Live local auctions can offer a convenient way of disposing of anything from a few unwanted items to entire estates; however, there are risks to be considered:


Security:

Sad as it may seem, a newspaper’s obituary section, and auction advertisements, are readily used as tip sheets by thieves to target estate homes as they provide helpful information such as the deceased person’s name, a location, a list of relatives, and so on. Further inquiries via the local grapevine, and repeated observations of a residence, allow thieves to acquire any additional bits of missing information for successfully targeting a property.

It may not even be evident that thieves have entered a home and stolen items from an estate due to the vast amount of materials on hand, and the techniques used to gain entry.  Many homes, for example, are equipped with earlier generation garage door openers which transmit codes that thieves can obtain by using a small electronic device called a "code grabber". Even during auctions goods are often relatively unsecured because auctioneers are typically understaffed and surveillance cameras are rarely used. Securing property, at all times, should be the first priority.


Emotional Distress & Greed:

Relatives who recently have lost a love one are often are under considerably emotional distress in dealing with just the funeral, let alone the disposal of a estate. Out of state relatives, who may have to take time off work to dispose of an estate, are under time restraints. Relatives who are only interested in the possible financial rewards of an estate, and those just wanting to rid themselves of a few unwanted non-estate items at a local auction, are often operating under the spell of greed. Live auctioneers can prey upon such factors by promising a quick easy solution that awards cash, when in fact a carefully researched and slower paced sale of at least some of the estate goods via online auctions may yield a higher overall return.


Fees:

Live auction fees vary widely according to the auctioneer. Typically auctioneers charge a base selling fee which is expressed as a percentage of a dollar amount sold. Some auctioneers use a fixed percentage for all goods sold while others use a sliding scale whereas the percentage charged will vary according to the individual price of each item or the total dollar amount of all goods sold. Auctioneer fees may not include the cost of newspapers advertising - even a small framed ad in a local paper can cost hundreds of dollars each time its run. If the auctioneer does not have his or her own auction hall it may cost hundreds of dollars to rent a local building for a day or two. Auctioneers may charge additional fees to transport goods to their auction hall or to store them before or after the sale. On the other hand, having a auction outdoors at the estate home may require additional expenses such renting portable toilets or having to postpone a auction due to bad weather. Items with a reserve price that that did not sale may be charged a fee. There also may be cleanup fees for the disposal of unsold items. Always make sure to get a total accounting, in writing, of all fees prior to consigning anything.


Ultimate Results:

If you decide to list your items with a local auctioneer are you going to achieve your ultimate goal of obtaining the best prices for your goods? In most cases the potential audience of bidders is going to limited to those that attend the auction as opposed to a world wide online auction audience. Just ask yourself where do many antique dealers get their merchandise for their establishments - well, they obtain the goods, often for only a fraction of their value, at local estate auctions - what they pay all depends on the few people attending the auction. Even if several hundred people attend an auction their amassed expertise to recognize the true market value of an item cannot hope to compare to the experience and cash flow of a world wide audience of millions. Online auctions allow goods to be sold directly to the collector, thus enriching the estate.


Fraud:

Strange as it may seem, but not all live auctioneers are necessary working in the best interests of the estate:

• Auctioneers in a local geographical regions are often a closely knit group. They may have attended the same auctioneer’s college, or are from a family run auction service. New auctioneers often work with established auctioneers for a period of time as training prior to venturing out on their own. When one auctioneer recommends another auctioneering service it may not be in your best interest.

• Auctioneers may work with an established "good ol' boys network" , or "ingroup", of bidders whom they will "assist" in obtaining goods regardless of whether they could have actually obtained a higher bid from a outside bidder. Members of this ingroup can include antique dealers, friends, and relatives. Assistance includes a wide variety of techniques; however, the main goal is to place goods into the hands of the ingroup at the expense of the estate and other bidders:

• Directing verbal and physical harassment, and vandalism, toward bidders outside the ingroup to make bidders feel uncomfortable so as to reduce the amount of competition that members of the ingroup have to face.

• Private showings of goods to members of the ingroup, prior to the auction, to allow for the detailed examination of items; whereas regular bidders are at a significant disadvantage as they may have only a few seconds to look at items at the auction.
  

• Altering the line up of the auction to sell goods at a time convenient for members of the ingroup. Instead of waiting "X" hours at the auction like everyone else all a member of the ingroup has to do is show up at a specific time they have arranged with the auctioneer.

• Simply refusing to "see" bids - instead of seeing bidders from outside their ingroup who are standing right in front of the auctioneer waving their bid card, they accept the bid of their associate who barely raised their pinky finger from across the room.

• The nondisclosure of valuable items in advertising so as to diminish the amount of potential bidders attracted to a auction for a particular type of collectible or antique, while on the other hand privately informing associates that such items will be on hand.

• Hiding valuable goods in boxes among junk to sell the items for practically nothing.

• Stashing goods at the auction and then suddenly bringing them out for sale, giving no one a chance to examine the items other than members of their ingroup who have already privately examined the items.

• The use of kickbacks in which the auctioneer purposely sells an item short of its actual value through various techniques to members of the ingroup for a cut of the ultimate selling price.

• Replacement of items prior to the auction with identical damaged copies or fakes. This can include replacing just parts; for example, the removal of precious stones from jewelry. Damaged replacements can be easily explained away as something a unknown bidder did during the auction.

• Auctioneer's fees based on a sliding scale for individual items can be used to easily defraud by simply dividing goods into small lots which will likely sell for next to nothing. With a 75% fee, for example, on items that sell for $1.00 or less, the auctioneer ends up with a major portion of the funds (yes, that is a actual fee listed by a local auctioneer who continues to be employed by unknowing victims).

• Will the items consigned with auctioneer actually reach the auction or will the auctioneer give them to an associate to sell on a online auction on the side, or were they shipped to another live auction in a larger city, so as to obtain a higher price for the items that could be obtained locally? Are the final selling prices reported really what the items sold for? The only way to really prove what items sold for is to videotape the auction in progress - even paying someone to do this may be worth it. Simply attending the auction and writing down the final bids may not be enough because the auctioneer can simply claim a mistake was made.
  

• Will items be conveniently stolen or broken during the auction prior to their actual sale? Its common for some type of discussion to break out among potential bidders during the auction involving pottery which has suddenly become broken, or paperwork which has become torn, or items which have suddenly "grown legs and walked away on their own".  Bidders have a difficult enough time keeping track of the items they already have purchased, let alone a understaffed auctioning firm trying to keep track of thousands of items. On the other hand selling estate items through a family member, friend, or associate over time can provide a more secure environment, with any potential loses possibly be protected by insurance should misfortune visit.
  

• Real-Life- Scam Example 1:

A complete estate auction for a elderly person was advertised. There was a great lack of any vintage paper items, which is quite unusual, until a lone bidder noticed a large box sitting in the back corner of a garage well away from the main auction activity. The bidder was only able to examine part of the contents of the box before a auctioneer’s assistant came by and chased the bidder away with some lame excuse about looking at the items when they were up for sale, but what the bidder did see included stacks of early 1900s picture postcards, old valentines, 1930s board games, and photos. The auctioneer's assistant remained standing by the box inside the garage so that no one could look at the items, then after a period of time the auctioneer's assistant suddenly took the box outside to be immediately auctioned off. Without taking a single item out of the box the auctioneer began selling the box as one lot. The auctioneer only took bids from two women in their 50s up to $75.00 and then immediately ended the bidding without taking so much as a millisecond to look at any other bidders. The problem with this scenario is that the two women are actually partners who run a local antique & consignment shop - they were only providing the auctioneer with a "performance" for the audience and the owner of the estate who was at the sale.

• Real-Life- Scam Example 2:

A bidder attended a estate auction containing a very large selection of early Hot Wheels playsets  and other items from 1968 to 1973. The playsets were dirty and housed in their well worn boxes and shoved inside larger cardboard boxes; however, they consisted of mostly common plastic tracks and similar parts. None of the playsets and kits had any cars which was unusual as typically at least a broken car part should be found. All of the cardboard boxes were placed on top of the auctioneer's tables in clear view, but hidden underneath the tables of the outdoor auction were two cardboard boxes and in the bottom of the boxes, underneath unrelated items, were two large vinyl Hot Wheels storage cases (large ones which also store track). A bunch of track and misc unrelated junk had been placed inside the vinyl cases; however, each contained a relatively hidden compartment in bottom that is covered with a vinyl flap. Each of the compartments were filled with vintage Hot Wheels cars. Even though the interior vinyl compartments were dirty the cars were clean - they had been removed from the various sets, been dusted for inspection, and placed into the compartments prior to the auction.

When it came time for the Hot Wheels stuff to be auctioned off the auctioneer verbally addressed the items with a unenthusiastic description of “misc boxes of track ... and other stuff”; followed by a ingroup bidder picking up the two boxes containing the two vinyl cases from underneath the table and placing them on top of the tables near the boxes as they were quote: "related". A auctioneer's helper even reached into one of the boxes containing the vinyl cases and flipped one of the vinyl case's outer flaps upward to supposedly show the crowd there was nothing in the vinyl cases but junk. Two ingroup bidders provided performance bids, while the auctioneer tried to discourage a third bidder from outside the ingroup not to bid by trying to create doubt in the 3rd bidder's mind by verbalizing inside jokes about the 3rd bidder, based upon personal knowledge of that bidder, such as "I hope he has a job". One of the ingroup bidders, who was standing by the 3rd bidder, was also murmuring comments such as "now where are those items - I forgot where I saw them" so as to create doubt in the mind of the 3rd bidder as to the current whereabouts of the cars (i.e., they might have been moved). At no time did the auctioneer advertise the vintage Hot Wheels cars which can sell for hundreds of dollars each.

• Real-Life-Scam Example 3: 

A lot of photos and other other items were left with an auctioneer to be sold at a upcoming auction several weeks away. A week after dropping off the lot of photos the consignor attended another auction, some 40 miles away, and was astonished to see the same lot of photos that had just been dropped off a few days prior. They sold for $40.00, yet when paperwork was received from the auctioneer for the consigned goods it showed that the photos were supposedly sold for $1.00 at the local auction site 2 weeks after the consignor had saw the photos 40 miles away.

• Real-Life-Scam Example 4:

After accumulating numerous items at estate sales and removing suitable online auction candidates, a bidder decided to sort and box these items and take them to several local auctioneers to conduct a series of tests. The boxed lots were marked and listed upon a master sheet, a copy of which was given to the auctioneer. Two auctioneers were tested three times each, while three auctioneers were tested once each. Only one of the auctioneers reported the correct total dollar amount of god actually sold and none of them advertised any of the items, even though a few low value "gems" were included that are normally advertised. The two auctioneers that were tested 3 times each gradually reported less and less of what was actually sold from one auction to another and less and less of the goods given tot he auctioneer actually showed up at the auctions in question. It should be noted that the auctioneer who reported the correct dollar amounts only took a few items as most of the items were beneath the usual caliber caliber of items accepted; however, the auctioneer was able to recommend another auctioneer (who proceeded to rip the bidder off by incorrectly reporting sales figures).

Research:

Live auctions can be acceptable outlet for relatively inexpensive goods, bulky items with high shipping costs, and for items that may fetch higher prices locally such as regional memorabilia; however, the main problem is knowing what to dispose of at a local auction as "one man's trash is another man's treasure".

With so many people selling items within online auctions these days one is bound to have at least one family member or friend selling online who could at least research the value of items prior to potentially giving them away at a local auction for a tiny fraction of their value. Auction drop off centers are another outlet for those with no close associates directly involved within online sales. Before placing goods into the hands of any outside individual; however, one should think about having independent appraisals to weed out potential goods for online sales and to provide a basis for temporary insurance.  Some larger auction firms offer free online appraisals which can used to supplement paid appraisals. Larger auction firms may also offer the expertise of several people as opposed to a lone local appraiser with limited expertise or with alternative motives such as purposely undervaluing goods.

Before placing goods with a live auctioneer one shop around for the best place to sell goods:

• Attend some of the auctioneer's auctions to see how a auctioneer works and what type of crowd is attracted to the sales.
  
• Does the auctioneer maintain a small library of antique and collectible books to research goods or do they simply dump goods into a box and hope potential bidders will recognize the value of items.
  
• Does the auctioneer use outside consultants to identity items?
• Does the auctioneer have a web site to advertise auctions; and if so, does it include pictures?
• Does the auctioneer offer a public preview of items prior to the auction? Potential bidders may decide to go to another auction on the same day if they just have to rely on a limited newspaper ad.
• How is insurance for consigned goods handled?
• When does the auctioneer want to hold the sale? Shoot for Saturday as people are off work. The second best date is Sunday, preferably with a starting date after most local churches have been let out. Avoid weekdays from the simple fact that everyone is at work or are unlikely to attend a auction after a long hard day on the job.
• Where is the auction to be held? A auction house in a larger city is more likely to score higher prices than having an auction at a isolated farm or small town.
• What is the auctioneer's expertise? Has the auctioneer, for example, been selling farm machinery for the last decade and has recently decided to sell estates?
• How modern is the auctioneer? Is the auctioneer still paper based or has the auctioneer moved onto using laptops? Bidders that have to wait for a paper based system are likely to go to another auction.
• Does the auctioneer offer telephone or online bidding?