ESTATE AUCTIONEER

You have to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm to be a good auctioneer. It takes a lot of hard work in orchestrating auction sales. You are the impresario! You are in charge of about 15 workers and you have to have "eyes in the back of your head!"You've gotta be thinking on your feet! Growth comes gradually.... but in my case I had BEGINNERS LUCK! I started calling church auctions at St. Mary's Church in Scituate in 1974. I volunteered to be the auctioneer. We fetched $800 for merchandise donated from the parishioners. It was a natural calling for me.I looked forward each June for the event. It was in 1977, after doing the auction, I decided I would devote my energies to the antiques world. I grew in my craft, and after graduating from Missouri Auction School I was ready for business. My first auction was held in the Fall of 1981 for Fabiola Brunelle. An impossible lady, I scraped through the sale without any bruises. Bill Geddis wanted to sue me because his bid for a table or trunk was rejected by Mrs. Brunelle. I was later hired to call some rare coin auctions in the Boston area. I earned $400 for each event. In May of 1982 I did a benefit auction for the Worcester Children's' Friend Society. We grossed about $7,000. I earned 10% commission. In September I got the nod from the Trust Department of Shawmut National Bank, Worcester. i had a real "barn burner." I auctioned the house for $90,000. The contents may have fetched $25,000. I was on my way. i had several other auctions that fall. The big one was David Lenti, Inc. in Southbridge. I sold the store fixtures for my friend, Ray Lenti. This was a great auction. I made a great friend in Ray Lenti and he worked with me for years as a clerk, cashier and adviser. After failing at promoting an Antique Show in January of 1983, my next big break came in the Fall of 1984. Shawmut Trust gave me two giant estates in Westminster and Clinton. I was now competing with the pros. The Luke Estate in Westminster flopped as the real estate didn't sell. I got anxious and tried to force the deal on the trust officer, Susan Blake. The second auction of Dorothy Carruth's Estate was a dream! I auctioned off a Cadillac Coloradoans. 72 people registered to buy the car. It sold for $14,000 at the time. The Worcester Telegram's Nancy Lowe Gray gave me some fantastic coverage. I was headlined as "Potvin A New Breed Of Auctioneer!" "Auction Business A Family Affair"... it was like a dream. Great media pictures of myself and my family. A PRICELESS treasure. i was earning my reputation and business started to come my way. My next big auction came in 1985 in Belchertown. I auctioned off 100 acres for about $250,000. Wilfred Lemire was my client and a good guy. But the dream of dreams came in July of 1985 with the Wendemuth Estate Auction. I attracted people from 10 states in the selling of a farmstead of personal property. It was loaded with antiques and collectibles and items of local history. Everything about the auction went great with the exception of the estate's attorney: a real snotty individual who didn't like me or trust me. I won! Another dream auction came when I cataloged a rare coin collection for auction for Connecticut Auctioneer, Bob Glass. I earned $10,000 in this job. I then had a rare coin auction of gold pieces in Thomasville, Georgia. I guided my friend and brother, Maurice Barfield... a man I attended auction school with. In another blog I will cite some of the "not-so-pleasant' experiences s an auctioneer.