Before the Auction: Keeping Records

Though it has been said that a clean desk signifies a sick mind, there's no room for clutter in the records of top auctioneers. Proper pricing, enticing titles, and an effective listing style are crucial to success, but not any more so than an effective system for tracking auction sales, bidder information, and other important auction-related data. Here are the essentials that will help you order your business and assist you in staying ahead in the game.

Get a New Plan, Stan

Everyone organizes records differently. You won't find a best way to manage your auction data. However, when devising a record-keeping strategy, consider these steps:

• Make your method consistent so that it can be used for both high- and low-volume auctioning.
• Make it simple so that you won't quickly abandon it. Remember, it's easier to build on a simple system than it is to fumble around with a complex one.
• Keep it efficient. Don't keep every bit of data. Go only with the information that you directly will need in the next year.

Furthermore, you can find many tools to help manage your auction records. You can choose paper records, spreadsheet or database software, an onsite My Auction page, or an auction-assisting third-party software package. But whichever tool you choose, be sure you're comfortable with it. And make sure that you can properly store such records, either physical or electronic, and that you have a backup or recovery method, just in case.

Now Playing: The Records You'll Most Likely Need

OK, but what data should you keep? Here is a general overview of the kind of information that will serve you well in your auction endeavors:

• Your items, the price you paid, the high bid price, and the selling cost.
• Your high bidder's name and other contact information.
• The dates of your auctions and other supporting transaction dates with the buyer.
• Any email correspondence.
• Method of payment you received.
• Method of shipping you received, and any tracking numbers.

Surely, you'll think of other useful information for your records, but the aforementioned data will suffice for income tax, customer/client base, and follow-up purposes. Your litmus test should be that the information is useful and conclusive for at least a year.

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