Between sun-baked, triple-digit scorchers and the sky teeming with sleet and 7-degree temperatures, it’s hard for Bill Rackley to forget the days when auctions were the literal definition of rain, sleet, or snow.
This particular story dates many, many years when Dakil Auctioneers, Inc. held an auction in Norman. Equipped with masks and hoods, Rackley, a longtime auctioneer, appraiser, and consultant with Dakil, juggled his duties as auctioneer and personal sleet remover, stopping every 20 minutes to break the ice off his jacket and coveralls.
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Whether it’s auction myths or popular misconceptions about the industry, Dakil Auctioneers, Inc. has provided etiquette for first-timers, along with a how-to auction guide for those dipping their toes into the auction waters. But now that you’re interested in purchasing or selling items at an auction and you have the basics down, what do you need to know about the certain specifications and processes required to host, sell, and buy at auctions?
This is a guide to better understand how the four main types of auctions work: gun, auto, real estate, and heavy equipment.
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A 2-foot long gavel sits in the corner of Louis Dakil’s office in north Oklahoma City, collecting dust until its next use. The Thor-sized mallet is only for special occasions, usually a large or notable auction Dakil Auctioneers, Inc. handles. More frequent use would break Dakil’s lectern, a physical and figurative space he’s spent the past 37 years building into one of Oklahoma’s largest auction services.
In a way, the gavel is symbolic of Dakil’s journey, one that started from nothing and navigated through economic hardship in the 1980s to sprout a budding career that has, by his conservative estimates, led to him conducting 5,000 to 7,000 auctions and the opening of a 28,000-square-foot facility on 22 acres.
Looking back over his years with Dakil Auctioneers, Inc., Bill Rackley can remember countless remarkable items and properties making their way over the auction block.
“Sooner or later everything comes to auction,” said Rackley, a longtime auctioneer, appraiser, and consultant with Dakil. “We’ve auctioned cabinet companies, all kinds of restaurants, tool stores, tons of machine shops, oil field equipment — everything in the world. We sell anything and everything.”
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Believe it or not, you can buy and sell almost anything at an auction. Although most auction houses and larger one-off auction events have their own niches and industries they typically cater to, each year there’s always a number of auctions that see some pretty incredible items make their way across the block.
Some were wildly expensive, others unique, and some more bizarre than anything. 2018 was another prime example of more than a few very noteworthy sales you don’t really see every day.
The holidays are always a favorite time of year for many, but they can also cause quite a bit of stress by the time January rolls around. Not only do you have to worry about taking all those decorations down, you almost always end up with a lot more stuff lying around than you had previously.
You know how it goes. Between the presents, impulse holiday buys, and seasonal decor, your home is suddenly left with many things that you don’t know what to do with after all the boxes are put back up. Before you realize it, the garage is full, the spare room has become a closet of its own, and there’s no end in sight.
