Phoenix Cash Auction: Protecting Consignor's Merchandise

When a consignor signs over their merchandise to an auctioneer, the auctioneer takes responsibility for that merchandise. It is the Phoenix cash auction company's job to protect the consignor's merchandise, both to maintain the consignor's profits and increase the auctioneer's commission. The consignor's merchandise must be protected both from outright theft and from any bidder activity that would dramatically reduce the value of the items being sold.

Auctioneers must weigh the need to protect items from being stolen against the need to bring the greatest amount for each item. A stolen item brings zero dollars but too much security can dramatically reduce the overall average bid. Bidders want to touch the items they are going to buy, so it is often worth taking some risks of theft to bring the largest amount for the total balance of the merchandise. But there are things you can do to control the risk of theft.

Keep high-theft items in a secure area where they can be seen, and if there is the available Phoenix cash auction staff, handled. Depending on the number of items and value of items, Phoenix cash auction staff can hand them out one or several at a time and let the bidders preview them. Sealing lots, singly or in multiples, in heavy plastic bags and having the Phoenix cash auction staff carefully watch the customer as they handle the items, can significantly cut down on the possibility of theft.

Another form of bidder theft is much less obvious. If a bidder can dramatically reduce the price they pay for an item, they are taking the money directly out of the consignor's pocket. One way to accomplish this is to modify the item in a way that will lower its value to everyone but the bidder who committed the sabotage.

For example a bidder at a Phoenix cash auction can steal critical parts, knowing they alone can later make the item functional. This reduces the item's value to everyone but a single bidder. The solution is to make it impossible to steal the critical parts by increasing the security of the entire item or by making it impossible to remove the critical parts. My company encountered this problem with people stealing the removable faceplates from high-end car stereos. We fixed this problem both by putting the expensive car stereos in with our high-security items and taping the faceplates on with strapping tape.

In other cases the knowledgeable bidder at a Phoenix cash auction can modify the item in a subtle way so it brings less money. For example, they can remove identifying tags for items where most people will not recognize their true value. Computer experts can delete critical operating system files so a computer cannot be demonstrated. All you can do is try to anticipate what actions will dramatically reduce an item's value and try to prevent them. However, humans are eternally inventive, so often you can only prevent it from happening a second time.

One policy my Phoenix cash auction company has instituted has helped reduce sabotage activities. During a Phoenix cash auction we refuse to sell any lot if the item has been tampered with. We either throw the tampered item away after the Phoenix cash auction, if its value is now practically zero, or sell the item unannounced in later Phoenix cash auction, when the bidder may not be attendance or may not be able to positively identify the item they tampered with. This reduces the likelihood that the bidder who tampers with an item will profit from their actions, so they are less likely to try again.

Auctioneers generally do a passable job of protecting consignor's merchandise because they have a financial incentive to do so. Protecting the bidders newly purchased property is a different story.