Can You Make a Living as an Auctioneer?

Salary Factors
Your worth as an auctioneer depends on many variables. Here are a few of them:

• Are you right out of school with no experience?

• Do you want to be a freelance auctioneer working for yourself

• Do you want to work for just one auction house as its regular auctioneer?

• If you want to work for just one house, do you just want to be the auctioneer or do you want to work full-time and have other duties as well?

• Since different areas of the country have different pay scales, where will you be looking for work?

• What type of house do you want to work for? High-end? Local weekly auction? Local monthly auction? Specialty auction?

• Will you be the only auctioneer or part of a team of auctioneers?

• Will you be paid a flat rate, a salary or a percentage?

High-End Auctions vs. Mid-Range Auctions
No matter how talented you are or how much your services might be worth in your mind, most auction houses can only pay so much for an auctioneer. Larger houses or houses that have more than one location can probably be more flexible when it comes to their pay scale. Smaller houses have to exercise more caution.

Just because an auction house is local versus national or international doesn't mean that they offer low pay. Local auctions come in all different sizes. A local house could advertise internationally without having any international locations. This means a high volume of phone bids; real-time Internet bids and live bids on the floor. A high-end local auction house pulls in a lot more in gross sales than a local estate auction dealing in low to mid-range merchandise.

At the same time, the high-end house is spending a considerable amount of money on national and international print advertising. They are also probably paying a webmaster to handle real-time Internet sales, their own website and all the necessary Internet advertising.

Since a high-end house has much more exposure than that of a mid-range house that is only catering to its particular region, a good auctioneer is essential to them. Not just to get a higher return on their quality antiques but to present the right image for the house as well. But can they afford to pay you a higher amount of money if you have the qualities they seek?

High-end houses usually, but not always, pass on extra fees to their consignors in addition to the base commissions they are charging; such as so much money for each Internet photo, a stiff penalty if an item has a reserve and doesn't sell, etc. In many instances they also charge a higher buyer's premium. These supplemental charges help to offset the costs of their overhead.

A local auction house that does basic regional advertising for a mid-range auction sale with no Internet service is only going to draw dealers and residents from their own town as well as a couple of other neighboring towns. Say this sale had 400 lots in it and the total gross revenue was $35,000. Let's assume that the auction house owned none of the merchandise but took it all in on consignment. Let's further assume that the average of 25% commission was charged with no additional fees and a 10% buyer's premium was in effect.

If we round off these numbers, the gross take for the house is $12,250. Now we need to make this a weekly auction because not too many low-range to mid-range auctions could survive running just once a month. Multiplying the number for this one auction times four will give a new gross take of $49,000 based on gross sales of $140,000. We are also now dealing with 1600 lots for the month.

The next assumption is that this particular auction house has a price per item breakeven point of $15. This means that it costs the house $15 for every item it holds up for sale. Included in this number are advertising costs, salaries, utilities, rent, insurance, credit card fees, catalog printing and miscellaneous costs. This means that the house's breakeven point for all four auctions was $24,000. That leaves a net profit of $25,000.

Let's say the high-end house offered 400 lots as well and the total of their gross sales was $250,000. In this example, the house runs once a month. The extensive advertising and Internet work involved, along with the vast amount of research required, would prohibit them from running more often. It would also be very difficult to get that many pieces of high-quality merchandise consigned into the house every single week. It is not that easy to come by. Now we need to deal with some real assumptions.

Does the high-end house charge 25% commission for their consignments? Probably not. The higher the value of an item, the less commission they probably take in order to get the seller to give them the consignment. We are going to assume that the house's average commission is around 15%. Some items will be at 10%, some at 15% and some at 20%. Let's assume the average buyer's premium is 15%. The gross take for the house based on these numbers with a gross sales value of $250,000 is roughly $60,000.

Now factor in a national and international ad campaign for this high-end sale as well as all the costs associated with the Internet service that provides real-time bidding. Add this to salaries, utilities, rent, insurance, credit card fees, catalog printing and miscellaneous costs.

Speaking from experience, we can tell you that the staffing required for the high-end auction surpasses that of the mid-range auction even though the high-end auction only runs once a month. For the most part, the other overhead costs are also more expensive. Most high-end auctions have buildings that they call "galleries" or "showrooms". Mid-range auctions usually have auction halls. We are sure you can picture the difference between the two and the difference in cost that goes with it.

With all expenses taken into consideration, the cost per item breakeven point for the high-end auction is roughly $100. This makes the breakeven point for the entire auction a gross number of $40,000 which, when subtracted from the gross take, results in a net profit of $20,000. We are assuming that approximately $3,000 can be added to that net profit figure for the additional fees and surcharges imposed on consignors that we mentioned earlier.

The numbers we have offered here are pretty accurate. We used two auction houses from our area as examples. We are very familiar with one and we owned the other. As you can see, once all is said and done, the high-end monthly auction house had profits equal to or a little less than the mid-range weekly auction even though the high-end house had $110,000 more in gross sales. As you can see by having worked the numbers, the high-end house can offer you, as an auctioneer, more prestige but maybe not more money. It's the opposite of what you might think.

Is there more stress working for a weekly mid-range auction house? It depends on what kind of stress you're talking about. Having to put together a 400-lot auction every seven days is definitely stressful. However the stress involved here is strictly one of timetables. Can we get it all done on time? Will we get the catalog to the printer on time? And so forth.

The stress associated with a monthly high-end auction house is not only different but it's worse. It's not about timetables. It's about money. There is usually enough staff at a high-end house to insure that the sale is done on time. However, what if the weather is bad on auction day? What if their phones go out? What if the power goes out? Last but not least, what if they just have a bad sale?

Believe us, bad sales happen and they seem to happen for no apparent reason. This kind of an outcome is more serious for a high-end monthly auction than it would be for any other monthly auction. Don't misunderstand, it's bad for both of them. However, when you consider the layout of money associated with the extensive and very expensive advertising schedule of the high-end house, a bad sale can put them right into the red.

A weekly auction house can have the same catastrophes befall them but they aren't as deadly to the bottom line. In seven days, there will be another auction and seven days after that another. The worse case scenario is that 25% of their business for the month suffers when they have a bad sale -- not 100% of the business as with a monthly auction.

Percentage, Hourly Rate or Flat Rate
So, which house do you want to work for? Since it has been established that the high-end monthly house does not always make more money than the mid-range weekly auction, which one is better for you as the auctioneer? Again, it depends. If you are a freelance auctioneer, you can be paid one of three ways.

The first is an hourly rate, the second is a flat rate for the entire auction and the third is a percentage of the sale. If you were going to get a percentage of the sale, then you would be better off working for the high-end house we used in our above scenario. Their inflated expenses would have no effect on your pay.

If you were being paid either an hourly rate or a flat amount for the entire auction, you would be better off working for the mid-range house. You would be working more hours at the mid-range weekly auction than at the high-end monthly auction but you would also be making more money.

Another consideration is your performance at a high-end house would most likely draw more scrutiny.

One of our auctioneers was paid 1% of gross sales before buyer's premium with a guaranteed minimum of $200 per sale. We had another auctioneer who received a flat rate of $200 per sale. The most we ever paid an auctioneer for a single sale was $600. One week, we had what was a really good antiques sale that did very well.

The auctioneer who happened to be working that sale was the flat rate guy, which meant he had only earned $200. Had the auctioneer who was paid a percentage been working, he would have been paid $650. In fairness to the auctioneer who actually worked the sale, we paid him a $400 bonus for a total of $600. He deserved it. That's not bad money for roughly 4 hours time.

Salaries Based on Region and Experience
In trying to research salary levels for auctioneers, we found real disparities in the rate of pay. One analysis indicated the percentage range to be 4%-22% of each sale. That's a pretty wide range which, in our opinion, doesn't tell you or us too much of anything. We found a national average that quoted a yearly range of between $48,000 and $56,000. It however did not specify any differences based on either level of experience, geographical location or full-time versus part-time.

Florida is not known for its high pay scales, especially when compared to that of the Northeast, but we know a number of auctioneers who make more than $56,000 here in the Sunshine State.

At the library we found documentation from 2007 that showed a median salary for auctioneers that ranged from $70,000 to $130,000 based on 20 years of experience. The low end was $30,000 to $50,000 for roughly 5 years of experience. Again, no geographical breakdown was supplied.

According to the 2006 New Zealand census, auctioneers earned an average of $50,500 per year based on just over 40 work hours per week. No further breakdown was given. We don't know many full-time auctioneers here in the states that work for another auction house or have their own house and only work 40 hours a week. We should have moved to New Zealand instead of Florida.

We also found several Internet classified sites where independent auctioneers advertise their services and their rates. The rates and expense reimbursement requirements are so off the wall there really is no point in mentioning them here so we didn't. Why muddy the waters.

Since the auctioneer profession is not well populated when you compare it to other vocations, it is hard to find a lot of salary information. Such data is easy to come buy when you are researching jobs that are much more common and hold a broader appeal.

Some progress was made when we were able to locate an average yearly salary for auctioneers in 8 different states. They are as follows:

Illinois $57,800
New York $59,800
Texas $50,400
Florida $48,600
Indiana $46,400
North Carolina $51,500
Georgia $58,800
Arizona $65,600

We also did a cost analysis for auctioneers at an "analyze your pay scale" site. We plugged in a salary number of $60,000 and this is what we got back:

$60,000 is in the 90% percentile
$50,000 is in the 75% percentile
$40,500 is in the 50% percentile
$30,500 is in the 25% percentile

Salary Profiles of Some Real Auctioneers
This same site also provided profiles of real auctioneers working in the industry and what they are earning based on their experience:


Sex: F
Years as Auctioneer: 4
Salary: $30,000
Bonus: $5,000
Location: Washington State
Employer: Auction House
Paid Vacation: 1 Week
Benefits: Paid Sick Leave, Paid Holidays

Sex: F
Years as Auctioneer: 5
Salary: $40,000
Bonus: $2,500
Location: California
Employer: Auction House
Paid Vacation: 2 Weeks
Benefits: Medical/Dental, 401K

Sex: M
Years as Auctioneer: 5
Salary: $40,000
Bonus: $1,000
Location: Michigan
Employer: Freelance
Paid Vacation: 2 Weeks
Benefits: None

Sex: M
Years as Auctioneer: 1
Salary: $30,000
Bonus: None
Location: Indiana
Employer: Freelance
Paid Vacation: None
Benefits: None

Sex: M
Years as Auctioneer: 17
Salary: $55,000
Bonus: $2,000
Location: Massachusetts
Employer: Self-Employed/Real Estate
Paid Vacation: None
Benefits: None

The best way to find out what you could make as an auctioneer in your area is to ask. Go to a few auctions and make some inquiries. Most people will be happy to tell you what you want to know within reason. Remember they themselves had to break into this business at some point and most of them had the same questions.

Written by Anne Benedetto, Auction House Talk
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