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Sales management

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Spanish Johhny

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A friend of mine is considering dispersing her purebred cowherd this fall. Has anyone had experience in hiring someone to manage a sale? Probably going to rent the local sales facility and their staff on sale day so that portion is looked after but will need to hire someone to manage / promote the event as well. What is considered fair remuneration? Flat fee, percentage? Fee plus expenses? What is expected of this manager? Some numbers would be appreciated.
 
Can't really give numbers but when we dispersed my Dad's horse herd in 1990, over 150 head, we rented the local sale barn for a flat fee, $500. That included the barn owner & his wife doing the clerking. They kept the proceeds from the cafe. We hired our own auctioneer, Jack Campbell, who drove down here from Douglas, Wyoming. His fee was $750 plus expenses. I handled all the print & radio advertising and cataloged the horses, plus got them all to the barn & sorted. We had no shortage of help to get them to the ring, out, sorted, and eventually loaded. It seemed like everybody we knew showed up. When it was over I called them all in the office to pay them. Everybody refused payment, kind of like their final respects to my Dad. That's when the floodgates opened for me.

It's a pretty major undertaking. Hope this gives you some kind of idea, even though it was a long time ago.
 
By your description I take it you are in Canada?

The sales management you would use will depend on what breed you have; most managers are breed specific or only do a couple of breeds as those are the breeds they have contacts in. You should also decide on a Manager before you set a date and book anything else, and then work together to find the best fit for everything; most are already booked for the fall on certain dates.

Red or Black Angus seem to have the most sales managers right now as they have the most numbers and sales. Shane Castle, Rob Holowaychuk, Doug Henderson, Scott Bohrson seem to be handling most of them, but I also see Transcon and Brian Bouchard doing some as well (the last three also handle Simmy sales). T Bar C cattle also do Charolais, Herefords and some Angus sales.

Most will charge a percentage of the sales, and this also acts as an incentive for them to market your cattle effectively. It has been a while since I saw quotes but 5-6% seemed to get most of them a few years back. You'll want to make sure you get a list of what they provide for this service. Additonal sale staff, facility, adertising and catalogues, reg papers are usually extra. Consignment sales that I have been in would avergae about 15% when all was said and done, but with this being a dispersal you would have more control over the costs.

One last thing regarding Auctioneer and bid catchers. You can leave a lot of money on the table by not using Professional PB staff, you may want to go with someone that the Sales Manager reccomends.
 

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