If possible include a name, email, and phone number in your description so people can contact if they have questions.
Seller Tip: Be descriptive in your item description
The more information you have in your item description the more attractive your item will be. Also please make sure you disclose any problems with the item. If you were buying the item, what would you want to know about it? Also be sure to double-check the information to make sure it’s correct.
Seller Tip: Take quality pictures of your items
Make sure the images of your item show it in the best detail as possible. Try to show your item in as much light as you can. Show different angles and include interior shots. Don’t forget to include pictures of anything wrong with your item. Good pictures of your items will increase bidding.
Seller Tip: End your auction on an ideal day and time
We recommend you end your auction on a weekday between 10am-9pm. This is when we have the highest amount of site traffic. Please make sure you don’t pick a holiday or the day before an extended holiday (i.e. Friday before Memorial or Labor Day).
Seller Tip: Set the auction duration to 14 days at a minimum
We recommend setting the auction duration to 14 days at a minimum. This allows us to maximize our marketing efforts for your item, giving it maximum exposure to potential bidders.
Start Low, Sell High!
Have you ever gone to a live auction or watched one on TV?
Did you see the auctioneer try to start off an auction with a ridiculously high starting price? No one bids, right? Then the auctioneer yelled “give me a dollar bill” and all of a sudden, a bunch of hands go flying up and the bidding ensues.
One of the most common questions we get from sellers is “how much should I start the auction at?” We typically recommend starting auctions at about 10% of the expected
value of the item. Many times, when we make this recommendation, it’s met with great skepticism. But once we explain our reasoning, our sellers try it and are thrilled with the results.
Here’s why you should start your auctions at a low starting price:
Unlike live auctions, we can’t start high and work our way back down to a low price that motivates people to bid, we need to start at the lowest price.
The idea is to bring as many people into the auction as possible. This includes bringing in folks hoping to get a deep discount on items. Once there are several people involved in the auction, the competition amongst bidders heats up. The mindset changes from “that’s a steal at that price” to “ah, what the heck, what’s another $20.” This competition is what drives the price up.
We have had many sellers experience great results after taking our recommendations. Here is a recent example…
“Although I was skeptical as all get-out, I followed municibid’s recommendations and posted the minimum bid at about 10% of what I hoped to get for each item. In the end, my trucks (truck 1, truck 2) exceeded expectations by about $13,000 each, and the paver and grader that we hoped to sell for parts, exceeded my expectations by $4,700 and 7,300, respectively! Thanks for your advice, expertise, and guidance!”
-Bruce R. Light, Penn Township Secretary / Manager (April 2012)
Again, the key is to compel as many people as possible to bid. This is also why we highly recommend against setting a reserve. When an auction has a reserve, it scares bidders away that otherwise might have placed a bid… and then got competitive. The other reason is no matter what, with municibid, you’re never obligated to accept the results.
The bottom line is we are on your side! We want you to sell your items for the highest possible amount. We are here to help, so never hesitate to ask for recommendations or an opinion.
Baton Rouge City-parish auctions moving to Internet
Taken from http://theadvocate.com/news/2562161-123/city-parish-auctions-moving-to-internet
Anyone wishing to purchase surplus equipment by auction from the city-parish will have to do it electronically starting next week — a new process city-parish officials say they expect to reduce costs and increase revenues.
The types of surplus equipment that previously were sold at auctions held on site will instead be auctioned off through the online auction site municibid.com, said Patti Wallace, the city-parish’s interim purchasing director.
The website caters to municipalities and government agencies, she said.
Wallace said the city-parish’s first auction on municibid.com will begin April 20 and end May 4.
The switch to the new system is part of an effort by the Mayor-President’s Office to use technology to reduce costs and increase revenue, Wallace said.
“We wanted to get our inventory greater exposure to the public,” Wallace said.
The increased exposure should result in higher bids, she said.
“We were having on-site auctions before,” Wallace said, noting that the on-site auctions were expensive.
“We have just two inventory staff,” Wallace said. “We would have to borrow employees from other departments to put on our auctions.”
The city-parish hosted only one auction per year because of overtime payments for workers and other costs associated with hosting on-site auctions, Wallace said.
The city-parish will be able to auction off surplus inventory more quickly, and with less overhead, with an online auction, Wallace said.
“Absolutely it will be ongoing as soon as we get inventory,” she said.
The first auction will give officials a chance to compare the prices with the last auction, held in June, she said.
“We wanted to conduct a representative sampling of our inventory: vehicles, lawn equipment, office equipment,” Wallace said. She said officials will compare the auction prices for individual items in the online auction to the June 11 auction.
The city-parish will be selling items seized by police, in addition to surplus equipment.
“I anticipate getting more for items,” Wallace said. “And in terms of expenditures, I expect to see a significant decrease.”
Friday afternoon, municibid’s “Baton Rouge Store” listed 48 items up for auction, including minivans, lawn mowers, copiers and tractors. Wallace said more items will be added to the list in the days ahead.
Wallace said municibid does not charge the city-parish a commission for its sales, rather it collects an 8 percent “buyer’s final sale fee” directly from the winning bidder, according to the company’s website. For auctions in some other cities, municibid charges a 5 percent buyer’s fee.
Payment for the items can be made by electronic funds transfer, wire transfer or cashier’s check, certified check or money order, municibid founder and CEO Greg Berry said in an email. The 8 percent fee must be paid with a credit or debit card, he said.
The municibid site was chosen after a “request for proposals ” was published, said Bob Abbott, an assistant parish attorney.
Wallace said companies that submitted proposals, including municibid.com, govdeals.com, Brown’s Auction Company of Lafayette, and Kunstler Newton Services of Baton Rouge. The proposals were evaluated by a committee that included Wallace and representatives of the city-parish’s information technology, finance, public works and police departments, she said.
The city has a one-year contract with municibid, with two 12-month renewal options for a maximum contract length of 36 months, Wallace said.
Wallace said the request for proposals was written after she researched ways to use technology to reduce costs and increase revenue from surplus inventory.
“I did contact two in-state and several out-of-state agencies,” she said, referring to entities that have used municipal auctions. “One said it was the same, but the majority said they saw a significant increase.”
Ascension Parish tried something similar last year, said Trent Woodard, a project coordinator in the parish’s Information Technology department.
“We went back to doing it with an on-site auction,” Woodard said. The problem wasn’t with the online auction service — Ascension Parish used govdeals.com, a similar site to municibid — but with the parish’s internal logistics.
“Most of the problems were … about having multiple people pick up items over several days,” he said, adding that the inventory and location that could accept payment were often not the same place.
Govdeals charged between 7 percent and 10 percent of the final sale price to use their service, Woodard said.
“We liked that it was advertised to more people,” he said. “The logistics didn’t really work out for us.”
For Baton Rouge, municibid will process all the payments from the winning bidders, Wallace said. Once municibid sends a certification to the city-parish, the buyer will have 10 days to pick up the equipment, she added.
Municibid serves as auctioneer for approximately 600 municipalities and agencies across the country, but Baton Rouge is the first city in Louisiana served by municibid, Berry said.
“Once we demonstrate success with Baton Rouge, we will reach out to other Louisiana agencies,” Berry said in an email.
The company serves as the online auction site for the cities of Boston and Philadelphia, he said.
Baton Rouge Mayor Holden announces plan to hold City-Parish auctions online
Taken from http://www.wafb.com/story/17388977/mayor-holden-announces-plan-to-hold-city-parish-auctions-online#.T4bOUW6PQhc.twitter
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
Baton Rouge Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden announced Wednesday that the City-Parish has contracted with an online government auction site, municibid.com, to auction off surplus and police-seized items.
Holden said the use of an online auction will provide greater exposure of the surplus items to a broader audience, and ultimately result in greater benefits and cost savings to the City-Parish and taxpayers. The Mayor also said online auctions are widely recognized as a “best practice” approach to inventory management for local governments.
Municibid was chosen because it is designed for local and state government entities. The move will increase non-tax revenue by enabling the City-Parish to more effectively sell surplus items by using municibid’s online government auction platform. Unlike other auction services, municibid does not charge commission on sales.
The first round of auction is scheduled to begin on April 20, 2012 and end on May 4, 2012. Items up for auction include cars, trucks, heavy equipment, lawn equipment and computer equipment. Bidding is open to the public.
For more information, go to www.brgov.com/dept/purchase/auction/.
RI Town selling surplus property online
RI town selling surplus property online: wpri.com
Taken from http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/east_bay/middletown-selling-surplus-property-online by Darren Soens
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (WPRI) – The town of Middletown plans to begin raising extra revenue by selling its old, unwanted items online.
The town used to sell its surplus property the old fashioned way, through a sealed bid process at Middletown Town Hall. Now Middletown officials hope integrating in the internet into the auctions will draw more interest and help raise thousands of extra dollars.
Middletown’s information technology director, Matthew Wainwright, explained how people can bid on the surplus property.
“The user will come onto our website, they can click on the bid system, it will take them to the Municibid website. They will see all of Middletown’s items that are for sale, and they can actually bid on that.”
Middletown’s surplus items will be featured on theMunicibid website beginning April 9.
“We’re going to have computer equipment, monitors,” Wainwright explains. “There’s a safe, a fire-proof safe we want to get rid of, so several different items, all different categories.”
The town also auctions off unused vehicles, such as old police cars.
“We will also try to incorporate some vehicles in the coming weeks. We have to identify which vehicles, and deem whether they’re safe or not to be sold. Once they’re deemed safe, we’ll put those online as well.”
Wainwright hopes the auctions will bring in between $5,000 and $10,000 at first, and possibly more as the auctions catch on.
“I can see that possibly reaching 15 thousand dollars. It’s nominal but it’s still making use of stuff that otherwise may just sit around for ten years and potentially be deemed surplus and destroyed.”
Wainwright says the online auctions will not cost Middletown any money. Instead, the bid system will keep eight percent of each item’s value as a service fee.
Used Township Equipment Generates Online Auction Fever
Taken from an article on the Woodbridge Patch written by Deborah Bell
Woodbridge has found an interesting way to dispose of its used vehicles. They’re going online to find auction bidders who are in the market for used fire pumpers and garbage trucks at good prices.
And don’t forget the street sweeper.
At municibid.com, an online auction site, the township has listed four pieces of equipment for the auction block. One is a 1985 American LaFrance fire truck pumper that was in service at the Fords Fire Company. The pumper ha 11,130 miles on it that was certified as fit in 2011.
With less than a week to go, it has 7 bids at $1,650, but it still hasn’t hit its reserve price.
Two of Woodbridge’s old garbage trucks, the type used before the township went to a robo-armed trash pick up system, are also up for sale.
The two trucks, both 2001 models, each have around 90,000 miles on them, and they’re bringing in better prices in the $2,500 range.
A 1994 Elgin street sweeper is also up for bid. It’s missing a few parts and has approximately 130,000 miles on it. Right now the high bid is $525.
All the equipment is available for inspection at the township’s Public Works garage in Keasbey prior to the auctions’ end on April 4.
This online bidding system is a cash and carry proposition. The winning bidders are told need “cash or certified check” when they come to pick up their equipment.
Municipalities are looking for new ways to generate revenues said, municibid CEO Greg Berry, and that makes his website a perfect match.
“Taxpayer demand and tightened budgets require government agencies to look for new ways of increasing non-tax revenue, municibid is an easy way to earn substantially more money for surplus at no cost to the agency,” Berry said in a statement.
“Auction items will reach a much broader, national and global audience of competing bidders.”
