First of all - very best of luck and have a great time! (Mitchells is the best canteen of any auction mart I know, by the way.)
I've never heard of tups being sold with a companion and cannot see anything in the catalogue to suggest that they are at this sale.
I cannot see anything to say whether the prices will be in guineas or pounds - some breeding stock sales are in guineas. Ask if you are not sure. At most farm livestock sales, all the commission is paid by the vendor but at some rare breed sales the buyer also pays a commission. The catalogue doesn't mention a buyer's commission - but ask if you are not sure.
Tips for buying at auction:
1. Arrive in time to have a good look at all the animals in their pens before the sale starts. Get in the pens with them and check temperament, fleece, condition, testicles (in the case of tups), teeth, etc. Look for signs of blue spray on feet. Some people like to talk to the vendor if there, some prefer to play their cards close to their chest and not let the vendor know of their interest.
2. Select the animals you like and are prepared to take home with you
before entering the ring. Mark your catalogue accordingly.
Do not bid on animals you have not marked in your catalogue. Be prepared to not like an animal in the ring you liked in the pens. They look different in the ring. Only bid on animals you
still like in the ring
and you marked in your catalogue.
3. Decide what your signal is. Raising your catalogue or buyer's number is universal. If the auctioneer doesn't know you, this is probably the best signal. Some old-timers like to make teeny little moves that only the auctioneer can see.
After your initial bid, you can nod or move your catalogue again to say 'yes' or shake your head to say 'no'.
4. Make sure you are positioned where the auctioneer can see you. Do not look at the auctioneer directly at all unless you want to bid on the animal in the ring. (I once nearly had to tell BH I'd bought a tonne of granite for £2. Thank Freda someone else was prepared to pay a fiver for it!)
5. Decide on your top price for any animal you are likely to bid on. You will probably keep going another two or three bids above this, so take this into account when setting yourself your limit! Some people wait to see how the bidding goes before putting their hand up. You can lose an animal this way. I prefer to get into the bidding straight away if I like the animal; you can stop when the price goes over your limit, you know! Usually the auctioneer will seek a fairly high price as s/he starts to auction an animal, and will then come down until s/he gets a bid. I like to get in pretty soon after that, ie, the second or third bid. The auctioneer will not let you get away with making one bid and then dropping out, so don't enter the bidding very close to your limit unless you are prepared to go over your limit for this animal.
6. It may take you some time to 'tune in' to what the auctioneer is saying. They speak very fast and it is a bit codified. So try to spend some time watching the bidding on animals you don't want to buy to get your ear in and get the hang of how the amounts go up (£20 or £50 a bid? Not likely to be £100 for Herdwicks?)
7. Some animals may have a reserve on them, also a vendor can indicate to the auctioneer that they do or do not wish to sell at the current bid price during the auction - so watch the vendor for shakes and nods of the head. If you are winning bid and the vendor is shaking his/her head, or if the current bid is not as high as a pre-set reserve, the auctioneer should say something like, "S/he's not happy," to indicate this to you. You can either bid again, or let the animal be 'passed out' (not sold in the ring) and go and find the vendor in the pens and agree a price there. (The transaction will still go through the auction centre and commissions will be payable.) You do of course risk that someone else beats you to it and you lose the animal.
8. When you have bought your tup, the staff will need to know your details. They may come to you with a card to fill out, or if not, shout your name out to them and make your way to the front where they will give you the card to fill out. (If it's a buyer's number sale, you will have registered your details at the office in order to get your number, and just have to show your number, but this sale does not seem to be a buyer's number sale.)
9. You will have to pay at the office in order to get a pass out to take your tup away. They will also print the movement documents for you.
10. The vendor may come and find you and give you some 'luck money'. It'll not be much, it's not about the amount. Not all vendors give luck, and some leave it in the office for you, in which case the teller will have given it to you when you paid in the office.
11. Once you have your pass out, when you are ready to take him home, find out where the loading bays are and get your trailer reversed up to a dock. You need two of you, at least - one goes in front of the tup getting the gates right and the other follows behind, pushing him along. Do not assume that any gate will be in the state you passed it 45 seconds ago...
12. Don't forget to complete the movement documentation and send the top copy off to your local Trading Standards office within two days.
I wish I'd had the above notes before I had to buy at an auction, so I hope they are useful to you.
The first time I bid on a tup, I actually opened the bidding as the auctioneer didn't seem to be able to get a bid, and then froze. Someone else made a bid and I just stared at the autioneer in terror. Thankfully he led me into making another bid and knocked the tup down to me immediately before I had a heart attack. (Seriously, be prepared for your pulse to race to exotic heights!)
Have fun, good luck - and we want pictures of him when you get him home!
Topic: Off to the Herdwick Auction! (Read 8141 times)
