Maori Education – The Path to Our Future

Figures recently released by the Ministry of Education show that there has been a steady growth in Maori tertiary enrollments. However, although there has been growth in enrollment figures, this growth has been attributed primarily to growth in attendance at Wananga and educational institutes that empower Maori to embrace not only the learning of their history and culture, but teach mainstream educational courses in a manner that appeals to the style and formality of the Maori culture itself.

However, the figures also indicate that Maori are less likely to enroll in tertiary education facilities during the core tertiary ages of 18 to 24. According to the University of Waikato, a number of factors have been identified as affecting the successful participation of Maori students in tertiary education. These include the transition and adaption to unfamiliar environments and learning procedures, inappropriate support systems, financial barriers and a lack of social and academic support. A number of studies have highlighted the high number of students who are first generation participants in tertiary education, for whom adjusting to the practices and rules of a new environment without the support of whanau (family) is difficult.

Nonetheless, the emerging signs and trends of increasing Maori participation in tertiary education institutes are encouraging. Further research into the role of Maori education has highlighted the need to tailor the learning style, experience and environment to suit the aspirations of the Maori culture and the value of the whanau.

According to a review of Maori education conducted by MAI in 2007, the further education of the individuals, both young and old, is essential for the continued development and future prosperity of Maori and the culture. With a better educated population base, the review proposes that Maori will be better able to determine their own futures and prosper, both economically and socially. Marginal educational records and enrollments affect the future prospects of the individual and the whanau. However, several initiatives are proving very successful in respect to enrollment and completion rate of Maori students. These include empowering Maori in the community to take on leading roles in education institutions, developing role models that young Maori aspire to replicate.

Leading tertiary providers in New Zealand have realised these facts and have created tertiary environments that not only cater for the general public, but provide specific learning styles, teachings and learning environments that are conducive to the continued promotion of Maori education. Those who are serious about Maori education have gone so far as to provide customary Maori buildings, such as the marae, which is not only the focus of the whanau, but learning and education. Plus some institutions provide a “Manaakitanga” programme designed to support students’ success in their studies.

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How To Discover Your PERFECT Home Based Business – The Third Of Seven Keys – It Is Real

This is the third in a series of seven articles that tell you how to sift through all the home business opportunities you hear about every day, and find the PERFECT home based business for you.

What makes an opportunity P.E.R.F.E.C.T.? In the first two articles in this series, we learned that the “P” in PERFECT stands for “Profitable” and that the first “E” in PERFECT means “Easy”.

Key Number Three-
The “R” in PERFECT stands for “Real”. A real business is one where you offer something of real value to people willing to pay you well for that value…no envelope stuffing or other bogus schemes.

“Real” Means:

• A large identifiable market segment, or a smaller specialized niche market that is easily identified and reached.

Don’t make the mistake many people do in starting their new business. They get excited about something they like, create a product, and then find there is no market for the product. They discover too late that nobody wants to buy it. Ooops! There has to be a market for your product in order for your business to be real.

You also have to be able to easily and inexpensively reach potential customers in that market with your product offer, or you will be very dissatisfied with your income. Find a reachable market first, and then create a product that gives the people in that market what they want or need.

A side comment: if you are uncomfortable “selling” something, you should know that you will not really be “selling” anything to your market. You will be solving the real problems, and meeting the wants and needs of your customers by offering them something of real value in exchange for some of their money. The more people you help, the more money you will make.

• A high perceived need or want.

Ideally, your market will be passionate about their interests and have a strong need or desire for products or services related to their passion. For example, golfers are passionate about improving their game and will buy just about anything that will help them do that. Other groups are just as passionate about their hobbies or favorite activities.

It is also just as good, if not better, to go after a market where your customer doesn’t have particular hobby or activity in mind, but has a desperate need to solve a problem. An example would be those who have black mold in their home and must find a way to eliminate it.

Identify and market to passionate groups who are hungry for products and services you can provide, or those with a desperate need to solve some problem.

• Something people are already buying.

If people are already buying products or services like yours or related to yours, you have certain confirmation that there is an existing market for your products. All you have to do is offer your products to them and make your offer better than what they are already getting. As another marketing expert Mark Joyner says “Make them an irresistible offer, one they would feel a fool to turn down” and you will succeed.

So, the PERFECT Home Based Business must be REAL. And, it must be PROFITABLE, and EASY.

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Home Based Business Verses Mom and Pop Business

The term” Corporate America” is a term to describe a business that has goods or services to offer within confines of a physical building, a business that relies on walk in customer and phone orders. Part of the American dream is to own your own home, another part of the American dream for many is to own their own business. For many, this dream comes true and for the great many it becomes a bad nightmare and doomed to failure because of poor planning from the very beginning.Many people with the dream of owning their own business never sit down and count the cost, all they know is, they want the American dream of owning their own business. Lets count the cost of opening your own Mom and Pop business.1. You have the lease payment for the building. 2. You must put a deposit for utilities, lights, gas, water, and waste management. 3. You have a business telephone system, online computer system for billing and correspondence. 4. You have city licensing fees. 5. You have an advertising budget to consider, newspaper, phone book, cards, flyers, radio, and television. 6. Store fixtures and office furniture. 7. Full stock of inventory. 8. Employees. With all this it could run into thousands upon thousands of dollars for your pie in the sky.The following is an actual case study I did to get an idea of the average cost associated with opening a Mom and Pop business.A. Opening for an upscale hair salon, start up cost, $125,000 to $150.00. B. Opening for an high end pizza parlor, start up cost, $170,000 to $200,000. C. Opening for an bakery shop, start up cost, $200,000 to $250.000. D. Opening for a, gourmet chocolate & truffle store, start up cost $225,000 to $250.000.Okay, you get the ideal! People with their dreams will sacrifice everything they have to go into business, cashing in their retirement, maxing out all the credit cards, borrowing money on their mortgagees, borrowing money from their relatives, all for the shot at the American dream of owning a business.Wait! Before you dive off the cliff here! There is an alternative to a corporate business! Let’s compare a corporate business to an Internet home based business. Okay, let me say this first, it can cost you thousands of dollars by not doing your homework first. People try and try to succeed at building a Internet business, but, they just fall flat on their face, because they are associating with a company that will not teach them to be successful, or to spend time teaching the newest marketing strategies.Marketing on the internet has become a revolving technological mine field, and if you do not stay abreast of it, you will be left in the dust by your competition!Let’s get to the cost of a home based business. Without a doubt you should have your own personal website or blog that you can manage from a server, so you can access and post your articles and links etc. Even if you have an affiliate website you need your own website/blog that you can control. This will set you back about $600.00 or less and this is with all the training to market your business included. You need to start branding yourself on the internet as soon as possible.If you join the right marketing team, you can have your website/blog made and they will optimize your website/blog for you, so you can begin to get Google, Yahoo, MSN ranking for your site from the very start. You see, the marketing technique called attraction marketing, simply means you attract people to yourself, instead you looking for them. You no longer have to pester your warm market, Mom, Dad, brother Bob, and aunt Sue!Once you have the homework in place, you must begin to market your website and you should outsource this task to companies that have the expertise in the field of search engine optimization and marketing. There are companies that will do most of the marketing for you, such as, RSS submissions, directory submissions, article submissions, forum posting, social bookmarking, article writing, press release, and building a blog. All this will cost about $400.00 to get you started on the right path.If you count the cost to start a home based business, you can start with a $1,000.00, or less, assuming you have your computer already. This doesn’t include the cost of an affiliate program, you should try to keep this under $125.00 per month if at all possible.You can start with getting your website/blog set up, this can be done for the initial cost of $600.00 or less. No need to lay out all the money in the beginning, just tackle one task at a time,you can’t advertise something you don’t own yet!With a corporate business, there is a mountain of debt in the beginning, just to open. With a home based business there is a small investment spread out over time, there is a clear choice here.

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Tips For Successful Home Based Business

At present, economic downturn has been noticed all across the globe. This is why many people have switched to home-based businesses. Unlike other businesses, home based business arrives with both ups and downs but luckily, the ups overweight the downs -making it a wiser investment decision. Well, if you’re relying on home based business then you’ll be in touch of your family all the times. Additionally, you’ll have to carry societal responsibilities as well. However, success is easy to expect if you’re organized and productive by nature. Below I’ve mentioned some 8 outstanding tips that would help you to gain success in your home based business:1. Set your priorities: Once you’re assigned with a list of tasks to be performed. Set them in accordance to priority. It’d be better if you give more priority to the urgent ones and finish them as soon as possible. This is how you can ensure that you’ll not be missing any of the important tasks assigned to you.2. Plan your day: Planning plays a vital role in determining the success or failure of your business. Be smart and plan your entire day with your good morning tea or coffee or whatever you prefer. Make a list of goals that you want to achieve that particular day. Although it might be almost impossible to attain the entire goals at once, you can still achieve a few of them or at least one. Update your list once you achieve any predetermined goal(s).3. Never let your family pressure interfere your business: A majority of home-based businesses often end up to nowhere for a single common reason i.e. family pressure. If you want to succeed with home based business you should never let your family problem hurdle your business performance at any cost.4. Struggle Means Success: Don’t give up. Yes, it’s not a mere deal to get started with a home based business but if you don’t even give it a try once you come across some sort of problem you can never succeed in any business. Work hard, be dedicated, keep patience, and you’ll surely see your business growing and stabilizing sooner or later.5. Avoid distractions: Try to maintain the environment of your business as peaceful and sound as possible. For this purpose, you can avoid some most common sources of disturbance such as television and radio.6. Set aside time to have fun: No matter how busy your day is, it’s always great to refresh yourself even though it’s only for a couple of minutes. This is because it helps in improving your productivity.7. Multitask: “Every Second Counts”. You better try to stick with this statement and get minor things down when performing some big tasks. For instance, you can make a necessary phone call while waiting for your pages to print.8. Get Help: Don’t shy when it comes to asking help from your family or friends when necessary. Keep in mind that if you have really a lot on your plate, the odds are that you’ll probably slip on qualities and productivity. Therefore, try to finish everything at one go.

Four Essential Steps to Evaluating a Home Based Business Idea

In this day and time, many people are diligently seeking a good home based business idea – for many different reasons.While checking the latest world news this morning, I continue to hear more and more about a coming recession. Layoffs and company failures seem to be on the rise. A major electronics retailer just announced they are going out of business. People are scared and looking for home based income for added security in these tough times.Other people (for example, moms with young children) desire to leave the workplace and stay home with their children. Many are on the lookout for a home based business idea that will fit their lifestyle and interests.What should you look for when evaluating a home business? While there can be many things to consider, here are four things you should always keep in mind.What Will You Be Doing?First, consider what you will be doing to make money. If it’s performing a service (such as writing resumes), do you enjoy doing that type of work? You may be very good at putting together resumes, but do you enjoy it? What about promoting products through network marketing or MLM programs? Do you enjoy talking to people and working with them as a team? The bottom line is this – whatever home based business ideas you’re considering, be sure that whatever activities you’ll be doing are fun and enjoyable to you.Beware of Scam and Con ArtistsSecond, watch out for the scammers. This is particularly true if you investigate home businesses that are promoted online. The Internet is a wonderful tool and can be used for much good. Unfortunately, the same tool can be used to scam people out of hard earned money. Starting a home business shouldn’t cost a fortune. If you have to invest more than $100 just to get started, take a closer look and be sure the offer is legitimate. Find out who is behind the opportunity and check their background. If you can’t find out who this is, they may have something to hide. Just be cautious.Look for SimplicityThird, a good home based business idea should be simple and easy to understand. This is particularly true of network marketing and MLM programs. It shouldn’t take an advanced degree to figure out how you make money, or what you need to do.Training and Support are CriticalThere should be training and support readily at hand to help you get started successfully in whatever business you choose. Check this out carefully. There are lots of operations peddling home business information and startup packages that basically leave you on your own after the sale. Some do have a “training site” that you can access, but you will want access to a live person who can help you with questions and concerns as you go along.Starting a business from home is fun, and often a necessity in our time. While a quality home based business idea isn’t always easy to find, remain diligent and you should be successful.

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A Successful Property Investor Will Always Make Money in a Rising Or Falling Property Market

One of the most important jobs of a successful property investor is to find a good property investment deal and structure it to make the most money from that deal. It is important to note that a property investor is not a solicitor, or necessarily a property management expert or a maintenance guy. These jobs although essential should always be outsourced to the appropriate professionals.In addition to deal structuring, a property investor needs to be able to conduct a proper valuation of any property to decide whether a deal is worth pursuing or not. Estate agents and surveyors value property everyday. By using similar techniques of monitoring sold prices and market conditions, there is no reason why any lay person cant value properties himself.A good property investor will always make money regardless of what the market is doing. As a property investor, you should know when the ideal market for investing is. Making a list of comparable prices of properties which have recently sold in your area and by speaking to estate agents who are very close to the market will help you to make a better investment decision.We all know that it is more difficult to find a bargain in a rising market than it is if the market is falling. However, in a rising market the probability of selling the property immediately for a larger profit also increases. Hence, your investment strategy for property investing in a rising market might be to flip property. If the value of properties is generally decreasing then there are more opportunities to bargain and hence obtain some great property deals. These properties should be kept as rental investments. Henceforth, you can make money whether the market is rising or falling.Any good property investor should consider the following when investing in property:o limit your risk by doing your homework. Determine key factors such as the average length of time properties have been on the market this month versus last month to help gauge market condition.o leverage your finances. The less of your own money you invest in property, the more properties you can buy and you will also risk less of your capital should things go wrong.o assess the tax situation: Taxes are an important part of successful property investing and this can make a difference between positive and negative cash flow. Always know your tax situation and use it to your advantage. Hire a good tax accountant to advise you.o know your likely expenses before any property purchase. This will allow you to budget for any development work that may be necessary.o always conduct a thorough inspection of your property before you buy it. Never buy a property without examining it. Consider hiring a builder or surveyor if you are unsure about anything.o compare property values before purchase. Always compare your property value with a similar property in that area before buying it.o learn how to negotiate with estate agents and vendors. The less you pay for your property, the greater the profit. Never pay asking price for property.o always have an exit strategy in place. Why are you buying this property, how much will you spend and what do you want to do with the property once any works have been completed.The property business like any business will require you to do your homework. Follow these simple tips and your success as a property investor will be greatly heightened.

Selecting the Right Rental Property Management Software

Technological advancements seem to have eased out almost every aspect of human life, whether it is about finding right jobs or choosing a right career. Another such area where technological progress has been remarkably valuable is property management. Properties include houses, apartments, shopping centers, buildings and huge complexes that can be given on rent or lease for residential or commercial utility. Managing a rental property in an effective and efficient manner can be otherwise a daunting unless one takes the assistance of reliable rental property management software.

At present, there are numerous rental property management software available in the market. To pick the right one, one needs to understand whether the software suffices one’s needs and requirements. In addition, the software should be flexible, easy to install and convenient to use. Mentioned below are some tips that can help you select good rental property management software.

Suit your needs – Good management software is one that responds to customer needs, whenever required. Another issue related with property software is upgraded. With companies developing windows-based software, upgrade can be a really problematic and expensive. The reason is these companies upgrade the software once in a while. Every time the software has to be upgraded, the user needs to buy the upgrades from the developer’s site, download them, and have to go through an intricate upgrade process. In this regard, web-integrated third generation software can be a perfect choice as the consumer does not require handling any software upgrades. The entire upgrade is done by the developer. Whenever the user signs in, he is ready to use the upgraded version. Secondly, one would not have the fear of losing sensitive data when using web-based software programs.

Features – There are certain features that are absolutely required in every property management software. These include a complete accounting package that can support any type of accounting method and can generate reports anytime and in any form, facility for sending auto-reminders to tenants about aspects such as late payments and lease expiry notices, and ample data storage space. The software should also provide an uncomplicated and faster data management system that can ease out the problems experienced during data generation, data handling, and data search. It would be an additional benefit if your software can generate auto-forms, letters and can even print checks.

Security – Security is inarguably one critical aspect that must given due importance, particularly when looking for web-based rental management software. Always choose one that uses an SSL encryption for data transfer and data storage. Moreover, in good online rental property software, data is stored on a secure server present at a distant location.

Inexpensive – By and large, you need to either pay a subscription fee or purchase the rental property management software. Hence, always check for a company that does not require you to have a long term commitment or a single annual payment.

Customer support – In most cases, consumers using rental management software are not software professionals. In addition, these are complex software developed using advanced concepts. Hence, always look for a company that provides customer support and technical assistance whenever required.

Benefits of Aerial Advertising

Although business owners might not think of aerial advertising when planning their annual advertising budget, they should.

There are many distinct advantages to using airplane advertising. In many cases, the advantage of using plane advertising over more “traditional” advertising mediums is quite significant.

When planning an advertising budget, business owners should consider the distinct advantages of using aerial advertising as a medium to get a message across. The return on the initial investment could be significant.

Some of the benefits include:

Cost savings

First, aerial advertising is cost effective. You can easily reach thousands of people in a small period of time. You don’t have to assume they’ll watch the commercial and not flip the channel. You can be assured that when airplane messages appear, they will look skyward and pay attention to the advertisement that’s passing over.

That means there is no money wasted on advertising that won’t be read or paid attention to. In fact, it’s estimated that plane advertising costs about 50 cents per thousand people. No matter the deal offered by a radio station or a newspaper, it’s hard to beat the return on the aerial advertising dollar. Cost effective it is.

Novelty

It’s unusual and provides a break from the usual. People pay attention to aerial advertising, likely because it’s not something you see often. When they are laying in the sun on the beach on a lazy July day, they look skyward when airplane messages appear.

In addition, that novelty leads to memory. That is, people remember the aerial adds they see more than they remember other types of advertising. This is partly due to the novelty – they stop and say “hey, look at that plane and the banner!” – But it’s also the attention the banners garner. Studies show that people will generally watch the aerial advertising as is passes over and will continue to watch it until it disappears from sight. That’s a solid block of time where the intended audience is focusing on the advertiser’s message.

Non intrusive

To get the message across, advertisers who use banner towing aren’t intruding on people’s homes, their living room tables or their cars. They are simply providing a message that’s flown over the beach, or an event or other gathering.

People don’t feel as if their privacy, opinions or personal reading has been invaded. This advertising actually does something that most advertising can’t do – provide a welcome distraction, entertainment and a novel thing to talk about.

Increase ad recall

People remember aerial advertising more than any other advertising medium. Studies have shown that when questioned, 77% of the people who had just seen airplane advertising remembered what was being advertised on the banner. Another 67% could remember what was being advertised.

These numbers are far greater than the response to other kinds of advertising like radio and print ads.

All of these benefits add up to one great benefit – better use of your advertising dollar and a better return on that dollar.

The Finer Points of Internet Auctions

WHAT IS A PENNY AUCTION?

Penny auctions have exploded in popularity with the massive growth of the internet. However, few people know the true origins of penny auctions.Beginnings actually stretch back to the Great Depression. Those were hard times for everyone, but even harder for farmers. Farmers struggled to bring in steady income because of droughts and crops not selling as well as they had previously. As a result, the banks would foreclose on the farmers who couldn’t keep up with their mortgage payments.

The banks weren’t satisfied with just repossessing the house, they wanted to raise as much capital as possible, so they resorted to selling off the possessions of the owners of the repossessed houses. There was not much the farmers could do about it so they began bidding ridiculously low prices, pennies, on the items while threatening others who dared to bid higher than a few pennies.

The auctions of today hardly resemble their tremulous beginnings. Being part of a penny auction today is exhilarating, fun, and addictive. It combines the selling format of auctioning with a little bit of chance factored in.Auctions are a game of strategy but also a game of luck.

The premise behind penny auctions is giving people the chance to win an item at a drastically reduced price.Auctions make that possible by spreading out the cost of the product among multiple bidders. In order for a person to take part in an auction, they must pay a set price for each bid. For example, if a person wanted to bid on a fifty dollar Amazon gift card then he would spend a dollar for each time a bid placed. If he ended up winning the gift card, then he would only have spent a few dollars for a fifty dollar gift card. Usually penny auctions sell bids in packages.

HOW PENNY AUCTIONS WORK!

The main foundation of penny auctions is the pay-per-bid format. It is the key that allows bidders to win items at the fraction of their retail value and allows the auction owners to keep their site profitable. Most y auction sites run on the same premise: people pay a set amount for each bid, whenever a person places a bid within the closing seconds of the auction time will be added, the last person left with a unique bid after the clocks runs out will win the item. There are a large variety of items that can be won, but they tend to be popular electronics or gift cards to popular stores.

There are two types of auctions: lowest unique bid auction and highest unique bid auction. Lowest unique auction sounds confusing but it is actually quite simple. A unique bid is when only one person has a bid at a certain price. Bids usually start at one penny, a bidder can then place a bid at two pennies. Until another bidder places a higher bid, the most recent bidder will be the lowest unique bid because that was the only bid at two cents and nobody bid higher. However, penny auctions generally don’t stop at one penny. It is not uncommon to find auctions that end up at a couple hundred dollars based on the popularity of the item being auctioned. However, the same principles apply for those auctions. Highest unique bid auctions follow the more traditional auction format such as eBay. The person with the highest bid at the end of the auction wins the item.

Auction site owners turn a profit by selling bids. Say twenty people are bidding on a ten dollar gift card at one dollar per bid, at the end of the auction if there were twenty bids placed in total then the site owner would have made twenty dollars with a ten dollar profit.Auctions do seem like a win-win situation:The site owner makes money while the bidder gets an item for dirt cheap. However, not everyone wins in penny auctions. The people who paid one dollar each bid but left with nothing to show for their investments will not be so happy.

HOW TO WIN!

Penny auction has a lot of chance mixed into it, but one can incorporate strategy that will help raise the chances of winning. Playing smart can make all the difference between gambling and auctioning.

The first crucial tip to winning penny auctions is to know how to manage your bids. Your goal should be to win as much as possible without spending a ton of money buying bids. Managing your bids means that you should already know how much you are willing to risk in order to win an item. The amount of capital you are willing to risk will determine how many bids you can use. Once you know how many bids you have to spend on an item, then you will be better able to manage how and when you place a bid. That will keep you from blowing away all of your bids in the first few seconds of the auction.

The next tip is to practice time management. When fighting in the trenches of penny auctions, you have two enemies: other bidders and time. Knowing when to bid is a must if you want to have success. Placing a bid when there is a lot of time left on the clock is never a good idea. You have to remember that the key to winning a penny auction is being the last one standing when the clock runs out and that each bid increases the amount of time left. It would be a good practice to wait until the last few minutes of the auction before you begin to bid.

The final tip for successful auctioning is to keep your emotions under control.Auctions have a lot of similarities to gambling, and just like gambling, your spending can get out of control. If you keep your emotions level, it will keep you from making rash decisions and blowing loads of cash. Keep your mind clear so that you can gage the behavior of the other bidders and outsmart them.

HOW TO AVOID SCAM SITES!

Penny auctions are a great addition to the web whether you want to win an item that otherwise you wouldn’t be able to afford or if you simply enjoy the thrill that comes with bidding in auctions. Unfortunately, scam sites have tarnished the reputation of the legitimate penny auction sites. However, there are ways that you can protect yourself from scamers and enjoy your auctioning without having to worry about losing your money due to dishonesty.

Checking the reputation of the auction site before you start spending your hard earned money is always a good idea. Chances are other people have tried the site before you and some of them have left reviews. The reviews are your way to gage whether a auction site is trustworthy or not. If a site is getting overwhelmingly negative reviews, then that is a clear indication that you should steer your business elsewhere.

Another tool you can use to protect yourself is checking the Alexia ranks of the auction sites. Alexia rank will give a solid view of how much traffic the auction is getting. If you see a huge difference in the amount of traffic Alexia is projecting and the amount of active bidders on the site, then warning signals should be ringing in your head. Some auction sites have been known to set up robots that automatically bid on projects in order to keep the auction going and inflate the price. That is known as shill bidding. You can sniff out those sites by comparing the traffic the site should be getting to the amount of users using this site.

CONCLUSION!

New legislation may come out later down the road that will officially make penny auctions gambling, but until then, it is a fun, exciting auction that allows one to win the item they’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford.Auctions are also quite lucrative for the site owners because of the pay-per-bid strategy they’ve incorporated. Penny auctions had humble beginnings with farmers who just wanted to get back at the banks who kicked them out of their house. More recently, auctions have enjoyed an explosion in popularity with the rise of the internet.

There are two main formats fora auctions, lowest and highest unique auction, however they both run on the same premise where the last unique bid wins the item. Winning a penny auction will require a certain amount of mental tactic and a bit of luck. However, you can increase your odds of winning by practicing certain techniques such as managing your bids wisely, learning how to work with the time, and keeping a level head and your emotions under control. When you combine those three strategies to your bidding plan, you will find that you win a lot more often.

It is important that you do your due diligence to protect yourself when participating in auctions. Not every auction is run by honest and trustworthy people. There are people out there who just want to take your money. You can protect yourself by ensuring that you only bid on sites that already have a very positive reputation from real users.

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How to Find Great Live Auctions for Resale Items

Hi, my name is Walt. I’m an auctioneer with 25 years of experience in the auction business and licensed in the state of MA. I own Quick Auction Service, a company that specializes in building and running custom auctions, I’m also the webmaster of my own site and have been on eBay for 8 years. Besides eBay, the types of auctions I run most frequently are antiques and on-site estate auctions, although I’ve run everything from business overstock auctions to charity & special event auctions.

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and stories of the auction business. My goal for article is to help folks get the absolute most out of their auction experience.

Whether your fresh out of the package or a seasoned dealer I think I can offer something in this article to help you with your auciton adventures.

There may be as many reasons to attend auctions as there are types of auctions to attend. Maybe you want to attend an auction to buy items for re-sale on eBay, or some other market. Maybe you want to furnish your home with wonderful antiques, or you want to furnish your home as inexpensively without sacrificing quality.Some folks are just looking for a fun night out. With a little perseverance all these things are possible.

There are antiques and estate auctions, auto auctions, overstock auctions, absolute and no reserve auctions, real estate auctions, specialty auctions where only one genre of items are sold, tailgate auctions, live auctions, online auctions, sealed bid auctions, silent auctions, charity and fund raising auctions and many more.

Can you really buy for pennies on the dollar at an auction? You bet! Many times I’ve seen folks buy and re-sell at the same auction on the same night for a good profit, although be advised, this should only be done after the auction is over.

There are a lot of ways to find an auction, but here are some tips on how to find and attend the best ones.

Visit the genre of shops in the area that apply to the type of auction you want to attend. IE: If your looking for a good antique auction to attend, stop in the local antiques shops and ask for what there are for good auctions in the area. Sounds obvious right? But listen to what they don’t say as well as what they do say. Oftentimes when a dealer speaks poorly about an auction he or she attends, it may be likely that they are trying to keep a good thing secret. Think for a moment, why would a dealer keep attending a lousy auction?

Newspaper ads: I personally like to find ads in the classified ad section rather than flashy display ads. Flashy ads are usually indicative of an auction that will be high priced, may have reserves, (a set price on an item), and usually an enormous crowd. While any auction can be profitable to attend, it is usually best to steer clear of the glitzy ones, at least for the beginner.

Here’s the minimum you want to find out before you go. If there is a phone number in the ad, call and ask for the terms of the sale. What forms of payment do they accept? Is it an absolute auction? An absolute auction is one that has no minimum or reserve bids on items. These are the best auctions to attend! Is there a buyers premium? A buyers premium is like a tax that everyone who makes purchases at that auction must pay above the winning bid price. Most auctions these days do charge a buyers premium, 10% is not unreasonable but I feel much more than that is greedy, and the auctioneer that charges over 10% is counting on most bidders not doing the extra math as the bids quicken in pace.

A fair auction will have ample time to inspect the merchandise, usually at least 2 or 3 hours. Find out when inspection starts and make sure to attend! Never attend an auction if you can’t make the inspection, not unless your prepared to gamble. Most auctioneers sell at a rate of about 100 items per hour, which is why they sell “as is”. They simply don’t have the time to give a detailed description of all the items. Since almost all items at auction are sold AS IS, there are sure to be some damaged, refinished, fake and incomplete items at any given auction. Beware of any auctions that offer very little or no inspection time.

Good auctions will usually have 150 to 400 lots. A lot may be one item or a group of items. The exception to this are specialty auctions, auto auctions, real estate auctions etc.

When you attend your first sale, take note of the 1/2 dozen or so dealers that buy the most often. See if you can find out about other area auctions they attend.

When you do find an excellent auction, attend it as often as possible. By frequenting good sales, you help increase the bottom line of that business. It’s difficult for many auctioneers to keep the quality of merchandise consistent, so good attendance certainly helps. And when an auctioneer gets to know you as a buyer, he/she will go out of the way to accommodate you, to keep you coming back.

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