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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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Starting a Small Business in 2013

The world of business is changing and the most significant cause of that change has come from the internet. Before the internet, if you were starting a small business, you would have to find physical premises, find staff, buy stock and invest in inventory to make your business work. You would also stay open as long as you possibly could for as many days as you possibly could in the effort to service your customers. But sooner or later you would have to go home, to see your family, have something to eat and sleep.But starting a small business on the internet has changed all this. You do not need a building to work from, as log as you have a computer and access to the internet you can start straight away. You do not have to buy stock or worry about how to supply it to your customers. Also, your online business can work for you whilst you are sleeping!This is possible with online affiliate marketing, where you sell products on behalf of a vendor and they pay you a commission when you sell the product or service to somebody. The vendor takes care of all of the product fulfilment and customer service and you can create automated systems that do all the selling work for you.So, you can look at starting a small business from home with affiliate marketing. The next step is to find a product or service that interests you. There are thousands of products available to sell online, the difficulty is often trying to decide which ones to pick!Staring a small business on the internet is very rewarding but basic business principals still apply:What is Your Reason For Starting a Small Business?Do not start a business because you don’t know what else to do. If you really want to do your own thing and you’re ready to go for it, then small business ownership can be the most frustrating and the most liberating business decision you’ll ever make. But make sure your reason for starting a small business is genuine or else when the going gets tough, you’ll will lose interest and give up.What Is Your Small Business Going To Do?If you are starting a small business, the internet has thousands of products that you can sell. The most important thing is to decide what type of product your business is going to sell. If your product range is too varied then it will be very difficult to get potential customers to trust your advice if, for example,one week you are selling lawn mowers and the next week it is foreign exchange advice.Create a Simple Business PlanThis does not have to be a huge thousand page document. It just needs to cover the simple facts that detail what you offer, who you’re targeting, how much you’ll charge and how you will make it happen.Who Is Your Customer?The more you can know your targeted client, the more focused your marketing efforts will be to reach them. You cannot please all the people all the time. Decide who is your ideal customer and then go and find them.How Much Will You Charge?The best way to work this is to ‘reverse engineer’ what you need to earn to make a reasonable living when starting a small business. How do these numbers break down monthly and weekly? How many products must you sell or how many clients will you need to bring in to meet those numbers?Get CustomersIf you don’t have customers you don’t have a business. The majority of your time and effort must focus on sales. Having a smart marketing plan to attract potential customers is your number one priority when starting a small business.Get EducatedWhether you are doing business online or offline, it is important to be continually educated on what is working now and what is not. For example, what are customers are looking for and how can you provide it to them? How can you get more customers and how can you get your existing customers to buy more from you? Providing yourself with the correct business training will speed up your success when starting a small business.

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Starting a Home Based Business – 3 Essential Steps You Must Consider First

Starting a Home Based Business can be as exciting as it is challenging, that’s why I would like to discuss 3 things that I believe should be considered, when Starting a home Based Business. So the first thing that you should consider is Mindset, are you in the right mindset for success? The next thing to consider is finding an opportunity that’s right for you. There are a lot of Home Based Business opportunity’s out there, it’s important you find one that fits. The third thing that I personally feel is essential when Starting a Home Based Business is having a mentor, somebody who’s been where you are and can guide you on your path to achieving your goals.Mindset: You know it’s amazing when we realise that the way we think, be it positive or negative it has a major effect on our outcome. Did you know the only thing that stands between us and what we want in life is the will to give it a go, and the faith to know it’s possible. In order to be successful, we have to visualise our goals and then move towards them with unstoppable determination. As long as we know exactly what we want and we possess a strong desire to attain it, we will succeed. You need to understand that you control your destiny, it’s your life and you have the power to conquer every obstacle on your path, if you believe in yourself and know that anything you set your mind to is absolutely possible if you are willing to put in the effort to achieve it.The right opportunity: Finding the right opportunity is essential to your success when Starting a Home Based Business. You will need to find a Home Based Business that meets your requirements. Does the opportunity feel right to you? Do they have the right quality’s and value’s you are looking for? Can they provide you with the education, training and resources you will need for Starting a Home Based Business? Will they be there to support you on your journey and does this Home Based Business opportunity give you a sense of belonging. For example, does it make you feel that your in the right place, that by joining this business you will increase your chances of success, does it enable you to move forward and charge ahead with confidence knowing that you have a team of experienced marketers behind you willing to guide you and support you on your road to success.Having a mentor: Having a mentor is extremely important, you see we don’t start out as experts and if we did mentors would not be necessary. However, if you are like me and so many others, then you will find that there are quite a few areas you will come across when Starting a Home Based Business, where you could use someone to help point you in the right direction. Having a mentor to me is like having my own personal trainer to keep me focused and accountable for the success of my Home Based Business, to believe in me and to be there to answer any questions I have. They help you brainstorm and inform you of avenues you may not of even known existed let alone thought about. Remember your mentor wasn’t born with a Home Based Business, They too had to start somewhere. They have been in your situation and they understand the path that lies before you. They know what you need to do in order to achieve your goals. They work with you, talk you through you goals and give you options, so that you can have a clear understanding of what to do next.So the 3 things to consider when Starting a Home Based Business are, having the right mindset for success, know that you control your destiny. Finding the right opportunity with the resources, training, education and support. Finally having a mentor to guide you along the way. Congratulations you are already 3 steps closer to achieving your goal of starting a Home Based Business. Although just the knowing of these 3 steps is only knowledge, if you want to leverage the knowledge you have to take action. Find out if you have the right mindset, if not get in the right mindset. Go out and find an opportunity that suits you.