Busy January….

good way to start 2011!

Thanks once again to all who attended the Sat. Jan 29 auction. This was a smaller auction than the Jan 22 auction, and a little different atmosphere. The sale was organized by Raymond and Cecile Bates, and it is always a pleasure to do the sale for them.  When you are selling for one person, there is a little less pressure, and more opportunity to have fun with the sale.  A couple of times Mom said to me while she was clerking…”what’s gotten into you today?”  There were a lot of things that were striking me as amusing, and I just had to pass that along to the crowd.   The mood of the sale was fast and funny….keep things moving and wherever possible try and make it entertaining! That doesn’t always happen, but I do try whenever I can.  Sometimes it is only Carol Beasley who gets my jokes, but that’s ok.  At least there are two of us amused. Years ago I used to attend the auctions of a certain auctioneer who I always thought had a pretty good sense of humour.  To this day I can still think of some of the things he said, and I still smile.  But I also noticed that when he was doing a large antique auction, it seemed to be much more serious. He was at his best when he was doing small on-site evening household auctions.  It just seemed like he was having fun, because there wasn’t a lot of pressure. Now I understand that.  Not to say the big consignment auctions we do are a lot of pressure, but they are a little more demanding.  Most  of our auctions have 15-20 consignors and I always have to make sure the right items are getting up at the right time.  I  don’t want someone’s good items selling at the end of the sale, and then again you don’t want someone’s good items selling right at the beginning, so you always have to strive to keep a balance to the sale. Not only am I thinking about what I am selling, but also about what will be selling next, and trying to keep a direction and focus to the sale.  There are times when there is so much going on, that you may forget to work a little humour into the auction.  I think I always get a good number of laughs from the crowd at any auction, but I have to admit, the smaller sales give me a little more opportunity to have some fun! January was a busy month for us, with two good sales back to back.  I did have some concern about doing them so close together, but I didn’t have much choice. However, both sales went well, and you still get a different crowd from sale to sale.   Of course there are our much cherished regulars, but always new faces in the crowd, and that is very encouraging. We had one couple who where there from the beginning to the very end and buying throughout the auction.  After the sale they told me how much fun they had and how enjoyable the auction was for them.  That is the kind of comment I love to hear!  When someone comes to the sale for the first time, I want to make them a regular customer. So that is it for now.  They are predicting a major snowstorm in the next few days, so I will gather up food and supplies, and then spend the snowstorm at home getting photos ready for the upcoming auction! Rob IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER ARTICLE, FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT rob@robsageauctions.com  ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU!