BY KATHRYN CATES MOORE / Lincoln Journal Star
The first auction Deb Weidenhamer ever attended was in Surprise, when her grandparents were selling their farm and moving to nearby Columbus.
That rural, family event was very different from what she sees in her position as CEO of Auction Systems Auctioneers & Appraisers in Phoenix. But the concept is the same, Weidenhamer said in a phone interview.
And it still makes for good drama.
Which is why when TLC came to her with the idea of a reality TV show based on her auction business, Weidenhamer agreed.
“Auctioneer$” debuts at 9 p.m. Saturday, followed by a second new show at 9:30 p.m., on TLC. Eight half-hour segments were filmed.
Weidenhamer, whose maiden name is Ludden, has lived in Phoenix for two decades, but her brother Don and sister Diane Bond live in Lincoln. Her husband, Bruce, grew up in Omaha and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Those Nebraska ties bring her back to the state regularly, she said.
“In some ways, I think of Nebraska as more traditional auction country than Phoenix,” she said.
Filming began last January in Phoenix and lasted for seven months. Weidenhamer said her staff actually got used to the four camera crews and wearing microphones all the time.
The half-hour show looks at items’ sellers and their motivations, the behind the scenes of the auction business and, ultimately, the buyers.
“You see the end,” Weidenhamer said.
She got the auction bug 15 years ago after meeting an older auctioneer on a flight from San Francisco to Phoenix. After attending auction school, she knew she wanted to start a firm that incorporated high-tech aspects into the process.
“I wanted to mix bricks and clicks together,” she said.
Since no business model existed for that, she began one. The result mixes online, real-time and simulcast auctions.
Weidenhamer’s firm is huge – it’s a 150,000-square-foot facility – and often has three auctions going on at the same time.
The show is a natural for viewers who like other “treasure” shows, such as the History Channel’s “American Pickers” or PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow.”
Weidenhamer said although she makes a living selling other people’s “stuff,” she prefers to keep hers to a minimum. Her most valued piece of furniture is a Mission-style rocking chair that was her grandfather’s.
That said, in the first show her company sells a piece that intrigued her: a “rolling ball clock” from the 1800s. Made of glass and brass, rolling balls click off the time.
“It was so beautiful, it needed its own room,” she said.
Weidenhamer said her firm has committed to four seasons of “Auctioneer$” if the network wants them.
In the meantime, Weidenhamer and her associates will continue to set up auctions, talk fast and bang their gavels – in a non-traditional format.
