the Sept. 28-Oct. 1 sale to generate funds for a planned airplane park in Toulouose.

The auction includes 835 lots, from hulking spare parts to paraphernalia and pilot uniforms, and was expected to bring in about $US337,000

The Concorde made its maiden voyage 1969, but was retired in 2003 amid ballooning costs and dwindling ticket sales after a crash in 2000 that killed 113 people. The craft had been commercialised by British Airways and Air France.

The planned museum park, Aeroscopia, is to open in 2010 and promote the history of Aerospatiale Toulouse, the maker of Concorde and the precursor of giant plane-maker Airbus.

LOCAL CONSIGNORS CONJURE UP UNIQUE RECIPE FOR JACK EUBANKS AUCTION SALE OF JUNE 23

2007-06-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2007

JACK EUBANKS AUCTION
BREVARD, NC
Sale June 23, 2007

Mix one Porsche Carrera 2, six Florida Highwayman paintings and a helping of early Transylvania County, NC furniture. Stir well. Result? The opportunity for a great sale at Jack Eubanks Auction in Brevard, NC.

The folk art phenomenon now known as the Highwaymen had its beginning in the 1950s in Ft. Pierce Florida when a local white landscape artist, Alfred E. "Beanie" Backus, took in a young black aspiring artist named Alfred Hair. Backus showed Hair the basics of painting semi-tropical landscapes and even took him to the Bahamas to broaden his horizon. Hair, ever the entrepreneurial spirit, then organized a small group of local black artists and showed them how to "mass produce" colorful Florida landscapes. Lacking a retail outlet for their work, these young painters began to sell their wares on Florida roadways, earning them the name "Highwaymen." Eventually the group members set out on their separate ways and some of them are still active artists today even though Alfred died in 1970.

The Jack Eubanks sale of June 23 will feature 24 by 48in original oil on board Florida landscape by Hair depicting a Florida poinciana tree in all its red glory against a typical Florida backdrop. The painting, from the 1960s, is signed "A. Hair." The same local consignor also presents five more Highwaymen by another original member Sam Newton. These were acquired by a deceased member of the consignor’s family, Robert Hurd, in the 1970s when he lived in Melbourne, FL and acquired the paintings directly from Newton for $20.00 each.

The abundance of American art in this sale is augmented by the presence of a work by Charles P. Gruppe (American 1860-1940). This oil on panel entitled "Norman’s Woe" features a seascape from the Gloucester, Mass area. The 12 by 16in work without frame is artist signed and probably is from the 1920s. The same consignor had another Gruppe work, a harbor scene, in the June 10 sale at Eubanks and it was very well received. Also on the block are thirty Wallace Nutting prints, some hand colored and all with original signatures. They were purchased by a local consignor in New York over thirty years ago and range in size from 2 by 3in to 15½ by 18¼in. Some of the prints are numbered and dated.

The final entries in the art category represent the result of along investigation by auction owner Jack Eubanks who tracked down a painting signed by Rhonda J. Smith, entitled "Kentucky Games March 1979." When Eubanks tracked down the artist she turned out to be a tenured art professor at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. Formerly the head of the Art Department, the artist relayed that the work was a post graduate pastel piece created while in Richmond, KY. When asked about another work, a drawing entitled "Time In A Bottle" signed by Skip Wiggs, she said that was the nickname of her husband Byron Alan Wiggs who now owns Middle Bridge Pottery in Keedysville, MD and sells exclusively (at West Wind Potters) in Harpers Ferry, WV.

The young at heart will be interested in the bright red Porsche Carrera 2 to try on the twisty roads of western North Carolina. The Carrera version of the Porsche 911 was introduced in 1988 for the model year 1989. The first Carrera was a four wheel drive model, the Carrera 4. The two wheel drive version, the Carrera 2, was introduced in 1990. This is a 1991 model with a 3.6 liter engine and 107,000 miles on the clock.

On the furniture side of the sale will be some items from the pre Civil War home of a family of early Transylvania County settlers including a grain painted beadboard stepback cupboard and an early farm table, some locally made items and a good cross section of late 19th and early 20th century furniture including a 19th century English tilt top table. Also featured will be a colorful period English Art Nouveau firescreen, 19¾ W by 31¾in T, made of beads on board held by copper wire.

Preview for the sale is scheduled for Friday June 22 from 11:00AM – 6:00PM and the sale is Saturday June 23 at 9:00AM in the Eubanks Auction facility at 220 S. Broad St, Brevard, NC, 28712. Reserved seating for 160 is available by phone or email. For more information contact Jack Eubanks at (828) 884-7889, email info@jackeubanks.com, visit the website at http://www.jackeubanks.com/ or www.auctionzip.com.

written by Fred & Gail Taylor

www.furnituredetective.com

800-387-6377

PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR JACK EUBANKS AUCTION
June 23, 2007

Hair –This Highwayman landscape is by Alfred Hair, 1941-1970.

Porsche – This red 991 Porsche Carrera 2 has 107,000 miles on it.

Gruppe – "Norman’s Woe" is signed by Charles Gruppe.

Newton – This oil on board of two palms and moonlight by Sam Newton from the 1970s is 24 by 48in.

Nutting – This colored print signed by Wallace Nutting is entitled "Overflowing Cup."

Art Nouveau firescreen – This early 20th century English Art Nouveau firescreen has a bead work on board panel with a wood frame.

Auction business appeals to family

2007-06-08T09:23:00.000-05:00

Auction business appeals to family
Dad, daughter, sons will sell just about everything

Claire Bush
Special for The Arizona Republic
Jun. 7, 2007 12:00 AM
Things have changed since auctions began in ancient Babylon around 500 B.C.

Then, the hottest items on the block were women of marriageable age, and the merchandise was sold "as is." Today, people are no longer considered marketable goods, but just about everything else, from RVs to ranch land, have been on the block at a sale held by Cunningham & Associates, Arizona's oldest family-owned auction house.

The third-generation business began with a single farm auction in rural Black Oak, Ark., in 1947. Items up for bid included used linoleum, a John Deere tractor and eight geese.
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Business grew over the next several decades, and by the 1970s, Bob Cunningham had relocated his family to Arizona. Today, sons George and Carl and daughter Audrey work alongside him to vend everything from heavy equipment and land parcels to jewelry and aircraft.

The company specializes in liquidation auctions, handling more than 90 percent of the bankruptcy and secured creditor sales in Arizona. In 2006, the company held 97 auctions.

According to George, the chief auctioneer and appraiser, bankruptcy filings in the state are leveling off after a spike the past several years. However, he sees an upward trend for real estate, both commercial and residential, that will hit the auction block through bankruptcy within the next five years.

Cunningham's auctions are "no reserve," meaning there's no set price for an opening bid. The method guarantees a sale, although the price an item fetches can raise eyebrows.

"Most of the people who come to us really don't know what their assets are worth," George says. "Especially with real estate, a property is going to be worth as much as a buyer will pay for it.

"You don't put a parcel on the market for $1 million and have a buyer offer you $2.5 million, but at a no reserve auction, the bidding prices can surprise you," he adds. "We recently sold a 32-acre landfill outside of Glendale for $4.7 million, which was substantially more than what the seller anticipated."

Carl Cunningham, the firm's real estate broker, joined 10 years ago after a brief detour into medical school at Texas A&M. "My dad was selling a couple of HMOs at the time," he says. "That made me reconsider."

Carl has no regrets about his career move. "Each day is different. Besides real estate, we sell everything from phone systems to supersonic jets, so I've developed a broad range of knowledge, and a broad range of buyers as well."

The growth of Internet auction sites such as eBay has been "a tremendous help for our business," according to George. "EBay has brought the auction method of marketing to the world. People are now familiar with the whole process. It's increased the comfort level for buyers."

Cunningham's Web site, along with word of mouth, provides the majority of advertising for the company. "We get about 30,000 hits a day and have 17,000 subscribers to our site," George says. "Right now, about 70 percent of the people at our auctions learned about us online."

For the past sixteen years, commercial real estate investor Joe DiBazar has been a regular visitor to Cunningham's weekly auctions, held at its south Phoenix warehouse. DiBazar, owner of AAA Full Transportation, manages a fleet of about 800 medical transportation vehicles throughout the state. "I'm a businessman myself, and I appreciate their honesty," he says. "They don't have gimmicks."

Dibazar, who views the auctions as "a hobby," recently purchased a ranch and 627-acre farmland in Winslow, which he will develop as a working cattle farm.

He usually shows up to bid every few weeks "just to see what's new," he says. "I like to see what's available, and decide from there what my next project is going to be."

Dennis Alonso of Phoenix has been a regular for the past two years. "I've bought and sold real estate in Arizona for 15 years," he says. "There were more novices (at the auctions) a year ago, when everybody wanted to buy real estate and get rich. The number of actual bidders didn't go up, though."

Alonso has a system for his bids. "You stay rational and keep emotion out of it, and you'll be all right," he says. "There's a reason the auctioneers talk fast; it's to get you excited, but emotion should not rule over logic when you're making a financial decision."

Alonso has purchased property for prices ranging from $2,000 to $400,000. "It's a treasure hunt; you can't be too picky," he says. "I buy commercial and residential properties. I like the no-reserve policy, because at the end, somebody's going to go home with the items.

"With eBay, where many items are removed if they don't meet the reserve price, you don't have the same feeling of a true auction. At the Cunningham's, what they promise you is that by noon on Saturday, your property will be sold.

"It's like playing Monopoly, only for real."

Although Carl Cunningham spends his days behind the auction block, he doesn't survey the items for sale with an eye to purchase. "People ask us all the time if we get good deals on things," Carl says. "Our code of ethics doesn't allow us to bid on the items we sell. "Personally, with a 2-year-old at home, I'm on eBay a lot hunting down baby furniture. That's the extent of my personal bidding experience."

Bush is a freelance writer in Phoenix.

John Deere 4020 tractor values rising

2007-06-07T00:26:00.000-05:00

Greg Peterson - Successful Farming

I've been doing this a long time now.

Collecting auction sale prices I mean. Almost 18 years. So it really takes something big to stop me in my tracks. Well, some data I crunched this morning did just that, stopped me in my tracks.

John Deere 4020 tractors are worth more now than at any time in my almost 18 years of tracking sale prices. Check out the facts.

John Deere 4020 tractor values

Calendar Year	Average Auction Sale Price	Average Dealer Ad Price
2007	$8,732	$9,539
2006	$8,412	$9,513
2005	$8,541	$9,598
2004	$7,502	$9,427
2003	$8,341	$9,317
2002	$7,814	$9,187
2001	$8,637	$9,240
2000	$7,881	-
1999	$7,628	-
1998	$7,984	-
1997	$7,958	-

So 4020s are selling for 9.7% more now at auction than they were 10 years ago (1997) and 3.8% more this year over last year. Deere made 4020s from 1964 to 1972. I've written about them many times over the years with those columns never failing to produce a high volume of feedback from readers.

It seems the old green 4020 carries a strong emotional bond to our recent farming past. Some folks think its silly how much 4020s can sell for these days. Others explain away their rising values with the inflation argument. Me? I guess I just find it highly interesting how a tractor like a 4020 that's 35 to 43 years old now continues to be worth more and more money.

Sure, the cherry condition 4020s that pop up at auction attract tremendous crowds and tons of bidders. The 4020s like the 1971 model with 4,800 hours in excellent condition that sold March 31, 2007, at an auction in southeast Iowa for $22,100. Nothing new there. This trend has been going on for the last 5 to 10 years.

But what's driving the continued rising values are 4020s like the 1968 model sold this past Sunday on a small farm auction in northeast Nebraska. It was a narrow front, diesel model with 18.4R-34 rear tires and 7,704 hours on the tach. Nothing special, just a decent 4020. It sold for $9,250.

A few years back that same 1968 JD 4020 tractor would have sold for $6,500 to $8,500. Simply worth more today, that's all there is to it.

Click on the link below to see what other items sold for on the June 3, 2007, auction in northeast Nebraska. You'll find a link there you can click on to pull up all of the JD 4020 tractor auction prices we've compiled in 2006 and 2007, plus links to a few other selected pieces of equipment. Check out the 1975 JD 4630 tractor with 6,375 hours that sold for $17,500.

• Auction sale prices from June 3, 2007, auction in northeast Nebraska. >>

Tractors on eBay Sell for Less

2007-06-06T20:23:00.000-05:00

From Russ Quinn DTN Staff Reporter

OMAHA (DTN) -- Farmers have traded farm machinery for generations by the chant of an auctioneer, but some producers today are using the internet, specifically eBay, to alter their machinery lines. During the last two weeks, in fact, the world's most-popular internet auction site reported selling 258 tractors.

The real question for many farmers when using these tools is whether internet auctions bring as much as in-person auctions. The short answer to this question is generally no, but it does depend on the age and usefulness of the tractor available for auction.

A recent study by Ohio State University examined in-person auctions vs. tractors selling on eBay. The results of this first-of-a-kind study showed that the median tractor (i.e., half of the tractors sold for a price less than this, the other half sold for more) was predicted to sell for $7,706 on eBay and for $10,996 at an in-person auction. Once the typical commissions and fees are deducted this resulted in $2,197 more from an in-person sale than from eBay. (Auction services typically charge 2.5 to 15 percent commissions, while eBay charges 1 percent, or a maximum of $250, plus a $20 listing fee).

Brian Roe, an Ohio State University associate professor of agricultural economics and one of three authors of this study, told DTN there was a distinct difference in the number of tractors that sold above and below the $20,000 level on eBay.

The online auction site offers an anti-fraud Buyer Protection Plan for business equipment purchases that refunds buyers' outlays up to $20,000, Roe said.

This coverage protects buyers from seller fraud or undisclosed equipment defects. Anything more expensive than $20,000 is uncovered which is why newer, more expensive farm tractors are fairly sparse on eBay, even though they may offer buyers the best bargains.

"We took 10 months worth of data from eBay and Machinery Pete's Farm Equipment FACT's report to compare the two," Roe said. "We also limited our study to tractors made after 1960, horsepower of 30 or more and limited the data set to 13 tractor manufacturers." The study tracked 588 eBay sales and 1,770 in-person sales.

One farmer from Ohio, speaking anonymously to DTN, said he bought a John Deere 4010 tractor, a John Deere 148 loader and pickup truck this winter on eBay. He puts up hay and likes the John Deere 10 and 20 series of tractors to accomplish this chore.

His experiences on eBay were mostly positive. He paid $6,800 for the 4010, which was sold by a Nebraskan.

"The 4010 was in really, really good shape and was represented very well by the seller which is why I was willing to pay that much for it," he said.

The buyer learned from this process as well. First of all, he did not factor in transportation costs right away, and he freely admitted this was a big mistake. He had to pay someone to haul the tractor back to Ohio which was fairly expensive considering current fuel costs.

"I had a buddy who hauls calf huts out to Kansas and if I had to do it over, I would have had him haul it back because backhauling costs much less," he said.

The other thing he learned was not to assume things. His John Deere 148 loader, which he bought for $900 and was in good shape, came with what he thought was universal mounting brackets. He found out, however, it was previously attached to an International tractor and he had to find different mounting brackets for his new loader.

"You have to be sharp all the time when you are buying, or I suppose selling, something on eBay," he said. "Scammers are out there all the time. If something sounds too good to be true then it is probably is."

The Ohio State study concluded that from the buyer's point of view, purchasing newer, more powerful tractors on eBay may offer the opportunity to find discounts, but buyers also must bear additional risk because they cannot be present to personally inspect the tractor.

For the seller's point of view, eBay may be attractive because it offers flexibility of when and where to sell and also low commissions. However, for tractors sold for more than $20,000 limit of the eBay buyer protection program, the study shows that in-person auctions generate greater total seller revenue.

"For the farmer trying to sell an older tractor, eBay may offer an attractive sales outlet, but the newer tractors seem to bring considerably less than an in-person auction," Roe, the Ohio State University professor, concluded.

10 tips for buying a car at auction

2007-06-06T00:09:00.000-05:00

Published by ukinfo under Auction News on June 5th, 2007

Don’t buy on your first visit – sample the atmosphere and get used to the pace.

Do your homework – know what you want before you go to an auction and have an idea what the car you are after is worth.

Terms and conditions – each auction house has its own terms and conditions explaining how you can buy, what the fees are etc. Familiarise yourself with these so that you don’t get surprised later on.

Don’t rush – arrive early and take time to examine the vehicle that interests you.

Do ask questions – ask auction staff, they will be happy to help.

Check the car – it’s up to you to check the car’s condition, so examine it prior to entering the auction hall. And listen to the engine running as it is driven into the auction hall.

Budget – set a limit and stick to it. Save some funds for a post sale service and any minor repairs that might be needed.

Be flexible – if you miss your first choice, don’t give up and don’t throw the budget out the window just because you like the colour of the car you’re bidding on!

Auctioneer’s description – this is legally binding, so listen carefully. The terms and conditions will explain all the terminology used.

Bid clearly – don’t wink or tap your nose, simply raise your hand or the catalogue.

Decorative arts highlight June 24th Estate Auction at A-1 Auction

2007-06-02T13:47:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 31, 2007

A-1 AUCTION SERVICE
ORLANDO, FL
Sale June 24

A-1 Auction will present 350 lots highlighted by decorative arts from the estate of Ida Fendrich on June 24.

ORLANDO, FL – The sale from the Orlando, FL area estate of Ida Fendrich, including French art glass, selected bronzes and art pottery, will be conducted at the Maitland Civic Center June 24.

The sale will feature items from the Fendrich estate that have been in storage for the seven years since Mrs. Fendrich died. Doug White, owner of A-1 Auction Service, in Orlando has been familiar with the estate for over twenty years when he first helped the Fendrich family dispose of a relative’s estate and the family again sought his help for this occasion.

Approximately 250 of the total 350 lots offered at this sale will be from the Fendrich estate including French cameo glass by Daum Nancy, Galle`, LeGras, de Vez, D'Argental, Richard, LaVerre Francais and R. Lalique. There will be several important bronzes by Antoine Louis Barye (French 1796 - 1875), Pierre Jules Mene (French 1810 - 1877) and Rococo sculptor Claude Michel, also known as Clodian (French 1738-1814). His work in this sale is a detailed bronze of two women and a goat boy (presumably Pan) dancing. It is signed "Clodian 1362." The Barye and Mene works include animal figures and there is an American bronze of an eagle with outstretched wings, 16in wide" with an ivory beak perched on a marble base shaped like rocks. A nice place to store these treasures will offered in the form of a late 19th century French vitrine with Vernis Martin decoration.

Outstanding art pottery is represented by Moorcroft Pottery from the collection Potter to the Queen and includes a covered ginger jar, orchid pattern, and two hibiscus vases in mint condition. Also included are two Weller wall pockets in Woodcraft pattern, one with a squirrel, one with an owl, both in mint condition as well as some Wedgwood jasperware.

An oil on board signed by C. McDonald, dated 1936, will join a selection of eight paintings by original members of the Florida Highwaymen, including Roy McLendon, Sam Newton, James Gibson, Johnny Daniels and Al Black. Also to cross the block will be United States gold coins, some South African Krugerrands, gold and diamond jewelry, Victorian chain jewelry, a set of silver flatware, Navajo silver jewelry and a Georg Jensen pin with an early mark along with three Rolex watches. Also keeping time will be an American Art Nouveau New Haven clock and a nine tube Herschede tall case clock with a moon dial face, circa 1974.

The sale will be conducted at 12:00PM June 24 at the Maitland Civic Center, 621 S. Maitland Ave. in Maitland, FL just north of Orlando. The Civic Center has seating for 350 and reserved seats can be secured by phone or email. Absentee and phone bids are welcome.

Preview is by appointment during business hours at the A-1 Auction offices located at 2042 N. Rio Grande Ave., Suite E, Orlando, FL and on June 24 from 10:00AM until sale time at the Civic Center. For more information call Doug or Paula White at (407) 839-0004 or email to a-1auction@cfl.rr.com. The sale catalog and a map will be available on the A-1 Auction website at http://www.a-1auction.net.

Written by: Fred & Gail Taylor

ggtaylor@tampabay.rr.com

800-387-6377

PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR A-1 AUCTION
June 24, 2007

Clodian – This bronze is signed "Clodian 1362" by the French Rococo sculptor also known as Claude Michel.

Moorcroft – Three Moorcroft pieces from the collection Potter to the Queen.

Weller – A squirrel and an owl from Weller Woodcraft.

Cameo glass – Part of the large collection of French cameo glass.

Eagle – An American bronze eagle with a 16in wingspan on a marble base.

Highwayman – A swamp scene by Highwayman Roy McLendon.

Some great info from a wine auctioneer

2007-06-01T23:14:00.000-05:00

Many of us who are enophiles have amassed quite a valuable collection of fine and rare wines. We appreciate the artistry of wine, drink it regularly, and often boast to our friends when we acquire a wonderful treasure. This being said, we happily proceed with our passion and pursuit of collecting, never giving a second thought to protecting our wine as we do our other valued assets.

If you have a substantial collection of fine and rare wines, you should seriously entertain the thought of having your wine professionally appraised. Imagine the worst case scenarios such as fire, flood, mechanical equipment failure (i.e. cooling unit in your wine cellar dying), and theft! These disasters could wipe out your entire wine collection instantly. Does your homeowner's insurance policy protect your wine collection currently? In most cases, your homeowner's insurance policy would require you to obtain an additional rider to your existing policy to protect your wines. Your insurance company requires that a dollar value be placed upon your entire wine collection, and this service is best performed by an expert on valuation (i.e. certified appraiser).

The Wine Zealot Network wanted answers to our wine appraisal questions. We interviewed "The Wine Pragmatist" - Tom DiNardo. With five world records to his credit for the price of wine sold at auction, Mr. DiNardo is considered one of the country's preeminent charity wine auctioneers and wine appraisers. Tom DiNardo is a sommelier candidate, certified master appraiser and the founder of DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers. Tom is also a contract wine auctioneer for ERI, and a freelance wine writer for WineSquire.com and Wine Enthusiast, Santé and Wine Adventure magazines.

WZ: Tom why should someone have their wine collection appraised?

TD: For anyone of a number of legitimate reasons. Top of the list is usually for insurance purposes. I have also appraised wines for legal purposes such marriage dissolution and probate.

WZ: Are there other reasons why the readers should have their wines appraised?

TD: Reasons such as personal investment, estate planning, charity donations, and tax issues come to mind. All of these legal concerns require the need for a certified appraisal. The 2007 IRS Tax Code requires that any donation made in excess of $500 dollars requires the attachment of a certified appraisal with the accompanying tax return in order to claim a full the charitable tax deduction a donor might be due.

WZ: What are the qualifications of a certified appraiser?

TD: "A certified appraiser is someone who possesses training and certification in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)." This is a federal guideline that was established by the US Congress in 1986. All USPAP certified appraisers are registered with the Appraisal Foundation in Washington DC, and are overseen by the appointed congressional sub-committee.

WZ: Are appraisers licensed?

TD: Only real estate appraisers are required to be licensed in most states. Personal property appraisers (i.e. wine) are not required to have a license, but are certified in USPAP just as real estate appraisers are. Unfortunately, your local wine shop retailers and distributors, although knowledgeable about the wines they handle and sell, are not qualified as appraisers, unless they are certified in USPAP.

WZ: How can someone spot a fraudulent wine appraiser?

TD: There are many appraisal organizations today awarding designations to appraisers, but do not be deceived by these designations alone! Only those appraisal organizations offering appraisal certification in USPAP are legitimate. Ask to see the appraiser's proof of USPAP certification or his proof of registration with the Appraisal Foundation in Washington DC. It is a violation of USPAP for any certified appraiser to charge a percentage of the appraised value as a fee. Legitimate appraisers charge a flat fee or hourly rate.

WZ: Do you offer any other services?

TD: Over the years, I have appeared as an expert witness in many court cases in which issues of valuation were disputed by individuals, insurance companies, etc. I have not lost a case for a client yet, or a case of wine for that matter.

The best way to protect your wine assets, aside from proper storage, is to have them professionally appraised. Tom's advice is to thoroughly inventory your wine and photograph it as well. This also applies to any and all preemptive measures that you may utilize to protect your wines such as wine storage units and storage containers. These steps you take will act as a record, as well as saving you time and money before you hire a certified appraiser.

Auction firm still standing in Greensburg

2007-05-27T11:24:00.000-05:00

From the day of this terrible tornado our thoughts have been with Scott Brown and his company.

Here is a post from the Antique Trader Blog by Mark Moran

GREENSBURG, Kan. — News reports following the devastating F5 tornado that flattened this little Kansas town often cited the estimate that 95 percent of the community is gone. As the owner of one of only three businesses still standing, auctioneer Scott Brown said that figure is about right.

“My sign got ripped up, but the building is OK,” said Brown, whose facility is located on the east end of Greensburg. A bulk oil dealer next door and a tire shop are the only other going concerns in a town whose population once numbered 1,400, he said.

A heavily damaged motel across the street serves as shelter for volunteers working to help victims of the May 4 tornado, which killed 10 people. Damage estimates are in the millions of dollars, but Brown has a simpler way to gauge the devastation.

“There’s a grain elevator on the west end of town, about a mile away,” Brown told Antique trader. “I’m looking at it right now — I could never see it before this.”

After determining his building was still habitable, Brown cancelled all auctions scheduled for the facility and added 20 phones lines. Local residents, businesses, government and emergency officials used Brown’s building as a meeting and communications center in the days after the disaster. Brown, 56, has lived in Greensburg all his life. His family’s business, Brown Auction & Real Estate, has been around for 67 years.

“At first you’d walk around town and say, ‘There’s a house that made it through,’” recalled Brown, “until you looked around back and saw that most of it had been torn away.

“They had to paint street names on the road because there are no more points of reference,” he added, “and every day the scene changes as more buildings are torn down.”

“We haven’t had water service since the day of the storm,” Brown said on May 21, “but that may change tomorrow.”

Brown lives in Mullinville, Kan., a few miles away, but had purchased a home in Greensburg two days before the tornado hit. “The house was secluded, set in this square of tall cedar trees,” he said. “We drove by to see the place, and there wasn’t one tree left.”

Brown said the outpouring of support has been overwhelming. “When you get people from all over the country sending clothes … well, let’s just say we have plenty of clothes on hand for the next disaster.” In addition to FEMA, the Red Cross, Salvation Army and numerous church and service groups have pitched in to help survivors.

The South Central Community Foundation in Pratt, Kan., has established the Greensburg Future Fund for the purpose of helping Greensburg rebuild.

“We recognize that many organizations are providing disaster relief for Greensburg,” said Jack Galle, chairman of the foundation’s board. “However, this fund is different because it is designed to help the community rebuild. This will be a long and painful process. Kansans want to help their neighbors, and we believe this fund will provide a vehicle for all of us to stand by our friends at Greensburg as they rebuild their town, their schools, their livelihoods and their way of life.”

SCCF Executive Director Denise Unruh said the Greensburg Future Fund is a “pass-through” fund, and 100 percent of the donated dollars would go to Greensburg projects.

Checks should be made to “South Central Community Foundation” with a memo to “Greensburg Future Fund.” Donors can also earmark the contributions for education, health care or community rebuilding. The mailing address is South Central Community Foundation, P.O. Box 8624, Pratt, KS, 67124. Donations are eligible for charitable income tax deductions, Unruh said.

Disaster relief funds may also be sent directly to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and similar programs, Unruh said. For more information, contact Unruh at 620-672-7929. Scott Brown may be reached at 620-723-2111. As of May 21, Brown had no Internet service.

Images courtesy Denise Unruh, SCCF Executive Director

The Source on Orten's land rent sale

2007-05-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

mikkelpates.ag-at-large Blog

One of the big gossip items at the 45th International Sugarbeet Institute was that – whew – maybe stories about land rental rates is a myth. “Did you hear?” one of my favorite farming addicts whispered. “Did you hear that Orten’s land deals didn’t go through after all?” My smiling friend was referring to the story I broke on this blog, the Grand Forks Herald, about the Feb. 21 public auction that determined the fate of 7,300 acres in Cass County, owned by Orten B. Brodshaug of Horace. The rents ratesranged from $126 to $174 per acre and averaged $150 to $160. Lenders and farmers told me this rental auction would have a huge impact on farm land rental rates up and down the Red River Valley, and on either side. Horrors, I thought. Had I misled the public on this story? Was I duped? So I asked, what happened to the $10,000 checks the “qualified bidders” had to bring to the auction. Did they forfeit those dollars, too? “Yup,” the guy said, nodding deeply. The rumor is, he said, that the bidders had gone home to their lenders who had nixed the whole deal on grounds that there was no way they could make these deals pencil out. Better to lose the $10,000 and cut your losses than lose a whole lot more on a bad land rent deal. Really, I said. “Check it out,” he said. So, I did. Scott Steffes of Steffes Auctioneers Inc. of Fargo, took my call on his cell phone this morning on his way to some future auction business. Yes, Steffes, said, he’d been approached by someone at his big Ag Iron event the other day, who challenged him with the same “facts.” “Yeah, the guy said he heard that nearly all that land got turned back,” Steffes said. Steffes told the man that rumor wasn’t true. “‘Bull¬¬¬___!’ the guy said,” Steffes says. “So I asked the guy, why would YOU know and I wouldn’t?” Steffes told the man, adding. “I was one of the people who cashed the checks!” The deal was that the winning bidder had to write an immediate check for 10 percent of the rental amount and then write a check for the balance by March 1. All of those checks went through, Steffes says. Steffes wasn’t able to convince the guy. “Well, the guy tells me that he heard it from ‘The Source.’ Maybe it’s from one of the renters who got the land, I don’t know.” Steffes acknowledged he’s been approached about the rumor at various functions in the past several days. He says the “opposite was true,” because two different individuals came in after the auction and asked who had won the bid. One of the farmers at the auction offered a winning bidder $20,000 to walk away from their contract, giving them a chance to rent. And so, folks, Scott Steffes is MY source on this, as well as a few other trusted souls I’ve known since my temples weren’t gray. I don’t know if there’s a way to impeach an auctioneer, even if you wanted to, but I’d say Steffes is an unimpeachable source. While I had him on the phone, I asked Steffes to give me the non-promotional version of how Brodshaug’s farm equipment sale went. Steffes – who fortunately has a sense of humor -- said it went “excellent” and proved that well-maintained older equipment still sells pretty well, especially in light of rising prices with new equipment. An 8820 combine of the 1983 vintage went for about $9,000, for just the machine. Meanwhile, AgIron had 1,900 bidders, a “near high” on the first day of the Sugarbeet Institute. The average bidder numbers for these sales is about 1,250, Steffes said. “It showed some market weakness in late model combines and probably the higher-end truck equipment, but overall it was excellent.” Excellent, I said.

Hundreds turn out for auction

2007-05-24T21:26:00.000-05:00

Farmers Guardian UK

Machinery Sale | 24 May, 2007

BROWN and Co’s farm machinery auction at Sewstern, near Grantham, was attended by hundreds of farmers and dealers from across the UK and Ireland despite heavy overnight rain.

Credit: © FARMERS GUARDIAN please contact 01772 799445.

Following a change in farming policy by H Newton & Son, Brown & Co were approached to hold a dispersal sale on the farm.

Together with extensive arable farming equipment, a combine harvester and tractors, the sale included a selection of well maintained implements including cultivation and harvest machinery, trailers, livestock handling apparatus and over 200 lots of workshop and traditional hand tools.

Bidding was competitive with a John Deere 3420 Telehandler fetching £26,750 and a New Holland TM165 Tractor falling to the hammer for £21,000. A Väderstad 300 Super XL Rapid Drill was sold for £13,950 while a Massey Fergusson 38RS Combine Harvester realised £13,000. A Väderstad Carrier 500 cultivator fetched a pleasing £11,250 and AS 12 tonne grain trailers made between £5,000 and £5,500 each.

Brown & Co auctioneers Richard Godson and Will Parry from the Grantham office, commented: “The recent rise in commodity prices appears to have injected an air of optimism in to the industry, with farmers prepared to bid confidently for quality arable machinery”. Mr Godson continued, “Many of the values achieved exceeded expectation”

“The machinery was extremely well maintained and the vendor has an excellent reputation which gave buyers an extra incentive to bid up to secure the quality equipment on offer” added Mr Parry.

Other lots

1. New Holland TM165 (Yr 2001) 3,672hrs

2. New Holland TS110 (Yr 1998) 5,176 hrs

3. Ford 8240 (Yr 1994) 7,980 hrs

4. John Deere 3420 Telehandler (Yr 2004) 1500 hrs

5. MF 38RS Combine (Yr 1991) 2,485 hrs

Trailer: (Top priced 12t AS ACE was Yr 2003) - £5500

Farm Auction

2007-04-25T21:22:00.000-05:00

Great post about attending a farm auction from the Homesteading Neophyte Blog

Farm Auction

by Phelan at 7:28 AM

Saturday we drove an hour out into the middle of nowwhere to attend a farm auction. Our goal was a windmill, a plow and a cast iron claw foot tub.

We arrived a little late, we didn't have time to look around before the auction got underway. The men wondered off into the machinery, while we women went into the barn for the furniture and other household goods. Sounds a little old fashion, but that's how it turned out.

I wasn't after the furniture, but did end up with a 1960's green foot stool with storage. I was only a dollar. I had my eye on one thing in that barn, and I would get it. But before we get to that, I also bought 2 boxes of 1960's board games, for a dollar. 2 boxes of fabrics and 2 boxes of crocheting material.

The auctioneers took a break, because they had begun the bidding on the tractors and cars. My sister-in-law approached me and told me that there was hard wood flooring in the barn. She had already told my husband {her brother} and he told her to tell me since I was the one working in that area. I thanked her for the heads up.

Back into the barn. I was going to bid on the canning jars, but m sister-in-law started, so I bowed out of it. I waited quietly until they got to the flooring. I won the bid at $22.50, turns out I was bidding against my brother-in-law without knowing. Ah, well, I wanted that flooring.

I got 7 bee hives for $9,

and a donkey cart for $5.

I didn't bid again until we got to the books. My bookcrossing friends will know how this story ends. I couldn't tell you how many books were there, or how many boxes. I informed my husband that I was going to be a good girl and only get 3 boxes. And I did, for $3 a box. Then my sister-in-law took two. Then no one wanted to bid. I took the remaining boxes, all, for $1. We moved onto the next table full of boxes of books. I didn't bid, I was trying to be good. One man bid and got 3 boxes, then once again no one bid. The auctioneer saw it in my eyes, he had too. He leaned over to me and said, "I will give you all the books and the small bookshelf and the wooden shop table for $1." I looked away, thinking and trying not to jump up and down screaming I LOVE YOU!. Instead I nodded, "one dollar." SOLD! I now have a couple thousand more books.

I told my father-in-law what I did, he shook his head and said that his son wouldn't be happy. But I got the shop table! And a man asked if he could go through my boxes and look for old bibles, I told him he could, but there wasn't a bible in the lot. He did give me $2 for an old encyclopedia.

I also got some milk filters and milking gear, and a few misc items.

I also got the cast iron bathtub, for $9!

and a garden planter for $5 {it still works}

My husband bought the plow

Yes, it is a horse pulled plow

The windmills went for almost $500 a piece, so we didn't win them.

He wasn't mad about the books because I had won my bids, low, on the items he wanted, or was glad I found. He bought 13 bridge boards, and 6 wood planks that were 30 feet long.

We spent a total of $300. Not bad for how much we got. Everything we bought will be used.

Sunday we had to retrieved the lumber. My husband and I did it alone. The bridge boards weighed 250 pounds a piece, and the planks were behind bid piles of someone's lumber inside of a shed. We had to lift and finagle them out, all 7 of them. We were down to 4 when someone came over and helped. It went a lot faster. Still after 3 hours, my arms are now dead weight.

The red gates on top of the lumber are stock racks.

I'll tell you what we are going to do with all that lumber later. It's very cool. . .um I mean hot.

Rare farm machinery auctioned near Armidale

2007-04-22T22:49:00.000-05:00

ABC News Online

Hundreds of people from as far away as north Queensland and Melbourne have attended an auction of vintage and antique farm machinery south of Armidale on the weekend.

The auction, on Bill Morton's property at Dangarsleigh, included rare early 20th century farming equipment.

The rarest items were two Twin City tractors, which were made in the 1920s by an American company.

Although they were not in working order, they still fetched prices of up to $10,000.

One successful bidder, John Barwick, says it was money well spent.

"It's quite unique - I haven't seen anything like it - to have machinery in as good order as this," he said.

Auctioneer Victor Moore says many people were surprised by the value of the items.

"Extremely unusual and a lot of the items we're seeing here are very, very rare," he said.

Mr Morton says he has been forced to sell off the possessions for personal reasons.

"It's the end of an era and I'll have a bit more room in my shed," he said.

He says although he is sad to see his vast collection of items and memorabilia go, he is glad it is going to good homes.

THOUSANDS OF PIECES FROM A LIFETIME MIAMI COLLECTION OF DECORATIVE ARTS TO CROSS THE BLOCK AT ALBRITTON

2007-04-22T20:28:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2007

ALBRITTON AUCTIONEERS
LAKELAND, FL
Sale May 18,19, 2007

The first in a series of sales to dispose a very large collection will be conducted in Lakeland, FL on May 18 and 19 by Kale Albritton.

Veteran Florida auctioneer Kale Albritton, owner of Albritton Auctioneers in Lakeland, FL, met with the family of a deceased Miami collector several years ago to begin the dispersal of the thousands of antiques and collectibles in the estate. He held two small initial sales after that but could never get the family organized enough to complete the task. When he retired four years ago he still held out hope that he would get the opportunity to conduct the entire sale. That opportunity has now presented itself and Albritton has come out of retirement for this series of sales.

He has worked for months out of a series of storage buildings and houses where the collection has been stored for the last thirty years and still has no idea how many total lots will be in all the sales. The first sale on May 18 and 19 will consist of approximately 600 lots of art, antiques, silver, art glass and bronzes. Albritton has identified at least 92 bronzes and 75 lots of art glass, including Tiffany, Galle and Daum and large selection of period American and English sterling hollow and flatware to be included in the first sale.

The silver will include sterling bowls by Tiffany, a wine cooler, serving bowls, compotes, a 240 piece service of "Faneuil" flatware, a Samuel Kirk tea and coffee service (c.1840), Sheffield silver, Britannia casters, sterling serving trays, goblets, standing salt cellars, Georgian serving spoons by Peter, Ann and William Bateman, coin silver, 167 pieces of Francis I flatware, ornate plated/crystal epergnes, sterling vases, trays, goblets and many others.

Significant art includes a work by Edward W. Cooke (English 1811-1880) entitled "Good Luck Fires" painted while Cooke was on vacation in New Mexico. Other works include "Calais Pier" by Thomas Bush Hardy (English 1842-1897), "Sheep in Pasture" by G. C. Wiggins (American 1883-1962) and "Young Girl" by Charles T. Phelan (American 1840) plus many more.
The art glass and crystal category includes a 17in tall Favrile lamp signed "L.C.T." on the base, Steuben Rosaline engraved plates, a pulled feather design art glass epergne with Sheffield silver plated base and flint glass inserts, many pieces of Moser, an acid-cut Baccarat vase, five Galle vases, a major three piece center set of a dark amethyst glass pedestal and an 11in by 6in bowl with a matching pair of 13in candleholders decorated with gold cameo bands of Amazon warriors, signed Moser, Karlsbad.

The sale will include three Audubon Elephant books entitled "Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America" lithographed and printed by J. T Bowen, Philadelphia, 1845, a good selection of Majolica, a Tiffany desk lamp, many bent slag glass lampshades with table, floor lamps and ceiling fixtures, many stained and leaded glass shades and bases, a pair of Sang de Boeuf table lamps, Kutani table lamps, wicker floor lamp, Phoenix glass table lamp and Galle lamp, figural bronze lamp of a lady marked P. Terczkszuk (Austrian) with an 8 x 4¾in Galle shade among others. Also crossing the block will be a wide selection of 18th, 19th and early 20th century furniture including game tables, stands, desks, work tables and much more.

This will be an absolute auction conducted without reserve. It will be held at Sikes Hall in the Lakeland Center, 701 W. Lime Dr. in Lakeland, FL beginning at 5:00PM Friday May 18 and will continue at 10:00AM Saturday May 19. Preview will be at the Center on Thursday May 17 from 1:00PM to 8:00PM. Seating can be reserved by phone at (863) 686-7653 or by email to kalealbrit@aol.com. Phone and absentee bids will be accepted. For more information call the number above or visit the website at www.albritton.net.

PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR ALBRITTON
Sale May 18,19, 2007

Cooke – "Good luck Fires" by Edward W. Cooke, O/C, 20 by 16in.

Colinet – Bronze and ivory dancer by Claire J. R. Colinet (Flemish 1880-1950), 18 by 7½in.

Desk – Walnut slant front desk, circa 1800.

Epergne – Epergne with Sheffield silver plate base and flint glass inserts.

Lamp – 17in Favrile lamp signed on the base "L.C.T."

Tiffany – Large sterling center bowl by Tiffany

First the drought, then the auction

2007-04-22T20:25:00.000-05:00

By Tony Spilde/Bismarck Tribune

NEW SALEM - Chrome glinted in the midday sun from all the pickups lined up on both sides of Ash Avenue.

You don't see that many vehicles in small-town North Dakota unless something big is afoot. This was, by all accounts, a to-do.

"I never thought I'd see this day," said Dave Kautzman, who was moving a pallet of tractor parts from his shop to an outside staging area. "At least it's sunny."

A wry smile spread across his mug. Of course it was sunny. It was always sunny, and that was a big part of the problem.

It was ironic, then, that Kautzman had to push the pallet jack through a puddle. It had rained a few days earlier. Now the rain comes. Now.

An ongoing drought has altered the lives of thousands of people in western North Dakota. For some it has meant spikes in their water bill or driving a few extra miles to find a boat ramp that's still wet. But for so many others the ramifications have been much more severe.

Kautzman, co-owner of D&K Farm Equipment Inc., had to help shut down the 46-year-old family business last weekend.

"We had a really good working relationship here with a lot of people,"Kautzman said. "But business was getting to be less and less every year. I think in the last few years the drought has had a lot of impact on things. People didn't use their equipment, so we didn't have to service it."

The family got together in December and decided to sell. They held an auction here on April 13-14.

In a few cafes in the southwestern part of the state, farm-auction bills have been plastered up this year like wallpaper.

"We have had a very busy season; there's no doubt about that," Lyle Steinmetz, a Carson-area rancher and auctioneer for Weishaar Auctioneer Service, said. "Our (farm auction) business has been busier than normal. We have probably seen 20 percent more sales this year than we anticipated."

Steinmetz said the spring farm sales have been held for a number of reasons. Some farmers are retiring. Some are cutting back. Some are cutting and running.

"I wonder if we've had even one sale where the bank said, 'This has got to happen,'" Steinmetz said. "There have been some financial considerations in the sales we've handled, but some have been for other reasons. Ithink bankers and sellers have sat down and talked about what's in their best interests."

Weishaar has run 22 farm auctions this spring, and has four to go. Steinmetz, a rancher all his life, said there's plenty to be concerned about out on the prairie. From a lack of moisture to the skyrocketing prices of fertilizer, fuel and land, many producers could be facing a tipping point.

"In the rural America I'm familiar with, the slipshod operators are gone and the people looking for a handout are gone," Steinmetz said. "The next tier that tips over will have a long-term impact here and throughout the country."

Changing times

Jody Fuchs had to rearrange his work schedules just to make it to his own auction sale Friday and Saturday.

The Grant County rancher sold most of his farm equipment this weekend, but will still run about 150 head of Angus cattle. To make ends meet, he's taken jobs at Double R Meats in Carson and as the field man for the local Farm Service Agency office.

"It's hard to make a living on the land," Fuchs said. "I've had to take all kinds of odd jobs so I can eat and take care of my family. Anymore, to survive out here in the farm and ranch business isn't hardly feasible without having another job or someone to help you. It's just tough."

Fuchs wanted to have his sale earlier this spring, but had to settle for late April because Weishaar was booked each weekend before that, going back to February.

Other auctioneers in western North Dakota, including Vincent Bitz in Bismarck and Gordon Krance in South Heart, have noticed only minor increases in the number of farm auctions this year. For some reason, Grant County - as well as Weishaar outposts in Sentinel Butte and Lemmon, S.D. - has been hit harder.

In the most recent agriculture census, conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service in 2002, there were 548 farms in Grant County. The average farm was 1,928 acres.

In the 1987 census, Grant County had 688 farms, with an average size of 1,483 acres.

In 15 years, the county lost 20 percent of its farms, and those that were left grew in size by nearly a quarter of their previous acreage.

"What we're seeing is continued consolidation and expansion on the farming and ranching side - fewer, bigger farms," Steinmetz said. "There's not any of this land that won't be farmed. It's all going to get seeded, and if landowners choose to rent their land, there's ready takers."

But Steinmetz said the cost of buying or renting more land to make up for reduced production caused by the drought has been a losing proposition for several producers. It's been particularly tough on the younger ones, he said.

"Idon't think a lot of people here, myself included, like to see the trend that's obviously going on,"Steinmetz said. "The average age of the operators is going up, and the weather isn't cooperating. All these guys are not broke, but they're probably frustrated and just don't see that it's going to get a lot better soon. I'm sure that weighs into their consideration to sell."

Under pressure

People are buying up land like crazy in Emmons County, in south-central North Dakota.

Just none of them are farmers.

Or at least not many of them are. Brian Bosch sells real estate in rural areas, and said the market rarely has been better. But he's also not selling to too many of his Linton-area neighbors.

"In the last week I've sold 3,000 acres of land to guys from Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Minnesota," Bosch said. "Everyone was from out of state. No local farmers can buy the land here anymore because these hunters are driving the price up. We had a real big push last year in land sales, and I'd guess it was 90 percent recreational hunters."

Bosch said land that was selling for $400 an acre three years ago is now in the $700 to $750 range.

That's just for the canvas. Paint and brushes cost extra, and they're also near record highs.

In 1987, back when there were 20 percent more farms in Grant County, a gallon of diesel fuel cost 95 cents a gallon. Apply inflation to that, and it would cost about $1.80 today.

Instead, it's at $2.87.

Likewise, anhydrous ammonia - which is tied to the fluctuations in natural gas prices - is selling for a whopping $470 per ton, according to the Agrilliance Agronomy Center in Mandan.

Throw a drought on top of that, and you've got some bad conditions.

"It's almost impossible right now for a young farmer to start a farm from ground zero," Steinmetz, the auctioneer and rancher, said. "But you live in the times you're in, so what can you do? This is a business that's fed on optimism. If people want to be negative, they can be negative. It's certainly not all roses, I'm not trying to say that, but there are still a lot of people making it out there."

But there are fewer people making a living on the land than there used to be.

In 2006, there were 30,300 farm operations in North Dakota. That's down nearly 40 percent from 1966, when there were 49,000 farms. Land being used for agriculture is down only 6 percent in the same time period, from 42 million acres to 39.4 million. Again, there are fewer farms, but they're bigger. That means more up-front costs, and more money going into the ground each season. Fortunately, good crop prices - including a new demand for corn - appear to be mitigating some of the bad news.

Still, farmers and ranchers here say they could use some assistance.

"I'm going to stay ranching, but I know a lot of people who aren't,"Fuchs, the Carson rancher who had a sale this weekend, said. "There's the high price of fuel and seed, and it don't rain. The government programs don't seem to want to help the people that are surviving out here on the land, trying to give them food."

An 11th-hour agriculture-disaster bill could be in the offing in Congress, which would send an estimated $200 million to North Dakota. It's never been more needed, Steinmetz said.

"I went through the disaster payments that came down in the '80s and '90s, but if there was ever a need for a disaster program, this is it,"Steinmetz said. "We haven't seen all the fallout (from the ongoing drought) yet. A lot of the conservative farmers and ranchers have been doing OK, but with the combination of things that have gone on in southwestern North Dakota in the last couple years, it's pretty critical for some kind of disaster assistance. If the weather conditions change, and you combine that with disaster assistance, things could heal up pretty quick."

If nothing comes down the pike, Steinmetz fears lenders could be unwilling to bend further.

"Most of the bankers are really trying to go along with things, doing what they can to keep everybody in business," Steinmetz said. "But they won't be able to keep it up. The bleeding is going to have to stop. Meanwhile, if we lose one young farmer in Grant County, that's too many."

(Reach reporter Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tony.spilde@;bismarcktribune.com.)

Theresa Taylor Wins Ontario Auction Competition

2007-04-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

For immediate release.
March 1, 2007

Theresa Taylor added some more hardware to her mantle, following the 23rd Annual Convention of the Auctioneers Association of Ontario (AAO), held last week in Stratford, Ontario.

Ms. Taylor competed in the AAO Championship Competition, which took the form of a real charity auction to benefit the Rotary Club of Stratford’s Respite House. Nineteen auctioneers from across Ontario competed, hailing from Sault St. Marie to South Lancaster. At the end of the day, $10,000.00 was raised for the charity, and Ms. Taylor was crowned Ladies Champion and Experienced Overall Champion. She is the first female ever to win the Experienced Overall title.

"Theresa was obviously on top of her game at the competition and the judges
rewarded her for that," said Ken McGregor, Executive Director of the Auctioneers Assoication of Ontario.

“It is always nice to test your skills against some of best auctioneers in the province, and in that regard I am very pleased and excited with the results”, said Theresa Taylor. “It makes sense that if you are going to have auctioneers compete, why not hold a real live auction. It was fun to compete, however the true winners of the day were Rotary and their charity.”

Competitors were judged by a panel of five judges. Points were awarded for presentation, selling skills, and the clarity, speed, rhythm, and timing of the auctioneer’s chant.

“Theresa is a credit to the Auction Industry”, said Bill Sheridan, President of the National Auctioneer’s Association (NAA) and one of the judges of the competition. “When she took the microphone the auction came alive with enthusiasm. Her professional demeanor and the way she approached selling each item made it very clear that she was indeed a champion auctioneer and bid-caller.”

Theresa Taylor is a certified and experienced auctioneer operating out of South Lancaster on the outskirts of Cornwall, Ontario. She has helped to raise over $300,000 through special charity auctions over the past several years, and has worked hard to improve her skills, both as an auctioneer and as a businesswoman. These efforts have been recognized with a number of awards.

Rose Award (NAA March 2005)
World Ladies Champion and Canadian Ladies Champion (AAC, Montreal, 2004)
Member of the Year (AAO, 2002)
Entrepreneur of the Year (Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, 2001)

The Auctioneers Association of Ontario (AAO) is an association dedicated to promoting auctioneers and the auction industry in Ontario. Its members represent many segments of the auction industry and include the most respected auctioneers in Ontario.

Here are the official final results from the competition:

Novice Champion: Greg Wheeler, Brussels
Runner up; David Hiscox, Port Sydney

Ladies Champion: Theresa E. Taylor, South Lancaster

Experienced Overall Champion: Theresa E. Taylor, South Lancaster
Runner up Gary Jantzi, Wellesley

“The AAO Annual Convention is extremely important as attendees gain invaluable information, not only from the speakers, but from other delegates as well,” added Ms. Taylor. “The fellowship experienced at the convention allows us to return home with a positive & energized attitude toward our industry”.

For more information on this sale, please contact Theresa at:

Phone: 613-347-7672 or Toll Free: 1-877-746-9333

or visit her website at:

www.TheresaTaylor.com

SOUTHERN FURNITURE AND ORIGINAL ART TO BE FEATURED AT JACK EUBANKS AUCTION IN APRIL

2007-04-02T21:41:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2007

JACK EUBANKS AUCTION
BREVARD, NC
Sale April 28, 2007

Eubanks again assembles a diverse inventory of over 600 lots for the April 28 sale.

Following the success of his January 13 wide ranging sale, Jack Eubanks, owner of Jack Eubanks Auction in Brevard, NC, will offer his bidders a diverse inventory of over 600 lots from a wide variety of consignors and living estates in North Carolina. Several fine lots of pre Civil War Southern furniture will cross the block accompanied by early 19th century examples from other locations.

Art will play a key role in the upcoming sale. One of the featured artists will be Charles Johnson Post (1873-1956), a New York artist and author who enlisted with the 71st New York Infantry in 1898 to experience the Spanish-American War. After a rail ride through the South and encampment in Tampa with Roosevelt, Post landed in Cuba and participated in the fighting. Along the way he documented his travels and adventures in words and pictures. His book "The Little War of Private Post – The Spanish-American War Seen Close Up" was published posthumously in 1960 by Little, Brown & Co. The current printing published by the University of Nebraska press features a color version of the Post rendering of "Bloody Ford," the crossing of a stream in Cuba by U. S. troops under fire. The original etching will be offered at the sale. Other Post works include a battlefield scene depicting the overrunning of the Spanish trenches at the capture of the San Juan blockhouse by the 6th and 16th Infantry with the dead figure of American Lt. Ord in the foreground and also an oil on canvas of an eerie religious scene with the inscription on the back "The letter killeth but the spirit giveth life. 2nd Corintians 3:6" which is a shortened version of the verse that reads "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." Post’s work was featured in Life on July 7, 1958 with a ten page spread of his work. A copy of Johnson’s 1912 book "Across the Andes" autographed and dedicated to his father will also be available. The Post material came from the local living estate of a friend of Post’s daughter.

A portrait of a male toddler by noted Quaker artist Marcus Mote (1817-1898) is on the agenda. Mote, a fifth generation Quaker, was in constant trouble with his Meetings because of his art which was considered to be "worldly" and "frivolous" by the religious group. In 1869 he founded the Richmond Academy of Design in Richmond, IN and established the foundation for a growing arts community. The oil on canvas portrait is shown in an oval gold frame and is inscribed verso "12/mo 1877 Richmond, Indiana." Also on the block is a Florida watercolor landscape by Florida artist James Ralph Wilcox (1866-1915) and a screen print of an abstract work by Yosef Zaritsky (Russian/Israeli 1891-1985).

On the furniture side of the sale is a very fine walnut plantation desk, circa 1850, from the Wellborn Plantation in Eufala, AL, the property of Solon Nelson Wellborn, a pre Civil War desk with open book shelf above in "as found" condition in a tenant farmer’s cabin on a plantation in north Fulton County, GA, an Ohio walnut corner cupboard with six panes of glass in the doors, divided by muntins to look like twelve panes and many more items.

Preview for the sale is scheduled for Friday April 27 and the sale is Saturday April 28 at 9:00AM in the Eubanks Auction facility at 220 S. Broad St, Brevard, NC. Reserved seating for 160 is available by phone or email. For more information contact Jack Eubanks at (828) 884-7889, email info@jackeubanks.com or visit the website at http://www.jackeubanks.com/.

PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR JACK EUBANKS AUCTION
April 28, 2007

Post – The original of "Bloody Ford" near San Juan by Charles Johnson Post.

Desk – A walnut plantation desk from the Wellborn plantation in Eufala, AL.

Mote – A portrait of a Midwest toddler by Marcus Mote, circa 1877.

Wagon – This turn of the century wagon was made by the Owensboro Wagon Company of Daviess County, KY, established in 1884.

Wilcox – This Florida watercolor is by James Ralph Wilcox.

Piano – This Mason & Hamlin grand was made in 1962.

Press Release by: Fred and Gail Taylor
www.furnituredetective.com
800-387-6377

Real Estate Auctions - Why Real Estate Auctions are the Best Way to Sell a Property

2007-04-02T21:38:00.000-05:00

Real Estate Auctions - Why Real Estate Auctions are the Best Way to Sell a Property
Author: Adrian Loepp
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March 23, 2007 7:04:55 PM (12 Reads)
Summary: It is hard to turn on the television nowadays and not hear a news articles describing how housing starts are down again or that foreclosures are at record numbers or new home sales are at 4 year lows. The housing sector has definitely taken its lumps over the past year. Now with the announcement last week that one of the largest sub prime lenders in the country is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, there is a chill in the real estate markets and people are very concerned about the future value of their properties.

It is hard to turn on the television nowadays and not hear a news articles describing how housing starts are down again or that foreclosures are at record numbers or new home sales are at 4 year lows. The housing sector has definitely taken its lumps over the past year. Now with the announcement last week that one of the largest sub prime lenders in the country is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, there is a chill in the real estate markets and people are very concerned about the future value of their properties.

The typical method of selling a home via a real estate agent is just not working as effectively as it did in the past. Houses are staying on the market much longer and price decreases are almost the norm. Even with all of this price cutting, home sales are still way down from previous years. The old familiar way of doing things is no longer getting the results that people expect.

Real estate auctions on the other hand are enjoying a surge in popularity. It appears to be a match made in heaven. Real estate is the fastest growing segment of the auction business, and auctions are the fastest growing segment of the real estate business. Some of the reasons that real estate auctions are fast becoming a preferred method of selling a property quickly are:

Reason #1: It’s a Quick Sale An auction affords property owners the opportunity to dispose of property now at today’s prices, rather than tomorrow’s prices. Time is money. Depending on reinvestment rates, $195,000 or even $190,000 today is likely more valuable than $200,000 next year.

Reason #2: High Carrying Costs are Avoided All property incurs costs during its private negotiating marketing period — debt service, real estate taxes, insurance payments, maintenance and sometimes security. All too often, the carrying or holding costs of real estate during a private negotiated marketing program won’t be recovered in a higher selling price. In effect, the sooner a property sells, the greater the bottom line dollars in pocket for the seller and/or greater the savings that may be passed on to the buyer.

Reason #3: Property Market Value can be Demonstrated Instead of relying on the appraiser to assigning an asking price, the auction process demonstrates the value of the property to sellers and potential buyers. Selling property by the private negotiated method, you may wonder whether you couldn’t have bargained higher. But if the property is sold at auction, the proof of market value is in the process itself. Moments before the final bid, another serious buyer bid just a few dollars less. The selling price is truly market driven.

The bottom line is, real estate auctions are a very effective way to sell a property quickly at market value. If you own some real estate and you would like to sell it quickly, real estate auctions might be your best bet in today’s uncertain markets.

Adrian has many years as a real estate educator, investor, and personal financial consultant. He has personally purchased over 50 single family houses in the past 5 years using various methods of creative real estate investing.. He shares his invaluable experience and techniques to those looking for guidance in their real estate and personal financial activities. He is currently a Certified Real Estate Auctioneer selling properties in the Tacoma/Seattle area of Washington State. For more information visit his website at http://www.auctionsnorthwest.com

http://EzineArticles.com/

Learning the mechanics of life on the farm

2007-04-01T17:13:00.000-05:00

Learning the mechanics of life on the farm
By ELIZABETH KALFSBEEK/Democrat staff Writer
Article Created: 03/23/2007 10:00:08 AM PDT

A new set of wheels? No, Daily Democrat writer Elizabeth Kalfsbeek just contemplates a joy ride on this John Deere tractor.
In light of National Ag Week, I decided to hone in on my roots as a country girl and try my hand at a local farm auction. Coming from a family of farmers, I am no stranger to dirt and dust and harvesters. I went to school in the city, however, and lose touch at times with how, exactly, farmers really do feed America.

It's not Christie's. Nor Sotheby's. There are no fancy wooden paddles with your bidding number on it to elegantly wave. There are not even seats.

No, at the Boeger farm auction in Gridley I recently attended, potential bidders mull around like cattle, following the auctioneer who is standing in the flatbed of a pickup with a microphone.

This was the first farm auction I'd attended, and decided to pass on some of the etiquette I gathered should anyone find himself in my same position.

Rule No. 1: Do not raise your hand for any reason unless you want to go home with a $10,000 piece of equipment. In fact, keep any type of sudden movement to a bare minimum and on an emergency-basis only, like shooing away a wasp - if you are allergic to them. As I learned, gesturing for a cold beverage by putting my hand above my head, flicking my hair, or even pushing my sunglasses up my nose is seen by the watchful eye of
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the emcee as a bid. Fortunately, three times was a charm for me. I received a verbal warning over the mic instead of a bailer.

Rule No. 2: "Go" before you leave home. Unless you are a big fan of the porta-potty, I suggest you enjoy the facilities in the privacy of your own home before venturing out. This also means leaving the coffee behind.

Rule No. 3: Try the local fare. If you are lucky, there will be some type of barbecue area and if the tri-tip sandwiches are as delicious as the one I tried, give yourself a treat and buy two. But do not mistake the creamy horseradish sauce for mayonnaise "with a kick" as I did. Too much really clears your sinus's. The hot dog's are great, too.

Though the shelf-life of the farm auction novelty expired during the four hours I spent there, it was quite an enjoyable and educational experience all in all. It is, after all, that time of year again. On the drive there, we passed a tractor on the road, which is rare sight during the winter months. And a sense of nostalgia washed over me, going back to my roots as a country girl. It even smells like "farm" in the air. And I like it.

For the next auction? I will go prepared with a lawn chair, umbrella, ice chest and a magazine. And I'll keep my hands in my pockets.

Farm auction a rite of spring

2007-03-31T14:46:00.000-05:00

Farm auction a rite of spring
Thursday, March 29, 2007

By Steven Hepker

shepker@citpat.com -- 768-4923

Henry Beckord rubbed his cowhide gloves on the chalky, weathered bow of his 1979 Caravelle boat, revealing a shiny robin's-egg-blue finish.
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"It's a good old boat, worth the time and effort for someone," the Sweezy Lake resident said Tuesday at the Napoleon Livestock Commission's auction grounds.

The boat is among hundreds of gadgets, machines, tools, vehicles and what-nots on sale Saturday in the 22nd edition of the annual spring farm auction.

It is Jackson County's largest recycling event and a social gathering for thousands across the region.

Beckord is typical of consignors. He lives nearby, he attends no matter the weather, and he plans to take something home, possibly a flatbed trailer.

He won't miss the old boat.

"I have 11 more boats at home," Beckord said. The Caravelle, complete with a trailer, was purchased new by a family member in 1979 and could last another few decades. It needs a motor, and don't be surprised if one is consigned by Saturday morning.

The Napoleon auction thumbs its nose at the disposable world. Most of the offerings have endured many decades and several owners.

Tractors aged 50 or 60 years are standard fare. Newer ones might be 20 to 30 years old. The line of tractors draws the biggest crowds and is the centerpiece of the pasture that becomes a living history display on the last Saturday of each March.

The Heselschwerdt family, which operates Monday livestock and hay auctions and a Western tack store, started the farm auction 22 years ago as a service and business venture. It has expanded every year.

Not all of the items are farm-related. There are dozens of cars and trucks, including some classics, plus lumber, feeders, gates, potted trees, lawn tractors, lawn mowers, horse trailers, travel trailers, and sporting goods including dozens of guns.

Father Dale and sons Rick and Randy Heselschwerdt are the auctioneers, and they sometimes work two rings to move things along.

Generally, no household items or junk are allowed, although some might see junk where others see treasures.

The auction starts at 9 a.m. and stretches to late afternoon.

POTTERY MAKES A STATEMENT FOR J.K. GALLERIES IN BOCA RATON, FL

2007-03-31T14:44:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 22, 2007

J.K. GALLERIES
Boca Raton, FL
February 25, 2007

American art pottery, especially Roseville, comes on strong in Boca Raton at J.K. Galleries February sale.

BOCA RATON, FL - Almost all of the pottery lots at the J.K. Galleries sale on February 25, in Boca Raton, FL sold over the high estimate. The 300 lot sale included 21 lots of Roseville Futura that all sold over the estimate with many selling for over $1,000. Gallery owner Jay Kielstock seems to have found a solid market in South Florida for American art pottery and the market is strong, especially in middle period and Arts & Crafts.

The Sunday afternoon sale saw 60 registered bidders on the floor competing against 46 phone bidders and the 478 who registered to participate in the sale though LiveAuctioneers.com. All of J.K. Galleries sales are carried on LiveAuctioneers. At this sale 26 percent of the lots sold online including the top lot of the sale, a Pairpoint Puffy lamp with a superb Venice shade. The shade, with dark red and pink roses and emerald leaves mixed with white scroll work, had a 14in diameter. The brass finish base was stamped with the Pairpoint mark of the P in the diamond trademark. It sold to a LiveAuctioneers bidder for $6,600 including the 20 percent online premium. Other significant online sales included a North Dakota School of Mines cobalt blue vase, 6 by 7in, with carved leaves outlined in beige which brought $2,160 after premium, a French cameo glass vase, 26in high, signed Mont Joye, in shades of green with carved thistles and leaves in gold and bronze colors, $3,360 and a Weller coppertone urn, 5½ by 6½in, with a full bodied frog climbing at the top, exceeded estimate at $1,440.

Roseville Futura items were competed heavily on the phone. The best Futura was a bulbous balloon vase on open legs, shape #404, 8in tall, 6in wide, in a multi green drip glaze with balloons in pale pink, yellow and blue. It sold to a collector on the phone for $2,300 including the 15 percent inhouse and phone premium, well above the $900 estimate. A 10in tall vase in Futura shape #410, beige and green, brought $2,185 against the $1,200 estimate, a 10in mottled green Futura Pine Cone vase, shape #433, sold for $1,380, above estimate and a square Futura footed planter, 4in tall and 5in wide, with tan interior, blue exterior and mottle green feet tripled the $400 estimate at $1,265. In addition to the Futura line Roseville had significant other entries such as the 15in tall Baneda floor vase, shape #600 in stunning blue with outstanding detail. It sold over estimate for $3,105 and a beautiful blue Pine Cone jardiniere and pedestal that brought $1,610.

In addition to the coppertone urn by Weller that sold online, a number of other Weller pieces did very well on the floor. The top Weller lot was a figural lawn ornament in the shape of 12in tall, 10in wide chicken, in matte finish with glossy eyes. The pale greens and blues contrasted nicely with the tan and coffee background. It sold for $2,645. A glossy Louwelsea 12in vase with a large central portrait of what appears to be Davy Crockett in raccoon hat in excellent detail, more than doubled the high estimate of $700 bringing in $1,495 and a Weller 7in oval tray with a full bodied fox in naturalistic colors, in good condition, sold for $978, more than doubling its estimate of $400.

Kielstock said most of the bidders were dealers and collectors from Florida who have grown to trust J.K. Galleries to provide first rate merchandise. He noted that the four hour sale was very consistent throughout with no low spots. For more information call Kielstock or Auction Manager Amanda Watkins at (954) 421-2800, or email at

jkgalleries@bellsouth.net or visit the website at www.jkgalleries.com. J.K. Galleries is located at 8221 W. Glades Road, Suite # 13, Boca Raton, FL 33434.

PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR J.K. GALLERIES
Boca Raton, FL
Sale February 25, 2007

Puffy – The top lot of the sale was this Pairpoint Puffy lamp with roses on the shade. It sold online for $6,600.

Chicken – A Weller chicken figural lawn ornament brought $2,645.

Cobalt – A North Dakota School of Mining cobalt blue vase went for $2,160.

Balloon – A Roseville Futura balloon vase on open legs, 8in tall, sold on the phone for $2,300.

Baneda – This 15in tall floor vase from the Baneda line of Roseville went over estimate at $3,105.

Cameo vase – A French cameo glass vase, 26in high, signed Mont Joye, brought $3,360 online.

MATHESON'S TWO DAY SALE FEATURING NAPOLEONIC PERIOD COLLECTION AND IMPORTANT ART WAS HUGE SUCCESS

2007-03-31T14:40:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 29, 2007
MATHESON’S AA AUCTION
Melbourne, FL
Sale March 17-18

Two important local collections crossed the block at Matheson’s AA Auction in Melbourne, FL on March 17 – 18. But while the collections had a Florida provenance the bidders came from all over the country and some from Europe even bid by phone.

MELBOURNE, FL - The sale opened at 11:00AM on Saturday March 17 with over 400 lots of art that included works by Picasso, Leroy, Chagall, Greuze and Faulkner. The house was full with all 200 seats taken and five extra phone lines were at the ready plus five staff members with cell phones to field call in bids. The sale was not offered online.

The sale also included a good collection of African and Oceanic art and artifacts and that got the sale off to good start early on. The third lot of the sale was a large Costa Rican stone carving of a female figure from the Atlantic watershed region, 48in tall by 21in wide that quickly soared to $6,325 including the fifteen percent buyer’s premium. That loosened up the audience and by the 10th lot the sale was rolling. Lot 10 was a pencil signed color lithograph, 27½ by 20in, entitled "The Bluebird" by Marc Chagall (Russian/French 1887-1985). This was the first of five Chagall lots in the sale and it made the top Chagall money, selling on the phone for $9,200. It was followed several lots later by Chagall’s lithograph, 16 by 11 ¾in, entitled "Eve Incurs God’s Displeasure" that went for $4,888.

Spaced between the Chagall lots was an etching by Pablo Picasso (Spanish 1881 - 1973) entitled "Man Uncovering A Woman" from "Vollard Suite". It was signed lower right and numbered lower left "XX-VI-MCMXXXI", size 15½in by 12½in. It sold on the phone to a New York dealer for what will probably establish a new record for a Picasso etching. Including premium the Picasso closed at $14,950.

Eight oil on board works by the eccentric American artist Henry Faulkner (1924-1981) came from the Ft. Lauderdale estate of a friend of Faulkner’s who had received the works directly from Faulkner. Foremost among the works was a crowded village architectural scene, 13¼ by 16½ in, secured in a rough hand carved frame. Legend has it that Faulkner often scoured trash bins for frames for his work and this appeared to be one of them. That didn’t bother a collector on the phone who bid the work up to $9,200. A collector from Lexington, KY snapped up three of the Faulkners paying $8,913 for figure with a hand across the chest, $6,038 for a flower cart and $4,600 for a work entitled "Two Winged Friends" with the original receipt dated 1965.

An important oil on board portrait by Jean Baptiste Greuze, French (1725 –1805) that had been passed down in the Chase Banking family, brought $10,350 and the top lot of the sale, an elaborately framed oil on canvas portrait of a woman and infant, 29 by 31in, by Paul Alexander Leroy, French (1860-1942) sold on the phone to a New York collector for $18,400.

The Sunday March 18 session of the sale featured over 200 items from an important Melbourne Napoleonic collection. The top lot of that session was a saber that had belonged to an officer of the Carabiniers, Napoleon’s two elite regiments of cavalry. The saber with wire handled grip, bronze guard and 36in curved blade sold in the room to a Pennsylvania collector who had flown in the night before the sale. He paid $10,637. A 37¼in long regimental saber, Model XI, sold on the phone to a California collector for $5,290 and an elaborate infantry sword engraved "NK" under the langet went to the same buyer for $4,888. A French naval blunderbuss captured by an English officer went for $3,163. Other period firearms included several flintlock pistols that sold in the $1,100 - $1,300 range and one police model that brought $2,875.

Non weapons included a polychrome wood carved Napoleonic coat of arms that sold on the phone for $6,325, a hand painted standard with wire tassels, 20 by 22in, emblazoned with "Pro Gloria Et Patria" brought $4,888, an infantry officer’s Shako hat, Model 1812, made $3,738 on the phone and a brass cavalry bugle engraved and dated 1812 led a new charge for $1,380.
Matheson’s AA Auction is located at 600 E. New Haven Avenue in Melbourne, FL. For more information on this sale or future sales call auction owners Lloyd and Jan Matheson or Auction Manager Carrie Lucas at (321) 768-6668, visit the website at www.mathesonsaaauction.com

PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR MATHESON’S AA AUCTION
Sale of March 17-18, 2007

Leroy – This touching scene by Paul Alexander Leroy sold on the phone to a New York collector for $18,400, the top lot of the sale.

Faulkner – This jumbled architectural view by Faulkner went for $9,200.

Picasso – An etching by Picasso may have established a new record at $14,950.

Greuze – A portrait by Jean Baptiste Greuze with an impeccable provenance closed at $10,350.

Sword 605 – A Carabinier officer’s sword was the top Napoleonic lot at $10,637.

Large Collector Tractor Auction

2007-03-21T22:44:00.000-05:00

MORSE BLUFF, Neb., March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Stock Auction Company will be auctioning off an impressive collection of antique Allis-Chalmers tractors and equipment at an estate auction at the Double R Farms located at 2723 County Road 25, in Morse Bluff, Nebraska on Friday, March 30, 2007, at 10:00 a.m.

The auction will include a collection of over 40 rare tractors, trucks, vehicles, trailers, harvest equipment, livestock equipment, shop equipment and other miscellaneous items that Larry Racek purchased over his lifetime. The collection includes: AC G, AC D14, AC D15, AC 17, AC D19, AC D21, AC 220, AC 170, AC 175, AC 180, AC 190, AC 200, AC Two-Ten, AC 616, AC 8050, to name a few. There will also be other collectible tractors, including John Deere, International Harvestor, Case, Farmall, Oliver and many others.

Larry Racek, a fourth-generation Racek farming the family's beloved Double R Farms, was diagnosed with colon cancer on July 28, 2005. He passed away on January 8, 2007 at the age of 57. Double R Farms has been in the Racek family for over 125 years and recently was honored with the Nebraska Pioneer Farm Award by the Knights of Ak Sar Ben Foundation. Throughout the years, the Racek family has raised various crops, cattle and hogs, as well as did custom farming. Larry loved his farm, farm equipment, and collections, including an impressive farm toy collection given to his nephews. He was also a family man and a musician.

Nadine and Jerrine Racek (Larry's mother and sister, respectively) recalled, "Larry loved the farm passionately, desperately wanted to live and fervently prayed for a miracle to farm just one more year. He was so certain he could beat the cancer he even ordered his seed corn for 2007. It sadly was not meant to be." Nadine added, "As a small boy, Larry wanted to drive Lorin's [his father] tractor so badly that Lorin finally gave in and braced him to the seat of his Farmall so he wouldn't fall off!" Although the last few weeks of Larry's life he was unable to speak and visit with his beloved neighbors and friends, some of the last words he was able to utter were "Market-to-Market, tractors, combine and soybeans."

The Racek family hopes that whoever buys Larry's prized collection of tractors and equipment will love them as much as he did.

"This will be a well-attended auction both live and on the Internet," said Mark Stock, Company President. "We are expecting a larger turnout than the local county fair! This will be a wonderful event and auction - a real tribute to Larry and his passion for farming and tractors!"

To view the complete list of auction items or other information about Stock Auction Company visit http://www.stockra.com/ or call 1-800-WE-Sell-8 or 1-800-937-3558.

About Stock Realty and Auction Company

Based in Saint Edward, Nebraska, Stock Auction Company employs 56 people in 4 offices in the U.S. The Company is one of America's largest auctioneers of industrial equipment and agriculture equipment, as well as farm land and airplanes. The Company sells, through unreserved public auctions, a wide range of new and used equipment, including equipment utilized in the construction, transportation and agricultural industries. The Company also sells farm land primarily in the Midwest through private treaty sales, as well as unreserved auctions. Please visit the web site http://www.stockauctioncompany.com/.

CONTACT: ERICA WERTS CORPORATE COMMUNICATION MGR. STOCK AUCTION COMPANY 402-678-2411

@gOnline video

2007-03-01T21:58:00.000-06:00

Here's another posting covering our visit to the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville Kentucky. I was interviewed by @gOnline and here it is online. Scroll down the link to The New and the Used

Ice, snow, wind and fire

2007-03-01T21:28:00.000-06:00

Greg Peterson
Publisher, F.A.C.Ts Report

You've heard of Earth, Wind & Fire, the disco band from the '70s?

That's nothing. Last Saturday (February 24, 2007) on a farm auction near Riceville, Iowa, auctioneer Dean Eastman and those attending the sale had to put up with ice, snow, wind and fire. Still, business got done. Farm equipment got put up for sale and sold, and sold very well in fact.

Which is amazing, given the nearly 12 inches of snow and blizzard conditions that descended upon northeast Iowa last Saturday. Nasty is about the best way to describe it.

"The weather wasn't good to say the least!" reported auctioneer Eastman. "There was ice, snow, wind, and everything in between. The electricity went off at the sale part way through. The power poles, in sight of the sale, broke off just down the road and one was even burning."

Yikes.

Modern technology helped the sale reach a fruitful conclusion.

"Because the weather was so bad, I had buy orders on almost every piece and sometimes multiple bids on one item," said Eastman. "The dryer took the cake. We had five ringmen on cell phones at once and two guys in person all bidding at the same time. What a zoo!"

The grain dryer Eastman is referring to was an Airstream 260C model. It sold for $8,500. Eastman said he and the owner (selling out) had over 30 calls on the dryer alone in the days leading up to the sale.

Other items of note at this auction included a 1989 Deutz-Allis 9190 mechanical front-wheel drive tractor with 3,115 hours, sold for $22,300;, a Loftness 20-foot stalk chopper for $5,300; a White 226 field cultivator, 26-foot in just fair shape, sold for $1,700; a NH 855 round baler also in just fair condition for $3,400; a White 5100 12R-30 planter in good shape for $3,800 and a 1989 Gleaner R40 combine with 3,075 hours for $8,200.

Click on the link above to see how these sale prices compare to other similar items sold over the last few years at auction.

It's been such a mild winter. We've been free of snow up until recently here in the upper Midwest. I was beginning to think we'd all gone a little soft. My two daughters have grown weary of my tales of real winters in the good old days. A second blizzard with another predicted 12 inches of snow is bearing down on us as I write this.

Good to know little things like ice, wind, snow, blizzards and broken, burning power poles can't slow us down.

Land rent auction shows ethanol impact in valley

2007-02-24T20:56:00.000-06:00

InForum- Fargo ND

KINDRED, N.D. - The biggest news in Red River Valley agriculture this past week was a farmland cash rent auction for Orten B. Brodshaug of Horace, N.D., on Feb. 21 at the Fargo Holiday Inn.

The auction prices brought nearly double the cash rents that prevail in parts of the auction area - all in Cass County. The rents set a new and public benchmark for the region and a dramatic demonstration the effect the ethanol-driven corn market is having on land rents. It also may show the concurrent impact of sugar beet and soybean returns, with implications for land renters and landowners up and down the Red River Valley.

About 7,300 acres of Brodshaug's owned land came up for three-year bids.

Scott Steffes, president of Steffes Auctioneers Inc. of Fargo, confirmed that there were about 100 qualified bidders at the auction and about 275 people in attendance. The auction occurred over an hour and 40 minutes, in four rounds of bidding.

To qualify as bidder, a participant needed a $10,000 cashier's check and a letter from a lender. If they were the high bidder, they had to deposit 10 percent of that amount, with the balance due March 1.

Steffes confirmed that the low bid was $126 an acre and the highest was $174 an acre, with the median average between $150 and $160 an acre. On that basis, the average rent in the deal would be $1.1 million per year.

Some bidders who attended the auction, but declined to be named, said one successful bidder is a large sugar beet producer from the northern Red River Valley and rented more than 2,000 of the acres.

Brodshaug, 71, is retiring from operating farms and also owns land in the LaMoure area. He reportedly did not grow sugar beets on any of the land, so the Red River Valley land is especially valuable for that crop, which requires rotations with other crops to avoid pest and disease problems.

“We had a total of nine different renters,” Steffes said. Brodshaug didn't immediately return a phone call at his Kindred farm headquarters, where his staff said he was busy preparing for a March 6 farm equipment auction.

Steffes declined to say whether the land value is twice the 2006 rate, but acknowledged it's probably double the rates of two or three years ago. He noted that comparable land in a 2,800-acre deal averaged about $125 in late 2005. Auction-goers said the land in the western Cass County area saw the biggest change because of the improved income prospects for corn and soybeans.

Steffes said the auction system is a wonderful way to discover prices for “large, multi-tract landowners” and probably will become more common. Steffes said Brodshaug had participated as a bidder in a land rental auction about four years ago and liked the process.

One significant ag lender in the region, who asked not to be identified, said the sale will have impacts even on operators who have multiyear deals with landlords.

“I think people's perception would be that it was significantly higher than what people would have expected,” he said. “It'll send tremors. Cash rents cause more turmoil than land values, and cash flow impact.”

Typically, farmers own a fourth or a third of their land and rent the rest, so the impact from land rent increases has an immediate effect.

African Art and Artifacts Collection will cross the block at Sunset Auction Company on April 21 in Miami

2007-02-21T19:04:00.000-06:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 21, 2007

SUNSET AUCTION CO.
Miami, FL
April 21, 2007

SUNSET AUCTION CO. OF MIAMI SET TO OFFER OVER 200 LOTS OF AFRICAN ART AND ARTIFACTS FROM A SINGLE LIVING ESTATE

Items from the largest quality African art collection in Southwest Florida will cross the block at Sunset Auction on April 21 in Miami.

A long term program of inventory reduction by a longtime collector and dealer in African art and artifacts will give private collectors the opportunity to acquire some of the best examples of African items with values across the board at Sunset Auction’s April 21 sale scheduled for the Miami Elk’s Lodge on Sunset Dr. There will be no additions to the sale.

Auction owner Bryan Kinsley held the first auction at Sunset in January 2003. Since then the auction house has offered twelve to eighteen general sales each year including a monthly antiques and collectibles sale as well as onsite estate sales and business liquidations. This will be among Sunset’s first tightly focused specialty sales and it is expected to attract local and international individual bidders as well as African culture museums and art dealers but Kinsley states there will be something for every interested collector. The inventory will consist of 225 – 250 pieces ranging from Antique and Museum Grade artifacts to very high quality Contemporary works. It will feature art from Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Burkina Fasso, Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo and more.

Included in the inventory will be statues, carvings, mask, furniture, lamps, musical instruments, Zimbabwe stone statues, mud cloth wall hangings, doors, bronze, pottery and a hut post and ladder among others garnered from all over Africa, including items from the Yoruba, Baule, Bobo, Mossi and Ashanti tribes.

The Elk’s Lodge facility, located at 10301 Sunset Dr, Miami, has seating for around 200 but there will be no advance reservations for seats. There will be food available freshly prepared by the Elk’s Club and a full bar will be offered.

Kinsley will be accepting absentee bids prior to the opening of bidding at 12:00PM on April 21 and the auction will be carried live online in its entirety by Proxibid for online bidding. Preview of the auction inventory will be from 11:00AM to 12:00PM on the day of the sale until the opening bid and catalogs will be available. For more information call Bryan Kinsley at Sunset Auction at (305) 926-8864, email at AuctionGuy@bellsouth.com or visit the website at www.sunsetauctionco.com for information and driving directions.

PHOTO AND PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR SUNSET AUCTION COMPANY’S AFRICAN SALE APRIL 21, 2007.

Baule – Baule female statue Assie Ossou, approximately 60in tall.

Guro – Guro mask with bird on a display of spears, 50in tall.

Bam – Bam Bara mask, 15in.

Tam Ba – Male Tam Ba statue, 60in tall.

Elephant – Guro small elephant mask, 15in.

Senufo – Senufo woman statuette, 19in tall.

AUCTIONS NEAPOLITAN

2007-02-20T10:24:00.000-06:00

Sale November 14/21, December 12, 2006
Naples, FL

JADE FROM A NAPLES COLLECTION SELLS FOR A PREMIUM IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET

Auctions Neapolitan of Naples, FL held a wide ranging three day sale in November and December that sparked international interest in quality jade and other Oriental items.

Neapolitan Auctions owner Kathleen Pica of Naples, FL was excited about the results from her recent three day sales event that saw bidders from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan competing with local bidders for items from the 1200 lot inventory she assembled for this auction. The sale was conducted online by LiveAuctioneers.com and in person in the auction facility on 1st Avenue South in Naples.

Each of the three days of the sale had a significantly different tone. The first day, November 14, featured a number of lots from a significant collection of jade artifacts originally from China. Until recently the collection was privately housed in Naples. The second day, November 21, showcased a variety of antiques and silver from an estate in Port Charlotte and the final day, December 12, was “clean up” day according to Pica, picking up miscellaneous lots from a number of sources, providing bidders with lots of unique opportunities for holiday gifts. The opportunity to bid attracted 920 approved bidders registered for the online portion of the sale competing against 200 registered in person in the Gallery.

The top lot of the sale crossed the block on the first day of the sale. A Ching Dynasty (1644-1912) jade scepter created quite a stir in the online market and on the phone bidding lines. An online bidder from Taiwan battled it out with phone bidders from China, and California and other online bidders from China, Hong Kong and Japan. Pica noted, “Oriental buyers are especially favorable to the lighter colored jade pieces. They like the whites and light greens.” The 15¾in scepter in light green jade certainly fit the bill and included carvings depicting a man and his servant traveling. That was a good omen because the scepter will soon make its way to Taiwan going to the online bidder there for $13,915 including the buyer’s premium of fifteen percent. The original presale estimate was for $1,200/1,400.

Other significant jade lots included a light green carved jade brush wash, 5 by 4in, with a raised center medallion. Estimated at $150/$200, the elegant bowl garnered a winning bid of $4,025, again from an Oriental buyer. A 4in Chinese carved jade pants coupe with fitted wooden stand, light green with brown traces, estimated at $300/$400, cleaned up at $3,795 and a Chinese carved white jade belt buckle sold for $3047. Pica said, “The jade was good quality but nothing real special. The market is just ready for good quality jade work.”

The second day of the sale held its own with a Japanese two handled signed bronze urn. The 19¾in urn was elaborately decorated with large flowers, leaves and branches with details to the petals and stamin. The urn was mounted on a three dolphin base resting on a plateau with bird perched on a branch as a finial. Estimated at $600/$800, it sold to an online bidder for $2,760. A seldom seen Meissen porcelain harlequin figure, 9in tall sold over estimate online at $873.

The final day of the sale saw a vintage Japanese small sword, 26in long, with a leather wrapped handle and a stylized lotus leaf Tsuba, estimated at $300/$400 bring in a winner of $625.

Pica feels that the international contacts and the quality of merchandise she is attracting in Naples allows Auctions Neapolitan to effectively offer auction services that compete favorably with the larger houses on the East coast. Her next auction is scheduled for January. For more information visit the Gallery at 1100 1st Avenue South in Naples, contact Kathleen Pica at Auctions Neapolitan at (239) 262-7333 or visit the website at http://www.auctionsn.com/.

PHOTO CAPTIONS FOR AUCTIONS NEAPOLITAN
NOVEMBER, DECEMBER 2006 SALE

Scepter – This Ching Dynasty scepter in light green jade was top lot of the sale at $13,915 from a bidder in Taiwan.

Harlequin – A rare 9in tall Meissen porcelain harlequin figurine sold for $873.

Libation cup – An archaic light green jade libation cup with stylized Chi dragons climbing up the sides sold well over the $400/$600 estimate at $2932.

Sword – A 26in long Japanese sword with ray skin and leather wrapped handle brought $625.

Urn – A two handled Japanese bronze urn, 19¾in tall, sold better than expected with $2760 at the hammer.

Water coupe – A carved Chinese pants water coupe carved in light green nephrite jade with brown traces in a fitted wooden stand sold for more than ten times the low estimate for $3795.

Bud Light: Auctioneer Wedding

2007-02-18T17:27:00.000-06:00

AgWired coverage

2007-02-18T10:29:00.000-06:00

Here is a link to the podcast interview I did with AgWired 's Chuck Zimmerman. Chuck had a very busy tour at the Louisville Farm Show and I am glad he stopped in for a visit.

Auction signals end of family's farming

2007-02-18T10:17:00.000-06:00

KATC Channel 3

LETTSWORTH, La. -- On a clear, sunny day in January, L.N. Jones got out of farming after 51 years of doing nothing else.

The occasion wasn't a retirement dinner, but a farm auction in Lettsworth.

Small equipment parts were neatly organized under a large wooden shed. Larger equipment _ such as tractors and combines _ sat out in rows on ground that would normally be planted in soybeans this spring.

"This is kind of an end of an era," said his wife Jane Jones.

Forty of L.N. Jones' years of farming were here; the rest as a young man in his home state of Missouri. He comes from a long line of farmers, and his two sons, Mike and Mark, tried farming until today's farm economics _ fairly flat commodity prices and soaring costs of production _ forced them to get other jobs.

"We farmed this ground for 40 years," said Jane Jones, who's 72. "It's hard to stop, to give it up."

"There are good years and bad years, but it's a very good life, a very rewarding life," she said.

If her husband, a lean, soft-spoken man, was feeling sad on auction day, he didn't show it. Some of the big tractors were ones he had driven for 20 years, but he said he didn't get sentimental about equipment.

"I don't have any use for it anymore. Whatever it gets (at auction), it's gone; I won't worry about it. I looked at it as machinery, just metal, a way to make a living. Let it go," said Jones.

His given name is Lynn Noflet Jones, but he goes by his initials. He grew up on a farm in Cooter, Mo., in what's called the "boot heel"-shaped section of the state.

Forty years ago, when it became hard for Jones to expand his own farm in Missouri because of a lack of available land, he and his family, along with his brother and sister's farming families, moved to Louisiana.

They had answered a real estate ad in the Memphis, Tenn., newspaper about land that was available for lease in Lettsworth, about 25 miles north of New Roads.

L.N. Jones and his brother, Jimmy Jones, together leased 1,500 acres, splitting the land between them, with their sister and her husband farming nearby. They were some of the first to introduce row crops in a part of the state where the land was then mostly in cattle.

"We had people come by when we started unloading the equipment; they'd stop and look. We brought it with us, the tractor and farm equipment we used in Missouri," Jones said.

"We tore up a lot of it, when we started on it. It wasn't built heavy enough. We had to go back to Missouri and Arkansas" and get heavier equipment, he remembers.

"It had just been cleared, was raw new ground," Jones said.

The Joneses raised soybeans, wheat and corn on their farm. They bought three acres of the land they leased to build their house on; it sits not far from La. 1 in Lettsworth.

Through the years, Jones also leased land from other property owners in the area. Much of the land had long been held by various families and wasn't for sale. But Jane Jones said she doesn't know if they would have bought it anyway.

It would have been another large debt in the risky world of farming.

At one point, Jones was farming 3,300 acres. In recent years, he dropped down on the acreage he farmed: "The heat in the summertime gets to you. I'm 74," Jones said.

Last year he farmed 950 acres, the greater portion of which was part of the original 1,500 acres he and his brother had leased 40 years ago.

Jones and his wife had pondered getting out of farming altogether, but hadn't made the final decision. Then this past spring, the original 1,500 acres was sold. The land will be going into sugar cane now under a new owner.

"Sometimes, God kind of makes your mind up for you," said Jane Jones.

On the Jan. 25 auction, the clear blue sky was a blessing after days of dreary gray skies and rain _ farm auctions are held no matter what the weather is like.

A crowd of area farmers and ranchers had gathered at the farm. One of their first stops was at the auctioneering company trailer for Keith Babb and Associates of Monroe.

The farmers and ranchers filled out a registration card and got a number. If they ended up making a winning bid on a piece of equipment, they'd come back later to the trailer to pay.

Keith Babb's wife, Carolyn, was at the trailer window. She seemed to know everyone who came by.

"That's one of the functions of an auction," she said. "The farmers can get together and visit."

The auction started under the shed, with the smaller pieces of equipment and parts first. Items such as heavy chains, large metal springs, nuts and bolts and gauge wheels for John Deere planters were carefully organized on wooden pallets.

Keith Babb conducted the auction from a specially designed camper bed on a pickup truck. As items were sold, the truck driver would move the truck slowly along to the next lots.

"This is a sad occasion in some ways," Babb told the crowd in a deep, rolling voice he worked in radio and TV before going into auctioneering in 1971.

The money from the auction, however, would be going toward the Jones' retirement, he said.

"They won't have to worry about the weather or prices," Babb said. "We wish them a very successful future in his retirement."

National Farm Machinery Show Coverage

2007-02-17T10:21:00.000-06:00

We were an an exhibitor at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville Kentucky this past week. Over 300,000 farmers attended from all across the United States and many countries around the world.

We were mentioned in several media items, and as they become available online we will post links to them .

Huge Farm Sale In South Dakota

2007-02-09T09:36:00.000-06:00

Have a look at this short video of the Diamond Ring Farm sale in South Dakota. It was a huge sale, with nearly 2 million dollars of Cat Challenger tractors alone !

Find the selling prices with Machinery Pete

Another Real Estate Blog to check out

2007-01-17T22:19:00.000-06:00

Check out http://www.calgaryrealestatedirect.com, another interesting Real Estate Blog and Directory

Many say Liberty Names of America are Scammers

2007-01-14T21:58:00.000-06:00

From Dwayne: Watch for the Canadian version of the scam from "Domain Registry of Canada"

From Jim Boykin's Blog

A few months ago I got a letter in the snail mail from Liberty Names of America that looked like an invoice for a domain that was set to expire shortly. I had to give it a second look, since I knew that I had never registered a domain through a company called Liberty Names of America. My first thought was "you scammers!, Nice try….damn, how people pay these because they have no idea?" I tossed this letter in my computer bag, and meant to blog about it…but time went by and I never did…..until today.

Today I received an email from one of the hosting companies that we do business with stating:

Recently some of our customers became victims of a domain renewal fraud by the company called \"Liberty Names of America\". They send out domain transfer agreements, which look like invoices for domain renewals ($25 per year).

Be informed, that ROUThost.com has nothing to do with this company and for all domain and hosting renewals you will be contacted directly by ROUThost.com. You are free to disregard any e-mail or written communication from \"Liberty Names of America\". They have no power over your domain name unless you choose to sign up for their service.

Which reminded me of that "invoice" I was going to blog about.

I’m sure many of you have seen these letters….I found this copy of one of these letters for LIberty Names of America online (pdf) (scroll down past the first page).

How can they legally get away with sending what appear to be "invoices" when what they’re really trying to do is get your domain moved into their register account….what many are saying that amounts to Domain name hijacking.

I mean just run a search in Google for Liberty Names of America and see results like:

Last word on a fast-talking smooth talker: Sold!

2007-01-08T20:42:00.000-06:00

Last word on a fast-talking smooth talker: Sold!
Jackie Of All Trades

(By John Terhune/Journal & Courier)
Journal & Courier reporter Jackie Cummings learns the fine art of the auctioneer courtesy of Jim VanSchepen, at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds.

I talk fast. This is due in part, I believe, to being from the East Coast, where everyone does everything in double time because, as my dad always said, time is money.

If ever there was a profession where talking fast was the primary job function, it's auctioneering. Although I had never attended a live auction, I had seen many on TV and was always awestruck by the ability to complete the sale of an item in mere seconds.

I started to research auctions in the Lafayette area and came upon Jim VanSchepen's Web site. A quick call to the fast-talking Hoosier and I had myself a real live auctioneer who was willing to take enough time out of his busy day to share the art of selling speedily.

VanSchepen, a second-generation auctioneer, has been in the business for 26 years. Wanting to follow in his father's footsteps, VanSchepen would often assist on auction day.

"He always wanted one of us to be an auctioneer, but I thought I could never do it," he said.

"I guess it worked out, though."

VanSchepen would practice calling bids, or auctioneer talk, for many hours each week, sometimes while cultivating corn on the farm.

"I did a lot of talking to myself," he said.

Recalling the first time he got his father's approval, VanSchepen grinned from ear to ear.

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"He set me up with an easy auction that contained items he knew would sell. At the end of the day, he told me he knew he had a helper, and that was a great feeling."

Auctioneering school, he said, is now a requirement to become licesned in Indiana. Many people become licensed, but some never quite get the bid calling down.

"It's something that not everyone can do, even after lots of practice. You just have to be patient with yourself," VanSchepen said.

What many people don't realize is that auctioneers do quite a bit more than auctioning. They are responsible for the removal and appraisal of all merchandise, which can make it both a physical and time-consuming career.

"There's no breaks on auction day. It's just go-go-go," VanSchepen said.

"It's a total concentration job. You can't miss a beat."

He puts in about 30 hours for each auction, and about 10 hours of additional help is needed for loading, unloading and marking merchandise. He said it's good to have people he can trust to help him.

"I'm lucky because I have my wife and brother. They do a great job, and we all have a lot of fun with it."

EBay, he said, has made a big difference in his business, as it has drawn more people to auctions with the hopes of making a buck.

"People use it to detemine how much they can sell an item for, and more and more people now are attending auctions to turn a profit."

As he started calling bids, I was flabbergasted. My chatter exceeds an average person's WPH (words per hour) output, but I was no match for this guy. As he rambled on with numbers and words I couldn't even dissect, let alone try to replicate, I wondered about the people who attend the auctions and how long it takes them to become good bidders.

"We see a lot of the same people over and over, and I think they have gotten used to me, my tones and my rhythm," he said.

"It does take time, though."

While VanSchepen showed me items ranging from antique engines to firearms and furniture, I was fascinated by how much he knew about the merchandise -- and the people he was selling for. I could see that auctioneering was something he enjoyed doing not just for the money but for the relationships he was able to build and maintain.

And as someone who can definitely appreciate the importance of time, I think VanSchepen uses his wisely.

Move over eBay; live auctions still have huge following

2007-01-01T12:13:00.000-06:00

Monday, November 06, 2006
By JERRY NUNN
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Lest you believe eBay and other on-line auctions are cutting into the live-auction business, think again.

While folks are indeed selling individual items across the Internet, interest in the live-bid system of selling used items still has an enormous - and growing - following, according to Tricia Wiltjer, executive director of the Michigan State Auctioneer Association.

Besides, said Wiltjer, there is an excitement about selling an entire home's contents and perhaps even the home itself in a single afternoon that no Online auction service will ever duplicate.

''There's two ways of looking at it really,'' Wiltjer said. ''Everybody can put an item up for sale on the Internet, so it is affecting availability of some items.''

''But it is also bringing auctions into the light and making people aware of the whole bidding process.''

Greg Tuttle, co-owner of Let's Talk Auction at Auction Acres in Fairview, concurs.

''Take an estate sale,'' Tuttle suggests. ''It's a one-day event. And we're full-service. An auctioneer comes in, sets everything up, does the promotion and at the end of the day your stuff is gone.''

High-end items often go for top dollar and even the items that hold priceless sentimental values fetch a decent price.

''It's that old saying, 'One man's junk is another man's treasure,'' Tuttle said. ''At least with us we have 200 or 300 'experts' waiting to buy. At least they think they are in their mind's eye.''

So what can be sold at auction? You name it, Tuttle says.

Specialty auctions offering such things as toys, coins, old tools, glassware or even vehicles may draw a nationwide audience. One recent Oscoda County auction brought the owner of a fully restored 1931 Ford Model-A pickup truck $15,200. A Model-A sedan in less than perfect shape brought $6,800.

Fish decoys, firefighting paraphernalia and petroliana (items having to do with the petroleum industry) have all drawn crowds to Oscoda County, Tuttle said.

A few weeks ago, a pair of Tiffany-style lamps drew a purchaser from western Pennsylvania, Tuttle said.

That can make it easy for auctioneers like Donna Tuttle, Greg's wife.

''He drove all that way, he was leaving with those lamps,'' Greg Tuttle said.

But a good auctioneer can make it easy on buyers as well, Donna Tuttle said.

When Tuttle puts an item up for bids, she starts right out at what she feels is a fair price. Then, in her own 'speed-sells style' of auctioneering she doesn't dawdle along - if the item attracts no immediate bidder she drops the price, sometimes substantially.

''Once I get a couple of bidders, I know the price is going right back up there anyhow,'' Tuttle says.

Another suggestion the Tuttles' offer - watch the dealers.

''People know a dealer is going to sell any item they buy for twice what they paid for it. If people beat the dealer, they figure they made a good deal,'' Greg Tuttle said.
Of course it doesn't always work. If the dealer desired the item for their own collection they'd probably bid higher than something they intended for resale. They also may have a buyer in mind who they know will pay top dollar.

Want to experience the fun of an auction and try your hand at bidding?

Attend a charity auction, Donna Tuttle suggests.

''If you start a $100 item at $1 everybody gets to bid on it,'' Donna Tuttle said. ''It gets them involved and everybody has fun.''

And the building enthusiasm pays off for the charity as well. In the heat of the excitement, inexperienced bidders often spend a little more than they planned, Tuttle said.

She should know.

Aside from the live auctions she holds as her line of business, Tuttle volunteers her services for local schools and other organizations. She also calls bids at the annual Northern Michigan Relief Sale, a Mennonite fundraiser held each August at the Oscoda County Fairgrounds.

''But really, you can't go wrong at a charity auction,'' Tuttle says. ''As long as you stay in business you can't spend too much because the money is all going to charity.

''It's a way to make money for the charity and for every one who attends to have a whole lot of fun.

Christmas Quip

2006-12-30T09:49:00.000-06:00

Quick joke from a Christmas cracker.

Q - What must someone know to be an Auctioneer ?

A - Lots !

Real Estate Internet Auctions... The Next Big Thing?

2006-12-29T04:04:00.000-06:00

By Tom Wood

Before the Internet became popular, real estate agents controlled most of the real estate listing information. During that period, the only way a buyer could find homes for sale was by depending on an agent, looking through the local newspapers or by driving around looking for For-sale signs. All of these methods took time and involved considerable effort.

As the Internet became more popular and MLS (Multiple Listing Services) made their listings available to the public on-line, the information shifted from the agents to the buyers. Now most buyers find their homes on the Internet and then contact their agent to show them the homes they are interested in. On one hand it saves the agent time, but on the other it gives buyers more choices which may result in indecision and more requests for showings.

Everyday the Internet is becoming more common place for finding real estate. Now the technology is taking more of the real estate purchase transaction on-line. One example is the real estate auction.

For years, real estate auctions have been done successfully on the courthouse steps or in the front yard. Then, EBay www.ebay.com was introduced and people started to become comfortable buying and selling consumer goods through on-line auctions. A natural progression of that has led to on-line real estate auctions and they are steadily gaining momentum. Its a method where buyers can get details about properties without leaving their home. They can visit properties that interest them and make their offer on-line. And, during the auction, they are able to see the highest bid placed by other buyers. This method puts the buyer in control on how high they go and whether or not they get the property.

For a seller, its a valuable option to quickly sell their home. Bidders at auction are expecting a deal, so, in general, the sellers need to expect to let it go for a discount. Many sellers are willing to do this, in return for a faster sale. Auctions draw attention by implying Im giving a discount. It also puts buyer against buyer so it can minimize the discount the seller ends up giving. In addition, through the use of a reserve, the seller can protect themselves from agreeing to a price that is too low.

Its understandable why Internet real estate auctions are gaining popularity everyday. And, the technology is making it so much easier. But, will they take over the traditional way real estate is bought and sold in the U.S.? In the real estate investor arena, I think they will.

Sales Tips to be a Trusted Sales Professional

2006-12-28T04:01:00.000-06:00

Came across this post and thought it is relevant to anyone in the sales fields.

Duct Tape Marketing Feed Digest
Sales Tips to be a Trusted Sales Professional

Many sellers like to describe themselves as professionals, but what is it that makes a seller a professional?

Do you want to sell more successfully using an honorable and straightforward approach? Read these thirteen sales tips to help you be perceived as a trusted professional by buyers. Incorporating these sales tips into your selling process will differentiate you from the rest and help you sell more successfully.

1. Attitude can be everything. It is important to remember that your attitudes drive all actions and these actions are perceived by buyers as trust-building or trust-breaking. The most important change you can make to sell more successfully is to adopt and reinforce attitudes that will lead to actions resulting in greater levels of trust. Conversely, it is just as important to "lose the attitudes" that result in actions that are trust-breaking.
2. Truly believe in the product or service and company for which you sell. This is a really difficult hurdle for most sellers who strongly believe in straightforward selling. If you don't believe your products or services will benefit your buyers, then you will constantly be in conflict with yourself during the sales process. If selling using a straightforward platform is truly important to you, it might be necessary for you to find another product or service you will better represent to truly be successful using this approach.
3. Intimately know the product or service and environment in which you sell. Do you need to be an expert? Maybe not. But it can only benefit your customer to know as much as possible so you can identify if your product or service can best meet their needs. A significant aspect of building trust with your buying counterparts is quickly establishing credibility. First and foremost, you should know much more about your products and services - as well as your competitors' products and services - than your prospects. Secondly, you should know your customers' organization and industry and the unique challenges and issues they face better than any of your competitors. Lastly, "I don't know" is a very appropriate answer when that is, indeed, the case. If you're new to a market, letting your potential customers know that up-front will help lower their expectations and make you feel more comfortable when giving "I don't know" as an answer. When you use this response, however, make sure you offer to find out the answer in a specified timeframe, and then be sure to keep that promise.
4. Live within your means. It's simple. Don't force yourself into a position where you "have to make the sale" or you lose something. For one, prospects don't like to feel like you are desperate for business. Secondly, if you want to sell using an honorable approach, it's important to reduce the risk/reward for a given sales situation. If you typically make only three to five sales per year and find yourself in serious debt, don't you think there's a definite likelihood that you might "stretch your value structure" a bit to make sure you win the sale so that your debt can be reduced?
5. Focus on helping the prospect rather than making the sale. If all you're thinking about is making the sale, this will be perceived negatively by your prospect through your actions. It doesn't mean you should never think about the sale, it simply means that you need to focus on the prospect's needs first and foremost.
6. View yourself as an advisor. This is a different mindset that may be foreign to a lot of salespeople. If you adopt the mindset that you're an advisor with the primary goal of identifying and fulfilling your potential customers needs, your attitudes and actions will be perceived very differently by your counterpart(s) than if your view yourself as a sales rep needing to "overcome the obstacles" and "close the sale."
7. Focus on the long-term. Admittedly, this is difficult. Most salespeople are used to the frequent calls from sales managers reminding them that "we've got to make our monthly or quarterly targets." If you can adopt this attitude, though, you will likely see higher sales, both short-term and long-term. Buyers hate to be "closed." If you take a short-term mentality, there's a high likelihood that buyers will perceive you as trying to close them - this is trust-breaking and your sales will likely suffer in the short AND long-term.
8. Some business is not worth pursuing. Most sales managers probably hate this one. It's important, though, to be realistic about each sales opportunity. You're not going to win every sale, so why work under the assumption that you will? Oftentimes, there are many early indicators that will lead you to believe that there's a low probability for making the sale. If that's the case, move on and spend your limited time and energy on opportunities where there's a higher probability for success.
9. Tell the prospect if your product or service will not meet their needs. Once you've had a reasonable opportunity to ask the appropriate questions, you must be willing to let the prospect know, as soon as possible, if your product or service will not meet their needs. This will result in a more efficient buy/sell process and save both you and the prospect valuable time that could be better spent elsewhere. The prospect will respect and probably trust you more for selling in this manner, and very well may purchase or recommend someone else to purchase from you in the future.
10. Ask questions, listen, and take notes. Entire books have been written on this subject. Prior to every prospect meeting, you should already have a list of at least one dozen questions to ask. The prospect's response to each of these questions should oftentimes be followed by one to three additional questions to drill down to the true issues and needs. Always take notes. This will show the prospect that you're truly listening. Also, send your typed notes to the prospect and ask them to review to ensure that you did indeed "get it right."
11. Follow the 80/20 Rule. When meeting with a potential buyer, you should try to talk 20% of the time and allow them to talk 80% of the time - a lot of salespeople and sales managers get this one confused.
12. Be direct. Answer buyer questions directly. Why do you think there is such a loss in the public's trust with politicians? How often do they provide a direct answer to a question? Rarely. Just because most politicians set a poor example, doesn't mean you should.
13. No "closing." One of the worst things you can do as a salesperson is to spend a lot of time and effort building trust with a prospect, only to destroy your "trust factor" towards the end of a complex sales process. No buyer likes to feel they're being manipulated or "closed." Make a recommendation, preferably with several options for the prospect to consider, and ask them to identify the next steps with a timeline. Tell them you'd really appreciate their business and ask what next steps you can take that will be helpful to them.

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Rob Reed is president of Terrakon, a sales and marketing consulting firm based in St. Louis. Terrakon specializes in helping clients incorporate trust building sales and marketing strategies and processes to attract and win more customers.

New Blogs worth a look.

2006-12-27T07:03:00.000-06:00

Here are a few new info sources I have stumbled upon during the Holiday lull.....

Pacific Auction Exchange
Great new Blog with it's recent post " How to Choose An Auctioneer"

TransparentRE.com
An Interesting Blog with a "focus on business strategy, new business models, technology and innovative real estate marketing for the real estate community."

The Real Estate Bloggers

St Paul Real Estate Blog

Going online boosts auctioneer's business

2006-12-25T14:16:00.000-06:00

Going online boosts auctioneer's business
By JENNIFER BARTEN, Staff Reporter
12/23/2006
Bob Hergenreder, owner of Bid it Bob, evaluates a coin to see if it is in good enough condition to auction.
To stay up with the times, Bob Hergenreder, owner of Bid it Bob, started live auctions online more than two years ago.
"I knew that's where the future of auctioneering was," Hergenreder said. "It only made sense to go on-line."
According to Hergenreder, Build it Bob was the first auctioneering company to sell coins, antiques and estate live online in the state of Nebraska.
Hergenreder said bidders can go to the Web at least a week in advance to see a catalog with all the items that are going to be sold. Each item has at least one picture and description for bidders.
Potential buyers can start bidding on items at that time, and when the live auction starts the bidding will start at the highest online bid.
Hergenreder has his business at www.proxibid.com and gets about 25,000 viewings on the catalog, before each auction.
When an auction is going on, Hergenreder also has people on site to bid on the items.
"It's a number game," Hergenreder said. "It always has been. You'll get a higher bid with more bidders, and that's why (the Internet) is such a great thing."
Hergenreder said he runs about 80 items through in an hour during an online auction. Hergenreder does at least four auctions a month - two for jewelry and two for antiques.
Hergenreder has done nine auctions online in one month, which he said is a lot, and said he is willing to auction anything that people bring in. People from all over the country and world buy the items. He mails out about 130 packages per auction. Buyers have to pay for the shipping.
Hergenreder said there are also risks to having auctions online.
"There are crocks on the Internet who will stiff you, just like anywhere else," he said.
Hergenreder said there is no way to prevent people from cheating businesses on the Internet, but he says he's picking up on more of the signs the longer he's in the business.
In the future, Hergenreder said, he'd like to have a farm auction and a car auction. He is still waiting on the license to auction cars but can do a farm auction as soon as someone hires him to sale their farm equipment.
Hergenreder hopes to have his license to sale cars by February.

SOME “VERY EARLY” AMERICANA AT A-1 AUCTION

2006-11-11T10:11:00.000-06:00

A-1 Auction of Orlando will offer a prized collection of Native American and Pre-Columbian art and artifacts.

Doug and Paula White, owners of A-1 Auction in Orlando, FL will offer their fifth sale of the year comprised entirely of items from the deceased estate of a major Florida agricultural family from the East Coast. The sale, to be conducted December 17 at the Maitland Civic Center in Maitland, FL just north of Orlando, will feature a wide selection of Native American and pre-Columbian art and artifacts collected over many years by Bette and Mike Steflik of Bunnell and Flagler Beach.
The Stefliks became interested in antiques and cultural collecting in the 1960s and traveled the world over seeking new additions to their treasure, acquiring articles from many cultures over forty plus years. Mrs. Steflik was so engrossed in the cultural aspects of their collecting that she often dressed in Native American costumes and jewelry for her daily routine. She was especially fond of Seminole dress. This sale will focus on North and Central American cultures with artifacts dating as far back as possibly 9,000 years to as recently as 1945.
Doug White, while not an expert on the subject of Native America, does have a background in the subject having grown up in the Memphis area and participating in many amateur archeological digs of Woodlands culture sites from 900 to 1,200 years old in Tennessee. He said, “This can only be classified as a specialty sale and we will present it all - the good, the bad and the ugly without reserve.”
The oldest items in the sale will be selected Clovis points made all over North America by Paleoindian hunters. The Clovis point, considered to be the oldest projectile point in North America, was a breakthrough in weapon technology. Its use spread across the entire continent. The points in this sale could be anywhere from 3,000 to 9,000 years old. Among the newest items to be offered is a group of 26 of the original 30 painted images of Native Americans contained in a portfolio created by five Kiowa artists known as the Kiowa Five, trained at the University of Oklahoma in the late 1920s. The listed artists include Mopope, Hokaeh, Tsatoke, Auchiah and Smokey.
Artifacts that fall the between the oldest and youngest will include a 20in monolithic granite ceremonial axe from the Upper Mississippi Valley from perhaps 1,500 to 2,000 years old, a pottery effigy water bottle from the Woodlands culture, a Zuni cottonwood crow doll, a carved Cherokee ceremonial mask, Zuni black on white pottery, lots of Zuni and Navajo jewelry and perhaps the newest article of the sale, a scene of Plains Indians by western artist Frank Miller with a dedication letter dated 1945.
White said he expects this sale to present an excellent opportunity for entry level collectors to have a look at and acquire some of what a pair of dedicated, experienced collectors spent much of lifetime seeking.
The 300 lot sale starts at noon on December 17 and is expected to last approximately four hours. The Civic Center has seating for 275 and reserved seats can be secured by phone or email. Absentee and phone bids are welcome. The preview will December 11-15 at the A-1 offices located at 2042 N. Rio Grande Ave., Orlando, FL and on December 17 until 10:00AM at the Civic Center. For more information call Doug or Paula White at (407) 839-0004, visit the website at http://www.a-1auction.net
. A-1 will follow this sale with a sale in January consisting of African art from the Steflik estate.

Axe – This ceremonial monolithic axe could be 1,500 to 2,000 years old.

Doll – Zuni cottonwood crow doll.

Jewelry – Part of the large selection of Zuni and Navajo jewelry.

Bottle – This clay effigy water bottle is from the Woodlands culture.

Painting - Artist Frank Miller left a letter of dedication dated 1945 attached to the rear of this painting of Plains Indians.

Points – Part of the collection of arrowheads and spear points, including Clovis points, in the sale.

Major Greenhouse Grower on Internet Auction Block

2006-11-01T21:10:00.000-06:00

Eustis, Florida - Oct. 30, 2006 - MerryGro Farms, one of the largest and premier floriculture plant nurseries in the southeast, is restructuring operations and liquidating assets by online auction. After 24 years of producing the highest quality flowers and specialty roses available, MerryGro has decided to put everything it owns on the auction block this November. Absolutely nothing will be held back.

The sale of MerryGro Farm’s assets is expected to be the largest online auction ever conducted for the green industry. The sale will include the company’s entire fleet of trucks and trailers, all tractors and farm implements, thousands of shipping carts and nursery wagons, all kinds of greenhouse equipment and supplies, along with everything else needed to run the sprawling 200 acre growing facility near Orlando, Florida. Nothing is spared from the auction - even the company’s trademark name and proprietary website will be sold to the highest bidder.

It should come as no surprise that the President and CEO of MerryGro Farms, Inc, Andre Raab, chose to liquidate assets by online auction. For the past decade, Raab has led the greenhouse industry in implementing e-commerce solutions, so he understands the power of internet markets. When asked about selling his equipment by online auction, Raab said the decision was easy because “As long as buyers have internet access, they can bid anytime from anywhere. This means that there will be a large pool of competitive bidders to ensure fair prices.”

To manage the liquidation process, MerryGro Farms hired West Auctions, a marketing firm with ten years of online auction experience and strong ties within the green industry. Having conducted several recent auctions of high-profile greenhouse growers, the company has a proven track record for reaching an international audience of industry-specific buyers. “Our goal is to create a bidding environment that instills confidence in our buyers”, says West Auctions’ CEO, Dennis West, “thereby maximizing auction results for our sellers.”

The online auction of MerryGro Farms will be held between November 29th and December 6th, 2006 at westauction.com.

Reposted from AuctionMethod

UK Nuclear bunker for auction

2006-10-30T17:20:00.000-06:00

A nuclear bunker is up for sale at a disused airfield in Pembrokeshire.

The concrete building with metre-thick walls and steel shutters was built as an RAF communication base in the early 1990s at Templeton, near Tenby.

Auctioneers have put a guide price of £50,000 to £75,000 on the bunker, which will go under the hammer in December.

But they believe the above-ground building will be of interest to someone looking for secure storage, rather than as a home or office.

London-based auctioneers Andrews Robertson are selling the bunker on behalf of the Defence Estates, which is responsible for Ministry of Defence property and land.

Auctioneer Jeremy Lamb said: “There were around 10 to 15 built in the early 1990s by the RAF as communication centres.

“They have been selling them off over a number of years. We have sold some before - most recently south of Oxford

UKAuction.info

ARTHUR JAMES “PUTTING ON THE RITZ” OF A SALE

2006-10-29T21:07:00.000-06:00

Arthur James Galleries of Delray Beach, FL chosen over Sotheby’s and Christie’s to handle the sale of art from the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach

Arthur James Galleries of Delray Beach, FL has announced an important two day sale to be conducted in its gallery room on November 14 and 15. Auction owner George Martin said, “This is going to be an exciting sale.” With almost 500 lots crossing the block in the mid week event, the focus will be on the 72 lots from the fabulous Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach. The elegant waterfront resort has been acquired by new owners who are renovating the property in a contemporary motif to the tune of $45 million. A large selection of the original 19th century artwork and decorative art that previously graced the magnificent buildings will be offered for sale. The inventory from the Ritz-Carlton is composed of 42 paintings and 30 decorative arts items including three of the massive marble fireplaces formerly seen in the Ritz.
Featured art will include works by Charles Thomas Bale, English, most active from 1868 to 1875, Ferdinand Victor Leon Roybet, French 1840-1920, Charles Stuart, English, who flourished 1854 – 1868, Sir Godfrey Kneller, English 1646-1723, Edith Scannell, English, active 1870-1921, all estimated in the $5,000 - $10,000 range and a number of other French, Belgian, Italian and Hungarian artists of equal quality.
In addition there will be 110 lots offered that comprise a portion of the second half of the living estate sale of Mrs. Ursula Otto of Palm Beach. The widow of the German Swiss industrialist sold her 22,000 square foot Palm Beach mansion in 1996 and acquired smaller quarters. This portion of the sale will feature items such as an important 18th century Georgian mahogany dining table, conservatively estimated at $10,000 - $20,000, a collection of 18th century Georgian silver, a Georgian mahogany sideboard estimated at $4,000 - $6,000 and a set of ten William IV mahogany dining chairs estimated at $4,000 - $6,000.
The balance of the sale will consist of high quality art, decorative art items and antique furniture from a number of private consignors.
Arthur James Galleries has been at the same location, 615 East Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, since opening in 1958. It conducts only ten sales each year with a major sale every other month. This sale certainly qualifies as such. While long time Arthur James Galleries customers have come to rely and trust the condition reports on sale items issued by the Gallery in placing their absentee order and phone bids, seating for around 150 bidders is provided on sale day. Seating can be reserved in advance with preference given to out of town visitors wishing to bid in person.
Preview of this extraordinary event will be Friday through Sunday, November 10-12, 10:00AM – 6:00PM. The Gallery will be closed Monday 13 to finish preparations for the sale. For more information call (561) 278-2373 or visit the website at http://www.arthurjames.com.

Scannell - “Looking at a Ladybug”. Signed Edith Scannell l/l. Oil on Canvas Laid Down on Board. Measuring 48” by 28 ¾”. Provenance: Royal Art Gallery, New Orleans
Estimate: $7,000/10,000.

Kneller - Portrait of Lady Anne Montague Seated”. Signed G. Kneller-Fecit and dated 1689 l/r. Also signed, dated and inscribed “The Reight Honarbl Lady Mountague” on the reverse. Oil on Canvas. Measuring 50” by 40”. Provenance: Sotheby’s, London, Feb. 28, 1990, sold as Lot 224.
Dixon & Dixon, New Orleans
Estimate: $5,000/8,000

Stuart - “Grapes, Pineapple, Plums, Apple, Jug and a Gourd on a Straw Covered Ledge”. Signed Charles Stuart and dated 1866 l/l. Oil on Canvas. Measuring 25 ¼” by 30 ¼”.
Estimate: $5,000/8,000

Roybet - “Portrait of Mme. Clemenceauvin (Nee Plumber) in a Sixteenth Century Costume”. Signed F. Roybet l/r. Oil on Panel. Measuring 44” by 44”.
Provenance: Sotheby’s, Feb. 28, 1990, sold as Lot 201
Kurt E. Schon, New Orleans
Estimate: $7,000/10,000

Bale - “Still life, Grapes, Apples, Pear in a Basket with a Jug and Fowl on a Table”. Signed C.T. Bale and dated 1888 l/l. Oil on Canvas. Measuring 28 ¼” by 36 ¼”.
Provenance: Dixon & Dixon, New Orleans
Estimate: $5,000/8,000

THE SALE OF THE COLLECTORS’ COLLECTIONS

2006-10-29T20:24:00.000-06:00

Famous estates provide collectors’ treasures at Matheson’s AA Auction in Melbourne, FL.

Mathesons’ AA Auction owners Lloyd and Jan Matheson of Melbourne, FL had touted their upcoming September 30-October 1 sale as the one to attend to get some of what serious collectors collected. The sale featured inventory from the collections of Phoebe Morris, the grand dame of charity balls in Miami, fashion designer Bob Bugnand who designed outfits for Elizabeth Parke Firestone and Jacqueline Kennedy, Hanna Hale, an artist and sculptor from Woodstock, NY and items from the former home of rock diva Cher.

Ship – A half model of the SS Barrowmore, 107in long in a mirrored case, sold for $10,925.

The two day sale featured 890 lots and Auction Manager Carey Lucas said, “It was the most fantastic sale I have ever seen. Unbelievable.” She said it will take her two weeks to do all the paperwork and make all the shipping arrangements. It could easily take that long because she will have to ship items around the world to the many out of town and foreign bidders who were successful buyers. The Mathesons’ facility had two hundred bidders and standing room only in the room each day and ten phone lines in operation with as many as seven in use at one time. Lloyd Matheson called the entire mammoth sale which ended after the 9½ hour session on Sunday.

Mirror – An early 19th century Venetian mirror closed in the room at $7,474.

Art was one of the big attractions. The top lot of the sale was a maritime coastal scene by Holland born Anthony Thieme (1888-1954) who emigrated to the United Sates in the 1920s with studios in Rockport, MA and St. Augustine, FL. The 30 X 36in O/C of small fishing vessels at anchor sold within estimate to a private collector in the room for $22,425 including the fifteen percent buyer’s premium. A pastoral scene, O/C 18½ X 31in, of a flock of sheep, the shepherd and his trusty dog by Belgian artist Cornelius van Leemputen (1841-1902) sold for $7,763 and a 54 X 40 inch painting in the Cuzco School style of Peru went to Washington, DC for $6,900. A pair of oil on board works by American Henry Faulkner (1922-1981) fit into the market nicely. A scene of a garden pathway sold for $5,750 and a religious figure made $4,312. Two small works by American David Burliuk (1882-1967), both oil on board, sold to a bidder in Moscow for $3,163 and $2,875.

Thieme – This nautical scene by Anthony Thieme was top lot of the sale $22,425.

As in most well stocked auctions Mathesons’ had a few surprises. A signed Bergman Orientalist bronze lamp, estimated at $8,000 sold on the phone to a buyer in Germany, closing at $13,225. A half ship’s model of the SS Barrowmore of Liverpool was ensconced in a mirrored case giving the impression of a full ship. The 107in long model sold to a West Coast Florida buyer with a bid of $10,925 and another model, the SS Santa Rosa, built by Laird Brothers of the Birkenhead Iron Works, also stayed in Florida, going to an East Coast Florida collector for $5,750.
An elaborate large early 19th century Venetian mirror from the Bob Bugnand collection, 66H X 47in W, sold to a Florida dealer for $7,474 and a marble top 18th century kingwood French commode with ormolu mounts made the same price.

Tapestry – This 18th century Belgian tapestry, the first lot to cross the block, opened the sale on a good note at $8,050.

From Cher’s former mansion came a 52in high carved wooden oriental warrior figure, $5,175, a red lacquered 53in tall standing Buddha, $4,313 and a 14th century Thai bronze Buddha, 60in tall, $4,025.
When it was finally over Lloyd Matheson said, “People at this sale were interested in buying investment quality items.”
For more information call (321) 768-6668 or visit the website at http://www.mathesonsaaauction.com.

Calder – A woven tapestry designed by Alexander Calder in 1975 brought $7,130.

A rural auction sale is always more than just a sale

2006-10-14T23:05:00.000-05:00

The Prairie Star
By ERIN SLIVKA, Columnist
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 3:33 PM MDT

Of the many qualities that set country folks apart from city dwellers, their behavior at auction sales must be among the most distinguishable. While I have never actually been to a big-city auction, I have seen them on television and have read descriptive accounts of the events. Apparently they often include wine sipping and cheese nibbling prior to the main event. Then the bidders quietly assemble in pretty rows of seats and grasp delicate paddles adorned with perfectly printed numerals. When they wish to place a bid, they quietly raise their paddle until they are acknowledged by the jacket-and-tie-sporting auctioneer.

Country auctions are another matter altogether, with the first noticeable difference being that they are held outside where bidders are treated to snow, rain, scorching heat, or gales of wind, depending on the season. Weather rarely daunts the crowd of friends, family, neighbors, and those other folks drawn to the event by a sale bill advertising a particular piece of equipment. About the only difference the weather makes is in wardrobe and beverages. In the heat, the crowd is a sea of straw hats holding lemonade or beer. In cold conditions, scotch caps bob throughout the assembly of people holding steaming coffee in gloved hands.

The method of bidding is much different in a country auction as well. Most seasoned auction goers tuck their number, written with a Sharpie on a piece of tagboard, into the unsnapped pocket of their western shirt. When it comes time to bid, only novices wave their number up high in the air. The veterans of the country auction each have their own way of bidding, ranging from the raising of a finger off the Styrofoam coffee cup in their hand to the barely discernable nod of the head.

Auctioneers in the country have, in my opinion, a much more difficult job than city auctioneers. While the country auctioneer might have a less expensive wardrobe to worry about, he is tasked with trying to remember nearly every rancher’s name in a multiple-county area since he will usually announce the winning bidder by name, not number. He must know the value of every piece of farm equipment manufactured in the last 100 years so as to start the bidding at an appropriate value. He must also know the current state of the livestock and grain markets. If farmers are feeling pinched, he goes up in $10 increments. If they are on the verge of selling $1.20 calves, his increments may stretch out a bit.

Almost as crucial as the auctioneer are those who are assisting in the auction. Among them must be someone mechanically talented enough to coax an ancient tractor to start and run long enough to get a bid. In addition, those capable assistants must help the auctioneer group and order items in such a way that people come early and stay late.

Perhaps most distressing to the farm wife is the way in which these folks put a perfectly functional grease gun in a box of assorted gleanings from the shop drawers, most of which are useless. The thrifty farmer cannot resist the idea of a $5 grease gun, so the box of goodies goes home to join the assorted junk in the drawers of its new home. I am convinced that some of these boxes of goodies just sit in a corner until they are auctioned off again in 20 years.

I am also convinced that some of the buyers at the auction sales are bidding more on principle than on need. It is as if they are actually bidding farewell to a neighbor and colleague by supporting their auction.

There is a certain sadness that permeates an auction sale. It is the definitive end of someone’s life in agriculture, and many times, it is one more tally mark that indicates the dwindling number of families in an area. The land and equipment is swallowed up by neighbors who must expand to continue to make a living.

Despite the sometimes distressing reasons for the auction sale, there is always the sense of community, and it remains one of the only events that might draw as big a crowd as the weekend football game. That sense of community is perhaps the very reason that we don’t live in the city and hold our auctions indoors like the city folks do.

Go East Young Man!

2006-10-10T22:10:00.000-05:00

The year is 2020, and I have just returned from a sunny semi-tropical resort located on the Bering Straits of Alaska. Upon returning home I check my ether mail and schedule, while my holographic secretary informs me that I will be flying out to China next week for a series of Industrial Auctions. I turn; throwing my duffle bag towards the couch, and inadvertently through the computer generated three dimensional image. �Was that really necessary?� she states with a tempting smile. I ponder for a moment, contemplating the opportunity ahead of me, and remembering a time in the recent past when this opportunity would never have been possible. �Capitalism in the People's Republic of China�, I say. It's a wonderful world we live in!

In the year 2000 the median age for American citizens was 55. America is continuing its advancement in becoming a graying nation. The last baby boom ended in 1965, as America launched its Medicare program, as well as the Gemini 5 Spacecraft. Our glory days are now waning, and the dawning of the age of Aquarius has now set. We continue in our transition from a nation once known for its manufacturing and idealistic young people, now evolving into a nation of blue hairs dependent upon service industries in supporting the new economy. Although we may continue as a super power it is inevitable that our position on top as a young nation, and the crown of laurels we enjoy and now wear, will eventually be passed down as our nation matures, temples graying, and the next generation of super powers emerges.

Enter China! We import more cement, steel, and other materials than ever before. Imports of Chinese cement to the US have lessened dramatically in recent months, as China is now keeping and using most of the cement they manufacture for their current building boom. If there was ever a time to consider future opportunities abroad that time is now!

Have any of you auctioneers recently received requests from foreign businesses soliciting your auctioneer services? By the way, I am not talking about those internet offers being extended from a Natural Resources Minister in Zimbabwe, A Zulu Tribal King, or a Russian bride who seek to deposit money into a willing and gullible American's bank account. I have personally received many legitimate offers from abroad. I am also a contractor for a few auction companies that provide auction services to the international market. For some of you this may be disquieting, but I am not really sure why.

Opportunity is what you make of it. Seizing opportunities is what makes the smart business man successful. China is still in its industrial infancy, but they are transitioning, developing, and growing like all countries are. Sure they are not perfect, but what young child is without the tutelage of a mentor?

Enter the Auction Industry! China has no real Auction Industry to speak of. With all of their factories in the process of retooling, and the many exports coming into this country, they will need and require the services of willing auctioneers. Who would China look to for help in assisting them? Of course their Anglo cousins to the West. Think about it! How many of you have ever received offer upon offer to buy Chinese containers (furniture, paintings, Tiffany & Galle` repro glass, etc.) loaded to the brim?

The opportunity is now. Plan for it! Expect it! Make a million, and invite me to help you. A man's vision is only limited by how far he sees. China will offer auctioneers a bright future. Go East young man.

Tom DiNardo is co-owner of DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers of Anacortes, WA. Tom is an Auctioneer, Appraiser, and Writer.

To contact Tom, visit www.DiNardoandLordAuctioneers.com

(c) 2004 Tom DiNardo - All rights reserved.

Auction chants echo only in memory now

2006-10-07T21:43:00.000-05:00

By DREW JUBERA
Cox News Service
Tuesday, December 27, 2005

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The great tobacco auctioneers — men named Bum Bum Leggettes and Redcap McLaughlin and Dancin' Jakey Taylor (who jigged as he took bids) and Smokey Joe Burnette (who led buyers in Southern gospel) and Speed Riggs (fastest mouth east of the Mississippi) — they're all gone.

Their run-on chants — a rhythmic hybrid of singing, preaching and speaking in tongues, performed at Looney Tunes speed — have been replaced by the soundless button-mashing of hand-held computers. The auctioneer and the tobacco buyers now stroll past fragrant gold bales lined up inside mostly empty metal warehouses and stare at their screens while bidding in silence, like grown men fixated on Game Boys.

"It's so quiet I feel like I'm in the wrong place," said Brenda Owen McLamb, 58, whose father opened the Dixie Big Burley warehouse decades ago beside the French Broad River, near downtown.

Added Don Smart, a tobacco farmer from nearby Haywood County, "It's like a funeral parlor now."

A scent of finality hangs over the handful of tobacco auctions that opened this week in the Burley Belt of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina. A seasonal tradition in the South for more than a century — often accompanied by parades and politicking and the purchase afterward of everything from pickups to braces to Christmas tricycles — the tobacco auction's future now looks bleak.

Just a decade ago, hundreds of warehouses still operated, each filled to capacity. But with smoking's decline, foreign competition and tobacco companies contracting directly with farmers, the number dwindled this year to 15. They'll run through mid-January.

Nobody's sure if any of them will reopen next season.

"I'm kind of surprised even these auctions are going on," said John Van Willigen, co-author of "Tobacco Culture: Farming Kentucky's Burley Belt." "I think it's all but over, basically."

Yet dozens of farmers and onlookers showed up for opening day this week at the last two burley warehouses still operating in Asheville, which before its hippiefication and gentrification was the tobacco center of western North Carolina.

Many farmers came out of the surrounding mountains on a cold, dreary morning to confirm, in a way, that they are still here — "to see," as Smart put it, "if there's life after death."

This year's auctions are the first without price supports and growing quotas, which have been in place since the 1930s. That system was ditched after last year's $10.1 billion federal buyout, which enriched many farmers temporarily but left them uncertain about their future.

"Things are changing, and the system as we've known it is over with. It's the end of an era," said Marty Owen, 39, manager of the Dixie Big Burley warehouse, once run by his father and grandfather. "Over a cup of coffee is a good place to reminisce about the old days, but we have to move forward."

Warren Anders, 68, is trying to adapt from two sides of this brave new world: He farms 60 acres with his four sons and runs the Planters Warehouse, across the river from Dixie Big Burley.

"I've grown tobacco all my life. Tobacco is a good word to me," he said. "It's educated all my children, bought a lot of property, paid all my bills. When I have to contract tobacco, I'll sure quit."

Yet when asked if he'd open his warehouse for auction next year, Anders allowed, "I don't know. I just don't know."

A number of farmers sat this season out, waiting to see the effect the buyout would have on prices before deciding whether tobacco farming was still worth it — or whether, as many farmers have already done, they should sell their land to real estate developers who'll use it for pricey mountain vacation homes.

Others, like David Fisher, 60, from Sylva, N.C., cut their production: He went from 30 acres to seven.

Still others kept farming whatever they could just because it's what they've always done, and what their families have always done.

"I need to do something with my land," said Randell Wilson, 38, who farms sixth-tenths of an acre in Burnsville, N.C.

Wilson, who makes his living working for a metal manufacturing company, brought to the Dixie Big Burley warehouse this year 93 pounds of burley tobacco and his 7-month-old son. He figured he'd be back again next year if the place was still open: His grandfather grew tobacco until he was 80.

"I like the atmosphere of an auction," he said.

The season's first auction was once the equivalent, for tobacco farmers, of baseball's opening day. Anybody who grew anything showed up; some stuffed their entire crop in the trunk of their car. Many arrived with their wives and children, sometimes setting babies atop their crop — or pregnant wives beside it — in hope of squeezing from some soft-hearted buyer an extra cent or two.

The atmosphere this year was more subdued at the opening hosted by Planters Warehouse. There was strong coffee and ham biscuits for early arrivals, a few speeches by farm agency representatives, a prayer. Everybody seemed happy to see everybody else — like classmates at a reunion.

Perhaps the most familiar face belonged to Chuck Jordan, a former world champion auctioneer known for his penetrating voice and clear diction. He drove from Danville, Va., to run the show, though now he tracked bids not with his voice, but with a stylus used to punch them into a computer.

"I just can't walk away from something I've done all my life," said Jordan, 62. "It's a part of me."

Many farmers have found it more difficult to make the transition. In North Carolina alone, farmers in 2003 raised less than half the tobacco they raised six years earlier. Some growers have tried to raise sod, Christmas trees, vegetables. But few crops generate the money tobacco can.

Some say more is being lost here than just a cash crop.

"While we're looking to encourage transition in the economy, we don't need to grow any more high-end second homes," said Ray Rapp, a state representative attending the opening auction. "We want to see the agricultural base preserved. It's part of what makes these communities special places to work and live. It's not just a commitment to a cash crop, but to a way of life."

The average price at the opening day's two auctions was a little above $1.50 a pound. Some farmers, like Smart, said that's about what they expected. Others wondered how they could continue to farm. For many, it was just barely enough.

Most of those who'd spent the day inside the big, drafty warehouses tried to be optimistic.

"I remember 10 years ago everybody said it looked bad," said McLamb, at the Dixie Burley warehouse. "We haven't closed our doors yet."

Drew Jubera writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Housing Bubble: Real Estate Nightmare or Auction Opportunity

2006-09-22T22:48:00.000-05:00

The Housing Bubble: Real Estate Nightmare or Auction Opportunity

A housing bubble is when property valuations increase rapidly and in a speculative manner until they reach levels that are disproportionate to incomes and other local economic factors, followed by decreases which cause property owners to have a mortgage debt higher than the value of the property. Often, housing bubbles are difficult to forecast but easy to identify in hindsight.

According to The Economist, “NEVER before have real house prices risen so fast, for so long, in so many countries.” They go further to say that the boom has been fueled by low interest rates and a loss of faith in stocks which made property an attractive investment. Just this year alone, the average home price has increased 12.5% with prices in some areas soaring as much as 20%.

Another indicator that housing prices are over-valued is that housing prices increase faster than the cost of rentals. According to The Economist, housing prices in America would have to be flat for 12 years with rental rates rising by 2.5% per year in order for rents to catch up with housing prices. It is more likely that there will be a correction in the value of homes. One of the results of a housing bubble is that housing sales go flat.

A recent article in the Baltimore Sun presents an excellent summation of what happens in a flat market:

“In some areas along the East and West coasts and in Florida, the number of homes listed for sale has more than doubled from a year ago and prices are eroding. With so much to choose from, buyers are no longer in any hurry; many believe prices will fall further if they wait a few months.”

Buyers are waiting for prices to come down and sellers are trying to get the most value for their property before it erodes away due to decreased interest and demand.

If traditional listings do not generate interest, what is the seller to do?

One solution would be to offer the property at a real estate auction.According to the Baltimore Sun Article, this is exactly what Florida Resident did, achieving what he felt was the fair market value for his property. Simply put, the targeted exposure from a real estate auction campaign brought interested bidders and the hammer price for the auction reflected the fair market value for the property.

For more information on real estate auctions, Please contact the Broker Auction Team or Dennis@BrokerAuctionTeam.com

Auctions still going, going

2006-08-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

Crowds seeking land shrink, but bidding remains intense.

By MARY ANN MILBOURN

The Orange County Register

ANAHEIM - Going, going, sold!

The phrase repeatedly rang out in an Anaheim Convention Center ballroom Sunday as would-be buyers pitted their skills and their nerve against each other in search of an increasingly rare find these days – a bargain on land.

About 500 people packed the room for Sunday's draw – 200 parcels of land from throughout the West being auctioned off by Irvine-based LandAuction.com.

Jeff Frieden, company chief executive, said that, like the housing markets, crowds have thinned at the land auctions this year and selling prices are down. But bidding remains intense for those who attend.

Nearly half of the crowd Sunday said they had never attended an auction before. Others were veterans, knowing just what they wanted to buy and how much they would spend. Some just wanted to learn how it all worked for a future bid.

"Who doesn't want to be a landowner?" said Tom Williams of Long Beach, who came with his wife scouting property to buy for a sheep farm.

To get people in the proper spirit, pastoral scenes appeared on giant screens at the front of the room as the theme from "Rocky" blasted from four loudspeakers. Then, the tuxedo-clad auctioneer stepped to the podium and the game was on.

Bidding for the first parcel, five acres near Rome, Ore., opened at $500 and ended in less than a minute. Final price: $1,500. Sale of Parcel No. 2, a lot in Costilla County, Colo., was over in another minute. Price: $3,000.

And so it went with the auctioneer rattling off the bids in a rat-a-tat delivery as auction assistants button-holed bidders, often urging them higher. Each sale rarely took over three minutes.

Elva Garcia of Santa Ana was one who hung in during spirited bidding for a 2,500-square-foot parcel in the Arch Beach Heights section of Laguna Beach. She got the winning bid for $70,000 and won first rights to pay the same amount for an adjacent parcel, which she also purchased.

When asked if she got a good price, she just shrugged. Like many, she said she liked buying at auction rather than through a broker because of the potential for a better deal and avoiding commissions. LandAuction.com, which owns the parcels, charges a 10 percent buyer's premium.

The auction brochure admonishes would-be bidders to check out the property before bidding. Some of the potential obstacles are obvious.

Parcel No. 2 in Colorado "may not have road access," said the brochure.

That was a problem for Sue Lucas of Ladera Ranch, who said she went to look at another parcel that was listed.

"I looked everywhere, but there was no road to it," she said.

Still, there were buyers for everything –– even two other Laguna Beach parcels that went for $80,000 each, a price that had John Wilson of Costa Mesa shaking his head. He went to see the property and said they were on a very steep slope.

"I looked at them and they were so high, my ears were popping," he said. "They are totally unusable."

Implement dealer to sell antique tractor collection at auction

2006-08-26T21:41:00.000-05:00

Iowa Farmer Today

Hartington, Neb. - Longtime John Deere dealer Gerry Miller will sell his personal antique tractor collection he amassed over the last 46 years.

His collection includes nearly 60 antique tractors, and the highlighted tractors area1931 GP Wide Tread, a 1938 Unstyled G, a 1948 G, a 1946 BO Lindeman Crawler and a 1950 MC Crawler and many unstyled A & B tractors. John Deere implements, a gas engine and the 1st John Deere #25 front end loader complete the collection.

Miller admits he can't pick just one tractor as his favorite. He likes the 30 series tractors, including his 730, the early-unstyled ones, the R and AR models.

“I guess I like them all,” concedes Miller.

Miller was born and raised on a farm near Hartington and has been around tractors his entire life either as a farmer, auctioneer for 60 years, and a John Deere equipment dealer.

“I was a 4-H boy on the farm. When I was 10 years old I started going to auctions to buy my cattle,” said Miller.

Miller was called to the service in 1945. He spent two years in the Air Force as a meteorologist, but safely returned home to farm.

“When I returned home from the service I farmed, fed cattle and milked cows, and raised hogs” explained Miller.

A week after returning from military service, he decided to attend auction school in Iowa.

Miller stopped farming in 1960, but continued auctioneering and purchased a John Deere equipment dealership. Even though IH and Allis Chalmers sent out company executives to recruit him, Miller decided to go with the John Deere Company.

“I noticed when I was auctioneering that nearly every auction had some piece of John Deere equipment. They were a diverse company. They always had something to sell and we were in John Deere country,” explained Miller.

Miller recalls back in the 1970s and 1980s when many farmers were facing bankruptcy how busy he was with his auction business and dealership.

“At one time I worked for 137 days straight without one day off. It was hard work,” added Miller.

Miller's hard work over the years has paid off with numerous dealer awards and professional awards. Miller was named Nebraska Auctioneer of the Year in 1993 and was inducted into the Nebraska Auctioneers Hall of Fame in 2004.

Aumann Auctions, Inc., is in charge of the one-day, auction that will be held at 10 a.m., Sept. 16 at the John Deere dealership in Hartington. This auction will be broadcasted live over the internet. Preregistration is required to bid live on-line.

For a complete auction listing, photographs and online bidding visit www.aumannauctions.com or call an Aumann representative at 1-888-282-8648, or Ryan Creamer 402-254-9753 - Alton Heimes 402-254-3315 - Roger Janssen 402-388-4409 or their website www.mchjauctioneers.com.

Huge alfalfa farm goes on the block

2006-08-24T21:51:00.000-05:00

By BEVERLY CORBELL The Daily Sentinel

Thursday, August 24, 2006

SAGUACHE — Saguache County’s North Star Farm, reportedly the biggest alfalfa farm in the state, is going on the auction block.

Owners Myron and Jayne Smith are putting the 5,427-acre farm up for sale in an auction to be held on site on Sept. 14, said Carl Carter, spokesman for the J.P. King Auction Company of Gadsden, Ala.

Selling the big parcel is a huge operation, Carter said, and will begin with advertising in state, national and international newspapers.

“We’ll mail a thousand brochures out, and the last two weeks before the sale will have the farm staffed full-time so people can come out and inspect the property and form an opinion on what they want to pay for it,” Carter said.

Potential buyers can bid on the entire farm, on three parcels of about 1,500 acres each or one parcel of about 800 acres.

Included in the sale are 32 center pivots that irrigate more than 3,800 acres, 30 irrigation wells, three domestic water wells, 14 grain bins, scales, 10 storage barns and two homes — plus all the farm equipment.

Carter said he wouldn’t hazard a guess on what the property will bring, but it will no doubt be in the millions.

“We usually just try to leave that open and let the bidders make up their own minds,” he said.

The Smiths, who were unavailable for comment Wednesday, also have a home in Cleveland but plan to take life a little easier on their 250-acre mountain ranch also in Saguache County, Carter said.

Selling the farm at auction is probably the fastest way for the Smiths to move the property, Carter said.

“It’s often the case that a property this size can be on the market for years, so they came to us because they’d like to go ahead and get it sold,” he said.

The alfalfa farm is not only profitable, but surrounded by the scenic beauty of the Great Sand Dunes National Monument and the San Juan and Gunnison National Forests, he said.

On the day of the auction, bidders will register in the morning and enter the open bidding. The property will sell at absolute auction, Carter said, and will go to the highest bidder or bidders with no minimum bid or reserve.

“The bidding will be face-to-face and elbow-to-elbow at the ranch,” Carter said. “It’s some of the best people watching you’ll ever see.”

Keeping 'em down on the farm

2006-08-01T22:49:00.000-05:00

01 August 2006
By JILL GALLOWAY
Stuff.co.nz

Ninety high school students from Wellington to Wanganui put on their gumboots and went to a Manawatu farm to see what careers the meat and wool industry has to offer. Jill Galloway checked out the students and the tutors.

Gone are the days of urban kids going out to enjoy school holidays with their uncles, aunts, cuzzies, and mates.

Instead, and to lessen the growing gap between urban and rural New Zealand, Meat & Wool New Zealand have organised and funded a day on the farm at the Stewart family property at Tokomaru for Year 11 to Year 13 students.

The day was aimed to try to combat the growing town and country gap, and introduce students to the idea of a career in agriculture.

For some, this was their first look at the rural industry and their first time on a farm. As they arrived - the smell of the woolshed was the first thing that hit them.

Wrightson's stock agent Mark Stevens had students drenching lambs, guessing the sheep's weight and trying their hand at a three-way drafting gate.

More difficult than it looked.

It took seven students to push sheep in to the drafting yard - something the auctioneer could do with one dog.

It was a graphic illustration of the importance of farm dogs - and the dogs are more approachable than most teenagers.

They eat less, do not require an orthodontist, and they are not microchipped (although if they had a choice, it's something some parent's might consider for their offspring).

After drafting and drenching, the students took part in a mock auction of a pen of six black face lambs, which were well finished.

The bidding was spirited and they accepted at face value the auctioneer's patter about "getting a bargain" or "being well below the pen's true value." In the end, those lambs went for $79.

Mr Stevens showed them how to gauge the age of a sheep by looking in its mouth.

It was a hands-on demonstration and the students revelled in it.

Joanna Taylor is a director of Taylored, the company which delivers the "OutStanding in the Field" experience day on behalf of Meat & Wool New Zealand.

It is something of a catch-up for the sheep and beef industry - dairying was the first farming cab off the rank with courses designed to attract young people on to dairy farms.

"We are seriously short of young people to work in rural industries. Farmers are desperate for staff - in Gisborne, they cannot get a shepherd. The shearing industry as a whole is getting older," Mrs Taylor says.

Manawatu was the fourth experience day offered by Meat & Wool New Zealand, following three successful days in Hawke's Bay, Nelson/Malborough and Auckland.

The Manawatu day, held on Friday attracted school students from Wellington to Wanganui. Three schools came from Wellington, there was big interest from Palmerston North schools, Feilding, as well as Marton, Wairarapa and Dannevirke.

The students split into five groups of 18 and moved through shearing, wool classing, soil testing, rural banking and stock handling as modules as the day progressed.

There was also a session on education and training opportunities with people from Taratahi Agriculture Training Centre, Massey University, Agricultural New Zealand, land-based training and Tectra Wool training.

Health and safety issues meant there were few activities the students could actually have a go at. Shearing, and boning out meat were two that were considered too risky for them.

But a few did get to hold a handpiece, some did wool handling and for many of them, that was as close they had ever been to shearing.

Emily Woodward shears an average of 320 lambs or 280 ewes a day. She has finished a Bachelor of Applied Science degree and her shearing has paid off her student loan.

"My Dad taught me to shear on the farm in Pukekohe. I couldn't face another season as a rousie so I learnt to shear," she said.

The students saw the face of a young woman, who does a hard, physical job but who makes good money and has travelled.

"I've shorn in the UK and on the money I made, I travelled around Europe. You can work in Australia, the United States, Canada, all around the world," Ms Woodward says.

The combination of money and travel was attractive to the students.

They were interested in what shearers get paid.

"In a year I might make around $45,000 at $1.35 per sheep, wool handlers get between $15 and $20 an hour and pressers a bit more."

It is a really good industry to use as a career, or as a holiday job or stepping stone towards getting a farm Ms Woodward told the students.

They watched as Ms Woodward peeled out a beautifully shorn lamb, then fellow shearer, Sam Welsh showed them how a snow-comb leaves wool on the sheep to help protect it against the cold.

After the shearing module it was off to the covered yards to learn about stock handling.

Claramae Bishop is a year 11 student at St Peter's College in Palmerston North. "I come from town, but I just got interested in dairy. Today I'm just having a look at sheep and beef as well," she says.

She intends leaving school at the end of the year to start a job on a dairy farm and hopes to complete industry with the agricultural industry training organisation and perhaps later do a diploma.

"I like the idea of the hours, lifestyle and working as a team on a dairy farm. I see it as a career, not just a stop-gap measure."

Kristie Newton is a Year 12 student at Freyberg High School.

"I'm a townie, as much as I hate that, and I want to do agricultural science when I leave school."

Her aim is to own a sheep and beef farm.

Year 13 Freyberg High School student Casey Boyce hopes to study zoology at Massey University next year.

She lives on a lifestyle block and has worked for five years on an alpaca farm.

Animal behaviour and perhaps wildlife education is her dream. But Miss Boyce also likes the idea of farm ownership.

"A place for horses and alpaca."

They both agreed the careers day had been fantastic, especially seeing the hands-on approach by tutors and the opportunity to try some things as well.

Benjamin Bridgeman a Year 12 student at St Peter's College wants to be a veterinarian. But was keenly checking out other rural careers.

"I thought the shearing was pretty cool, to see how they do it. I didn't think it would be as easy as it is," he said.

Perhaps those shearers were so good they just made it look easy.

Farmer Gregg Stewart opened his farm gate to 90 students.

"It's just great to see these young people come out to experience farming first hand - better than reading it in a book or seeing it on a video. We need to get young people involved not only on the farm, but in service industries as well," he said.

When it came to the stock handling - the students watched with interest and a few had a try at moving sheep and drafting - but once again the questions were about the career structure.

"Our company has a training scheme, trainee agents might start on $20,000 and then progress to be a junior agent on $25,000 to $30,000," Wrightson's agent Mr Stevens said to students.

A good senior stock agent might make $70,000 to $100,000 he said. That made their eyes light up.

"The Auckland course was interesting - we only had five students who had been on farms before," Meat & Wool's Joanne Jensen said.

"It's not just mud and gumboots - it's so much more. We need sheep and beef farmers, research scientists, shearers, fencers, rural bankers, farm consultants, meat processing staff - hopefully some of these kids will get excited about possible careers in these areas," Ms Jensen says.

Meat & Wool New Zealand will hold one more OutStanding in the Field careers day, in Canterbury August 24.

Adventures with Mom

2006-08-01T22:46:00.000-05:00

Wanda Moeller
The Daily Tribune Hibbing Minnesota
Monday, July 31st, 2006 09:13:35 AM

There are only a few things that my mother and I enjoy doing together. One is to go antiquing and the other is to attend farm household auctions.

We usually get along quite amicably during these events — until recently.

I learned at an early age that there’s an art to bidding at a farm auction. First, never raise your hand or nod you head until you’re willing to put your pocketbook on the line. Second, beware of the people standing on the outer edges of the auction — they’re vicious bidders. Third, beware of those shifty auctioneers who’ll get you to bid on any bargain that they think you need but really don’t. Finally, beware of your parent’s occasional nod — it can cost you a lot of money and an undesirable headache.

After scouring the newspaper on Friday morning, I noticed there was a household farm auction in Preston on Sunday morning that contained a lot of antiques. My dad declined the offer to go with me, while quickly offering my mother’s services. “She’s a bit more savvy when it comes to those things,” he said, noting she could always spot a good bargain. However, deep down I kind of knew my dad wouldn’t go. Farm auctions are what he calls “cackling events,” also know as too many women in one room gossiping about immaterial things.

Inside the auction house, I knew why my dad sent me with mother. It would give her an opportunity to chat with all her relatives in her hometown of Preston (which is almost half the town). While I’m busy trying to spot a few bargains, my mother spots one of her high school classmates. She quickly tells me she’s got to talk to him but to watch her cues.

After a few minutes, a mint condition antique egg basket is about to be auctioned. I spy my mother and she’s nodding her head yes. So I get in on the bidding. The bid keeps going higher and my mother is still nodding her head. Hmmm...she must really want that egg basket, I thought. So I kept on bidding. Finally the egg basket is sold to me for a mere $28. I thought to myself, “What in the world is my mother going to do with an antique egg basket?”

Later in the afternoon, my mother wanders back to the chair next to mine and we begin chatting. She asks, who paid that outrageous price for that egg basket.

I gave her this rather odd look and said, “What do you mean who bought that egg basket? I bought it because you kept nodding your head up and down. I thought you wanted it.”

“Now why would I want an egg basket? We don’t have chickens on the farm any more,” she informs me in her scolding tone.

As I rolled my eyes, I thought “what next?” But the good news is: I’m now the proud owner of a $28 antique egg basket that holds my recycled newspapers and magazines.

Auction market changing, more smaller sales

2006-07-22T15:22:00.000-05:00

Greg Peterson

Publisher, F.A.C.Ts Report

7/12/2006, 5:00 PM CDT

Sometimes change comes at us fast. Other times it comes more slowly, so slowly it takes a while to pick up on it.

I've noticed a slow moving change taking place regarding farm auctions for used equipment. In 2006, there has been a much higher percentage of auctions featuring small, partial lines of equipment. Sales with as few as five to ten pieces of equipment up for sale. These auctions stand in stark contrast to the traditional view of the auction with a farmer selling out his entire line of equipment upon retiring.

A good example was the small sale back on July 1, 2006, in east-central Iowa. The auctioneer dropped me a note after the sale. Just three older tractors, an older plow and an old loader. It was a very successful sale, as evidenced by the 1963 JD 2010 tractor with only 1,250 hours that sold for $8,300. (Click here to see what other items sold for at this auction.)

I think of another auction firm I've known for years, one of the top auction companies in their state. Just this past year they have begun to hold evening farm auctions. Judging by the sale price reports they send to us, seems like these night sales are a big success. Think we could have imagined an evening farm auction three, five, ten, twenty years ago?

Why the move to the smaller, less traditional auctions?

Bottom line is, the world is a changing place. Factors including tax planning, the general aging of the farm population and the hectic pace of our work world all may be playing key roles in this shift to smaller, alternative auctions.

Tax implications are playing a big role in folks deciding to maybe sell some of their equipment privately over the years, selectively selling a few of their pieces of equipment at auction along the way. Folks just trying to figure new ways to manage the tax bite.

Next time you leaf through your local ag paper's auction bill section, notice on the bottom of the sale bills how many feature "consigned by neighbor" equipment. This means there's probably just a couple pieces of equipment.

I can't begin to tell you the number of calls and emails I've fielded over the last year from folks with just one or two pieces of equipment for sale. Sure seems like a lot more than at any other time in my 17 years of compiling auction sale price data.

As for the evening farm auctions, I guess it does make perfect sense given how busy folks are these days. What percentage of folks also hold some type of off the farm job? How much busier are all of us with kids these days? Making your auction available and accessible to a higher percentage of potential buyers is just smart business.

Looking down the road in my crystal ball, I think these trends will continue and possibly pick up steam. The Internet in particular should play a key role in helping bring together buyers and sellers of all types of farm equipment. This will be good news for both sellers trying to move that piece or two of equipment, as well as for time-strapped buyers struggling to find the exact piece of equipment they need.

Change, we don't have to like it but to succeed we need to be aware of it and adapt along with it.

Inspiring Ethics & Integrity

2006-07-22T14:57:00.000-05:00

In May of this year I had experienced an epiphany while talking on the phone with AuctionZip's Co-Founder, Steve Johnson, about the challenges we auctioneers face in running a successful auction business or any business for that matter. Steve was telling me a story about how he had overcome some adverse situations regarding some newspaper editors who would not allow AuctionZip's members to mention the name of AuctionZip.com in advertisements placed in their publications. Through the course of the conversation, I believe we both had the simultaneous realization about perhaps the biggest reason why businesses succeed or fail. It comes right down to ETHICS & INTEGRITY. Those people operating without ethics and integrity most often choose to operate from fear. As a result, they are misguided by this emotion and suffer in most areas of their lives.

Although passion, drive, motivation, experience and earning money all play major roles in the success of any business, sometimes as we know it's just not enough. How do we overcome those challenges we face daily in our business? How do we deal with those who choose to attack our personal and or business reputations? Many, if not all, of us have had to deal to with these very unpleasant situations, and I feel that it is our personal ethics and integrity that gives us purpose and meaning in carrying us successfully through life's trials and tribulations.

In Victor Frankel's autobiographical book, "Man's Search for Meaning" he discusses how he survived being interned as a Jew in a Nazi concentration camp. His realization was that everyday he found something worthwhile and meaningful in each day. Now there's an epiphany! Finding meaning in daily living gives us the drive to go on. Perhaps as Auctioneers we can institute our own personal ethics and integrity as the predominant reason why we continue to exist and survive in the business world?

Ethics and integrity allows us to remain strong. With ethics and integrity we do not need to go down to the least common denominator when dealing with those who challenge us. Ethics and integrity allows us to provide service above and beyond the call of duty. Ethics and integrity means we don't need to worry about rumors and untruths, as we rest confidently in our accomplishments and our established good reputations. Ethics and integrity means that we would offer a hand to the man that is down, rather than climbing on his back to get to the top. Put out good, and you will get good in return. This is a fact!

Steve really had inspired me in that conversation. Truthfully, it was a wake-up call! Even though I consider myself to be a man of integrity, I had realized that I have acted out of fear many times in the past. As FDR once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Ethics and integrity may not be a panacea, but they certainly are wonderful guideposts to what I believe is the key to running a successful business and living life more productively and peacefully.

To contact Tom, visit www.DiNardoandLordAuctioneers.com

(c) 2004 Tom DiNardo - All rights reserved.

Auction market changing, more smaller sales

2006-07-16T18:59:00.000-05:00

Greg Peterson Publisher, F.A.C.Ts Report

Sometimes change comes at us fast. Other times it comes more slowly, so slowly it takes a while to pick up on it.

Why the move to the smaller, less traditional auctions?

Change, we don't have to like it but to succeed we need to be aware of it and adapt along with it.