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How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items

Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.

Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.

There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.

There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.

Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.

There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.

Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?

Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.

Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.

A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.

Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.

When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.

When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.

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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

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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.