‘Believe me, the sale is the easy bit – but even that’s not simple’

When you attend a well-run auction, it’s tempting to think how easy it all looks. That’s how it should look, too, but there’s a lot more work that’s gone on behind the scenes – before, after and during the sale itself. Take our recent summer sale on July 6, for example. On the Saturday of the sale, I was scrubbed up and taking bids. But for most of the week before, I was in my mucky jeans getting things set up at the Sledmere House sale venue. I spent Monday and Tuesday ferrying spare-parts lots and some of the bikes from our storage unit to Sledmere in a box trailer. Then everything had to be arranged into its correct location for sale day. It was two days of heavy humping. Then we spent Thursday getting everything finalised for viewing. But even once everything is where it should be, there’s plenty more to think about. Sadly, security is one of them. We’ve just invested in a CCTV system; we’ll have a camera covering the spares lots – you’d be surprised at what can go missing presale – and another covering the payments desk. Obviously, we take a fair bit of cash at

a typical sale and it all has to be counted and scanned to ensure we don’t accept any forged notes. We’ll only take a maximum of £5000 in cash against any lot, but it all needs checking and counting. The remainder is all BACS transfer or debit card – we don’t accept credit cards. The card company will refund their customer – but not us if we’ve paid out on the ‘sold’ lot. There’s a lot to think about. After the sale, there’s more to do. On Saturday, we’ll be at the sale until late, sorting out any problems, then on Sunday we’ll be back for people collecting bikes, and on Monday we’ll be getting on with arranging storage, DVLA paperwork and export arrangements. Believe me, the sale is the easy bit – but even that’s not simple. I’m always thinking two or three lots ahead and juggling bids in the room, on the telephone and via the internet. When it’s all finally done, I’m certainly ready for a glass of beer. Or two.