Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards
I agree, a lot of fun, and a LOT less work. I do miss them, but they just don't make a ton of sense from a business standpoint for us. I can put (on a good day) about 100 people in a room to bid on 500 lots, or I can sell well over 1000 lots to thousands of people. Plus people are understandably leery of consigning big items to a live only auction, but if you introduce online bidding, at least around here, you kill your live audience. Our consignments have improved by an order of magnitude since the pandemic forced us 100% online. We talk about doing one live auction a year as an excuse to get together with our old clientele face to face.
|
Scott,
I hear you loud and clear. That was why Paul ran his auctions with multiple online groups also. He expanded the marketplace and bidders for his auctions that way. He also did way more than just sports cards and memorabilia. He did antiques, stamps, coins, estates, you name it. I remember going to one of his live estate auctions he held right in the front yard of the person's house. He let people know there was sports stuff there so, a lot of his sports customers, like me, showed up.
Because of all the other things he was into, especially the antiques, he had to have warehouse size spaces to store furniture mostly. And since he already had the venues and space, the history as a live auctioneer, and he was already doing other types of auctions more geared for live attendees, he just continues to do the sports auctions as live and online, even though he may only get 50-100 people at them. That is what he enjoyed doing, and he had a number of steady customers always showing up for the live auctions, like myself. And as you said, live auctions made it a lot less work since he didn't have to pack and ship everything, and he would get paid right then and there by the attendees. And like I said, he'd always throw in some extra live only lots at the end for those attending.
It was also nice to meet and catch up with other attendees you'd meet at his live auctions over the years as well. It was always worth going to his live auctions, and he seemed to have a knack for picking up some really cool, obscure stuff as well. He was a great guy.
You really should look into some online venues to maybe try a live/internet combined auction. You might be surprised since the pandemic how many people may turn up just to get out and do something as opposed to sitting on their computer at home. Throw in some live only lots, and maybe a slight break for attending and paying in cash/check in person, so you don't have the credit card or other payment service fees. You know how many people on here complain about things like sales tax, so if you can knock even 1%-2% off live attendees paying in cash/check, you may get more people showing up for that live auction as well. Plus all the time and shipping costs you save. You should think about it.