Auction Marketing – Selling, Selling, Sold

Are you stuck with some products that are not selling the traditional way? Do you want to dispose of some property but are not sure what’s a fair price? This piece introduces you to a unique marketing mechanism, namely Auction Marketing.


Auction marketing is an aggressive and focused campaign that brings all the potential buyers and sellers to the same place (physical or virtual) at the same time. It creates a sense of urgency, a “buy it now” proposition. The buyer knows that if the item is not bought then, the opportunity to purchase it is lost. This sense of urgency drives the bidding and increases the price of the product.

In a conventional setting, you as the seller, set a price which is usually negotiated downwards at the time of sale. But at an auction, the price is adjusted upwards until the highest bid is received.

What can you sell using the auction marketing technique? Pretty much anything, but live auctions most commonly deal in high value items such as

• Real estate
• Business assets
• Factory inventory
• Works of art

However, the advent of online auctions has changed the landscape completely, and can cater to trivial, low value items as well as premium products. Which means anyone can sell via auction marketing. Here are several reasons why you should include auction marketing in your sales strategy:

• You don’t have to worry about selling your products too cheap to the first buyer that comes along, without a chance to assess market value.
• Your property is exposed to a large number of potential buyers, mostly genuine. If you insist on a non-refundable deposit of 10-20% of the bid price, it usually keeps dummy bidders away.
• You can set a specific date, time and location for the sale of the property. The terms and conditions of the sale are under your control.
• Auction marketing is expedient as it forces buyers to act immediately. It also creates an excitement that drives each buyer to outbid the other.
• Since it is completed within a set time frame, it saves high carrying and holding costs.

There are many companies or websites that can set up an auction for you. Hence, consider the following when choosing one to market your products.

• Select a company that is professional and trustworthy.
• Ask the company for references to reconfirm their track record.
• Check with the company to see if they belong to the National and State Auctioneer’s Association. This makes sure that the company is committed to a professional code of ethics and standards for conducting business.
• Ensure that the company creates the right kind of publicity to market the auction to the right buyer segment.
• Find out if they have the necessary infrastructure to conduct the auction.
• Make sure the company offers it’s services until the auction process is complete and the final bid price is obtained.

Traditionally, auctions were live affairs held in a physical location, most likely at the behest of a single seller. Today, the concept of auction marketing has changed beyond recognition, with online auctions becoming hugely popular. This has created an explosion of sorts in the range of products that can be put up for sale, and the number of bidders who can participate. The auctioneer is replaced by the website, This platform has become so successful that there are even a number of books dedicated to doing business through online auctions.