simon's auction debut
I wanted to learn how to "rattle" like my dad ever since I was a youngster. The real push for him to teach me was when I was 16 or 17 years old. I was working at the Public Auto Auction as a runner, and my dad was absent from the auction that particular day. The auctioneer filling in for him looked down at me in the middle of the sale and said, "You! Your dad's an auctioneer. Come up here and fill in for me while I go to the bathroom."
Well, I wish I could continue the story by saying that I went up to the auction block with confidence and poise and sold scores of cars as the crowd cheered me on, but the truth is... I floundered quite badly. That evening I urged my dad to teach me the ropes.
Here it is, several years later, that I find myself trying to perfect the pointers that my dad has given me since that day I struggled to sell one car at the Public Auto Auction. To get an auctioneer's license in Pennsylvania (the auction capital of the world), you have to either go to school or serve as an apprentice auctioneer under a qualified sponsor for at least 2 years. Then take a test. I have found a sponsor at the local market. I will be selling livestock and miscellaneous items over the next few years, trying to apply what I know about auctioning.
My auction debut as an apprentice auctioneer in Pennsylvania occurred February 21, 2003. The auctioneer let me sell for about 30 minutes at the end of the sale, selling anything from dog food to bird cages. Click on the link below to hear a sample of one of my decent runs at selling chicken wire.
This first link is a clip of me selling parrot food. I was experimenting with my rhythm/chant a little bit. The sample was taken on 9/12/03.
audio clip of me selling parrot food for $4.75 (right click >>> save target as...)
This next link is one of my first times selling at the auction (a little rough). The sample was taken on 2/21/03.
audio clip of me selling chicken wire for $2.75 (right click >>> save target as...)
Clicking on the next link will fill your ears with the rhythmic sounds of auction hip hop... "sold to the man in the black hat, in the back, with the number in his hand..."
auctionrap.mp3 (right click >>> save target as...)
simon4president@whitehouse.gov