An Honest Discussion About Auctions

Some people think there are too many auctions, and they are destroying the industry. Some people disagree. As with most things in life, you can make an argument either way. At Winners Circle, we are more than just an auction. We are your partner, dedicated to helping connecting sellers and buyers in a fair, and honest manner.

Auctions, particularly online auctions, have earned the reputation of selling poor quality alpacas. While this may be the case some of the time, there have also been good quality alpacas as well. The problem is that you, as a buyer, cannot get your hands on the alpaca to ascertain for yourself. This dramatically increases your risk, and forces you to rely on the seller’s word that this alpaca is the best thing since sliced bread.

We have dramatically reduced this risk for you, and ensured that consigned alpacas meet a standard that we all know about – the AOBA show system. We understand that it may not always be perfect, or that you may disagree. However, it is the only commonly accepted benchmark this industry currently has to gage the quality of an alpaca. If it shown and it wins repeatedly while shown under different judges, then the alpaca has demonstrated very desirable traits consistent with the show standards. Most of our breeding programs follow the show standards, at least to some degree.  All consigned alpacas at Winners Circle Auctions must have won an award at a show to be eligible for consignment. The only exception is a production female that has never been shown; two of her offspring must have won a ribbon at a show for the female to be eligible.

Physical auctions are exciting, and if the auctioneer is doing his job correctly, he will use a number of psychological tricks to get the crowd going and pit bidders against other bidders. Pay attention to how fast they talk, and they tap the gavel on the podium very quickly to induce a rapid pace. Did you ever notice it’s dark in the auction room? Winners Circle doesn’t use tricks or other behavioral ploys to induce high bidding.  We want the alpacas to sell themselves. We have an instant message application on the auction web site that allows buyers to chat online with the sellers. Again, no secrets.

Still not convinced? We also verify show records against AOBA’s published results. If there is an inconsistency, we check with the consignor before the auction. If we find additional awards not mentioned by the consignor, we automatically add those to the show results section of our web site.

In closing, we have to earn your trust to be your partner.  Everything we do, from discussions to posting show results to publishing our marketing plan, is in the open for your review. We don’t have dark rooms to hide anything, so we use the openness to promote honesty and good relations with you.

Thank you for your consideration of Winners Circle Online Auctions.