Most auctions in East Texas now charge 3% of the gross plus insurance! brand inspection and beef Checkoff. The video sales charge 2%. Al the sale barns in Louisiana charge 5%.
In the barns defense, they bring about competitive bidding on animals and make sure you get paid. Something a lot of producers never hear about is the length of time it takes some buyers to pay. There was one guy in an adjoining county that stiffed our local auction market over $60,000. His checks had always been good and then one week it bounced. Five years latter, the auction owner is still trying to collect - the court has ordered the buyer to make restitution at a couple of hundred a month.