My real online auction report of my first auction called on Bonanzle

Last week I made much ado about my plans to conduct a REAL live online auction. As far as I know no one has done anything like this yet on the Internet.

What I mean by a real auction is as follows: I called the bids in realtime over the Talkshoe network, so the people attending the auction could hear me . The bidders were in the chat room at my Bonanzle booth at http://bonanzle.com/auctionwally

Because of the way Bonanzle is set up, I knew that this would work, what I didn't realize is how well it would work! I sold 100% of the lots, and prices ranged from good to very strong. It was an absolute blast, and immediately after the auction, I had emails asking if I would take consignments for my next auction and if I would conduct auctions for other people.

My answer to that was, “let me digest what has gone on here, write a report on it, and I will see if I can put together a plan to help other people with this exciting new/old way of selling”. This is that report.

First, let me say that I think other people can duplicate my success with these auctions without having to call the bids vocally as I have done, but rather by taking the bids in the chat room as some have already tried.

Second, I am a licensed auctioneer (MA license #2621) and anyone interested in conducting a REAL online auction may want to check their state auction license laws.

There are certain things you need to do to make a live online auction a real auction, one of the most important is, you must state clear terms and conditions of the sale.

Here is the complete description of my REAL online auctions from my website, complete with a promotional pitch, FAQs, schedule of upcoming auctions, and terms & conditions :

Are you tired of online auctions that are not what they claim to be? Are you sick of getting jerked around?

I'll bet this has happened to you more than a few times: You find an online auction listing that has something your excited to have found, but when you click on the description page, you find out that there's a high starting bid on the item, it has a high shipping fee, or my pet peeve, a RESERVE has been placed on the item. Some auctions will have all three!

That's not an auction! That's a tired old bait and switch routine that has savvy auction goers looking for something else.

Well look no further than AuctionWally's REAL online auctions.

At my real online auctions, I'll offer antiques, collectibles, used and unique items online, but they won't be listing style auctions such as the ones you see on eBay and every other online auction site.

My auctions will be live, real-time auctions at which actually hear me call the bids. Now that in itself is not such a big deal, but here's was unique about my REAL online auctions:

• Besides photos and descriptions, I'll have a preview session at least an hour before the auction, you can call in and ask questions about any of the items in the auction.

•  I'll cast the auction live over the Talkshoe network where I produce The AuctionWally Show and the Brainstorming Bonanzle Show. Click here to go to that network. At that network, there's a phone # with a call in ID to enter if you want to call in early for preview and ask a question. (724) 444-7444 Call ID: 31369 So there's an inspection before each of my auctions, just like a real auction.

• You will be able to bid live in a chat room at my booth at Bonanzle.com http://bonanzle.com/booths/auctionwally By bidding live, you can see exactly what the bidding is at and who your bidding against, just like a real auction. This is where the pictures of the auction items will be on display. I a may post some additional photos on Picassa Web albums. If you don't know what that is, no worry, there will be easy links to follow, and I'll explain before the auction.

• Your items will be shipped to you with the method stated in each auction description. In the event that there are multiple delivery options, I'll explain exceptions, unusual or special circumstances before I sell an item. Just like a real auction.

• There will be surprises, auction banter, carnival type hype and corny jokes... just like a real auction.

I sure do hope you stop by:

Here's the schedule:

Debut auction January 24th, 1pm EST. Click here to see some of the items, more will be listed soon.

After that, we will have an auction on the 1st Saturday of every month. Same Bat time, same Bat station.

Sat. Feb. 7th - (Click here for details) PLEASE NOTE: at the time of this report, there are only a few items listed for this auction, HOWEVER there will be at least 20 lots offered by the start of the auction. The other items will be listed ASAP.

Sat. March 7th - (Items not listed yet)

Sat. April 4th - (Items not listed yet)

 

FAQs

Q: Do I have to be a registered Bonanzle user to bid?
A: Yes, but the site is very easy to register with, free to use, and there's no credit card required to do so.

Q: Why are your REAL auctions taking place on Bonanzle?
A: Because the Bonanzle platform is perfect for this type of event. And the Bonanzle community has the same spirit you'll find in a live auction hall. I truly believe that there is no other online selling platform that can support this type of event. Should there become one, I'll stick with Bonanzle because I believe in dancing with them that brung ya.

Q: What is Talkshoe and what does that have to do with the auction?
A: Talkshoe is where I host the Brainstorming Bonanzle show and the AuctionWally show. This is the online software I'll also be using to broadcast my voice live as I call the bids. Again, like Bonanzle is very easy to use. Really. If you have your speakers on your PC turned on, all you need to do is go to the URL provided, and click on the listen button. That's it.

Q: How do I bid?
A: You open up a window at the TalkShoe Network to listen, then open another window to enter the chat room of my Bonanzle booth to bid there via the chat room. As I call the bids, enter the amount you wish to bid for the item, keep track of the bid progression and if you want to, increase your bid if you get outbid.

Q: How will I know what I'm bidding on?
A: Items will have a lot# and a description. I'll tell you vocally which lot we're on, and my scribe will enter it in the chat room.

Q: Can I come to watch and listen, even if I don't want to bid?
A: Yes, but PLEASE, no chatting during the auction. The chat room at that time will be for bidding ONLY.

Just like a real auction that has too much talking, it is distracting for the scribe, or bookkeeper to deal with chatter and we don't want to miss your bids. I can't emphasize this enough, please keep quiet in the chat room unless you are bidding.

Q: When will the bidding end?
A: When I say sold.

Q: Are there any hidden fees such as a buyer's premium or site fees for making a purchase?
A: No, you pay the final bid price, the shipping charge, and if your a MA state resident, I have to charge you sales tax, unless you provide a signed re-sale form stating that your a dealer. I'll pay the Bonanzle fees.

Q: What forms of payment do you accept?
A: PayPal, Google Checkout, checks & money orders. (checks and money order's will need to clear before shipment.)

Q: What kind of shipping rates do you charge:
A: Reasonable ones. Usually actual shipping costs, plus a fair packaging fee if the item requires special care when packing.

Q: What kind of recourse do I have as a buyer?
A: I have to comply with the rules and regs of Bonanzle.com, and MA state auction law. I am a licensed and bonded auctioneer, my Massachusetts state auction license # is 2621.

That said, most of my lots will be sold "as is, where is" meaning buyer beware, just like a real auction. If you have concerns regarding condition, grading, terms etc, that's what the inspection before the auction is for. Please call before the auction and ask if you have any questions whatsoever.

Q: What happens if I bid a low amount on an expensive item and no one else bids, are you really going to let me have it for that price?
A: Yes

Q: Do you take consignments?
A: Not yet, but I may for future auctions.

Q: Is there anyone else doing auctions like this on the Internet?
A: Not that I'm aware of.

Terms and conditions of the sale:
Unlike other terms and conditions that we usually tend to skip over when we’re online, THESE terms and conditions need to be read and understood.

They apply to everything I sell at auction.

1. The auction will start at 1pm sharp and will begin with the reading of these terms.

2. Please no chatting in the chat room during the auction. The auction needs to be monitored by a scribe who needs to track the bids, so PLEASE NO CHATTING DURING THE AUCTION.

3. I'll expect that everyone either got here for inspection ahead of time to ask questions, OR is bidding on each lot they are interested in AS IS condition.

4. Once the auctioneer says the bidding for an item has ended, the bidding for that item has been ended.

5. Please pay attention to SHIPPING TERMS IN THE ITEM DESCRIPTION, AND/OR the auctioneer may amend the shipping description as the auction progresses. For example I may say, the bidding is at $25.00, one more bid brings FREE shipping. Please pay close attention to what I’m saying on EACH LOT.

6. Stay awake for surprised and unusual events.

7. ALL LOTS WILL BE SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE or minimum starting bids. A passed lot that does not get a bid, will not generally NOT come back on the auction block.

8. You will be invoiced after the auction is over for your lot totals. Please do not pay before we invoice you. We accept Google Checkout, Money orders, checks and PayPal.

9. All MA residents must pay 5% sales tax UNLESS you send me a signed MA resale tax# form. I will accept a scanned signed copy.

10. IN GENERAL, here's how the bid progression will go. I'll ask a price to start off the lot, anyone in the room may start the bidding there, or jump with a lesser amount. Then the bidding will progress until I say sold. In the event a bid is entered after I say sold, it will not be honored so type fast.

11. In the spirit of Bonanzle, we'll keep bid amounts in whole dollar amounts ONLY so there is no need to type a decimal.

12. Any questions?

13. Let's have an auction!

 

 

So what happened?

Promotion: Before the auction I announced on Brainstorming Bonanzle that I would be having the auction. I entered the items in my booth with very little description, stating that I would answer any and all questions about the items during preview.

I also juiced the sale by tweeting it and telling my online community of friends about it at eBayandBeyond, and the AuctionWally Network.

I announced it on my website, but did very little promotion otherwise. Cost for promotion was $0 and some time.

Day of the auction.

An hour before the auction began, I started to broadcast over the Talkshoe network that I was available to answer any questions on the lots being offered.

 

I got a few questions about some of the lots and answered those. In between questions, I gave descriptions of the lots.

Registration: This was a cinch. Since I held the auction on Bonanzle, everyone that bid was already registered.

Auction start: It's very important that you start a real auction precisely at the time you promise and I started the sale at 1pm EST with the reading of the terms and conditions which is required by auction law.

It appears as if we had as many as 50 registered bidders for our first auctioneer. It's difficult to say exactly how many we had because they did not get bidding numbers as they would have if they were hall participants, but rather were identified by Bonanzle user name, and we were too busy to count those!

My wife Shelly was the scribe for the sale, so she monitored the bids so I could concentrate on bid calling.

I explained that unless I stated otherwise, everything was to be sold as is, with no exceptions, this is perfectly acceptable when you have an open inspection or preview time as I did, and, as you must do with a real auction.

Because it's an online live auction, I did take more time with each item description as I sold it, than I normally would with an auction hall auction.

I asked if we had any questions, I think there was one or two that I addressed, then we were ready to roll.

The first item got bids immediately and things flowed very well. There was a little bit of time as we all got used to the format and bid processing via the chat room. I cracked dumb jokes, people had a great time and 100% of the lots sold. I felt the hammer prices were very good.

I sold 17 lots of antiques, collectibles, books and ad spots for my radio shows and I'm telling you, it was just as much fun as one of my auction hall auctions.

After the auction:

After the auction was over, I sent out invoices for the lots with shipping. (Shipping for each lot was explained up front. I won't go into details here, but suffice it to say, standard Internet shipping practice was applied)

100% of the bidders paid promptly, with either Google Checkout or PayPal. My final value fees for this auction was about $34. To list an item on Bonanzle is free. My cost estimate of fees likely incurred on eBay would be about $65-$80 for the same items. This includes listing fees, final value fees, and extra picture fees. This is only an estimate of comparable eBay fees, I have not crunched the actual numbers and have no interest in doing so.

As with all live auctions I conduct, I was left with a bit of a post auction buzz and exhausted at the same time.

I started getting congrats and emails for consignment requests and people that want me to run an auction for them. As I said, I am looking into those possibilities, but here is what I plan for sure:

I will be having one of these events on at least the first Saturday of every month at 1pm EST.

I will be publishing an eBook soon to help people who are interested in running their own REAL auction on Bonanzle. To find out when that becomes available, sign up for my free newsletter.

I will conduct these REAL auctions on Bonanzle only.

I can't wait until the next one! Click here for details.

Thanks for reading. If you haven't checked out Bonanzle.com yet, I'd advise you to take a look at the site.

Please see the slideshow and the additional pictures to see exactly what I sold, and for how much. Also included below are some photos of things that did not fit into the slideshow.

 

 

Lot#11 was a link on my "What's it Worth" appraisal site and a 500 word article.

This was won by Simplydishing. Hammer price, $130.00

BTW, Simplydishing is the best source online for unusual and retired Fiesta ware.

Lot#13 was 4 antique prints taken from an antique book. 9x12"  Hammer price. $45.00

Lot#12 Another lot of 4 antique engraved prints taken from antique books. Hammer price $61.00

Lot#16 was a lot of 6 small vintage jack knives. Hammer price $25.00

Lot#17 was a lot of Godey's Fashion prints. Hammer price $40.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Topics: antiques , auctions , selling your valuables , selling your antiques , price report , eBay alternatives , live auctions , live auction report , selling , collectilbles , godeys' , bonanzle.real auctions ShareThis    Subscribe   Feed