‘A lot of work goes in to make each sale day happen’

I’m often asked how the auction business works – and what I do between sales. The truth is that, while sale day is always the high spot of any auction, a lot of work goes in beforehand to make it all happen.

Typically, it starts with a phone call or email from someone interested in getting a valuation for their machine or machines. After an initial chat about the bike, I’ll arrange an appointment to visit them.

An appointment could be close to my home or hundreds of miles away. A lot of days on the road start early – 6am more often than not. On the journey, I’m thinking about what the machine is going to be like – especially if I haven’t seen any photographs of it. In the last few days, I’ve been to Bristol, Totnes, Tiverton, Rochester, Ashford and Nottingham.

Once I’m there, I’ll meet the client and start to explain how the auction process works. I explain how the fee structure works, the options for transporting their machine to the sale and how sale day works. Then it’s time to get a good look at their bike (or bikes).

I’ll check the bike over thoroughly and try to get as much of an idea as possible about its history. Then I’ll guide the client through my valuation, explaining what I feel the bike may make at auction. Sometimes a client will be pleasantly surprised – but sometimes the valuation is less than they had in mind. If they decide to go ahead and consign their bike with us, I’ll take between 40 and 60 photographs of it. That ensures prospective buyers can examine the bike in detail and that there are plenty of images to help with marketing the bike pre-sale. Then it’s back on the road – either to the next appointment or heading home.

Once I get home, there’s plenty more to do. I download all the pictures and copies of paperwork. If the client is new, I start a new client file for them on our system and another file for the specific sale their bike is entered in. And I make sure all the details are correct when a bike goes live on our website – and it looks like the one to buy!

There are highlight days, for sure. The ones when I walk into a shed, barn or garage full of old bikes. I’m in my element then. The job is a constant cycle of making calls, arranging appointments and plenty of time on the road. But the payoff is the feeling of winning that chase – and ultimately seeing a bike sell well at auction.

Then the cycle starts again. Another appointment, opening that door and hoping for that special machine. Would I consider a career change? No chance. It’s my passion. handh.co.uk