Ah, the old-fashioned country auction! The idea of a country auction conjures up certain images for people. The image of a fast-talking auctioneer offering up an antique table or chair is a popular example.

People who are buying household goods or collectibles are looking to get their items at the lowest price possible. However, the people who are selling their items at auction are hoping for the highest price!

Unless a person is in the business of buying and selling antiques or other items, not a lot of thought goes into how goods are prepared for sale via the auction process. However, if you are one of the growing number of people using auction venues to sell your collectibles or other inventory, there are a few things to learn first about how to sell at auction before you bring a truckload of stuff over to the next event.

Tip 1: Make sure the things you want to sell are a good “fit” for the auction house you’ll be using.

Never bring a load to an auction house without actually having been to one of the previous auctions. It’s important to get a feel for the type of goods that the house sells. For example, at one very rural country auction it was common for the owners to sell live chickens, pots and pans, car parts, and farm equipment.

After close investigation, this would not be the right venue for selling your daughter’s “Hello Kitty” collection. On the other hand, the spare John Deere parts that you bought at last week’s yard sale might be just the right thing for the buying crowd at this auction.

Tip 2: Be sure you clearly understand the terms and policies of the auction house.

Visit with the auctioneer ahead of time. Call to find out what the best days and times are to visit. One of the worst possible times to drop in for an informational visit with an auctioneer is the day of the auction. Call ahead and ask. While you’re at it, find out what are the best days and times to drop your stuff off.

Once you have a little time with the auctioneer, you’ll be able to find out what type of commission he or she takes from consigners (which is you), and what type of paperwork might be needed. Some auction houses send out Form 1099 tax forms at the end of the year. An auctioneer may need to see your identification and have you fill out a W-9. Be prepared.

Find out what happens to your items if they don’t sell. For example, some auctioneers may have a minimum starting bid. If, for some reason, one of your items does not sell, it may be grouped with another one of your pieces. Know the auctioneer’s strategy beforehand so that you aren’t surprised on pay day.

Tip 3: Make sure the auctioneer knows what you’re selling.

It might be perfectly obvious to you that the signed print you are consigning is a rare and valuable piece of art. However, the auctioneer may not know this particular artist. Make a note of anything particularly special about your items, and leave the note with the piece. Be sure to tell the auctioneer about it as well. He or she might determine that this is something to highlight on the company website or in the newspaper listing.

Tip 4: Present your items neatly.

No one likes to have to dig through a box full of grimy and greasy car parts to see what treasures might be in there. Separate the parts and lay them out on a flat, or use more than one box to de-clutter the lot.

There is no need to buy fancy display boxes. It’s easy enough to go to the local convenience store or supermarket and ask if you can have the emptied boxes or flats that they are discarding.

While it’s good to present clean items, take care not to ruin the value of anything by over cleaning. For example, if you find some old cast iron cookware, clean the obvious dirt and grime, but don’t scrub it to its original finish. For many people, this ruins the value of the item. So, clean and tidy and organized is the key here.

Tip 5: Don’t complain to the auctioneer if your stuff doesn’t sell for as much as you’d like.

The phrase to remember here is, “You win some; you lose some.” That’s just the way it is. There are some days where an auction house is loaded with people who all seem to want what you’re selling. There will be other days where the crowd is sparse, and the bidding is simply not competitive.

Remember that it’s in the auctioneer’s best interest to sell your things for the highest possible hammer price. But sometimes, it’s just not going to be a stellar sale. The auctioneer is only human, and is also disappointed if a sale doesn’t go as well as planned.

If you notice that every time you bring a bunch of goods to sell that you’re not realizing as much as you think you honestly should, try another auction venue and compare apples to apples. That is, bring the same types of items to the new auctioneer and compare the results.

Unless the auctioneer is particularly disagreeable or inconsiderate to you or buyers, there is no reason to confront him or her about a sale. If you find you just don’t care for an auctioneer’s style or methods, find another one. Believe me, there are plenty of them out there!

The primary thing to remember as you learn how to sell at auction is that the business is unpredictable at best. You will have good days, some not-so-good days, some great days. The more you sell, the more experience you will gain, and the more enjoyable the business will be.

Countless scores of individuals are scouring the internet in search of a legitimate home based business. The current economic crisis has left many families dangling on the brink of financial ruin. Job losses are still mounting as the economy struggles to recover. One way that some people are finding financial relief and even financial freedom in some cases is through starting their own home based business. There are however things to be wary of and mindful of if you are considering a legitimate home based business.First let’s examine what things you should be wary of.1) If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Simply type “home based business” into your favorite search engine online and you will soon discover hundreds of thousands and well over a million links to what we’ll call the “promised land.” So plentiful are the offers that it will make someone who is new to the process want to give up before even trying. Keep in mind that the internet in many respects is not unlike any seedy alleyway with every scammer and slickster standing by awaiting your arrival. One good place to begin your search for a legitimate home based business is in the many internet forums. Forums like, Conquer your Niche, and Better Networker are full of posts and valuable content from people who have been in the their particular niche for some time. Often you will find information on which companies and opportunities to avoid.2) The second thing to consider is the area of “work” and how much you are going to have to do. Well, here the old saying “you get out what you put in”, truly does apply. Statistics show that nearly 97% of all home based businesses fail. When you dig deeper into the reasons why you will find that most simply did not put in the required amount of effort into making their business a success. Many of the failures are due to those who fell for the pie in the sky opportunities. Simply put, this is where the key legitimate home based business comes into play. If your home based business is not legitimate there is no way you will succeed. There is no magic potion or magic wand to wave over your business and success will come pouring out. You will have to develop successful strategies in order for your business to succeed.3) The last thing to consider is to find a business that you will enjoy doing. It makes absolutely no sense starting a home based business of walking dogs if you do not like dogs. On the other hand if you enjoy meeting new people and establishing relationships then you may find network marketing to be a rewarding endeavor. The same strategy spoken of in the previous example applies, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. There are many legitimate network marketing companies available. The forums mentioned previously are also a good resource to find the right one for you.All said, having your own legitimate home based business can be a rewarding undertaking. Incorporate these keys into your search process and you will do yourself well.

If you come across anyone who tells you that a J-O-B is a negative thing, saying words such as “Just over Broke” or “A Job”, it is always best to thank them for their opinion and move on from them. While we can all agree that you will never get rich as an employee (well, maybe with the exception of an employee in a company that gives you stock/shares), we can also agree that we need to have income coming in as much as possible. We know that if time freedom is high on your list, you will never get that as an employee. Unless you are the owner of the company. But still, you need income coming in, even if it means getting it from a day job.There is nothing wrong with having a day job.Most of us know that there are negatives and positives when it comes to having a day job. The negatives are that you will have to commute, trade your time for dollars, endure psychological and physiological stress, office politics, after-tax income and so on. However, there are positives as to why you should keep your day job (within reason) especially if you’re still running a home-based business.The truth is, we all have to bring in money. It doesn’t matter whether you are an employee, a business owner, network marketer, songwriter, real estate broker, doctor – whatever. There is a saying that money isn’t everything in this world, but it sure does come close to oxygen. Let’s face it. Money isn’t everything, but it is important.Anyone who says “I don’t need the money” or “I don’t do it for the money” is actually lying to themselves and to others. If they do not need the money, then why are they still working at their jobs? If they don’t need the money and they love their jobs, why not work for free? Now, I can hear a lot of people tell me “that’s not fair, you have to be compensated for what you do.” Ahhh. So, that means money still is important. Most of the answers people would give are “I’ve got to pay the bills” or “I’ve got to take care of the IRS or CRA or creditors” and so forth.I’m guilty of this too, so I’m not pointing fingers. But it’s important to be aware of this. We all have to bring in money, and I mean legally. Whether that be a job or a business (that serves the world and helps people, of course).Most people are not cut out for entrepreneurship and that’s totally fine. But for those of us who have the entrepreneurial bug bite, the first important matter is to always remain grounded while remaining a visionary.When I mean remaining grounded, I mean being responsible. Having a home-based business and thinking that you will grow rich if you do it full time, does not give you the excuse to leave your day job when you have a massive amount of bills to pay. Even Bill Gates and Sylvester Stallone had to bring in some sort of income while they were obsessed with making their dreams come true.For those of us who are not familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy, Maslow states that we must always satisfy our basic needs. Food, Shelter, Water, Clothing, etc. If you are not currently getting that from your home-based business, you need to bring in income. Even if it means bringing it from a job.There is nothing wrong with a job (unless the job is killing you and dangerously leading your stressful life to a cancerous result). Although you have to trade time for dollars, you are getting dollars and that’s a fact. You need to focus on your survival needs first and then build towards your thriving life.Anyone who puts down jobs either had money handed down to them, or they had forgotten where they came from. These are the people who do not respect life in general and it won’t be long before their table of success turns on them. Instead of putting down jobs, or people with jobs, they should inspire people and encourage people to go for their dreams. Not FORCE them.David Foster was flat broke once. Tony Robbins, Dr. Joe Vitale, Sanjay Burman, Loreena McKennett, Gordon Ramsay, the late Steve Jobs – they all started out with humble beginnings. But they never forgot where they came from. They worked hard and smart, and they never forgot that.We all are brothers and sisters on this planet. The only thing is that not everyone has the same energy amongst each other.If you want to build a huge home-based business and are starting out from scratch, here are some tips you can try:

If you are a daredevil and totally believe you can make it, go for it and take risks – but make sure the risks are the kind that you learn from and not die from.
If you have a full time job, keep it. But schedule your home based business around it, so that you have a balance. You still have to bring in money, especially if you need to finance your business. Unless you are 100% certain that you can pay it back, refrain from going for a bank loan.
If you don’t like your full time job and it is massively stressful (like office politics, violence, etc.), make sure you have enough in the bank to sustain yourself for a couple of months while you work on your home based business.
You can also apply to another full time job that you like, at least to keep yourself afloat. Note: Make sure it is a job that you can do and not one that you’re low on expertise for. You’ll find that you’ll have to spend a huge amount of time learning the skills from home if it does not help your home-based business. Otherwise, perhaps find something positive about it. Maybe the skills could be used in your home based business.
Join networking groups and promote your business. It doesn’t matter whether it is network marketing, direct selling, real estate, franchises, whatever. Just continually promote and network. Get in the habit of meeting people and having conversations.
If you have the time, join a Mastermind group. Find one that works best for you and that you can contribute and learn from.
Be aware of overtime hours from your job. If you’re going to get plenty of these, you might want to consider a home-based network marketing business. When you sponsor people, you can train them once a week or month and they can prospect while you work overtime at your full time job.
Master the Art of Automation – put your business on the internet, Master it and if you got it working, it will work on Autopilot for a certain period of time. Imagine making more money while you are at your full time job, or when you are asleep. Network Marketing also works beautifully with Internet Marketing.
Make sure to pay off your credit cards or other creditors. If you are already in the danger zone, consider credit counselling (don’t be embarrassed; we’re seeing a huge worldwide credit crisis more than ever in human history. The important thing is that you learn from your mistakes).
If you are severely burnt out, make sure you have enough reserves for a couple of months, so that you can resign from your job. Take time to relax, rejuvenate, read books on how to build your business or self-improvement. Go to a baseball/basketball game or even musical theatre. A trip to the great outdoors – whatever is a great meditation for you.
Consider focusing on your passions, even if life is going chaotic and crazy. Know that when you can find time to do what is considered a meditational moment for you, you will balance out your life.
Look at your job positively. You could take whatever skills and experience you’ve learned on the job into your home based business. For example, I work as a web designer and front end developer as a contractor for several clients, even though my business is in building residual income and health consultation for others. But it is through the web designer/front end developer jobs that I learned how to put together this website and make it dynamic. I would have never learned about the technology without it. So jobs are important and are still great income sources. There is also nothing wrong with loving your job either. I know some successful entrepreneurs who sometimes miss their old full time employment and wished there was a way to have both at the same time. If you enjoy your job, be proud of it. But if you can, build a home based business on the side so that you have a cushion when the economy changes again.We could spend a whole article on this, but the important thing to remember is that you must keep the money coming in, whether it is by your job, by residual income or passive income. Residual and Passive income is always best, but if you’re not getting these yet, you must bring in money, even if it’s from your job.When you prospect or network for your business, you do not necessarily have to tell others what you do at your day job, or what your job title is. You can tell them what your home-based business title is. If they get to know you more personally, you can mention that you have a full time job, but you’re working hard and smart towards working in your home-based business full-time.Remember, there is nothing wrong with a job. If it is the only source of income you have at the moment, it is the one that is going to help you provide food on the table for you and your family (if you have a family) as well as shelter, utilities and an internet connection, plus items for your home-based business (like laptops, nutritional supplements, phones, whatever.)You’ve got to start with financial security, so that you can focus on financial freedom. People who have financial freedom handed down to them will find their way to financial security fast, if they do not know how to get to and stay at financial freedom.Sure, a job is “just over broke”, but it’s better to be that than to be broke without any options!