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Has anyone heard when Seth is going to have a listing avaliable for his upcoming auction?

John

I have a big ad coming out in PCM and then will direct mail a flyer in a few weeks....THEN I'll start to load a roster onto bidspotter about month out from the sale.

I don't get PCM. Can you send me a flyer?

Larry

Larry if it is ok with Seth I will post the ad on here when I get my PCM Mag

For what it's worth, a mailer should be going out much sooner then "in a few weeks". We are only 7 weeks away from the auction, not long when people, who are not regular viewers of this site nor subcribers of PCM, need to start making plans and reservations. I Love this auction and have not missed one since it's start but all publicity is always WAY late. There needs to be some EXCITEMENT generated, blood flowing, heart beats increasing and pulses jumping out of the skin.

Ray.....publicity won't be JUST starting in a few weeks. I've been fielding calls, personally handing out flyers at Columbia and sending out flyers to others who have requested them for over a month now. Nothing I've ever done with this sale is by accident or without a ton of thought involved, 11 auctions & $5 million in sales has to mean SOMETHING doesn't it?

Also PCM & a flyer & this website are FAR from the only places that publicize this auction. I will be pouring over 10 grand into various print-locations & web locations leading up to the sale. Not to mention an e-mail blast 3x the 2 weeks leading up to the sale to 130,000 people.

Can you send me a flyer?

Larry

I heard from Seth about my post and he explained all that he is doing as far as notifying everyone. This is more then a hard core auction, it's a happening and a lot of fun. Everyone try to get there early for the Friday night sale and auction which is then followed the next day by the BIG auction. I've even put some nice signs for sale including 3 great Buick pieces and even a large Husky shield with the sun burst in the background.

One thing that is new with this sale is the fact that I am going to webcast it on two different sites. Bidspotter.com will always be my first choice, but I'm also going to use a partner firm of theirs called Remote Bidder. They are going to focus on obtaining some overseas bidders for us, BUT, anybody over here that finds their site more enjoyable or user-friendly can gladly use them. The platforms are similar, but I really like remote bidder's system. I am working feverishly to get all the pics taken and the line-up set. That's the difficult thing about the online catalog, is that you have to have your sale order pretty much etched in stone before you launch it.

Larry...e-mail your addy to: seth@okautomobilia.com and I will drop in tomorrow's mail!

What is the consignment rate for sellers?

Thanks

Matt...I charge a flat 10% to the seller...no other costs involved regardless of how it sells either online or by credit card.

Seth, are you still planning the Friday night table sale and auction and what are the buyers fees going to be?

We won't be having a table sale on friday night, we replaced that with the fact there is going to be swap-meeting all day friday. Also, since we don't have the "store" anymore, a lot of the items that we would bargain-basement on friday night are no longer available to us. As far as the buyer's premium goes, I've always done 10% onsite (cash or check), 12.5% onsite with credit card & 15% online. I am thinking about offering an additional percentage discount to onsite cash & check folks....thoughts??

(Before this turns into a debate about the evil buyer's premium, just search buyer's premium in the archives and re-read the old arguments, I think I've articulated my points as to why I don't have any choice but to charge one at all)

How about a % discount for those who say spend over 2500.00 or whatever number you determine reguardless of being onsite or online....mm
or maybe free shipping for those online that spend 2500.00 or more????
like reward the people who actually spend money..

I'm liking minuteman's idea Seth. I know you talked to me about these same ideas. A break for the real buyers
Ray

I always considered myself a real buyer, but I suppose I must not fall into that category. Thanks for clearing up my confusion.

I'm not saying that I disagree with the idea of giving a break to buyers who spend more money. In fact, I think it's a good idea. What irks me is the comment about these people being "real" buyers. Just because you may have deeper pockets doesn't mean that you're more important than anyone else. Those who don't spend "the big bucks" still pay more for the items they win than anyone else there, don't they? I'm sick of hearing that the only "real" buyers/collectors are the ones with tons of money.

A touchy subject. What is a "big bucks buyer"? B-J doesn't give discounts on items sold, whether the item sold for $1000 or $5 million(the top price for a car when we/I last sold a 'stang through them). Most auction houses I have worked with have the same policy(s). Why an auctioneer or auction house would pay for or get involved in shipping is crazy, too many variables to deal with. Be honest, as Seth is, he will earn each and every dollar. In fact when comparing total time and resourses spent -vs- payout they usually come out just barely ahead. Again my .02 worth.

It's funny...my brother & I had this same conversation when trying to come up with a "new" formula for buyer's premium. We were trying to figure out a threshhold where you begin to discount premium, without making those who don't reach that threshhold feel like second-class citizens. It takes ALL bidders both big & small to make an auction great (although a few "whales" can take one from great to out-of-sight). I'd like to hear more feedback....

P.S. Just came back from the OKC Thunder vs. Portland Trailblazers NBA game....we won! Take that Slama!

Seth,

I like the reduced premium for more spending idea. It's not offensive just a simple marketing technique. Buy 3 get 1 free, spend 100 get 10% off, we see these type of promitions daily in retail.

Could you determine what the avg. expenditure per registered bidder of actual sales (not buy-backs) over the last 3-5 sales? If that number can be determined give a bracket of the top spenders a 2 % discount. For example the avg. is 1500, the top 25% spend $3500 then give everyone over $3500 (in the top 25%) a 2% onsite, cash/check buyers premium discount.

I wouldn't worry about making anyone feel 2nd class, when explained properly it is not that much different than many promotions found daily in retail. Some of the feedback in this thread may have very little to do with offering discounts at your auction but more to do with non-related comments in previoius threads regarding other posters.

The system does work for retail, but auctions and retail are as different as an auction and a garage sale. A retail item has built in profit, an auction item has no such guarantee. Why ask the "house", to take an automatic loss? The auctioneer/auction house does a ton of work that is done as part of his/their commission. He(the house) doesn't get a salary wage, they work on commission. If you(any of you) worked in, lets say a machine shop. And your boss came to you and said "from now on our big buck buyers will get a discount, that you will contribute to out of your wages". Is there anyone who wouldn't be screaming how unfair that is??? Yet you want Seth to do just that, take away part of any profits he makes? If it isn't fair to the machine shop worker how is it fair to ask the house/auctioneer, to "bite the bullet"? The auctioneer does all the prep work; catalogs, promotion, etc before the event. He does the cleanup afterwards. He also gets caught in the middle of any and all disputes. Again, he doesn't get paid a salary for doing these things, it is part of his expenditures. That says nothing of the time, phone calls and troubleshooting done before, during and after the auction. Seth, I take my hat off to you, I have done a handful of times what you do regularly. I gave it up, because it drove me crazy, getting out of the vintage car business was just the easy excuse.

I think I'll skip this auction ? ;;;;;;;;;;;Ron

In my opinion the person that spends $20,000 vs the one that spends $5 are no different. They BOTH make a auction sell idems. I agree with Wes & Tara on this. I get sick of hearing about the "BIG BUYERS" or "REAL BUYERS" making a auction or wanting a discount. If they can afford to spend that kind of money whats a 10% buyers premium going to hurt them. Really? If there is going to be a discount it should be spread across the board not to just the "REAL/BIG BUYERS". If it was not applied to everyone I probably wouldn't spend a dime there.



Wes,I guess we where both confused!! I guess I/we can just wipe our *** with our insignificant collections since I/we have not spent hundreds or thousands on each piece. Sorry a lot of collectors here & that I have met do not have DEEP POCKETS & they are "REAL COLLECTORS & BUYERS" too in my book. Now I am glad to see it was cleared up by some there are different categories of collectors instead of everyone being the same. Thanks for clearing up my confusion on this too!!! I feel so much better now. Just MY 2 Cents!!!!


Anyway I am positive Seth will do what he sees fit for his auction to make it successful & a good experience for everyone!

Awesome subject, For someone that can only afford to spend $200. on an item at auction, 10% means a heck of a lot to them, As gasoildude stated, If a person does not bat an eye at spending $5000-$10,000 and more at an auction, 10% is not going to mean diddily. So I too think if a discount was to be given it would be best if it was spread across the board for everyone, maybe on a sliding scale.


P.S. I should add that the Lower class buyers, like myself, probably are the ones keeping this hobby alive, There are only a handful of "Real" collectors like Ray who only spend "Real Money" for bragging rights, The rest of us Lower Class people get to enjoy our collections and feed our Families at the same time

Or leave it at 10% for everyone. No questions or preference there. Everyone is the same

Lets think about where this just went? People who have more money to spend... give them discounts? Why? You think someone is going to spend more money to save 2%? The lower money items are for who? People who don't have pockets full of money? How about new collectors starting out? What does that show to new people or people that don't have much money? Why would someone spending $5,000 on a sign care about 2% anyway?

Kinda Sounds like the Goverment, taking care of the Wealthy and not Caring about the Little Guy.

Ron...None of this back & forth between people has anything to do with my auction, other than I posed the question about whether or not there was a way to change the buyer's premium structure that might cause people to want to physically attend and to bid lots. I don't know why the arguing between posters about how a buyer's premium should be constructed AT ANY AUCTION, would automatically turn you off of this one.

I have simply been thinking of ANY WAY I could to stimulate buying without making the promotion of this consignment auction a losing proposition for me. I hope anyone who's feelings have been affected negatively won't misdirect their ire towards my sale. I think the passionate responses on here so far are proof that EVERYONE is important and EVERY BIDDER matters. Probably, the BP will be left alone, but I'm still looking for that one great idea where there will be incentive for PEOPLE TO ATTEND THE SALE IN PERSON AND FOR THEM TO ACTIVELY BID. A few percent here or there won't mean a whole ton to any one buyer, but I would love to see a full-house rather than just a full internet. Don't get me wrong, I love you internet boys and your portion of the overall purchases goes up every year. But back in the first 6 years of this sale, we would sometimes have over 400 bidders in house and that made for very spirited bidding and loads of fellowship. Now we are seeing a few hundred onsite & a few hundred online. I'd like to see us back to 300-400 onsite AND a few hundred online. See....this is behind my reasoning for "tweaking" the costs....not to identify who's important & who's not.

I tell you what would be awesome...is if there was a way you could track bid frequency. I mean....I've been to Aumann & Dan's and have literally bid on maybe 150 of the items, but only bought 12-15. That's a guy you want at your sale, someone you can count on to get the bidding started and to run it up. Kurt Aumann got to the point that he KNEW that I would be willing to give the starting bid for just about anything in the house, so he didn't even wait for my hand to go up, he'd just point at me and move to the next increment. Afterwards, he thanked for my activity, if not for my purchasing.

It's like Vegas, the more you play/risk, the better chance you have at free steak or a free suite. If I could figure out a way to count how many times a guy bid, you could really reward them.

Seth--I've been around for a lot of years and consequently I've spent a "LOT" of time at auctions--just not gas & oil auctions. I like the fact that you're trying to improve the crowd count because its a whole different atmosphere with a big crowd of people. Just imagine 10 people in the audience and 2000 on the net. I think it would really be a strange thing and probably a big wreck! Hopefully you can come up with a way to make it work.
Many years ago, a big car auction company up here would start pitching silver dollars to every live bid, after the reserve was off! A lot of buyers would often risk an extra bid over their stop mark, just to try for that silver dollar! Not sure how you could incorporate it but its an idea and its one more than you had before!
Glad you're looking for ideas and not sitting idle because it means you care about the quality of the event itself. Hope I can make it!----KEVIN

Seth, you've really only got a couple options when looking at trying to get higher onsite attendance via buyers premiums. Offer a discount to all attendees paying cash OR increase the buyer premium for internet customers.
The travel expense, lodging, and food is a pretty tough hill to climb in this economy.

How about a reverse buyer's premium....you spend $1000, you get $100 back?? (I kid, I kid....)

My thoughts....NO DISCOUNTS. Seth's auction premium charges are in line with, or less, than other auctions. Too much work goes into an auction and believe Seth when he says "every bidder/buyer is important". If the quality items, whether low or high end, are there, they will get bids. Discounts to the "deep pockets" will alienate the ones that may not have the expendable income, so NO DISCOUNTS is fair to everyone. Plus it keeps Seth from working for minimum wage.

Seth, you want more bidders to show up? Have BBQ sandwiches and ribs available. LOL

All kidding & debating aside....other than than the BP question, what other things might make you physically attend any given sale that is available online?? This is the biggest reason I decided to allow paid swap-vending this year, I think that it will increase physical attendance.

As far as travel, fuel will be cheaper this year (even though it's inching upward) than it has been in a long-time....also, the refuel here is pretty cheap ($1.60 right now). Also, our local hotels are like $79, which although not a steal, not terribly expensive either. We are near the intersection of I-40 & I-35, so that helps.

As far as food, for the first time, my wife & kids (since they are getting a little older) are going to do the concessions. Without getting TOO elaborate, what does everyone think is the best auction grub?? I always like a big 'ol slice of pepperoni pizza and a cold Dr. Pepper. Also, would it be a desireable feature if we had some teenage "wait-staff" that would bring you your food, so you don't miss something while standing in line? Just a thought...

I want to make this a great "event weekend" rather than just a good auction....and if you know me at all, food-service IS A BIG DEAL!

How about 25 year old girls in bikinis to hold the items or help with loading the truck? I might come then even if i don't have any money to buy something. LOL Good looking girls always works for me... why do you think i own a boat? LOL

Kidding aside... free beer! Barrett-Jackson gets them drunk! LOL

I am trying here!

In a cold economy WARM BEER & spike the sodas for non drinkers ie: Ray !

It's amazing how, by Seth trying to offer an incentive, that some people take offense it. It's so typical of this site. This is supposed to be fun but it seems anytime there is a question like this so many of you start acting like little kids. No one is trying to take anything away from you new guys or low end buyers. One thing about Seth's auction, there have always been lots of real bargans for people who just want to buy to have inventory to take to shows and sales where they HOPE to make a small profit. Seth's auction is the most low key, kick back sale you will ever attend. People are there to have fun. You are right, a 2% savings on a large sale is not going to make a difference. Seth, I strongly suggest you drop the idea of being a good guy and just get on with the auction. Your prices are fair just as they are. Lighten up guys and as all this bickering is what is going to hurt our hobby. Congratulations to you guys that come to these forumn pages with good ideas and thoughts and not a "poor me" attitude

I never had any problem with the ideas being discussed. The only thing I took offense to was the comment immediately preceding my previous post.

Ray, I'll speak up because I have some. The person/people that are acting like little kids is you and Minuteman. You guys thinking your better than the rest of us.

I've never heard anything on this site in 5 years of reading and posting more assinine than your comments about "REAL COLLECTOR" and Minuteman's comment of "REAL SPENDER."

You guys owe everyone on here an apology with for your half cent comments.

Doug (blackT)

Collector of Texaco/Havoline all the way from a $2.00 can to globes you've never even seen !!!

Ray is a Great guy, but the use of REAL COLLECTORS was not a great choice of words.
Anyone that bids is a REAL buyer. As with all buyers, you get caught up in bidding that you ask yourself later why you bought THAT item ! Ray has bought Many items, then when he gets home decides it don't fit where he thought it would or the condition is not good enough for his wall.
Ray likes to buy & sell, some items will be in his collection for a short time, then it's for sale.
Myself & others have gotten some GREAT DEALS from Ray [no shipping, no traveling, no FEES !].
db

Bingo. We have a winner!!!!!

OK, I owe you guys an apology. I've gone back over my posts and have re-read my comments. By "Real Buyers" I meant to say "Big Buyers" I can't find where I used the term Real Collectors because we are all collectors in our own way and our own pocketbook. My pocketbook is not as big as many people think. I'm spending a lot of my retirement money on more expensive items that I think (hope) will appreciate. Please accept my apology and in my enthusiasm I used the wrong words. It was in no way meant as a slam. If you recall a few weeks ago I got totally slamed on this site because I took something off ebay before the end. I was not given the opportunity to respons because Jim pulled the topic. As Dick says, I like to sell and many times for less then I pay for items so we should have the ability to pull things from ebay if it seems the right thing to do.

MY mistake, you said Buyer NOT Collector.
I NEED a FIX, What's For Sale Ray ?

I cant make your auction in person Seth, but its just a matter of distance/money. However, to get to your original point, I would be more inclined to attend in person for the whole atmosphere of a live auction. Food and beer lend to atmosphere, and so does meeting people. I would love to attend some sort of "Old Gas Reception" so I can meet some of the interesting characters here. Maybe you can set aside a time and and area for "Old Gassers" to meet and just have a beer or two before the auction. New people could meet the old timers, and the old timers could kiss and make up.
John

Maybe I will explain better for my learned friend Doug before he construes MY post any further.
The following is a quote from Seth earlier.
"I am also going to try and do some tweaking to the buyer's premium structure to reward in person, aggressive bidding. Stay Tuned...."
In my post i said "reward the people who actually spend money" of which I am referring to anyone who buys something reguardless of what they spend...not the people who just "bid aggresively" but don't buy.

At No time did I insinuate that I or anybody else was better than anyone else nor did I use the words "REAL SPENDER".mm

I can't make it either Seth. Timing and distance.

I wish you the best and you can bet your A** I'll be watching online and probably buying something. I am sure it will be a first class deal.

As far as food........

I'll take a Diablo Sandwich and a Dr. Pepper nice lady....

OK all you know it alls, where's that line from???????

Minuteman Thanks for pointing that out to me, I do apologize for using the words "REAL SPENDER." Might want to look at your last two sentences that you actually wrote and see if you can sell that line to anyone else on here. I'm not interested, but thanks. ; )

Your Lil Buddy in collecting

59fairlane, Your quote is from Smokey and the Bandit I think???

I'll take a Diablo Sandwich and a Dr. Pepper nice lady....

Smokey and the Bandit, and I want some hush puppies Daddy.

You're too good a man pumpingethyl, you beat me to it.

You guys are good!!!!!!!!!!

One of the classics.......Gotta love Jackie Gleason

"This is Sheriff Buford T. Justice"

Wouldn't want Ray to feel left out with all my whining.

Here's a refresher Ray. : )

http://oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=10446#Post10446

I'm all done with this.... Too much trash!

OK guys....let's all sing Kumba-Ya and roast some marshmallows. Regardless of how Ray & MM came across, I know them both and they are good guys. Sometimes, what we TYPE and what we would SAY are two totally different things -OR- without tone, inflection & facial-expression, our points are sometimes left to be interpreted by the end-reader.

I've seen many votes for beer....two reasons I can't make that happen, a)no liquor license & b) I share the lease with a church (and it's not Catholic....oh great, here's another can of worms I've opened!). Seriously though, I promise that I will come up with some reward for showing up in person....maybe Jarvis' 25yr old scantily-clad bid takers, maybe not....we'll see.

Personally, 25 year old scantily clad women wouldn't quite do it for me! Haha! Perhaps everyone that walks in the door could get a gift certificate for a food item or for a certain amount that could be spent in the auction or in the food area? Maybe a dumb idea, but it's what I have!

Seth, I have always heard great things about you and your auction. Personally, I think an organized, well run auction by great people is reward enough for attending.

Maybe Seth Could get one Chip n' Dale for the Ladies attending!! LOL!!!

Maybe Seth Could get one Chip n' Dale for the Ladies attending!! LOL!!! [/quote]

Now you're talking! LOL.

Tara's Quote "Now you're talking! LOL."

If the Chip N' Dale held all the Sinclair Stuff I bet Seth could get double the $$$$ out of Tara!!

Hahaha. I actually giggled out loud! :-)

Ok, stupid question...when and where is this going to be anyway?

Door prizes in the form of gift certificates: Stables/The BBQ joint in Guthrie (happens to be full of decorating signs) for the post auction meal and those frequently suggested beverages, Night Trips in OKC (for Jarvis), $10 Thunder tickets for those on this board who can't find enough to complain about.

There you have it Seth.....a solution for everything.

PS: Tara, I've got nothing on that other front, not sure where or how to obtain that fix.

In Guthrie, OK

$10.00 Thunder tickets?????? Shouldn't somebody have asked me????

I'm all for the scantily clad 25 year old women though.... Sorry Tara. I hope that you still respect me.....

BTW. Nun of that stuff for me Professor....

The Truth is since Online Bidding started, Attendance has fallen at EVERY auction that allows it, Not just Seth's. Go to most every auction that has decent items and NO online bidding, and you will find a full house every time.

If you have Good Stuff at auction and In-House bidding only, People will find a way to attend.

It is almost like you can't have it both ways, By allowing Online bidding, to get more money, You are making it too easy for people to stay at home and bid on their computer,

Seth,
I used to go to the Peotone auctions. I quit because of 2 reasons. 1) i had to spend at least $2000 to break even on motel, food versus the extra 5% BP. 2) I had to take a vacation day at work to go.
I guess if i was going to spend $5000 then it would be worth it. Like someone else said if there wasn't internet and i really wanted something i would come.

Seth, you are doing what you need to do to promote the sale but there is risk and reward. When you have consignors that promote the sale as if it is their own personal sale especially when the deep pocket issue is brought up that is a huge risk, also something that is hard to control. Many people have a hard time understanding a 10% sellers permium, a 12.5% CC premium and a 15% buyers premium plus the shipping costs associated, and I have found the shipping costs exceedingly high. You mentioned the $5,000,000 in sales for your 11 auctions and that averages $400,000+ per sale, a big number. If we do the math the $5,000,000 in sales would approximate $7,500,000 income for the 11 auctions, a number many can not relate to. Of course there are costs associated with these sales and you are indeed due money for your efforts. Many feel this is a sellers auction, 10% is a fair seller premium but hesitate to bid online or come to the sale for these reasons.

Let me say that I have done business with Seth and find him to be a bright young man with good business skillsets and with great moral charactor. This is not an attempt to rustle any feathers, it is how I think some people look not only at this auction but many of the internet auctions. Good luck with the sale, Seth.



Mick

I appreciate your post Mick, but I need to clarify a few of your figures....on the premium's, there's 10% BP, and it stays that way for me regardless of whether you pay by CC or if you shop online. The excess premium for a CC payment is absorbed by the CC company, the excess premium for online sales is absorbed by the online company. As far as shipping costs, I can assure you, that it has always been a losing proposition for me. I've always been able to pass along the shipping & packaging costs, but have really never been able to make up for paying people (if I did it all myself, it would take me 3 months) to help crate & wrap.

Also, I always thought I did at least a decent job of working for both buyer's & seller's, but what, specifically, could I do for you Mick to change your perception?? (Private Message if you'd like, it matters not to me)

Seth,
You take a great chance each year with your auctions being a individual. I come to get good deals and to visit with the other collectors from around the country. To me it's a bargain to come down as I am less than 100 miles.
Three years ago the giant ice storm hit, you would have lost alot of money if not for the internet bidders helping.
You always have alot to items from common to rare so there is something for everybody and all prices.
And what some people don't know sometimes checks bounce and sometimes internet bidders don't pay and you stuck holding the item.
As a business owner I understand the risk involved and I salute you for the great effort.
Maurice

collecting all Oklahoma Oil Companies items that Jim Patton (okoil) does not beat me to!!
He is everywhere

Seth, my comments were given from a buyers perspective, the buyer pays all of the premiums. You may not receive all the funds as there is a cost of doing business, however, the buyer still pays the numbers that I posted. Please re-read my previous post. Thank you.

Mick

That's pretty funny, best signature ever.

Mick...the buyers are REQUIRED to pay 10%, some chose to pay 12.5%, while others chose 15% & then some add a shipping charge on top of that. Like I've posted many, many times, without the buyer's premium my auction would cease to exist. I think this is the case with many an auction. The frequency & quality of consignment auctions increased dramatically when the buyer's premium became an accepted practice. Prior to charging the BP, we had to charge a much higher seller's rate and then also saddle the seller with the credit card fees....which in turn limited the quantity, but especially the quality of our consignments. Obviously, I have my own way of looking at things that jive with my beliefs, but my vision of this type of sale is that there is a sharing of the risk between the promotor, bidder & seller. Everyone's willing to risk a little portion of their capital in order for the event to take place in the first place. Like I said, most will have an opinion that supports their part of the equation, but that's how I view it.

anyone else still trying to figure out how 5,000,000 in sales equals 7,500,000 in income?????

John,
Tried three different calculators and never could get that answer either.
Some people just shoot from the hip with out thinking.

Well boys get new calculators. What he did(I think) was take $5,000,000x.1(10% sellers fee)= $500,000. Add to the $5,000,000 = $5,500,000. Take the 5,500,000x.125(12.5% c.c. fees)= 687,500. Add to the 5,500,000 = 6,187,500 Take the 6,187,500x.15(15% buyers fees)= 7,115,625. Plus, the incidentals equal approx $7.5 million dollars of income. This is an estimate of gross income not net.
Now an accountant would take the base $5 million multiply that by 10% get a total for sellers premium, then take the base 5 million multiply by 12.5% get the total for c.c. fees. The base times 15% for buyers fees. Add these totals, minus shipping and get $6.925 million. Then a total for shipping and incidentals would be added. Total would come to over $7 million easily. Ofcourse that income is spread among the Credit card companies, sellers, transportation(shippers) and Auctioneer (could be others added to list of those receiving monies before deductions). So yes gross income would be over $7 million+ on $5 million sales. (I never knew I would use my Accounting degree here on this site, LOL). The above figures ofcourse are estimates and are off. Not all $5 million in sales would be based on credit usage, but shipping cost placed on credit cards could bump the c.c. companies share of the gross. I think the idea was to show that Seth's show have been very profitable for a number of people. Of course the person who gets the least amount of the pie is Seth, as he puts out a "ton" of out of pocket money. By traveling, paying for items to sellers who want to sell outright, motel, food expenditures....etc. But he puts on great shows that people don't have a problem finding items to purchase at.

Bob you can have the numbers game. That's why we have a accountant do our taxes lol

To tell the truth, I have one do mine also, LOL. One has to be up on the tax laws and I have better things to do. Now I have been audited by the IRS while running the race team 4 times. We passed everytime. But spent almost a year in court just on the tax liabilities when we broke up the partnership of the team.

I have always had to only pay 10% buyers fee at Seth's.
Even the professional guestimate was was off over $300,000.
Seth, at your apparent rate of profit, I will back your auctions and we can have two or three per year.

once the 10% is charged to the original, entire $5mil, then you only apply the 2.5% to those that used credit cards and then 5% only to those that spent online. We're talking $500,000 in raw bp, maybe another $50,000 in cc fee, and then another maybe $125,000 in online extra premium.

$5,000,000 @ 10% = $500,000

Say, half those used credit cards, so an extra 2.5% on their $2,500,000 = $62,500 in credit card premiums

Then 30% was bought onine, so $1,500,000 charged 5% for doing it online is another $75,000.



If I do a sale that grosses $400K, there is $40K collected in BP & $40K collected in Seller's Commission. About $150,000 is generally put on credit cards, so there's an add'l 2.5% of THAT 150K = $3750. About $150,000 of that $400K is done online, so there's an add'l 5% of THAT 150K = $7500

$400K Sale
$40K BP
$40K Sellers
$3750 Charged to Credit Card Users
$7500 Charged to Bidspotter Users
====================================
$491,250

What's that, like 22.5% spent over & above the gross. Even at that rate across all eleven auctions, you are still only talking just north of $6mil GROSS. It's not hard boys....

You cannot multiply the gross by 10% for the seller and then multiply it by ANOTHER 10% for the buyer, and then multiply your new figure by ANOTHER 12.5% for credit cards and THEN multiply it all by 15% for the internet. You are basically adding up all the possible individual buyer premiums scenarios, getting 47.5% and then putting that against the gross. Now, a dream scenario as that may be, I don't think it would fly. The highest possible premium that any one person could possibly pay would be 15%. So if EVERY PERSON BOUGHT ONLINE WITH A CREDIT CARD, the total premium on a $500K sale would be $75K....never mind, my head is going to explode.

What rate of profit? That $7 million+ was estimated gross income, not net. I haven't heard Seth ever talk about profit. I'm sure that his profit margin is no ones business(not to be rude),but his. And the estimate isn't mine, if I'm the "professional" you're talking about. I don't have any of the necessary figures even to make a ball-park guess at total income before expenditures. I was just giving a guess on how the $7.5 million figure amount was reached, I could and am wrong a good part of the time. Like I said, I don't have near all the figures needed to make a guess to what is made. Thanks Seth, for your imput.

Seth,
Well said. Best I keep quiet. YOU DO put on a heck of a auction.When you get time give me a call.
Good Luck
Maurice

If you ever want bashed or what you have bashed, just put it on oldgas.com

Bob....what you are missing is that there is NO WAY that the gross income ever approaches $7 million with $5 million in sales. Again, 10% is charged to the seller & 10% is charged to the buyer...that equals 20%. There are SOME that pay with cc that get charged 12.5% TOTAL NOT IN ADDITION TO THE ORIGINAL 10%. There are some that bid online that get charged 15% TOTAL NOT IN ADDITION TO THE ORIGINAL 10%.

REPEAT...EVEN IF EVERY PERSON BOUGHT ONLINE & WITH A CREDIT CARD THE MOST THE TOTAL BUYER'S PREMIUM WOULD EVER BE IS 15%. THE MOST THE SELLERS EVER PAY IS 10%. SO AT MOST YOU ARE LOOKING AT 25% (15 buyers + 10 sellers) OVER BID PRICES OF $5MILLION which is $6,250,000 IF NO SHOWED UP IN PERSON AND IF THEY ALL PAID WITH CREDIT CARDS. We know this isn't the case, we know most people pay 10%, some pay 12.5%, and some pay 15% but you never add those 3 figues together and come up with a total premium of 37.5%! You never add any of them together....it's just 10 + 2.5more if you pay with cc + 2.5more if you are online

Who cares how much Seth makes? He puts a lot of work into his auctions and deserves every penny earned. It's not like the BP is a secret or anything. We all buy from auctions expecting to pay a BP. If you don't like it, don't buy from auctions. Simple as that. Now, let's get back to the original question...what can Seth do to increase on-site attendance...??? I like the idea of a raffle of some sort that was mentioned earlier. Oooh, and soft pretzels with cheese! :-)

This was posted EARLY on in this thread. Hmm....

good point tara this subject has went way to the left. remember why were all here to help each other out and make our hobby grow in a good way

Thanks for reminding us....sorry

Seth, I guess I was just reading with amusement. You asked for some creative ideas to help out your auction without having to defend your need to charge fees. Seemed simple enough at the time.

Below is my attempt to help those that don't stop and the end of the sentences to absorb what has been said. I have placed the intention of my words within the post, there is not one reference that I thought Seth was making too much money or reference to a personal attack. Seth and I did the PM and we had no problem with each others comments. Many are too quick go pull the trigger!

Anyway....Tara was saying something about soft pretzels & cheese. I had said something about pepperoni pizza & Dr. Pepper....

She also said something about a raffle....how about door prizes?? How about a few people win NO BUYER's PREMIUM??

Bob,
Are you still working for the IRS ? LOL
Maurice,
"If you ever want bashed or what you have bashed, just put it on oldgas.com" At least it ain't behind Closed Doors.
db

DB, man just gotta love ya !
You are a great asset to this site !
Sometimes post here are better than the Enquirer

So...what do you guys think Seth can do to make his auction better? He's asking his buyers how to please us, but instead we just make this thread about bickering. Let's try to give him the advice he asked for...

25 year old Girls in Bikini's serving Soft Pretzels and Cold Beer, and More 25 year old Girls in Bikini's Holding up the Items being Auctioned Off, And one Chip N' Dale to Hold up the Sinclair Items for Tara!!

25 year old Girls in Bikini's serving Soft Pretzels and Cold Beer, and More 25 year old Girls in Bikini's Holding up the Items being Auctioned Off, And one Chip N' Dale to Hold up the Sinclair Items for Tara!! [/quote]

Let me re-phrase that...any NEW ideas? ;-)

Probably not realistic anymore in this generation, But;

If there was NO online bidding and NO overseas buying, the Auction house would be full everytime, regardless of the Buyers premium being charged. And all items would be carried out THAT day with no shipping to worry about.

Ahh, The Good Old Days!

A mailer is going out tomorrow to all those that have requested here & via e-mail, ALSO to all of those that were on the previous auction mailing list (around 10,000). I also got contacted with some more consignments that will while not oil & gas primarily, will for sure spice things up, pin-ball machines, coin-op rides, payphone booth, etc...stay tuned!

Seth,
Maybe you already do this, but have you approached any motels and resturants in the area about giving a discount to people attending the auction? Maybe that would help get more people to attend, or stay an extra day. I know motels in my area do that for big events.
John

please send me a flyer via email. thanks.

Flyers will be hitting mailboxes tomorrow & over the weekend. Been getting lots of good feedback from the PCM ad, sold a few swap spaces this week....feverishly working on the catalog to be uploaded to bidspotter & remotebidder, here are a few items that I handled today that really impressed me: