How Do Auctioneers Feel About Their Audiences?

!±8± How Do Auctioneers Feel About Their Audiences?

It is not very often that much is said on this particular subject. In other words, most people are never going to know how an auctioneer really feels about his audience. They are not going to know because any auctioneer currently working in the business is never going to say. Usually such information will only come from an auctioneer who is either retired or willing to use an alias.

Since audiences are the bread and butter of any auctioneer's career, for the most part, auctioneers usually look upon them favorably. If they do not, then it is probably time for those particular auctioneers to put away their gavels.

Frequently it is just certain people, not their audiences as a whole, that irritate auctioneers. First on the list would be the customers who do not think that the rules of the house apply to them. Having to constantly keep an eye on these people while trying to call a sale is difficult at best. Rule breakers are not looked upon favorably by most auctioneers.

Next on the list would be the high maintenance customers - the whiners. There are people who whine about everything. They whine because they don't have a pencil, someone took their seat, the food is cold, why is the item they want to buy so late in the sale, there are not enough boxes, they did not get a good parking space and on and on and on.

Then there are the talkers. In addition to going to an auction to buy, they are also there to socialize. There is nothing wrong with being friendly and showing an interest in someone's new baby. There is however something wrong when they bid on the incorrect items because they are looking at baby pictures or writing down the newest brownie recipe.

Last but not least there are those who are untutored in the subtle art of the "favor." Most auctioneers try to be even-handed in their dealings with everyone. It is not in an auctioneer's best interest to be otherwise. When an auctioneer sees a customer who has bid on any number of items but has failed to win even one of them for whatever reason, the auctioneer will most likely knock an item down to that bidder before he or she loses out again.

A little later the auctioneer might ask for an opening bid on an item and that very same bidder will make the auctioneer drop the opening price all the way down to the cellar. That same bidder will wind up bidding five times the opening amount originally requested. Instead of just giving the auctioneer his opening bid, he has to work twice as hard to ultimately get the same ending price. This is an example of someone not understanding the meaning of the word "favor."

Auctioneers do have a tendency to like and respect the heavy hitters that are at their auctions every week rain or shine. However, they do not like and respect them for the reason one might think. Sure, these heavy hitters spend a lot of money and that would certainly make any auctioneer happy, but it is the way in which these buyers handle themselves that earns them an auctioneer's gratitude.

When someone purchases a lot of items there are always occasional problems - a few missed bids, a misplaced item that was taken by someone else, a piece that was broken by the house after it was bought, etc. It would be a rare occurrence for one of these big buyers to ever complain about any of these things. They just take it in stride as part of the cost of doing business. The attitude is usually one of, "Don't worry about it. It's not important."

Heavy hitters attend many auctions and they buy an extensive amount of merchandise. They see first hand how tough the auction business is. They also understand how important auctions are to the continued success of their own businesses.

It is common place for people to talk about auction houses and auctioneers -- what they like and what they don't like. Now everyone has an idea of what it looks like on the other side of the fence.