Saturday Night Auctions?

oh yeah!!!

Thanks to everyone who attended our two auctions over the past few days.  Had a busy schedule with our Saturday night auction in Pottageville, and then back to Bond Head for an auction for Raymond and Cecile Bates on MOnday. I was very pleased with the auction we did on Saturday night. The first Saturday night auction in June did very well, but this one was even better! In June we  106 registered bidders, which means approx. 150-200 people. Our Saturday night July 16 auction had 145 bidders register, so that is in the 200-250 person range. Here is the main reason why I am so pleased.  When I first suggested doing Saturday evening sales back in April, the idea was met with some scepticism.  A few people told me they thought people are too busy to come out to an auction on a Saturday night in the summer.  They couldn’t see me drawing much of a crowd. My argument was that Saturday daytime sales in the summer are too hard to draw a crowd because there are too many other events and auctions happening on a Saturday.  People also have yard work, etc to do. I felt that Saturday evening sales would allow people to do whatever they had to do during the day and then spend the night out at an auction. Auction sales can be a very social and interesting event for people, so why wouldn’t they want to do that on a Saturday night?  Why not make a night out of it?  Bring along some friends?  We try to make our sales entertaining, and I think they have the right “feel” for a Saturday night auction. In May and June I anticipated we would draw fewer people then we do during the winter sale months, and we certainly did.  Still had good sales, but fewer people attending.  I knew I had to do something to turn that around, and I thought the Saturday night sales would be the way to do it. So now I will continue to do the Saturday night sales until September or October and then back again to Saturday daytime sales throughout the winter. Pottageville Community centre has turned into a busy venue, so there may be occasions when I go back to doing a small sale or two in Bond Head. I did a small sale in Bond Head on Monday night, and that was the first time I have been there for a summer sale in 4 years…I haven’t sweated like that in a long time! Yes we had ceiling fans, floor fans and table fans, but we started the set-up at 9:00 am and by the time we cleaned the hall it was 11:00 pm, and I think I sweated non-stop throughout the day and evening! Hopefully it wasnt too warm for those in attendance, but I have to admit, we are getting spoiled with the air conditioning in Pottageville! One final note about our Pottageville Saturday night auctions.  We’ve had great response from those attending, and obviously the sales have been a success, but apparently not everyone is pleased with my Saturday night auctions. One auctioneer who has been running Saturday night sales on occasion throughout the years, reportedly has publicly referred to me twice now at his auction, as “the scum of the auction business”. I just consider the calibre and quality of the person making those comments, and that’s about all I have to say about that. That aside, have fun on the auction business and hope to see you in August! 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!