Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....  (Read 13962 times)

mowhaugh

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Scottish Borders
    • Facebook
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #30 on: September 19, 2014, 06:49:35 pm »
On the other hand, I have spoken to an auctioneer this year on the phone, at a mart many miles away I have had very little dealing with, to try to arrange to buy some sheep unseen as I had heard they were good, he asked me what my top price was, and he then said having seen and handled the sheep, he felt I would be disappointed in them if I paid that.

Slightly off topic, but I wanted to have a look at the Stirling catalogue just out of interest, but I can't find it anywhere, only the hebrideans, not the other stuff, does anyone have a link?

devonlady

  • Joined Aug 2014
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #31 on: September 19, 2014, 10:52:50 pm »
And who has not seen auctioneers taking bids "off the wall"

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #32 on: September 19, 2014, 10:57:31 pm »
Well I'll be honest, that was quite a daunting experience for a novice!

I started out by watching the show, and had some success in picking out which sheep would be the winners, so I must be starting to get my eye in (long wheelbase seems to be desirable, though I believe not as good off-road?  :innocent: ). However, I was heartened to find that the sheep we liked most didn't win anything, so maybe we might be able to afford them after all?  :)

I'd made notes of the most likely pens before the auction and again during the show, but it was hard to find the sheep I wanted in all the melee and I must have walked round the mart at least ten times before I'd managed to check them all over and finalise my shortlist.

The most daunting part was getting into the pens with other people's sheep and trying not to make a total arse of myself when checking teeth etc, but I survived without any first aid injuries and also saved myself from bidding on a couple of disasters who had looked just fine from a distance.

We were originally looking for shearlings who could be tupped this year, but it turned out that all but one pen had *already* run with rams, so they were off the list as I really don't want to be lambing in the middle of winter. That left only one nice non-pregnant gimmer to bid on, but she fetched £400, which was over my limit (and even then failed to meet her reserve).

So, I switched attention to the ewe lambs, having picked out a shortlist of ten we fancied. Of course the ones we liked were also the ones other folks liked too, so I ended up paying up to my limit for one and a bit over it for a second (Mrs Womble's favourite, so that's her birthday and Christmas sorted!  :innocent: ). They're both cracking sheep, so we're very happy with the result.



The things I've learned today then:

  • Don't be afraid to ask questions of the sellers
  • To make the right decision, you have to get up close and personal with the animals in their pens. This is a bit like looking after somebody else's children when they are watching - it's WAY worse than doing anything with your own sheep, especially for a novice.
  • If you think an animal is a wee bit special, so does everybody else, and the price will reflect that. The same goes for sheep with rosettes on their backs from the pre-sale show.
  • The show is a great place to work out what you like. The sheep that don't get placed will still be the best that particular breeder had for sale, and today at least fetched better than average prices.
  • It's really hard to tell how a sheep stands when on thick straw, so you may need to wait until it gets into the ring before you can really assess it (and even then, the experienced folks were spotting issues with sheep that looked just fine to me!)
  • There may be big gaps in the running order for whatever reason, so you need to keep on your toes as the lot you're interested in may come round more quickly than you think.
  • If you hand over your details after winning, the auction will only note your name, not the other details on the form. This will then lead to embarrasment when you come to pay and no longer have a copy of your CPH number to hand!  :-[
  • As mentioned already, the price you pay is in Guineas, so the clerk will add 5% on to your winning bid when you come to pay.
  • The actual collection was a total melee, and involved quite an intricate reversing manouver with the trailer. I'm not too bad at this now, but I'll be honest, two years ago I'd have undoubtably over-thought things and fluffed it, so it makes sense to get some practice in beforehand!
  • Beltex breeders are utterly bemused by the popularity of Zwartbles. To quote a conversation overheard in the cafe queue "If I wanted a big wooly dug, I'd get mysel' an 'effing poodle!"  :roflanim: .
So thanks for all the tips folks  :thumbsup: . I'm now really looking forward to the Stirling Rare Breed sale tomorrow (Mowhaugh - I don't think there's a catalogue published for anything other than Hebs).

I'm not buying this time, so it should be a much more chillled out affair (for me at least!!  ;D ).
« Last Edit: September 20, 2014, 07:47:21 am by Womble »
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

allyb

  • Joined Sep 2011
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #33 on: September 20, 2014, 06:23:38 am »
Well done Womble and lovely to meet you. Hope you enjoy your new sheep  :)

devonlady

  • Joined Aug 2014
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #34 on: September 20, 2014, 07:55:20 am »
They look lovely :sheep:

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #35 on: September 20, 2014, 07:57:49 am »
Well done Womble.  The sheep look superb - and clearly others thought so too, so you must've been picking good ones!

Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

mowhaugh

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Scottish Borders
    • Facebook
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #36 on: September 20, 2014, 07:15:50 pm »
They look lovely, well done!

Womble

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • Stirlingshire, Central Scotland
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #37 on: September 20, 2014, 08:57:48 pm »
Thanks All,

I was passing through Stirling this morning so popped my head in at the Hebridean and Rare Breed sale. This one was a similar set up to the one yesterday, except you had to register beforehand with the office and collect a bidder number. You then just showed your card to the auctioneer when you won. Oh, and the prices were about a fifth of what Zwartbles were fetching yesterday!  ;D

The only confusing thing was that this sale kept switching between lambs and shearlings, and some of  the Hebs certainly gave the staff the runaround (I'm starting to think our Manxs aren't so bad after all!).

I'll have to agree with Victorian Farmer's comments though. Apart from the Hebs, the other sheep on offer were quite a mixed bag. There were various breeds there such as some Jacob crosses, some unidentified "Rastasheep" (Teeswater-ish but not quite) and one solitary Zwartble tup who looked as though he'd turned up on the wrong day. So if I'd been looking for anything other than Hebs I'd have been disappointed (I guess everybody was at Carlisle?).

I also gave our new girls a really close inspection today, and I'm even more pleased with what we bought - didn't even have to trim any hooves - RESULT!!  ;D :thumbsup: ;D
"All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once." -Terry Pratchett

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #38 on: July 18, 2016, 04:15:00 pm »
And who has not seen auctioneers taking bids "off the wall"

Yes, they do - but that'll be when there's a reserve.  They have to get the animal up to the reserve price before any bids from the floor would secure it in any case.  If their bidder comes with them, the seller gets their reserve, the buyer gets an animal s/he likes and the auction makes its commission.  If the buyer doesn't think the animal is worth the reserve price, they drop out, the reserve isn't met, and there's no sale.  (So that's why it's important to have done your own market research, so you know you don't overpay for something with an unrealistic reserve.)

Which leads me to offer a bit more insight to newbies...

If you hear the auctioneer saying, "Selling now", or similar, it means the lot has reached its reserve and will now be sold to the highest bidder.  If the auctioneer has not said anything like this, it doesn't mean the animal has not reached its reserve, but you may find you think you've secured the lot, only to be told, "No, not today, sorry."  You may then be able to agree a price with the seller outside the ring - but should then both register the sale with the auction company, so you still pay commission and so on.


Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Victorian Farmer

  • Guest
Re: Buying at Auction for Dummies.....
« Reply #39 on: July 20, 2016, 07:32:00 pm »
The sale you need to go to is the September sales carlile. The very best and very helpful folk. I get a night at Premier in and get dawn erley. I'm not getting rams no more straws it's the onley way to get sales up. But I do follow the the good breeders.   http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CBSf9oUeyA8                      This is whot it's a bout
« Last Edit: July 20, 2016, 07:47:06 pm by Victorian Farmer »

 

Forum sponsors

FibreHut Energy Helpline Thomson & Morgan Time for Paws Scottish Smallholder & Grower Festival Ark Farm Livestock Movement Service

© The Accidental Smallholder Ltd 2003-2024. All rights reserved.

Design by Furness Internet

Site developed by Champion IS