First, why is this? We all have a finite amount of time. However, in the past several years the demands on our time have increased significantly. We rush from one commitment to another. Gone are the days of a leisurely day spent at an auction. Certainly there are auctions which are the exception to this rule, but those auctions are quite few and far between.

We’ve increasingly been aware aware of this, and are becoming more sensitive to the buyer’s needs. It’s simple without ample buyers, the demand end of the supply and demand equation is severely hampered and prices drop as a result. The longer an auction takes, the more likely the crowd is to dwindle in size. I’ve often thought about conducting a simple count every half hour of number of attendees at our auctions. I’ve seen this technique used in bars and restaurants numerous times to analyze crowd sizes and optimal staffing. Application of the technique to crowd size of an auction would result in an interesting look at the trends of auction crowds, and could possibly result in fitting a crude equation to crowd size.

A seller, in contrast to a buyer, often believes having two rings results in substantially reduced prices. While I agree, it may lead to lesser prices on a few select pieces, over the course of the entire auction it leads to higher prices. Each item, on average, will have more potential buyers in a two ring auction than in a single ring auction that is over three or four hours in length. Of course, convincing a seller of this is quite difficult. In fact, I’ve yet to find more than a few sellers that are able to understand this phenomena. Sellers of course want the entire crowd to focus on each of their possessions one at a time. However, they often fail to realize that this comes at the cost of a dwindling crowd, and has severe consequences after three or four hours.

Results are almost always better when we’re able to sell in two rings for significant portions of an auction. Sadly, as auctioneers we are in the middle of the dichotomy of a seller wanting the entire crowd to see each item they have, and a buyer wanting to purchase the items they are interested in as quick as possible and without impacting their time committed lives! Simply put, auctions of over three or four hours are almost always best conducted with auctioneers selling in two rings.

Sunday, I worked at an auction for a local church.  The auction typically features garage sale and better items that are donated.  Our task is to sell the items to raise money for the church.  This is the third year of the auction, and each year it has grown to be a bit bigger than the previous year.  This year was no exception.  However, there was one ingredient that was in play that had been missing in past years.

The article I had read discussed how auctions exceed expectations when individuals bid on items for the fun of bidding, and to support the cause, and they stop focusing on the perceived value of an item.  This happened early and often on Sunday’s auction.  It was about 30 minutes into the auction, when we sold an item that easily was a garage sale leftover for $1 to buyer number 59.  He quickly quipped that while he bought the item, we should deliver the item to number 58.  Well, it wasn’t too much later when number 58 returned the favor, and bought a similar item but asked that the item be delivered to number 59.  This went back and forth a few times, until number 59 loudly announced to the crowd there now was a game being played between four bidders.  The game was simple, the high bidder paid for the item, but the backup bidder had to take the item home.

Well, the game worked.  Those $1 and $2 items quickly escalated to $10 and $15 items, and the energy and enthusiasm at the auction escalated right along with the prices.  Simply put, the bidders turned the tables, and began to realize they were there to have fun and support the cause and they stopped focusing on the value of the item, and started focusing on the value of the cause.  As a result, the revenues for the auction escalated beyond expectations, and the bidders fun and enthusiasm escalated right along with the revenues.  It was a triple win.

The lesson was simple.  If you can cross the threshold where bidders begin to bid because of the cause, for the pure fun, and without regard to the value of an item, you are well on your way to higher auction revenues.  This principal applies to all types of auctions.  When bidders are smiling and having fun, they often are spending money, and happy doing so!