Online storage auctions are undoubtedly beneficial for buyers and sellers. The convenience of online auctions can also be used to an auctioneer's advantage, however, and learning to use this tool for your auction business can put you ahead of the competition. While it may seem counter intuitive, online storage auctions can greatly enhance your auctioneer career.
If you use OnlineStorageAuctions.com to list your auction, you have the option of running the auction concurrently with a live auction. The way this works is that you would place the unit for auction on the site first, then have that auction end right before the live auction begins. You start the live auction at the high bid from the Internet. If no one outbids the starting bid, the unit goes to the online bidder and you move on to your next unit. This sidesteps the legal concerns in states where exclusively virtual auctions are not allowed, and it saves you a lot of time.
Here are the benefits of using online storage auctions as an auctioneer:
-- Bids are often substantially higher than they would be in person. This means that you can pocket more money from your commission, making these auctions more valuable.
-- The live auction will be a lot shorter than normal since you'll have a higher starting bid. This saves you time and lets you schedule more auctions for one day.
-- In some cases, you can post auctions on behalf of the storage facility and earn a commission on the sale without actually having to conduct a live auction.
-- The auctions are well-advertised through the site's network, which gives your sale more exposure and helps attract more bidders.
If you're never considered using these virtual auction services, now might be the time to do so. As technology changes, the most successful businesspeople are those who can adapt to those changes -- and becoming a pro at online auctions can give you an edge over other auctioneers in your area. Sites like Storage Battles won't allow you to use their service, but OnlineStorageAuctions.com will. And since it's free, you lose nothing by giving it a try.
Very good list of benefits!
It’s interesting that bids are a lot higher than they are in person if you do an online auction. What makes people spend so much more? I’d be interested to know because I’m going to throw an auction for my favorite charity in a few months.
Tori, with most in-person storage auctions, buyers only have a few minutes to assess the unit to determine their max bid, which leads to reserved or cautious bidding. Online storage auctions give buyers more time to look at the items in the unit, which makes buyer’s more comfortable, allows buyer’s time to research the value of items and get a better idea of how much profit they can make on a unit. Just like in-person auctions buyers can still get caught up in an emotional bidding war.