Auctions — a marketplace for knick knacks, farm land and everything in between — are often also gathering events for rural communities. That’s changing as more auctions go online.
Tractors, four-wheelers, a truck, a skid-loader and more are neatly parked in rows outside a northeast Nebraska farmhouse.
The farmer who owns this equipment is retiring and is holding an auction on this chilly spring day to sell to the highest bidder. About 200 people, including Anthony Thoene, crowd into a machinery shed to browse.
Thoene was hoping to get some fishing rods for his grandkids but was outbid.
“Oh, now there’s the guy that got them,” he says with a laugh.
Many people here know each other and catch up over cups of coffee from the lunch stand. They strain to hear each other over the auctioneer’s requests for more bids as they discuss local politics and speculate how much the tractors will go for.
For rural communities, auctions like these are often a social event to see neighbors and friends.
But it’s not just the bundled-up neighbors looking for a deal. Internet bidders are logging on from as far away as Montana to make an offer.
“There’s about 200 people here, but on the internet you’re talking thousands,” Thoene said. He occasionally helps Creamer Auction Company, the local business running this sale, set up their auctions. “So it definitely has improved the sales. But it’s harder to buy!”
Online transactions have become a big part of the auction business. The National Auctioneers Association estimates 70% of the industry’s $3 billion in sales come from the web.
It’s been a growing trend since eBay came onto the scene in 1995, and then the pandemic cemented online sales, says Nancy Cripe, who runs Missouri-based GRS Auctions & Strategic Liquidation.
“Suddenly you couldn't have a live auction,” she said. “You couldn't have people into your place. And so auctioneers had to regroup.
It’s also been good for business. Auctioneers say items go for as much as 50% more online than they do at purely in-person sales.
“I think online is never gonna go away,” Cripe said. “It's a stronger component, it brings in a wider audience. It really brings more return to the sellers.”
And websites do better at attracting younger buyers, who might not be drawn in by an auction’s traditional setting or products.
“Young families used to go to auctions to find household goods to start their own homes,” Cripe said. “Now everybody wants to go to IKEA for that sleek look. Unless it’s mid-century modern, you can’t really give it away.”
Not grandpa’s auction
Roy Montgomery is a third generation auctioneer who’s seen a lot of changes in the business over 40 years. Today, he pretty much only does internet auctions through his company Montgomery Auction & Realty.
“I’ll be honest with ya, I haven’t had a live sale of my own in probably over three years,” Montgomery said. “Grandpa wouldn’t understand at all. He would just stop and shake his head, say ‘I can’t believe how you’re doing that.’”
At Montgomery’s south-central Nebraska shop, shelves hold hundreds of knick-knacks and antiques. He and his team photograph each item and enter a description into an online portal where buyers can bid.
Potential customers registered to bid from as far away as Las Vegas, North Carolina and Washington state for a recent online auction.
“Online auctions are like fishing in the ocean instead of fishing in a private pond. You’re getting money beyond the local base,” Montgomery said. “And some of this stuff, in a live sale you probably couldn’t even get a dollar for it.”
But for many communities, auctions are more than just a business transaction. They’re a chance to check how things sell and see old friends.
Source: kcur.org
Photo Credit: GettyImages-golubovy
Categories: Kansas, General