A business’s goal – of any kind – is to make a profit. It's no different for beef producers. An online option for bull sales may be the way to do this for some seedstock producers.
The use of an online sale option has continued to become more popular over the past decade but has really grown in the past few years. Online auction services utilize the internet to broadcast real-time auctions across North America. The Red Angus Association of America started tracking data in 2019 from their members’ sales, and the stats say it all.
“In 2019, we had 90 percent of sales doing an online option sale,” says Nolan Woodruff, commercial marketing specialist for the Red Angus Association of America. “In 2021, 98 percent of sales had an online bidding option.”
He also adds, during that time the COVID-19 pandemic happened, making an online option much more appealing for buyers and sellers alike.
“Online bidding has significantly increased over the years,” says Heather Soukup, general manager for DV Auction. “It's still a buyer’s personal preference. But we strive to make it easy, convenient and reliable by allowing buyers the ability to buy when they might not otherwise be available.”
Is it right for you?
The question many producers have is how to know if adding an online option to their sale is right for them?
“It just all depends on the level of customer service you want to offer,” says Bob Morton, owner and operator of Green Mountain Red Angus. “With being available online, people can bid at their convenience.”
One of the biggest reasons producers add an online option to their sale is to expand their customer base.
Using an online auctioneer service also increases your advertisement. Instead of just sending out a catalog, you are now on the auction service’s website and gaining online traction.
Customers feel like they have more control, compared to bidding over the phone, than they would if they were at the sale in person, Woodruff says.
Additionally, as the popularity of online sales continues to rise, so does the use of videos. The customer base for a sale can now be spread nationally, and customers can feel confident in their purchases because they are able to view a high-quality video of each animal before and during the sale.
“You can get a better feeling for what the animal is without actually having to be there in person,” Woodruff says.
Those that offered an online bidding option had a $1,135 premium averaged per bull across all bulls, Woodruff reports. “Again, it’s because it reaches a larger audience,” he says.
As far as premiums go, any time a sale can increase its advertising and exposure, it's always going to be a positive thing for the program, Soukup says. “Whether it's right for every operation, that's their decision,” she adds.
People will look to buy a bull a good distance away because it has such a big effect on their herd, Woodruff says. Having an online bidding option not only is helpful for customers, but also allows producers to not worry as much about the weather, a pandemic, etc., that may disrupt their sale, Morton says.
Online bidding options allow producers to bid nationally from the comfort and ease of their own home while also experiencing the excitement and energy of the auctioneer’s cry.
While some sales have been moved to a fully online sale setting, Morton says in-person sales aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“I'm old-school enough where I believe that there's a lot of excitement in a live auction compared to a completely online sale,” Morton says. “There's an auctioneer cry that sets the stage for the sale. I like having people show up here at our place and being able to show off what we do.”
Woodruff agrees. “Different kinds of sales fit each operation a little differently. And for some people that really works,” he says. “But I think there's still something to having the excitement of having an auctioneer there.”
What else does it take?
While putting on a bull sale is already a lot of work, an online portion may add a bit more to the job in addition to all the set-up a sale requires.
“My advice for producers is: The sooner they can get put on the sale schedule, the better,” Soukup says. “They will get more exposure and advertisement. Also make sure they promote it and let people know online bidding is an option for them as well.”
Producers must get videos of their bulls, if they haven’t in past sales, in addition to the photos for the catalog.
“They've got to get some sort of video ahead of time,” Woodruff says. “So you are getting them ready to be presented one more time.”
Additionally, producers may want to provide bull transportation or trucking services to their buyers.
Internet and/or cellphone service and power are the only two requirements to have an online bidding option at your sale, Soukup says. “Everything we can do to try and make things work, we will.”
“There's a lot that goes into a sale,” Woodruff says. “I commend all those operations that are trying to offer everything to their customers. It's all a lot of work, and there's a lot of cost involved. But you hope it adds more of a premium to those bulls.”
