Lessons learnt during auction of items, and selling of items taken on consignment. 

Things I have learnt during negotiations and private auctions include:

  • Be confident during negotiations. Say something in a strong and stable tone. No "uh", "ah", or fumbling around.
  • If you want to sell off the item at $X, you should say you want to sell it off at $X*1.5, X*2, or X*3 or whatever you want. Let the bidder think about it.
  • Do not say negative things about the item. Say only positive things about the item.
  • Do not say anything that will let the customer know if you have another bidder or not. Whether you have a bidder or not is not relevant to the customer. If the customer genuinely values the item, then they will bid at a valuable price.
  • If the customer knows you do not have any more bidders, they know they can bid at a lower price.
  • Consider If you want to let the customer know the ownership and other history of the item, unless it significantly enhances the bidding price, do not reveal these things.
  • Before beginning the auction, check what price it is in other markets, so that if the buyer is from another market, and has come to explore your market without an advisor, you can sell it off at a higher premium.
  • Do not let the buyer know that you've taken the item on consignment, and how much you took the consignment for. If they know, they can choose to make an offer that is less than what you asked for, and nearer to the actual costs that you took the consignment for.
These are lessons that forms part of the 64 secrets of auctioning off an item.

These are things learnt during the auctioning of an item that I would like to think of as: "duck ***", or "duck manure".