This champion auctioneer has tips on how to 'give me $20' ahead of Ontario contest

CBC

01-03-2025

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Forget tapping your debit card or flashing your phone to make a payment. A former champion auctioneer from Mitchell, Ont. has tips for selling in a more lyrical way.
Dave Jacob, owner of the Jacob Auction Centre, will host the Ontario Auctioneer Championships on Saturday, where people will test their sales skills.
Jacob, himself the winner of two provincial titles, is a second-generation auctioneer. He spoke to Afternoon Drive Host Matt Allen about what it takes to win.
First, though, take a look at Jacob in action:
Going once... twice... sold! Hear this champion Ontario auctioneer in action
2 hours ago
Duration 0:21
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Matt Allen: You've been doing this since you were very young. When did you know that you wanted to do it for a living?
Dave Jacob: I knew really early on in elementary school that I wanted to be an auctioneer. I think the first time I ever sold anything was when I was about 12 or 13. The auctioneer we had hired to help us that day was stuck in traffic, and people were getting kind of antsy. I grabbed a microphone and away I went. And then the rest has been history.
MA: Tell me about that experience. You're 12 years old. You're in front of a room of folks, and you just go. What happened next?
DJ: Like this feeling of calm came over me and I was like, this is where I'm supposed to be. Then, I was keen to keep going. But mom and dad, they kind of put the brakes on me doing any more auctioneering. They were afraid I was going to quit school and just go after it. Anyway, I stayed in school, finished my studies, and got my diploma in agriculture and my agribusiness degree. Then, I went back to the auction business.
MA: What does it take to be an auctioneer today?
DJ: Well, talking fast is only part of it. There's a lot more skill in this line of business, and integrity is huge. A good auctioneer has to be good with people and fair to all the buyers and sellers. And you know, an auctioneer wears a lot of different hats in one day. You've got to coordinate logistics. You move people's things from their houses to the auction or to storage before you can auction them. Or you have to be a marketer, too.
MA: All these things that we don't see behind the scenes. But you still have to be good at talking fast?
DJ: Absolutely. You need to be clear and concise. You need to know who the buyers are, and your crowd need to know what value you're at and what you're asking. And then there's the chant. We call them filler words. That's what makes it sound like we're talking fast, right? The most important part is the numbers.
MA: Could you demonstrate it for us?
DJ: Essentially, if I have $5 and I'm asking for 10, it'll go something like "$5. Would you give me $10? $10? Would you be 15? I have 15. Would you be 20?". Then you speed it up.
MA: Do you have to practice breathing to be able to do that for a long stretch of time?
DJ: Absolutely. There are a lot of pieces to put the puzzle all together, and breathing is one part. Practicing your numbers and your intervals is different, too, because for some items, you might go a dollar at a time, and sometimes, you might go $10 at a time, or $1,000 at a time, depending on what you're selling.
MA: The Ontario Auctioneer Championship is at your place in Mitchell. How is it judged?
DJ: There are a number of criteria, one obviously being their chant. How clear they are, and how fast, how smooth, how they scan the crowd. There are marks given if they show up professionally dressed. There are also marks for employability, so if a judge would hire them for the day to work for them.