When auctioneers get together, one topic that sometimes arises is, “Can you have an auction on Sunday?” Typically, answers range from, “We have auctions on Sunday all the time …” to “We never have an auction on Sunday …”
Why is this even a question? Can you have an auction on Monday? No auctioneer ever considers that question. But Sunday seems to get some attention in this regard.
It seems the question comes from reading the Bible, and in Exodus 20:8-11 (King James Version) is where the following passage is found:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
As we ask various auctioneers around the country, we found that there was a fairly consistent answer to this question: “Yes, you can.” Yet, a few we asked told us that in their part of the country, they would be “run out of town” for having an auction on a Sunday.
It seems to us that in nearly all parts of the United States, people do work on Sunday. Gas stations are open, supermarkets are open, movie theaters are open, shopping centers are open, restaurants are open … so people must be working to manage those businesses?
As I write this article, today is Saturday, August 28, 2010 and AuctionZip reports 1,562 auctions today. Tomorrow, Sunday, August 29, 2010, AuctionZip reports 393 auctions.
For the month of August, 2010, Sunday is the day with the least number of auctions — yet, not a day where there are no auctions.
I would conclude that auctioneers are able to have auctions on any day, so long as their expected attendance considers that day an appropriate day for an auction. Could a particular area of the United States, or a particular town or village deem Sunday an inappropriate day for an auction? Surely. However, for the vast majority of auctioneers, Sunday is a day which can be considered for an auction.
Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, AARE has been an auctioneer and certified appraiser for over 30 years. His company’s auctions are located at: Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, Keller Williams Auctions and Goodwill Columbus Car Auction. His Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/mbauctioneer. He is Executive Director of The Ohio Auction School.
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