Interesting ways to sell bulls

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WalnutCrest

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Some people run a traditional auction with a fast talking auctioneer.

Some run a cowboy auction.

Some do private treaty.

...then there are others that do something a bit different than any of those three approaches.

Those are the ones I'm interested in learning about. Anyone have any websites they can link me to?

Thanks.
 
wbvs58":3ouivld7 said:
What's a cowboy auction?

Ken

Opening price of 2500. Raise your hands if you're in at that price.

Ok...2750. Who's still in.

Now 3000.

And 3250.

3500.

4000.

Three still in.

4500.

5000.

Any one else? We've got one at 5000. Anyone?

Sold. 5000 to bidder 347.

...next up is bull number 14. A tremendous son of Light in the Shorts out of the famous cow family Bats in the Belfry. We're starting at 2500. Who's in?
 
TennesseeTuxedo":yk0urcyv said:
I've sold 2 via Craigslist and haven't gotten a single call off CattleRange.com.

Not had much luck off my ad in the county newspaper or the flyer I posted at our local sale barn.

On Facebook there's a Kansas Farmers/Ranchers site and a lot of people sells bulls off that. I've sold some bred heifers and have great success getting rid of free barn cats/kittens. You may want to look into something like that in your area.
 
All of that stuff is just a variation of private treaty ... anyone know if any other ways to sell several / many / bunches of bulls?

I'm working on an idea, and I'm trying to see if anyone else is doing something similar so I might learn what works and what doesn't before really rolling it out.
 
TCRanch":16uz2mbu said:
TennesseeTuxedo":16uz2mbu said:
I've sold 2 via Craigslist and haven't gotten a single call off CattleRange.com.

Not had much luck off my ad in the county newspaper or the flyer I posted at our local sale barn.

On Facebook there's a Kansas Farmers/Ranchers site and a lot of people sells bulls off that. I've sold some bred heifers and have great success getting rid of free barn cats/kittens. You may want to look into something like that in your area.

Awesome idea!
 
wbvs58":32xchr1m said:
Have you heard of the "Helmsman auction system".

http://redpollvic.com/V/Helmsman.html

Ken

That is a bit like a silent auction, with a 2 minute extension for late bids. It'd probably work well for a small group of bulls; I can't imagine trying to do a large number of bulls that way.

Have you ever purchased a bull like that? If so, what did you think?
 
WalnutCrest":uafcuobg said:
wbvs58":uafcuobg said:
Have you heard of the "Helmsman auction system".

http://redpollvic.com/V/Helmsman.html

Ken

That is a bit like a silent auction, with a 2 minute extension for late bids. It'd probably work well for a small group of bulls; I can't imagine trying to do a large number of bulls that way.

Have you ever purchased a bull like that? If so, what did you think?

I've only read the results in the paper. It tends to be the way a lot of people start off with their own sale so it is hard to judge the results. I think most would be about 20-30 bulls, the clearance rate varies but I would say it would be down on a regular auction but many that don't sell through the auction get sold soon afterwards.

Ken
 
Another one from another non-CT friend --- www.beefbooster.com --- apparently, a group of like-minded breeders (mainly in Canada?) breed composite bulls focusing on phenotype, not genotype. All bulls are grouped into two different classifications and all bulls in the top classification (Platinum) are priced the same and all in the second classification (Gold) are priced the same. In each group are maternal bulls, heifer bulls and terminal bulls.
 
http://cppbullsale.com/ I was at the sale Saturday. A lot of bulls didn't sell, and they were very reasonably priced. I felt bad those people that put the time and effort to raise good bulls, and didn't sell them.
 
zirlottkim":2xwwuwp6 said:
http://cppbullsale.com/ I was at the sale Saturday. A lot of bulls didn't sell, and they were very reasonably priced. I felt bad those people that put the time and effort to raise good bulls, and didn't sell them.

Did they actually try to sell them in some sort of unique fashion (i.e., in any fashion other than a straight auction, cowboy auction or private treaty)? If so, how did they do it (I ask because it wasn't clear from what was on the site you linked to or in their catalog).
 
WalnutCrest":xajh3qo7 said:
zirlottkim":xajh3qo7 said:
http://cppbullsale.com/ I was at the sale Saturday. A lot of bulls didn't sell, and they were very reasonably priced. I felt bad those people that put the time and effort to raise good bulls, and didn't sell them.

Did they actually try to sell them in some sort of unique fashion (i.e., in any fashion other than a straight auction, cowboy auction or private treaty)? If so, how did they do it (I ask because it wasn't clear from what was on the site you linked to or in their catalog).
Nothing unique. Just a standard auction. They had a $2000 minimum bid on the better bulls. I'm sure they'll have to get creative to sell off the rest.
 
That's what I thought. While I feel bad for all those folks too, I'm really just looking for creative-out-of-the-gate, not a "necessity is the mother of invention" approach.

I'll keep searching and reporting back here ... I look forward to anything anyone else comes up with.
 
Private treaty can get complicated here. Some sellers "set" prices and then call repeat customers who have preference, the remaining bulls are then advertised, and bulls who are still remaining after advertising get rented out. In recent years this pricing approach has been some issues with not adjusting enough to market price declines, causing some confusion and hard feelings.

I think the rental option is not popular with most, but it does generate some new buyers in following years. This brings up the bull retirement credit offered by big time operators. Have you seen more than a $200 to $300 credit for retiring bulls by the pound, on site the day before the auction?
 

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