Ask the Experts: What got you into the world of auctioneering?
Barry Cole, A.B. Cole & Associates
Happy #CountdownToNAA2025!
Have you ever wondered how some of the nation’s most established auctioneers got their start in the industry?
Maybe you’re an aspiring auctioneer, or maybe you’ve simply had an experience where you’ve sat in the middle of a live auction, sitting in awe of the auctioneer’s chant and the surrounding excitement and wondered, “what set of circumstances led this person on stage to get so good at what they do?”
Well, you’re in luck! We asked 6 of the most esteemed auctioneers in the industry what drew them into the world of auctioneering. Let’s see what they have to say:
From Scott Sykora, Sykora Auction Service, Inc.: “I’ve been in the auction business since I was 13, working as a handler/ringman, being the eyes of the auctioneers. I started working in the late 70s and went to auction school in 1981.”
From Darwin Plumlee, Plumlee Auction Service: “I got into the auction business in 1972 by accident. I never thought about being an auctioneer but I told the owner of the auction house if he needed any help to let me know. I meant to hold up things for the auctioneer. The next week, I walked into the auction house and he said, ‘here comes my auctioneer.’ I surprisingly stepped on the block and the rest is history.”
From Stan Crooks, Auction America Inc.: “I’m from Iowa, where auctions were part of the agricultural economy and culture. I worked for the local auctioneer as a kid, and then in my teens started working for an auto auction. In my twenties I started my own business, and was a frequent buyer at auctions. One day, I decided I wanted to try it myself. So I went to school, got licensed, and never looked back.”
From John S. Nicholls, Nicholls Auction Marketing Group: “I grew up in the industry and my Father is an auctioneer. We were a family run business, so it’s all I knew from birth. The marketing aspect of the business is what really intrigued me. I wanted nothing to do with the auction industry until my last semester of graduate school, and I really started to see how that marketing literally was the biggest component as to the success or failure of the event.”
From Lamar Fisher, Fisher Auction Company: “My father started our Firm in 1972, so I grew up in the auction business and knew at an early age what my career path would be.”
From Barry Cole, United Country A.B. Cole & Associates Auction & Realty:”“I knew that coming from a rather blue-collar family, there wasn’t money to go around for everybody to go to college. And I really didn’t have a lot of direction getting out of high school. So the counselor said, how about we put you in the machine shop, and I thought, ‘that sounds like a good idea, my dad was a machinist so I’ll follow him in the trade.’ But it never was a love, it was a job. About the third year, I had gone just about as far as I could go and it would have been another 45 years of looking at the same speck on the wall. I just felt stifled in there. Then this gentleman that I worked with came to me with an article he wanted me to read. It was all about the Mendenhall School of Auctioneering and how they taught auctioneers. He said that the more he read that article, the more it pointed him straight to me. So I thought, ‘an auctioneer, I’ve never thought about that.’ Finally my wife and I decided to save up our money and our 2 weeks vacation, I went to school and graduated top of the class. But the main thing was that I found something that I actually loved. And it just rang the bell.”