a time to relax and reflect!

December.  This is the quiet time of year for me when it comes to business.  I deliberately do not book sales in December, because it is the only time of the year when I can justify not doing an auction.  It is when I get some time off, and can focus on some of the things neglected during the very busy fall season. This certainly has been an interesting year…and also a record year for sales totals!  The quantity and quality of the items consigned to our auctions during the last year has been very satisfying to me personally. Of course the most talked about event this year in our business, was the forced last minute cancellation of our first sale in Pottageville.  I am sure you have heard, but we had to cancel and move the sale out of the hall, the night before the auction.  There was a mixup in the hall booking and it turned out the hall was not booked to me on auction day, and had been booked out for another function.  I still shudder when I think about it, but we did get everything moved out of the hall (took until 4:00 am), and the sale went ahead two weeks later.  Enough said about that! However, on the up side, the move to Pottageville has been an outstanding success!  Nothing but positive comments about the hall and the auctions, and I have to admit it is a pleasure to set up and do the auctions in that facility.  I hope to make Pottageville a permanent location for us for many more years. Bond Head was where our sales started 14 years ago, but the huge increases in the hall rent, plus the physical limitations to the building, made me consider a move for the last few years.  It worked well in Cookstown for the summer and early fall months, but I really needed to make a change for the fall and winter auctions.  Of course nothing is carved in stone, and it is very possible I could be doing sales again in Bond Head, but for the foreseeable future, Pottageville is going to be our home. Here are a few statistics relating to our business.  First, 2010 has been a record sales year.  We sold 7462 lots, including over 1500 pieces of furniture. Each sale averaged 621 lots and that believe it or not, is fewer lots per sale than previous years.  In 2009 we averaged 726 lots per sale!  However, I have been trying to cut down the number of lots in each auction, and focus on better quality pieces.  As a result we sold fewer lots but had a record sales total.  My goal in 2011 is to keep the average number of lots at approx. 500 per sale. We had a total of 1635 registered bidders for our 12 sales this year, which averages 136 registered bidders per sale.  Probably works out to about 200 people per sale, because a couple generally only register under one number. 72% of the registered bidders make a purchase. People come from all over the province to our auctions, especially in the summer months.  I keep track of where every bidder comes from.  Since moving to Pottageville we have had a increase of bidders from south and east of us, so now about 60% come from those areas,, and the remainder from north and west.  Surprisingly, we are not a “local” auction.  Very few people in the immediate vicinity attend the sales.   Most people drive between 1/2 hour and one hour of the sale. Ok, enough with the statistics.  They are important to me in understanding my business, and very helpful in planning out the auction schedule, but how does that affect you?  The numbers tell me what I need to know about my business., and hopefully what I should and shouldn’t do.  I can anticipate the size of the crowds and try and make sure I have the right items at the right time of the year. I am learning what sells, and when it sells best, and plan the auctions accordingly. So, what are the plans for 2011?  Well, I am working on reducing the size of the sales, and focusing on better quality.  It takes some time to do this, but I have managed to do that during our fall schedule, and the results were obvious.  Potential consignors may be disappointed when I have to turn down their items, but I can’t run a successful business trying to sell what people don’t want to buy.  At times we get overrun with low end smalls, and it can take months to get through some consignments.  No shortage of good quality items in our auctions, so it doesn’t make much sense to spend a lot of time and effort on items that just do not sell anymore.  I am compiling an ever growing list of items that just do not sell, and therefore I do not want them in our auctions.  Most importantly, you do not want them in the auctions.  You vote with your bids! So 2011 is looking very interesting.  I anticipate the quality items will continue to come our way, and I will do everything I can to maintain and  even increase the quality of our sales.  There is a lot of good merchandise coming into the marketplace, and I want to make sure as much as possible comes our way! I thank you again for another wonderful year….and in fact, a record breaking year, and look forward to an interesting and exciting 2011!

great way to wrap up the season!

Thanks once again to everyone who showed up to our final sale of 2010, Sat Nov 20, at the Pottageville Community Centre. It was a great way to wrap up our season!  We had the largest crowd so far since we moved to Pottageville, and the general consensus was the prices were strong overall. Of course there are always a few items that disappoint ( not the buyer of course, but perhaps the seller), but I felt the prices were strong and fair on most furniture pieces.  This was an auction with a quantity of nice refinished smaller furniture pieces, which I believed to be right for the time of year.  The glass and china consisted of a lot of average type pieces, so I was not expecting strong prices in that area. The last two months have been two of the best months I have ever had in my fourteen years in the auction business, and I credit much of that to the move to Pottageville.  Many new faces at every auction, and that is very important to our business. One of my concerns when we first decided to go to Pottageville, was that we not lose the “fun, old fashioned country auction” atmosphere, that I believe has been very important to our success.  Bond Head was crowded, noisy and had a certain energy to the auctions.  Cookstown was big, two rings running, lots of noise and excitement to those auctions as well.  I didn’t want Pottageville to be staid and boring.  It is a sit down auction, people get comfortable and at times complacent and perhaps a little bored at some of the sit down auctions I have attended.  I wanted to keep a level of excitement and energy to the auctions, and in my mind at least, I think we have accomplished that in Pottageville.  It is an nice hall to sell in, the crowd is close, and it is easy to inject some humour and banter with the staff and customers,  into the auction. To follow up on that thought I would like to share part of the contents of an email I received from one of our very good dealers `Hi Rob. Great auction yesterday. You and your staff make us feel so welcome it doesnt feel like work“ I take that as a compliment.  As a dealer I attended 100’s of auctions, and there were always some I looked forward to attending, because I had a good time when I was there.  Now as an auctioneer, I am flattered when someone enjoys coming to our auctions. So now I have to get back to work.  There are many consignors to pay, and a full day of paperwork to do.  I will do a wrap up of our entire season and some of my thoughts on what I have seen during this past year, in a future entry. For now, have fun on the auction trail! Rob

and not likely to see one like this again!

On Sat. Nov 13 I had the privilege of working a very special auction.  I was helping Bob Severn sell for long time collectors Drs. Jack and Ann Dale, and it was truly an amazing auction! I conduct large auctions on a regular basis…often as many as 600 or 700 hundred lots…but nothing like this!   I have never seen so much quality merchandise come out of one home.  Probably 1000 lots.  They had a large outdoor tent, plus selling in the beautiful old Victorian home, plus selling outside and also some items from an adjoining property!  These items had been purchased over a 30 or 40 year period, and it was the kind of auction you rarely have a chance to see, and probably won’t see again. There is a generation, and they are now usually in their late 70’s or early 80’s, and for most of us, it is our parents or grandparents generation, that become avid antique collectors.  They filled their homes with antiques, and it was a passion for so many of them.  Now many of those collectors have passed on, or must downsize, so the collections come onto the market. Generally the “under-40” generation does not have the same passion for collecting.  Usually they buy antiques as decorator items, and therefore acquire a single type of item, but do not build collections of items.  It was there parents and grandparents who “hoarded” antiques and it was a very different approach to buying. That is why the auction on Saturday was so unique.  It is just so rare to find such quantity and quality in one household.  I think those type of collectors are now few and far between, and not likely will we see them again. It was a nine hour auction, and about half of the time we were selling in two rings, so that is some indication of the size of the collection. It was fun and it was interesting to be part of it, and I was lucky enough to be able to purchase some postcards and collectables from my hometown of Beeton, but I also realize auctions like that may not happen again.

winding down a busy year!

This has been an extremely busy month for me…and I am not complaining, but I just have to admit I have been a little remiss in a few areas on this website. I still haven’t updated the results page since August!  I like to post photos and highlights of some of the items we sell in each auction, and although there have been lots of highlights…I just haven’t had time to post any! However, that will happen soon.  I just need to get caught up on a few other things. People often ask “where do you get all the stuff from?”  Well it is amazing to me where and when items comes from.  I dropped by a thrift shop the other day, because that is where I rent the truck to use on set-up day.  I ran into a “picker” I haven’t seen in years, and he was someone who used to consign to our auctions.  He moved, and I really didn’t hear much from him anymore.  We got talking, and now I have 100 good items to put into our Jan 22 auction.  That’s how it works sometimes.  You run into someone, and next thing you know you are doing business!  I guess that’s why I make sure I shave before I leave the house! Nov 20 is our final sale of the season, and I have to admit it has been an interesting year.  Even busier since our move to Pottageville, and it is going to be nice to have a little time off. Someone asked me today if I go away during that time off.  I said no…I just want to sit around and do nothing for a little while…that will be enough holiday for me! So I hope you can join us for the Nov 20th sale.  It is turning into another good one, and it will be a good way to wrap up our 2010 auction season!

batting a thousand so far!

Our thanks again to everyone who showed up for our Oct 30 auction. Once again a good crowd, over all spirited bidding, and I was pleased with the results. Initially when I decided to move our auctions to Pottageville, I thought it might take several sales to build to the sales level I have been accustomed to.  I thought the attendance might be a little lower than Bond Head auctions, and perhaps the prices a little softer.  I really wasn’t absolutely positive it would be a a good move….maybe 90% positive.  Well now after only two sales…I am 100% sure it was a good move! Our sales totals for the last two auctions are up 20% over the same period last year, and the attendance numbers are just about exactly the same.  Consignments have been flooding in, and it has actually been a bit of a challenge to keep up, but I have managed to do it! The response has been positive from everyone I have spoken to, and I look forward to a good winter season. One of the comments I get , is about the quantity and quality of photos I post on the website.  In the last three weeks I posted a total of over 400 photos for the Oct30 and upcoming Nov. 6 auction.  I enjoy doing it, but it is a time consuming process.  There are times when I wonder if it really makes that much of a difference? Well I was approached by a man at our last auction who told me the following.  He said he and his wife go to a lot of auctions around the province, and the one thing that really sold them on attending our auction, was the photos.  He congratulated me on them and said they were some of the best he had seen. So when I get feedback like that I am encouraged to keep doing what I have been doing.  We do get a lot of new people out to every auction, and some of them travel quite a distance, so it would seem pretty evident that it does pay off.  I may not always be able to post over 200 photos per auction, but I will do the best I can to promote every sale to the benefit of the buyers and the consignors. And before I wrap up, there is one other thing I have to mention.  Recently I was at a house call and the very nice lady showed me a clock that she said had been appraised by one of the travelling appraisal clinics that show up at various malls and functions.  This simple wall clock, in only average condition, and made by a very common manufacturer, was appraised at $1000.  I had to tell her to drop a zero off that price, and make it $100.  She was rather surprised when I told her that was all I would expect at auction for it.  In fact I had recently seen a nicer one bring only $70 at auction. Now, part two of my story.  A couple of months ago I received a phone call from a lady who had a cylinder music box, appraised again by the travelling appraisal clinics, at between $20,000 and $40,000.  Now this is out of my league of expertise, so I set her up with a very reputable and honest collector of high end cylinder machines.  He looked at it, went on-line with his ipad, and showed her they were only currently selling for about $800.  He was not interested in buying it, and told me he has sold much better machines for around $2000. So why would the appraisal clinics quote such outrageous prices?  I really don’t know.  All I know is it is very disappointing when someone like me has to inform someone that their “treasure” is worth a fraction of what someone had lead them to believe. So that’s it for now.  I have an extremely busy three weeks ahead of me.  Two sales in three weeks, and lots to pick up, photo and get ready for auction! IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THIS OR ANY OTHER BLOG, PLEASE CONTACT ME.  ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU.  JUST CLICK HERE.

a rough start, but it all worked out!

A big thank you to everyone who showed up for our first sale at the Pottageville Community Centre!  I must admit, I think by most standards the sale was a big success…it certainly was everything I hoped it would be! This will be one of the most memorable sales I have every conducted…mostly due to the fact that it was cancelled last minute on Sept 24th, and so this was the date we re-scheduled. When you consider the fact that we completely set up a 500 lot auction, and then had to repack and restore everything because of the cancellation, and then had to move it all down to the hall again and set it all up two weeks later…it was an incredible amount of work to make this sale happen!  (hopefully I will never be forced to cancel a sale again…we got a lot of publicity because of what happened…but still never want it to happen again!). I do not choose to do holiday weekend sales, but this was the soonest date I could reschedule.  I admit we had a lot of competition with other good auctions to the north, east and west of us, and of course it is a busy weekend with Thanksgiving, but we had a good turn out and overall strong prices throughout the auction. I had some very good quality, large  furniture pieces and I was concerned about what prices they would bring.  Much to my relief, on most pieces, the selling price reflected the appreciation for the quality of the pieces.  That’s all I can ask for, and overall I was pleased with the results. Primitives were in abundance in this auction, and once again, overall I felt the prices were strong. Glass and china as always is up and down in price, and we all have to live with a new reality when it comes to the value of some glass and china. Most other items fell into the expected price range with some nice surprises and of course some disappointments, but we all know that is the nature of auctions.  There are winners and losers, but we just hope it all averages out. After 14 years doing sales in our Bond Head location, this was a bit of a gamble for me to change venues, but I was pretty confident it would work out well.  The response I have received so far, has all been positive concerning the facilities, parking etc in Pottageville.  Customers liked the seating arrangements, and overall spaciousness of the hall.  I am confident this will be our venue for many more years to come!  (at least I hope so). The demographics of the crowd changed as I expected it would.  Many more people from the south and east of us, just about the same percentage from west of us, but a significant drop from the north of us.  Of course it is a longer drive (about 10 minutes), for those from the north, and combined with the fact that there were two other good auctions to the north of us, I am sure made a  difference.  However, over the next few months I think the northern crowd will join us in significantly higher numbers.  The inescapable fact is, when you change venues you obviously will be closer to some of your regular customers, and further from others.  However, the serious buyers will be there regardless. So despite a rocky and memorable debut, I am very pleased with our new venue and very excited about the future there.  I truly believe this new location will continue to bring out good consignments and that of course will bring out good buyers. I am keeping my fingers crossed, but so far the future looks good! IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS BLOG OR ANY PAST BLOG PLEASE EMAIL ME AT rob@robsageauctions.com.  I AM ALWAYS GLAD TO HEAR FROM YOU!

an event I wont ever forget!

The Saturday Sept 25 auction was to be our big debut at the Pottageville Community Centre.   Well I guess we created quite a bit of talk….not about what happened…but what didn’t happen!   The auction didn’t happen! This gives me an opportunity to explain what happened to our Saturday Sept25 auction…the one that was cancelled at the last moment! The sale was almost completely set up, on Friday.  At 5:00 pm we were visited by a very nice young woman from the recreation department explaining that there was some confusion as to the auction date.  I believed we had a three day booking,  Thursday, Friday and Saturday of course. But it was brought to my attention that it was booked for Thursday 9:00 am until Saturday 12:00 am. Ok so what was the problem?  We had all day Saturday to do the sale right?  No, actually 12:00 am Saturday is just past midnight Friday…and that is when we were to be done with the hall. There was another booking for the hall on Saturday, and we would have to have the hall cleared by 8:00 am Saturday.  Now I am not going to cast any blame here, because there was a mix up and miscommunication on both sides.  Verbally the hall was to be booked for 3 full days, but when the contract arrived I did not notice the Sat. 12:00 am mistake.  The point is, we had no choice but to clear the hall. It took us two days to set up the sale, and now we were going to have to empty the building in a matter of hours.  I was overwhelmed and a little distraught, but it had to be done. I called back all my incredible staff, family members, friends and some consignors, and began the task of repacking and removing an entire auction! It took until 4:00 am, but we had the hall cleared and  contents stored in various locations. I put a notice on the website at 10:00 pm, which was the earliest I could access my computer, and sent out the email list at 4:00 am hoping to catch people first thing in the morning announcing the cancellation . Dave and Carol Beasley also sent out notice through their email listings, as well as Tom Clarkson Auctions, so we did everything we could to spread the word. I made a few early morning phone calls to people I knew were traveling a distance, but this is all I could do. With about one hours sleep, I went down to the hall for 8:30 am Saturday and delivered the bad news to those who did not receive notice and showed up expecting an auction. I was absolutely amazed at how understanding and considerate everyone was.  Not a single complaint from anyone….just inquiries about when the next auction was!  I really do have some wonderful customers! At this point I want to express my deepest appreciation to everyone who came foreword to help.  The people I work with are not just staff, they are friends and family.  And they came to my aid as good friends and family would. Everyone showed up when I called, pitched in and did everything they could to help.  It was just amazing. So here are the people I want to express thanks to on-line…I have thanked them over and over again in person, but I want you to know. Mom, my brother Brian, sister Kris and brother in law Gerry, Dave and Carol Beasley, Raymond and Cecile Bates,  Don Garner and his wife Audrey, and last but not least Charlie McAteer, who worked with me through to 4:00 am.  Also consignors who I called to pick up their merchandise, but would prefer I did not announce their names.  I was truly overwhelmed by the effort everyone put forth! Also the many emails and phone calls from customers who offered whatever help they could. So a bad situation was made as good as it could be, and I once again thank everyone. Yes it is an experience none of us will forget, and a lesson for me to read the contracts carefully! IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THIS OR ANY OTHER BLOG I HAVE WRITTEN PLEASE CLICK ON THIS EMAIL LINK rob@robsageauctions.com  IT WOULD BE NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

and it’s all good!

Change can be a good thing…and there have been a number of changes for me lately…and they have all been good! Biggest change of course will be our move to the Pottageville Community Centre, starting  Sat Sept 25. For 14 years we have conducted our sales for all, or part of the year, at the Bond head Community Centre.  That’s where I conducted my first auction, and over the years we have had many outstanding auctions in that hall. Four years ago I decided to try doing auctions in the Cookstown Curling Club for the summer and early fall months, and that turned out to be a huge success. However, when it came time to move back to Bond Head for the late fall and winter sales, it was hard to adjust to the smaller hall.  I would hear many negative comments concerning how crowded the sales were, how difficult it was to view items if you came in later, how hard it was to remove items from the stage once you purchased, etc etc. I wanted to find another hall, in order to solve some of the above concerns, but also because the rent in Bond Head had more than doubled in the last four years, and more increases on the way.  People were shocked when I told them what I was paying for rent! Another auction company had been using Pottageville for a number of years and running very good auctions there, so I was hesitant for both of us to be using the hall.  However, due to some changes in their business, the hall was not being used on a regular basis anymore, so it seemed like the time was right for me to make the move! We now will be using a newer, bright, larger, modern facility.  No stairs to deal with, a nice big stage area, room to seat at least 100 people, wheelchair accessible, air conditioned, food booth on main level, and a good parking lot.  In short, just about everything I would ask for in an auction hall! Also it gives me a chance to adjust our auctions as well.  I cleaned up most of the backlog of lower end “smalls” in our Cookstown auctions, and now will work on upgrading the overall quality of the sales.  I want the focus to be on good quality glass and china, primitive and country items, artwork, silverplate and sterling silver, lighting  and of course the furniture.  I have had to turn down quite a bit of stuff, but fortunately the quality items have been coming in so it has worked out well.  Now when I say “good quality” glass and china, we are still going to have pieces under $20, but they will be items that are in demand.  I don’t want box and tray lots that we struggle to get $2 for.  Too much time wasted and too much effort on that sort of item.  There will always be some of that in the auctions, but I am working hard to keep that to a minimum. However, I am still keeping this very much a country auction.  I want the mix of refinished and “as found” items….nice to have some painted furniture, and some rusty primitive pieces, as well as good refinished furniture items and higher end glass and china.  The mix is what makes it interesting, and that is something I don’t plan on changing! So in short, I am planning on better auctions in a nicer, more convenient facility…it’s time for your benefit…and mine as well! Hope you can make it for our first sale in the new venue on Sat. Sept 25. P.S….I mentioned there have been some changes for me personally as well as the business.  Yes I bought a new computer system, so am getting used to that.  Also broke my camera so had to get another one.  Also replacing my printer, and have had to unexpectedly replace my riding lawnmower!  Nothing life changing, but lately a lot of small changes I have had to adapt to! Rob