Getting into the Order Buying Business

[superpuncher32]

I've always wondered how guys end up becoming order buyers, i'm sure luck has to be in your favor but seeing guys at the sale barn that buyer feeder calves for feedyards has always peaked my interest. Are there any order buyers on this board and if so how did you get your start?

Thanks

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

:welcome:

That’s a very interesting question. I hope you get some good responses to it. Sorry I can’t be of more assistance.

 

[Bigfoot]

All I can say is the man on the other end already has somebody in place. The guy on this end would just a soon nobody got in.

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

I always figured order buyers were guys who didn't want to get a real job. :lol2:
Day in and day out, spent at a sale barn, watching old cows come in. Hearing the same crap with each group of calves....weaned x numbers of days, all the shots in the world, he buys the best bulls money can buy, genetics outta this world,etc. It would get pretty darn old. I'm happy someone does it, cause mine is getting me light weight steers for summer grass.

 

[Aaron]

The "guy's" daddy was an order buyer and his granddaddy was an order buyer. Or auctioneer. Many are both.

If you want to be an order buyer, and start off buying a million dollars worth of calves, make sure you have $2 million before you enter the barn, because you will learn an expensive lesson. Order buyers don't like 'newbies' on their turf and will run up the bids on you to sink you - even while they smile and shake your hand.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Hard egg to crack.

Probably the best way would be to find a local order buyer that you know. Try to get him to teach you as much as possible. Then you would have to relocate to an area/sales that he doesn’t cover and hopefully buy some cows/calves for him. Learn the ropes. Build a reputation. And then hopefully pick up your own gig and come back closer to home.

Be a rough row to hoe, and you’d better have income to support you for awhile until you get rolling. May not work but this would be the only way I know to do it unless you had plenty of your own money.

 

[BobbyLummus1]

No different than anything else , they are experts on the product providing a service using their expertise . After you figure out what your doing all you have to do is work harder than them..

 

[shaz]

The "guy's" daddy was an order buyer and his granddaddy was an order buyer. Or auctioneer. Many are both.

If you want to be an order buyer, and start off buying a million dollars worth of calves, make sure you have $2 million before you enter the barn, because you will learn an expensive lesson. Order buyers don't like 'newbies' on their turf and will run up the bids on you to sink you - even while they smile and shake your hand.

Very true. They're pretty territorial. I tried to buy some 9wt heifers one time and this order buyer didn't like the newbie apparently. Needless to say he and I had a bidding war and he ended up upside down in those heifers.

 

[Dixie2542]

[/quote]

Very true. They're pretty territorial. I tried to buy some 9wt heifers one time and this order buyer didn't like the newbie apparently. Needless to say he and I had a bidding war and he ended up upside down in those heifers.
[/quote]

That's pretty good. I had a few yrs back (when cows were crazy high) a similar experience when I was at a farm auction that had a decent sized herd. One guy i felt deliberately ran up the price on a few. I watched and I waited. Then I bid on one pair. I couldn't help but crack a smile when the buyer realized I had dropped the hot bidding and he got stuck with the pair.
- Which auction was was your experience?

 

[BC]

If you want to be an order buyer, find one of the bigger outfits and see if they have an opening. The best experience I had learning the trade was to sort cattle at the receiving pens. It helps you see what cattle fit what orders and what kind get cut off and sent back. Hone your skill at estimating weight. In our part of the world, we sell cattle one at a time and they are weighed after you buy. The sales vary in speed from 3 to 8 calves a minute. Watch this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBA_kHwf54c

Another thing to remember is it is not about knowing how to buy, it is knowing when to sell one. In the movie "Patton", the good general said no good soldier ever died for his country, he made the other poor SOB die for his. The order buying business is the same way.

 

[shaz]

Very true. They're pretty territorial. I tried to buy some 9wt heifers one time and this order buyer didn't like the newbie apparently. Needless to say he and I had a bidding war and he ended up upside down in those heifers.
[/quote]

That's pretty good. I had a few yrs back (when cows were crazy high) a similar experience when I was at a farm auction that had a decent sized herd. One guy i felt deliberately ran up the price on a few. I watched and I waited. Then I bid on one pair. I couldn't help but crack a smile when the buyer realized I had dropped the hot bidding and he got stuck with the pair.
- Which auction was was your experience?
[/quote]
This was Fayettville Tn back in 2012.