Auctioneering industry - a veritable goldmine?

[merkur]

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[gnatty8]

Maybe, but I wouldn't call those cowboy hats with the huge feather in the front and the portable PA system low overhead..

 

[Milhouse]

Originally Posted by merkur

Is the auctioneering industry a veritable goldmine given the fact that the auction house gets paid ~30% (15% buyer's premium + 15% seller's premium not to mention listing fee) of the sale price of anything they successfully auction off + the presumably low overheads?

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[yerfdog]

Originally Posted by Milhouse

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lol

 

[Trenditional]

I have a friend who is an auctioneer. He primarily sells cars, but he has sold livestock also. The one thing he has told me is it is "controlled" business. Behind the scenes, most of the auctions (no matter what is being sold - large scale) are controlled by a select few groups. Getting into the auction business is difficult. It took him knowing people and almost 5 years of apprenticeship before beign able to get behind the mic at an auction. Auctions are definitely affected by the economy. When the economy is good the money is good, when it is bad so is the money. My friend went from turning down work so that he wasn't working 7 days a week to struggling to work 3-4 days a week in the recent past.

 

[gnatty8]

Yes, controlled by a tight cabal who manipulate the prices of portable PA systems to keep the business a tight oligopoly.