Global Auction Blog

Ever tried to find directions to a location, only to be dissapointed in the accuracy? Maybe they couldn’t even find the town that is little more than a dot on the map?

Mapquest has probably been around the longest and it does an excellent job of giving directions in the United States. It is not that great for Canada, but then again many people in the world can’t find Canada on a map of the world.

MapPoint from Microsoft is probably the best for Canada and the US combined. It also has great software for your laptop that allows you to plug in a GPS receiver with the mapping software and shows you in real time that you missed your corner. If you don’t have your usual backseat driver with you, you can enable the voice commands to give you notice that you will soon have to make a turn.

Always an up and coming contender, Google has a new service that gives you mapping . In many ways it is the clear winner, but it comes up short in some ways. The abilty to view the satellite images as an overlay to the map will give you hours of entertainment looking at your house, and the mess in your neighbors backyard.

Google, always the innovator also lets you see mapping for the moon to see where Nasa’s space landings were. Be sure to zoom in close to see exactly what the moon is made up of.

MultiMap is my favorite for UK and England directions, seems to be the most accurate for finding locations there, and if you have ever travelled there you know that a good map is indispensable. It makes London and Manchester look as easy as Lewistown, Montana to navigate.

One that I am not that familiar with is Yahoo maps. According to some reports it is the most used of all mapping services.

Hope these links help, and let me know of any others and your experience with them

Dwayne

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Ever wonder what auction sales may be in your travel plans this summer ? Looking to find a farm auction to annoy your wife, or an antique auction to bore your husband to death? Why not try the Calendar feature on Global Auction Guide. Com

If you know you are travelling across Kansas near Enterprise on August 16th or near Cookeville TN on August 27th there are some interesting sales. Make a day trip or plan a week of holidays around auction sales in your home state. Pennsylvania , Texas, and Ohio are always full of auction sales.

Spouse insisting on driving 500 miles to visit your inlaws ? Why not find something along the way for you to enjoy.

Maybe you can find a deal along the way.

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Life of selling America’s stuff

EATON, Ohio — In his mind’s eye, Horace J. Kramer can vividly replay the day he fell in love with auctioneering.

He, his dad and his grandfather traveled from Preble County to Kitchel, Ind., to a big farm auction on a bone-chillingly bleak November day in the depths of the Great Depression.

He was a 6-year-old boy, and his overalls and worn jacket didn’t quite keep the weather out. But it didn’t matter. He huddled against the cold, sometimes straying to the wood fires cooking in several 55-gallon drums placed in locations around the farm.

But that wasn’t what was warming him. Instead, he was mesmerized by the man on the wagon commanding the attention of the 200 or so people who came to buy.

He was the auctioneer, standing above the crowd, commanding their attention and using rapid-fire words to make commerce out of the confusion. He produced an unusual energy that ebbed and flowed as the bidding skipped to its close.

“It just fascinated me,” Kramer said recently. “To hear the auctioneer’s call, the chant he had. Each auctioneer had a different song he sang with filler words. It just made such an impression on me.”

It inspired Kramer to go to auctioneer’s school after service in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. He did his first auction in 1948, and within two months, entered into a handshake agreement with another auctioneer, Lloyd Reitz. It was a handshake bond that lasted until Reitz died in 1968.

The two men did hundreds of auctions and, when Reitz died, Kramer carried on.

In July, Kramer called his 10,000th auction. In his 57 years of auctioneering, he built a business and along the way he built a family, built friendships and helped build a community.

And he built trust. That’s why, many say, he has been such a successful businessman.

“He’s one of the best,” said Myron Orr, a retired Preble County farmer who has known Kramer for most of those 57 years. “The reason he has been so successful is because of his honesty and his integrity. He and his son, John, just have wonderful reputations. They’re good, honest people and around here that’s real important.”

“I’ve always had one golden rule, and that is, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’ ” Horace Kramer said. “I’ve always tried to be fair to both sides. I always felt that if I was fair people would employ me and buyers would follow me.”

Kramer and his son, John Kramer, run Kramer & Kramer Inc. in Eaton. Recently, Horace, or JR or Junior as some know him, has slowed down. John now does much of the auctioneering.

But his legacy lives on.

“He obviously set the whole foundation for my action career,” John Kramer said. “He always taught me that being honest and hard-working are of the utmost importance. You always put your client’s needs before your own.”

Today, times and auctions have changed. John Kramer said auctions have become more regionalized, publicized and specialized.

But when Horace Kramer started his business, they were local happenings. In the 1940s and ’50s, there were hundreds of small farms and dozens of local auctions each month.

Kramer started with nothing and built his business while living with his wife, Marian, in a one-room cabin in Eaton and working for $50 a month on his father’s farm.

“I think we paid a couple dollars a month (in rent),” he said. “Times were very hard. We were living on no money. We sweated it out, but we always stuck together.”

Marian helped by working at Campbell’s Drug Store in Eaton, and Horace and Reitz found auctions where they could. They sold everything that America owned.

They sold chickens and plows, hay, 10 acres of corn standing in the field, onions and potatoes, wrenches and burlap sacks, horses and sows.

They sold household goods and collectibles, laying hens and Plymouth Rock roosters, pure-bred Tulouse geese, cheater white sows, jersey cows carrying their fourth calf and an 11-year-old bay mare weighing 1,670 pounds.

But those days are gone and it saddens Kramer. He fights back tears as he remembers the names, places and faces.

“You have to remember that almost all the farmers, the implement dealers, seed dealers, bankers and businessmen that Dad dealt with are gone now,” John Kramer said. “Sometimes it’s hard for him. But he has longevity and longevity is based on integrity.”

Reporter Bill Engle: (765) 973-4481 or bengle@pal-item.com

Originally published August 8, 2005 by Palladium Item in Richmond Indiana

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Greg Peterson Publisher, The F.A.C.T’s Report

News Article originally printed at @gOnline

Judge for yourself.

I’ve heard lots of talk recently regarding the drought regions and how later-model used equipment — especially big-ticket items like tractors and combines — will sell on farm auctions there. Will there be buys? If so, how much cheaper will stuff sell?

Well, on Monday of this week a nice farm auction was held in northern Illinois. It featured a dandy 1996 model JD 7800 mechanical front-wheel-drive tractor with 2,335 hours on it. It sold for $48,500. See how that stacks up against other similar JD 7800 tractors in the data table on the following page.

Sometimes I think that at late-summer auctions held in the Midwest, you can have a bit of the “wait and see” factor hurting auction sale prices. As in, “Hmm, maybe I’ll hold off going after that piece of equipment right now until we see how yields come in.”

Then, consider the fact that this sale was held in an area hard hit by drought, and you can multiply this “wait and see” factor by two or three times. Understandably, the result is usually lower sale prices.

Which is tough luck if you are the seller, but presents tremendous opportunity if you are a buyer looking in the used market. The key is knowing where these “soft” spots are. A few years back it was western Nebraska and western Kansas. If you know where stuff is selling for less, then the only hurdle left becomes finding out about available equipment in these areas.

I see in our “auction locator” database in our Web site, a 2001 model Case-IH MX240 MFWD tractor with 520 hours is coming up for sale in Salem, Illinois, at an August 6 farm auction. Wonder what it will sell for?

We’ll be there to find out.

Greg Peterson Publisher, The F.A.C.T’s Report

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The original Farm Auction Guide website was born from one farmer’s struggle to find farm auction listings on the Internet. Since few auctioneers had websites, and even fewer provided searchable databases, it was extremely difficult for farmers to find any particular item. Using other leading-edge agricultural sites (AgDealer.com, PrairieLinks.com) to develop a model, we built what we believe to be the Internet’s most powerful and user-friendly auction site. Whether you are an auctioneer looking for the best exposure for your auction, or a farmer looking for that one special tractor, FarmAuctionGuide.com is the ultimate auction resource on the Internet.

Within the first year of operation, the success of our business model, combined with auctioneer and user feedback, prompted our expansion into other industries. To facilitate this growth, FarmAuctionGuide.com was re-launched to join forces with 7 other industry-specific websites, forming the Global Auction Guide Media Group. Many unique features have set Global Auction Guide apart from other auction websites, and through syndication, our aggressive marketing of auctioneer sale bills has made Global Auction Guide the market leader in on-line auction advertising.

To see what we have been up to lately, please click HERE to see our Press Release page.

The Global Auction Guide Media Group includes many different brands and syndication partners.

For a list of over 50 other Media Syndication Partners, Click Here

If you are an auctioneer and would like more information on having your companies auctions listed here with the Global Auction Guide Media Group, please Click on the Auctioneer Registration link at Global Auction Guide.

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Like most farmers we attend a number of auctions every year, sometimes because it is a neighbor who is leaving farming through retirement or sadly in today’s present farm economy, auctions are also being held for bankruptcies and other reasons. Or for particular pieces of equipment that we require in our operation. Farmers generally attend local auctions for a social event as much as they do for business reasons. But when they are seriously looking for a piece of equipment, they will travel hundreds of miles looking for that elusive “deal”.

In the past, we have purchased the farm papers, and read the auction listings, but this is limiting because of time spent reading and which papers are available in your area. How do you find papers from the next state or province.

The Internet has become the great equalizer when it comes to finding information. For many people it is now a problem of information overload. It can take more time to manage and sift through websites than it takes to digest the things you were looking for in the first place. It is becoming more difficult to identify what is useful and what is not, without spending days sorting through it. There are hundreds of auctioneers who have websites to look at. Most of these are online brochures, listing the sales bills just as they are in print. It can take a long time to find what you want, especially if you have a slow connection and the auctioneers has made the mistake of using PDF files or large images as their sale bills. Time wasted can be very frustrating.

During the past couple of years a trend has developed to bring all of these auction sites together into one large fully searchable website. Where you can find what you are looking for in a matter of minutes instead of hours. Where you can enter an item in a search box and get an instant list of where it is available and when. Many auctions also have photos of items.

The best sites do this and much more. You can search by item, by state, by date, or for a specific auctioneer. When the sale that you want is found, the sale bill can be printed out. If you have a problem remembering dates, registering for an email reminder one week in advance is available. The website also will send you notification of newly listed auctions by area or auctioneer upon request, letting you know what is coming up as soon as it is listed. Our objective was to make searching for farm equipment easy for the farmer and effective for the auctioneers to bring their sale bills to you.

To contact Dwayne, visit www.GlobalAuctionGuide.com

(c) 2005 Global Auction Guide Media Group- All rights reserved.

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To see full details on this article goto North County Times in San Diego CA.

By: ADAM KAYE - Staff Writer

VISTA —- Stephen Cook spent $950 on Sunday to purchase a piece of history. The contractor from Escondido was one of hundreds of bidders snatching up tractors, farm equipment and all kinds of other antiques at the Antique Gas & Steam Museum’s yearly auction.

Cook’s prize, a 1946 John Deere “D” tractor, is heading right to his workshop to receive a deep-cleaning and complete restoration.

The fenders and hood are rusted but free of dents. The rear tires are cracked and torn and tall as a bean-pole, but they can be replaced. The workhorse of a tractor, with two cylinders the size of coffee cans, should clean up very nicely, he said.

“I grew up on these things,” Cook said. “This is something I’ll hand down.”

Rusted tractors —- and the discs, plows and mowers they pull —- filled a dusty lot at the 55-acre museum grounds.

A Cletrac dozer that rides on steel tracks sold for $1,600.

Alongside the dozer sat an International cub tractor for cultivating, discing and mowing.

A Massey-Ferguson tractor changed hands on Sunday. So did a Ford Jubilee tractor from the late 1940s.

Kicking tires and looking under hoods were farmers and collectors from across southern California and beyond.

Some of the pieces will become “yard art” in gardens; other machines will receive love and paint in workshops, like Cook’s, and still others might return to service on a farm.

Nostalgia drives many of the purchases, museum president Tom Garrison said.

That’s because the tractor, and the hard work it symbolizes, draws a direct connection to farm life, to waking up early to finish chores before school, to family members working together, to families helping one another, to community.

Jerry Kozitka, of Indio, began driving a John Deere “D” when he was eight and lived on his family’s dairy farm in Minnesota. Many farmers favored the Deere tractor; a hand-operated clutch meant that a child could operate the machine, he said.

Every year Kozitka returns to the auction.

“It just brings old stories together,” he said.

Innumerable stories are contained in the Civil War papers, historical memorabilia and household items that were also auctioned off.

Maytag “ringer” washers from the 1950s were on the block. So were sheriff’s badges, rifles, wagon wheels with wooden spokes and a dentist’s chair upholstered in red velvet.

In past years, auctioneers have worked as late as midnight to auction off the lots, which numbered nearly 1,000 on Sunday, Garrison said.

Another visitor to the auction was Jake Krotje, 21, of San Marcos. Krotje displayed a dashboard to a Model A he had fabricated in the foundry class at Palomar College.

Krotje said he has come to the auctions since he was a boy, but Sunday’s visit did not include any purchases.

“My back yard’s full,” Krotje said.

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For some people attending an auction sale for the first time can be a very intimidating experience. People milling around evaluating potential purchases or just looking to see what their neighbor had accumulated. When the bid calling chant begins, are you the type of bidder that has your strategy completely planned out or are you the person that others refer to as someone who gets carried away with the moment when bidding begins.

To be the successful highest bidder is easy. To get a bargain you need to have a plan in place well before the day of the sale.

Talking to bidders from across North America the most consistent advice we have been given is to research the value of any item before you leave home, this can be done by calling your local dealer, reading ads in the paper, or doing a search on an internet site such as Ag Dealer.com. Also visit services like FACTS Report to access recent auction selling prices. This should give you a range for the piece of equipment you are planning on purchasing. Most of us have been to an auction where we’ve seen a buyer pay more for a 2 - 3 year old item than it would cost new. The best way to prevent this is by setting a value before you leave home and then adjusting it when you have inspected it for condition at the sale.

Once you have a target price for that item, how do you achieve your goal? A lot of people have told us that before they start bidding, they watch the auctioneers in action to see his technique and how he works, they all have different styles of selling. Watch to see how he starts the bidding, is it initially high and dropped until he gets a bid, or low to get the sale started and to gain momentum. Many auctioneers have a policy that if no one will open the bidding they will place the first bid to speed things up.

Everyone has a different bidding style. Do you start the bidding and continue fast and aggressively to show determination and to deter competition or wait until near the end and then jump in to dishearten any remaining bidders. I’ve seen buyers wait until the very end and win with their only bid, and others open the bidding and purchase the item. Do you bid slowly to give your opponent time to think about how much he is paying or enter the ring quickly and decisively at the end with a couple of fast bids. Auctioneers certainly appreciate the bidders who step forward and quickly get things moving.

Next where do you stand? Many people stand in front of the equipment in good view of the auctioneers and other bidders to show enthusiasm and to discourage neighbors form bidding against them. Or do you stay in the crowd out of view and bid through a ring person to stay anonymous until the end, so no one knows who is buying. Who do you watch whilst bidding, the auctioneers to make sure he doesn’t miss your bid or your opponent to psyche him out ?

Most people seem to use a combination of these strategies depending on what suits them and how much they want a particular item but everybody agrees on one strategy, if the price is too high don’t bid at all! The other thing that we learned talking to people about auctions was that part of their attraction is that they enjoy the challenge of competing for that elusive bargain and the entertainment of watching the day’s action.

To contact Dwayne, visit www.GlobalAuctionGuide.com

(c) 2005 Global Auction Guide Media Group- All rights reserved.

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Wine auction contractor, DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers, sets wine auctions world record! On May 21, 2005 wine auctioneer Tom DiNardo of DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers assisted ERI of Chicago in their second largest wine auction held to date. Gross sales of $700,000 were earned in this record setting wine auction with 97% of all wine being sold on the auction block.

Five world records were attained for price achieved at wine auction. Wine auctioneer Tom DiNardo states, “Six bottles of 1980 Romanee Conti sold for $19,550. Eight bottles of 1981 Romanee Conti sold for $19,550. Six bottles of 1975 Romanee Conti sold for $10,925. Nine bottles of 1980 DRC La Tache sold for $9,200. A double magnum (3 liters) of 1971 Grand Echezeaux sold for $7,425. Achieving a strong return, just short of a world record, was a bottle of 1950 Chateau Petrus which sold for $11,615. DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers were privileged to be part of this history making event.”

DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers specializes in fundraising wine auctions. Since 1993, Tom DiNardo has presided over more than one thousand auctions for various non-profits, charities, and community organizations across the United States. In addition to running DiNardo & Lord Auctioneers, Tom DiNardo is also a contract auctioneer and freelance writer for the Wine Enthusiast magazine and also WineSquire.com. Mr. DiNardo is also a regularly featured writer for AuctionZip.com and GlobalAuctionGuide.com. For more information about Tom DiNardo and his fundraising auction company, please visit his web site at DiNardo and Lord Auctioneers.com

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Visited the huge consignment sale held by Bill Klassen Auctions in Winkler / Morden Manitoba. Not sure of the final numbers today, but in in 2003 and 2004 this auction ran 3 Rings all day and over 1400 bidding numbers handed out. Hundreds of items including combine harvesters, tractors, tillage equipment, lawn and garden, grain bins, cars, trucks, semi trailers, quad 4 wheelers, livestock equipment, and even a large coin collection was sold. Considering it was 35C / 95F, the strangest thing to buy on a day like this was a snowblower. I think I got a good deal on it !

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