WAYNESBURG, Pa. — His chanting is rhythmic and rapid, a staccato string of numbers that quickly grows hypnotic as auctioneer Kevin Teets scans the audience, eyes darting between buyers on opposite sides of the room.
Perched in the front row is Dave Kauffman, who has come 220 miles from Marysville, Ohio, in search of vintage, remote-control model airplanes and accessories.
Within hours, Kauffman has so many planes and parts, to be resold at flea markets and online, that it takes five trips to load his hatchback at the Greene County Fairgrounds.
Although auctioneers initially considered the Internet a threat, its growth and development of searchable websites like AuctionZip have contributed to a boom in the live-auction industry, with one-time rivals forming partnerships that produce bigger audiences for sellers, often by simulcasting live auctions on the Web.
Buyers emboldened by success on eBay and other sites are seeking live sales in search of lower prices — and the thrill of competing in person.
Sales of goods and services at live auctions totaled $257 billion in 2006, a surge of 7 percent over 2005.
“I don’t know where the auction industry would be without the Internet,” said Teets, of Fairmont, W.Va. He turned professional three years ago and made the top 12 at the 2007 bid-calling world championships in San Diego.
“The Internet has educated the buyers. It’s educated the sellers. It’s opened a lot of these small sales up,” said Teets, 31, who works for Joe R. Pyle Auctions of Mount Morris, Pa.
Earlier this year, the 6,000-member Kansas-based National Auctioneers Association teamed up with Gemstar-TV Guide International to launch Auction Network, which produces webcasts of auctions.
“The Internet has been the greatest thing that ever happened to the auction industry,” said NAA president Tommy Williams, an Oklahoma real estate auctioneer.
“It made us reinvent ourselves.”
