We have written more than once regarding auctioneers posting on Facebook and elsewhere — where other people can see such. Most notably we explored this issue here:
Recently we noted this again in regard to direct and circumstancial evidence in court cases: https://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2019/05/09/intent-direct-and-circumstantial-evidence-in-auction-cases/.
The issue is essentially this: Anything you post on Facebook, your website, or other platforms (including this writing, for that matter) are able to be accessed by others — and anything posted which helps your side of your case is beneficial — and anything that helps the other side can be devastating.
I walked into a deposition a few years ago where an attorney had four 500-page binders full of my prior blogs, with colored tabs marking my writings he intended to query me about; a recent case marked the second time an auctioneer’s post on Facebook was used against him in multimillion negotiation/settlement discussions.
Most posting on Facebook or otherwise is fairly inconsequential. However, posts about your experience, marketing, what you do, what you don’t do … are best to accurately reflect your experience, marketing, what you do and what you don’t do, or those posts could be used against you.
Further, remarks about sellers, bidders, buyers or the auction industry generally could be used as evidence of your attitude or perspective. This is not necessarily a bad thing unless your actions or subsequent behavior don’t quite match those words.
I somewhat frequently see posts on Facebook which essentially say, “I booked this auction and I have no idea what I’m doing …” Let’s just imagine for a second this auction doesn’t go that well and the seller (or seller’s attorney) sees this post indicating the auctioneer knew his expertise was woefully inadequate.
People have long said, “Think before you speak.” In today’s environment, it’s maybe even more important to, “Think before you post.”
Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, CAS, AARE has been an auctioneer and certified appraiser for over 30 years. His company’s auctions are located at: Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, RES Auction Services and Goodwill Columbus Car Auction. He serves as Distinguished Faculty at Hondros College, Executive Director of The Ohio Auction School, an Instructor at the National Auctioneers Association’s Designation Academy and America’s Auction Academy. He is faculty at the Certified Auctioneers Institute held at Indiana University and is approved by the The Supreme Court of Ohio for attorney education.
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