Hiring An Auction Company

Estimating your assets value:

Typically, one of the first questions a business owner will ask me is, “how much will the assets bring at an auction”. After taking the time to review the assets, the auctioneer should give the client a conservative estimate of the sale based upon his experience and the current market trends. It is important that the company give realistic expectations so the seller can make informed decisions based on their best interest.

Compensation and Expenses:

Is the company you are considering working for you or against you? The agreement you decide may determine this.

A business owner should carefully consider how the auction company is compensated. The most common commission structures include: straight commission, outright purchase of assets, guaranteed base with a split above to both auctioneer and seller, guaranteed base with anything above going to auctioneer or a flat fee structure.

In a straight commission structure, the company is paid an agreed upon percentage of the total sale.

In an outright purchase agreement, the auctioneer simply becomes your end buyer. The company purchases your assets and relocates them. While this can be an option in some unique situations, keep in mind that they will want to purchase your assets at a very reduced price to make a profit at a later date.

In a minimum base guarantee, the auction company guarantees the seller that the auction will generate a minimum amount of sales. Anything above that amount either goes to the auction company or split with the seller. While a seller might feel more comfortable doing an auction knowing that he is guaranteed a minimum amount for his sale, keep in mind that it is the best interest of the auction company to secure a minimum base price as low as possible in order reduce their financial liability to the seller and secure higher compensation for the sale.

In a flat fee structure, the auctioneer agrees to show up for the sale and call the auction. There is no incentive for the auctioneer to get the best prices for your assets. The auction company is compensated regardless of the outcome of your sale.

What is the best option for business owners? In my experience, an agreed upon straight commission structure. This puts the responsibility on the auction company to offer the best outcome for everyone involved. There is an incentive for the auction company to work hard for both parties, set up and run a professional sale, get the highest bid and sell every item on the inventory. Successful auctions translate to a higher bottom line for both the seller and the auction company.

Auction Expenses:

In most auction agreements the expenses to conduct an auction are passed to the seller. If the auction company pays for the expenses, it is simply absorbed in higher commission rates.

All expenses should be agreed upon in advance in a written contract. Typical expenses will include the costs of advertising, labor, legal fees, travel, equipment rentals, security, postage and printing. A reputable auction company will be able to estimate all expenses based upon their experience in previous auctions. An agreement should be actual costs charged as expenses, not an estimated amount.

Advertising is typically the highest cost in conducting an auction. The auction company needs to set up an advertising campaign that will promote the sale to its best advantage and not overspend to simply advertise the auction company.

Once the auction is complete, the auction company should provide a complete breakdown of all expenses to the seller, including copies of receipts within the auction summary report.

Buyer’s Premium:

What is a buyer’s premium? If you attend auctions regularly, you are very familiar with this term. The auction company charges a fee to the buyer when they buy an item at auction.

The buyer’s premium has been around since the 1980′s and is standard auction practice. It was first used by auction houses to help offset costs of running brick and mortar permanent auction facilities. Since then, it has spread to all aspects of the auction industry. It is prominent in online auctions and allows auction companies to cover added expenses incurred from online sales.

It is the responsibility of the auction company to provide clear disclosure of the buyer’s premium to both the buyers and the sellers. Those not familiar with auctions are often taken back by the buyer’s premium. They looked upon it as an under handed way for the auction company to make more money. Reputable auction companies will provide full disclosure within the auction contract, advertisement and bidder registration.

Typically, an auction company will charge online buyers a higher buyer’s premium percentage than those attending an auction in person. Extra fees are incurred with online bidding and are charged accordingly to online buyers. This provides the seller a level playing field for both online buyers and those attending the auction in person. Without the buyer’s premium, there is no way to do this.

Pre-Sales:

We’ve all been there. We’re looking forward to attending an auction only to find that some items were sold prior to the auction date.

As an auctioneer with over thirty-six years of experience, I can honestly state that pre-sales will hurt an auction. When a company decides to liquidate their assets, it is easy to sell off high-end pieces of equipment through online sources, equipment vendors or to other businesses. The seller receives instant cash and avoids paying a commission to an auction company.

Auctioneer’s find themselves appearing to acting in a self-serving capacity when potential clients say they are planning to sell off parts of their inventory prior to an auction. It’s hard not to consider the auctioneer’s commission when they warn you not to pre-sell anything. Yes, the auctioneer wants to earn a commission on those sales but it is more important that the auctioneer protect the sale from potential negative backlash that comes from pre-selling. The buying public knows when an auction has been “cherry picked” prior to the sale and it reflects in their bidding. It becomes a sale of “leftovers” and that impacts prices.

A buyer who purchases prior to the auction usually does not attend the sale. They already bought equipment at a good price with no competition. If they do attend the auction, they tend to let others know of their great pre-sale purchases which again, impacts prices and the overall excitement of the sale.

It is important to understand that auctions work best with a complete inventory. You want competition on your higher end equipment. The easy to sell items make it possible to gain respectable prices for hard to sell items.

When a business owner decides to liquidate their equipment assets, there is only one opportunity to do it right. Hiring a reputable auction company will assist you with a professional, orderly and timely liquidation.

Choosing the Mobile Advertising Network That’s Right for You

As we move further and further into the 21st century, we find that mobile devices are getting smarter and more useful to users. Take the case of mobile advertising networks that work as a system to deliver solutions so that it optimizes a company’s advertising strategies, besides also tracking analytics and maintain a web of applications that deliver quality results across a spectrum of platforms including video and the Internet. This advertising mode first made its appearance with the coming of the iPhone, which has proved to be the star of the advertising.

The mobile advertising network is poised to excel along with the widespread usage of smartphones. These days, this form of advertising can be studied under three kinds of categories:

• Blind networks: As far as advertisers, publishers and impressions go, this form of advertising is considered the largest and generally works on the basis of CPC. These mobile advertising networks have options to target specific content channels but do not allow advertisers to opt for specific websites. The advertising networks that fall under this category are BuzzCity, Adfonic, AdMob, Madvertise, Admoda or Adultmoda and Mojiva.

• Premium blind networks: This form of advertising networks is generally mid-sized and gives newspapers, operator portals and broadcasters a higher premium. So, it’s not surprising that they bring in a higher percentage of brand advertising on the basis of CPM. In this category, you can choose either semi-blind or blind targeting with options to search and display advertisements or go in for particular spots on sites that you choose. These include Hunt Mobile Ads, Madhouse, Millennial Media, xAd, Greystripe and Jumptap.

• Premium networks: These mobile advertising networks are popular with big brand advertisers willing to pay top prices to get prime locations on premium networks with a CPM pricing model. They usually offer superior direct sales and support and a multitude of targeting options. Well-known in this category are Mobile Theory, YOC Group, Hands, NAVTEQ Media Solutions, Microsoft Mobile Advertising and Advertising.com or AOL.

In order to choose a good network for your business model, do the following:

Check that your network has an extensive reach, locally: Is your advertising network able to connect with local business advertisers? In fact, your network should be serving about 60%-70% of local mobile search applications.

Does your network specialize in localized content? If yes, your network will serve ads directly to his local customers. Your ads should be reaching people according to their ZIP codes as far locally as possible, rather than at city level so that they are relevant in a given context and locally too.

Does your network offer Search and Display Advertising? You’re sure to get SMS and display ads on your advertising network, but what about Search and Display advertising? Ideally, your mobile advertising network should offer you both.

What Are the Best Home Based Businesses?

This question comes up a lot. What are the best home-based businesses? In the current economy, it is a question that has even more significance, and legitimacy. People have been losing their jobs at an incredible rate. What’s more, millions of people have been seeking new opportunities for years now, many without much success or even the glimmer of hope.The business world has changed. The thought of a job being secure is no longer the case. You must take ownership for your success. No longer can people count on their employer for their retirement or even for two years down the road. The internet is allowing people to work from home and achieve success at a much faster rate than previously.So what are the best home based businesses?Due to the amazing revolution known as the Internet, the best home based business is, by far, network marketing businesses. Network marketing allows anyone the opportunity to work from home and build their level of success that is comfortable to them. If they only have a few hours per week or fifteen hours a week to devote to it, then they can still find success when they work from home. If an individual wishes to expand their realm and put in forty, fifty, or more hours when they work from home, then they can do that as well and with the right opportunity, create generational wealth.The best home based business, then, would be one that offers flexibility to anyone as far as hours and commitment. Network marketing offers precisely this level of control to each and every entrepreneur.The word is entrepreneurLet’s face it; the vast majority of people simply take the “I will try it” approach to home based businesses and the majority fail. They’re unsure about the future and have heard the stories of those who couldn’t find success and wonder if it isn’t just a dream for the chosen few. When you’re trying to wade through the sometimes cool waters by asking what are the best home based businesses, you will undoubtedly encounter naysayers who think that the only true career is one in which you work for someone else.But without entrepreneurs, those who look to the future with hope and determination, many of today’s businesses wouldn’t even exist. Network marketing is an amazing journey and a wonderful opportunity to control one’s own future earnings. It allows people to work from home or from wherever they choose. Please do read it says work, it’s not netrich marketing. You must work as there are no get rick quick schemes!Passion is the keyI will talk about passion being the key to success with whatever you deem to be the best home based business for you. With network marketing, there are wonderful programs to join that cover nearly every topic and product you could think of. Whatever you choose to promote, though, should be something you are passionate about.It’s critical you have a good sponsor to help you succeed. The majority who fail in network marketing do so because they were never properly trained. They did not have a good sponsor, or mentor.When you have passion and are well trained, working from home can be an awesome lifestyle. The only limits you place upon it, are those you place upon yourself.This is what I teach, it is what I believe and it is has allowed me to be a stay home mother and business builder!Copyright (c) 2010 Amy Matteson