Tips for Beginning the Auction Process

What to Expect at the Start of Your Auction Process

In this episode, K-Bid’s Chris Schwartz asks Mike Hopper more about how to begin the auction process. What does getting the ball rolling on the auction process look like? And how much time should you take to prep for a sale? While many of this depends on what you’re looking to sell, Mike delivers some great tips for preparing yourself for a great auction.

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What You’ll Learn

  • Why it’s important to reach out to learn about the first steps of selling.
  • How selling at auction can maximize the dollars you can earn from your items.
  • When you should start preparing for the auction itself.

Listen To The Audio

Transcript for Tips for Beginning the Auction Process

Chris Schwartz: You have a client that is starting to think about doing an auction. What do you want them to do today? I mean, if they’re even an inclination of, “Okay, we need to start liquidating some of this stuff,” what should they do now?

Mike Hopper: My simple answer is give me a phone call. Let’s connect and have a time to talk on the phone. And if it makes sense for us based on that phone call to schedule a time, even though you are not ready yet and there’s still work to be done to get ready, it doesn’t hurt for me to come out and take a look at what you would want to be doing. Because even if there’s stuff that’s all over the place and it’s all mixed together and you don’t know what you’re selling and what you’re keeping yet, it at least gives us a place to have a conversation so that you know. And like I said, we can kind of lay that groundwork on the first initial conversation where I get a chance to see what the sale site is, and what it looks like, and how much stuff is there. And then I would have ideas and thoughts for you on how to make this as effective for you as possible.

So, it’s worth having that initial phone conversation and potentially in person meeting where we have those kinds of conversations. And if it takes six months or a year before you even get to the point where you’re ready to actually do the sale, that doesn’t matter. At least you know what to do once you get to the point where you’re like, “Okay, I’m ready to go now.” We’ve done what you kind of talked about us doing. Let’s go. Because at this initial meeting, what you’re going to know is one, A that we can do it. B, what it’s going to cost and what it’s going to take from a cost standpoint to do the sale, and what you need to do to get ready for the sale. And then however long it takes to actually get to that point, at least you know what that entails.

Chris Schwartz: And I know a lot of affiliates, you’re almost acting as a coach when you get there. It’s, “Well, this sells very well on K-BID.”

Mike Hopper: For sure.

Chris Schwartz: “These types of items don’t sell very well.” Or it’s the, “My neighbor offered me 15 grand for this, but we just sold one on auction last week for 22.” You know?

Mike Hopper: Right.

Chris Schwartz: Those types of conversations I know are being had at that point. Just kind of coach them on what to expect and what pitfalls not to fall into.

Mike Hopper: And I’ve had people in the past say, “Well, I shouldn’t have thrown… I had all a whole bunch more of this particular thing and I threw it all away. I wish I wouldn’t have done that.” Okay, well, let’s have that conversation up front before you throw anything away. Because there might be value in some things that you don’t understand that there’s value in. And then as you said, there’s going to be value in things, or more value, from an auction perspective, sometimes, than what you can get from your buddy down the street. So yeah.

Understanding what has value and what’s going to sell well versus what’s not going to sell well, that’s all part of that conversation of what to expect when we have that initial talk. For sure.

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