National Auctioneers Association widens its mission to serve expanding industry

To adapt to recent changes and to meet expected future trends in the auction industry, the National Auctioneers Association has widened its focus and adopted a new mission statement.

NAA will now become the umbrella organization for the "competitive bidding method of marketing," including: live, Internet and sealed bid auctions. NAA will provide information, education and programs to serve all these types of competitive bidding. This will include eBay sellers and other people involved in Internet auctions and other new forms of auctions. This represents a significant repositioning of NAA.

"These changes will position NAA to help its members achieve greater success in today's world that is increasingly influenced by the Internet, new methods of auctions, and many types of professionals working in auction companies, not just the traditional bid-calling auctioneer," said NAA President-Elect William L. Sheridan, CAI, AARE, GPPA, of Mason, MI.

Sheridan is chairman of NAA's long-range planning committee that has examined trends in the industry and considered a mission change for the past two years. "This work was not done lightly. The organization values its rich history, and the long-term commitment of our members. As we assessed the emerging forces and trends we got a very clear picture of the impact of a global economy and the explosive growth of eBay and other online auction sites on the competitive bidding world," he said. These changes also come at a time when the live auction industry grew to $240 billion in gross annual revenues in 2005, a 10.6 percent rise over 2004. Real estate is the fastest growing category of all auctions.

Since its founding in 1949, NAA has primarily served auctioneers involved in the live auction method, also referred to today as traditional onsite auctions, such as an estate auction conducted before a live crowd. But in recent years new forms of auctions have emerged, especially on the Internet. Today's live auctions are sometimes also broadcast over the Internet (called a Webcast) while the auctioneer takes bids from people listening and bidding on the Internet. Also today, millions of people think of an auction as the eBay style of sale, in which they have several days to post bids on an item listed on an Internet site. And, in another change, more business professionals are employed today by auction companies to assemble auction deals, but not to act as the bid-calling auctioneer who stands before a crowd at the auction. These people will also be served by NAA. Basically, there are three ways to sell an item: by fixed price, such as you pay at a retail store; by negotiated price, where you negotiate between the buyer and seller; or by competitive bidding. This bidding can take the form of a live auction with bidders calling out prices, or it can be a longer-term eBay style "static" auction; or it can be a sealed bid auction. A sealed bid auction is used sometimes in selling mechanical equipment or even selling a whole company. In this method, sealed bids may arrive by mail in an envelope, be opened by a person in charge, and the highest bid is noted. All the bidders may then be notified that a second round of bidding will be conducted, with the bidding started at the high bid received in the first round. Several rounds can occur before the seller chooses to take a bid as final.

NAA's new Mission Statement is "To promote, increase and build the trustworthiness of the competitive bidding method of marketing, including: live, Internet and sealed bid auctions, and enhance the professionalism of its practitioners."

NAA's new Vision Statement is "Competitive bidding will be increasingly utilized as a method to sell all types of goods in all segments of the economy. The National Auctioneers Association (NAA) will unify and lead the competitive bidding industry to fulfill this vision."