Anyone who’s had the pleasure of attending an auction will know what I mean:
umbadabumbadbadadadabumbadatwentyfivetwentyfivethirty, thirty, thirty bada bum badabumbadabumbadambadababababumbadathirty! whatamigonnagetthirtythirtyfivethirtyfive umbadamumbadabumbadabum thirtyfive!!! And so on and so forth.
What the hell? Why do they do this…it’s almost as if they’re singing, like they have to chant some kind of ritual incantation in order to auction off the stuff. It sounds so anachronistic…it’s really a lot of fun to watch.
It was the first time I’d ever been to an auction, and when I first heard the auctioneer’s weird chanting, I couldn’t help myself—I felt the hysterical laughter flood up through my throat…I had to bite down on my toungue and strain to keep my mouth shut, because if I didn’t I knew that I would erupt in laughter. Wow…the novelty of it wore off after about 10 minutes and then I just started thinking about how weird it was.
Which brings us right back here. So, what’s the deal?
I think the original impetus was speed – I’ve not been to many auctions, and the last one I went to, there’s no way I could hope to compete. That, combined with the “barker” aspect (trying to drum up interest in the merchandise through patter), seems to be what the “auctioneer speak” is all about. Of course, modern auctioneers are surely imitating the mannerisms of the past, much like how every pilot talks like Chuck Yeager
My father was an auctioneer. And I remember first hearing an auctioneer’s chant when I was very small. It takes practice listening before you can understand everything they’re saying.
My Daddy didn’t do it, though. He told me he tried it, and he got better results (bids) when he just talked. Of course, he could talk pretty fast anyway, and was most persuasive.
I dunno if they have them anymore, but there used to be auctioneer schools where the aspiring went to learn how to “chant”. Yup, that’s what they called it.
Hey. I just googled, and there still are tons of them, including - of course - at least one (in the first page of results) that seems to offer instruction online. :smack: How can the student get feedback??? It ain’t just being able to chant (though my father was highly successful without it); there are lots of other things. <sigh>
As a professional pilot for 25 years now, I have the utmost respect for his abilities which far outstrip my own. On the other hand, he sounds like an ignorant hillbilly. And to me at least, that’s NOT the sound of competence.
About ten years ago I went with a friend to a siezed car auction in NYC. Never have been to any kind of auction I was amazed when the auctioneer began doing the whole ‘fast talking, going once-twice-SOLD!, banging his gavel’ thing. It was just like you saw on TV.
I think there’s some official auctioneer guild that licenses & regulates them.
I seriously doubt it. It’s possible that some states regulate auctioneers and require a license, however.
If you really want to know, google for auction schools and ask a couple (more than one, because somebody might just take it into their head to play a joke; auctioneers tend to have rough senses of humor - or at least all those I’ve known did).
Georgia, for one, requires an auctioneer’s license:
"All Auctions are governed by the Rules and Regulations set forth by the Georgia Auctioneers Commission who is under the authority of the Secretary of State. The commission has its own investigation division who has the authority to police any and all activities of the activity of the auctioneer’s academy for a minimum 80 hours of training on the rules and regulations of the Secretary of State and the Auctioneers Commission. After they have obtained a certificate of completion of this training they then must sit for the auctioneer’s examination.
I imagine that they do it because it makes the people who sponsor the auction happy. If it didn’t make them happy, auctioneers wouldn’t deliver in that style anymore.
You mentioned how much fun it was to watch and listen to the performance. There was probably one guy who did it that way years ago, he got hired a lot by happy auction owners, others copied him, soon guys who talked in a slower pace did not get as many jobs as the other guys, etc. Soon it became what people wanted and expected from an auctioneer.
I work for a non-profit and we hold two charity auctions a year. When we have a real pro auctioneer doing his “auctioneer speak” instead of a local radio or television personality (who are usually friendly and engaging), our patrons seem to prefer the real auctioneer. The pace is faster, there seems to be more energy, the people stick to their tables and pay attention to the action rather than talk or walk around. A good auctioneer blazing at a 100 mph is so riveting compared to a nice guy talking about the item and making jokes trying to get people to buy stuff. We get an auctioneer when we can get one to donate his time, it makes our patrons happy and therefore it makes us happy.
Ah yes. I forgot about that too. Auctioning is, in many respects, a game. After all, look at how many people on eBay get all excited about an auction and stop thinking - and ending up paying more than MSRP for a used item. I’m sure the fast pace adds to the excitement, which causes higher bidding, which makes the auction houses (and their customers) happy.
