Sept. 2020 - Monthly Recap

See below for some interesting updates, statistics, rankings, and auction information from September 2020.

General Monthly Info:  

Total Auctions Closed:  396

Largest Auction by Sales:  $218,371 -  Whiteford Auctions 50 Arcade Games, Lazer Tag, Trampolines and More  https://www.k-bid.com/auction/34199

 Largest Auction by Lots:  647 lots -  Asset Liquidation Auctions https://www.k-bid.com/auction/34504

Most Watched Items of the month:  

1. 211 Watchers - 20x10 Shed -NSBL -  https://www.k-bid.com/auction/34256/item/1?offset=1
2.  170 Watchers - 1963 Vespa - Surplus Liquidation Auctions - https://www.k-bid.com/auction/34266/item/204
3.  159 Watchers - 1990 Swat Truck - MNAutoAuctions.com - https://www.k-bid.com/auction/34254/item/5926
4. 154 Watchers - Lowry Real Estate  - MNAutoAuctions.com - https://www.k-bid.com/auction/34221/item/1
5. 152 Watchers - 1954 Willy's Jeep - We Sell Your Stuff -  https://www.k-bid.com/auction/34435/item/2?offset=2

Website Statistics:

	Bidders Participating
	2019	2020	Change
Jan	8,206	9,744	19%
Feb	7,590	8,827	16%
Mar	7,766	9,124	17%
Apr	9,514	8,843	-7%
May	9,553	10,908	14%
Jun	9,133	12,470	37%
Jul	8,250	11,469	39%
Aug	9,741	12,689	30%
Sep	9,578	11,884	24%
Oct
Nov
Dec

*unique bidder accounts placing a bid in a given month.  

		Bidder Signups
	2019	2020	Change
Jan	1,962	3,037	55%
Feb	1,735	2,194	26%
Mar	1,885	1,973	5%
Apr	2,732	2,066	-24%
May	2,098	2,583	23%
Jun	1,416	3,747	165%
Jul	1,296	2,996	131%
Aug	1,771	3,683	108%
Sep	2,017	3,013	49%
Oct
Nov
Dec

*all bidder signups, qualified (phone number verified, credit card) and non-qualified.   

		Website Sessions
	2019	2020	Change
Jan	616,671	808,972	31%
Feb	551,360	713,223	29%
Mar	616,870	743,709	21%
Apr	727,115	788,465	8%
May	705,204	926,236	31%
Jun	658,898	1,027,355	56%
Jul	619,248	1,002,135	62%
Aug	704,499	1,071,442	52%
Sep	756,121	1,036,267	37%
Oct
Nov
Dec

*A session is defined as a group of interactions one user takes within a given time frame on your website. Google Analytics defaults that time frame to 30 minutes.

Top 10 Affiliates by Sales for the Month:

Congratulations to these Affiliates on their stellar month of auction sales!  

1.  MNAutoAuctions.com 

2.  Whiteford Auction services 

3.  Northwoods Auctions 

4.  We Sell your Stuff 

5.  KX Real Deals 

6.  Estate Sales Minnesota 

7.  Surplus Liquidation Auctions 

8.  NAB Auctions 

9.  Asset Liquidation Auctions 

10. Resold Auction Services 

Affiliate Anniversaries: 

We'd like to thank and recognize affiliates that are celebrating anniversaries in September!  

Custom Sales - Start Date:  9/1/2010  

GRC Online Auctions - Start Date 9/1/2010

U BuyNSell Local Inc. - Start Date 9/1/2015 

North Country Auctions (Curt D Johnson Auctions)  - Start Date 9/1/2016

Pawnworks - Start Date 9/1/2016 

Cashtown Auction Services - Start Date 9/12/2016

SoDak Auctions - Start Date 9/15/2012 

Haukos Sales - Start Date 9/18/2019 

Park Lane Auctions & Estate Sales - Start Date 9/18/2019

S. Thomas Online Auctions - Start Date 9/18/2019

Savage Surplus - Start Date 9/18/2019 

FM Liquidators - Start Date 9/19/2019 

Packrat Salvage LLC - Start Date 9/19/2019

Announcements/New Affiliates:

Let's welcome some new members of our affiliate network (have posted an auction to date in 2020)!   

Discountologist - Ramsey, MN.   Nada Alshehari & Anwer Alkuhaly 

Nordeast Resale  - Minneapolis, MN.  Alexander Fernandez & Alex Haigh 

Have Gavel, Will Travel

Whiteford Auctions had a busy month with not one, but two complete liquidations of trampoline parks/arcade businesses.  The first auction was in Eden Prarie, MN, and did very well with buyers from 13 different states,   Due to connections with the client, the second auction took place in Tampa, Florida.  Well beyond our "normal" auction boundaries in the Upper Midwest 

The big question we had to answer was: Can a K-BID auction be successful 1500 miles away from our normal territory?  The answer was a resounding, yes!   Jeff Whiteford did a stellar job on auction logistics, setup, communication, and managing the auction.  Together, we were able to pull off a successful auction by following some of these tips that may come in handy if an auction takes you away from home:  

1.  Know the local rules and regulations.  Sales tax may need to be collected and you may qualify for a temporary sales tax license.  Many states require a local auctioneer license or require you to work with a local brokering firm.  Do your homework before committing to anything.  

2. Make sure the value is there.   This particular auction had over $100,000 in auction value.  Meaning the value was substantial enough to warrant the travel and extra marketing efforts/budgets.  The numbers may not work out in the same location for a $10,000 auction.   

3. Increase the marketing budget.   While K-BID.com has visitors from all over the country, a good portion of our buyers are located in the Upper Midwest.  Most of the items in this auction were large and shipping was difficult.   We knew we had to increase the marketing budget to ensure that we were reaching new buyers locally and nationally that had the interest and ability to buy on this auction.   

Of the 136 bidders who placed a bid on this auction, 121 of them were brand new.  This did not hurt our overall prices or the results of the auction and bidding was strong. 

4.  Run your numbers before quoting.  Is your commission going to cover your hotel stay, meals, travel expenses, staff, etc?  These expenses add up quickly.  Don't forget to include your extra expenses when discussing fee's/commission with a seller. 

With the right experience, execution, and marketing, we've proven that we can have a successful auction anywhere in the country.   Maybe your next auction will be by the beach in January? 

What's K-BID up to?

We hit bidder #350,000!   At this rate, bidder #500,000 will be here around the next presidential election...but let's get through 2020 first.   

We recently launched the first video in our new series of affiliate interviews.  The goal of these videos is to promote you and to show the personal side of our business.   These videos will be shared through social media, blog posts, and emails.   

We are planning to release one video monthly, so if you have any interest, please let me know. 

Here is our first interview with Jon Tofte from the Trader Auction Company.  

The Bid Summer Goodbye campaign is coming up on Oct. 11-25th.     This campaign will promote the sale of Fall/Winter items such as ATV's, Snowmobiles, Snowplows, Fish Houses, and more.   We encourage you to close auctions with those assets during that timeframe to get extra exposure!  

Tip of the month: 

Have you checked your auction terms recently?  Are there policies that you need to adjust or add?  If it's not in your terms, it's impossible to enforce.   

Pay extra close attention to your first line.  What do you absolutely need your bidders to know/understand?  We can hope that they will read the entire thing, but we know that's not reality.  Put the most important information on top of your auction terms and it will be the first thing the buyer reads before they accept the terms.  

New K-BID Gear:

Just ordered!  Get your K-BID camo sweatshirt for only $35.  See all of the K-BID branded items for sale here:  Affiliate Logo Materials for Purchase

Have an idea for a future tip of the month that may be helpful for other affiliates?  Let us know by emailing [e-mail].