AuctionZip.com was free to list auctions. Then, it was $10 to list auctions, then it was $20 to list auctions … and so forth. Of course, auctioneers are agitated by these price increases, especially in light of it being free in the beginning.
So what to do? Now that it’s $40 (for online, not live?) some auctioneers have remarked they are moving to other calendar websites which are free. But is the reduced cost to list an auction the entire issue? It’s not.
When we started in the auction business in the 1980’s in/around Columbus, Ohio we spent upwards of $500 for a single newspaper auction advertisement. Using the “it only matters what it costs” theory, I could have saved $500 and rather just put a notice up on a telephone pole near my home.
However, by saving (in this example) $500 where 1,000’s of readers saw my advertisement, I could have saved $500 and had no more than a couple people see my advertisement. Clearly it’s cost and benefit rather than merely cost.
We’re not suggesting AuctionZip.com provides enough benefit for the cost for all auctioneers — but if you’re moving to a free site to save this fairly modest listing fee, what is the impact on the benefit? In other words, how many people look at that free site compared to AuctionZip?
In fact, should you be relying on an auction calendar site to get bidders/buyers? Once you have established yourself as an auctioneer, it is likely prudent to direct people to your own website and use other marketing to find new clients and customers.
We previously wrote about the dangers of directing people to any auction calendar: https://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/look-at-my-auction-auctionzip-auctioneer-id-9281743/. However, if a prospect is looking at a calendar site, it’s good to be listed there.
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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