Hiring an auctioneer for the league auction...

[Steve]

has your league ever done this? Would you consider it? If so, what would you be willing to pay? Would you expect the auctioneer to both auctioneer AND track rosters?

TIA

[Stephen]

I've been in leagues that have hired people to do it and I've also been hired to do it before. In both cases the payment was $50 and I did track the rosters.

My wife did it for a league I was in one year and my league fees of $100 were waived. She also tracked rosters.

[wannabegriffey]

We pay $100 to our auctioneer + Plus he gets to join us for the buffet.

[revo]

get this guy to do it

[Stephen]

Would he be able to sneak in and pre-load the rosters with great deals?

[umjewman]

If you plan on getting an auctioneer, you must use this website: www.thuzio.com

And no, it is not a link to me liking peeples...

[popeye]

We pay $100 to our auctioneer + Plus he gets to join us for the buffet.

Our auctioneer pays us $100, each, NOT to join us for the buffet. : )

[Mithrandir]

My league owners just take turns running the auction every few rounds. Why pay money to have someone else do this?

[Lucky]

We've hired an auctioneer several times. Also, it was sort of a thing where if you were you the auctioneer this year you were first in line for an open spot in the league. (Oh, and one year when an owner served as auctioneer, and was so mad by the end of the auction that he quit the league.)

I highly recommend getting a non-owner to auction for you. If you need to pay to get a good one, so be it. My son was the auctioneer for my league the last couple of years. The league auction chairman insisted on paying him. He was good, although I think he over-compensated a few times.

I'm not sure what you mean by tracking rosters, but our auctioneers only keep up with how much money each owner has and how many roster spots they have to fill. It seems like it would be hard to keep up with who was on every team, unless you had a computer or a really big white board.

[Lucky]

My league owners just take turns running the auction every few rounds. Why pay money to have someone else do this?

For me, it is worth it for the consistency of having the same guy with the same cadence for each player.

I've done it the way your league does, and it works well, although I always felt weird bidding on a player when I was the auctioneer.

[Mithrandir]

For me, it is worth it for the consistency of having the same guy with the same cadence for each player.

I've done it the way your league does, and it works well, although I always felt weird bidding on a player when I was the auctioneer.

Yeah that can seem a bit weird...

[rhd]

One of my leagues has an "auctioneer". I put the word in quotes because it's a straight draft league. Everyone is supposed to have 60 secs to make their selection and he gives warnings at 30 secs, 10 secs and 5 secs. For each selection, he announces the current team 'on the clock' and the 2 teams up next. He runs it like a drill sergeant, in a big booming voice, but in a fun sort of way. He really keeps things moving. People like him and he really has become as much a part of the league as the owners (I think he's the brother-in-law of the commish). I think $100 is the std amount for an auctioneer. Generally, I think they're a waste of money but for this league I think it helps.

I dont know how in-person, straight drafts are handled w/o an "auctioneer"; one of the owners would have to keep time, right, which would distract them from preparing for their next selection? I suppose someone could set a timer each time that buzzes or rings after the specified time is up.

[TranaGreg]

For me, it is worth it for the consistency of having the same guy with the same cadence for each player.

I've done it the way your league does, and it works well, although I always felt weird bidding on a player when I was the auctioneer.

our protocol is that if you are in the bidding someone else steps up & does the auctioneering ... and if you've been lying in the weeds & are the auctioneer you stop once you put a bid in & someone else who's out has to step in.

[DMT]

For me, it is worth it for the consistency of having the same guy with the same cadence for each player.

I've done it the way your league does, and it works well, although I always felt weird bidding on a player when I was the auctioneer.

Not sure why leagues still need auctioneers when everything can be automated, but when we used to do it off-line we'd take turns. If I was bidding on a player then someone else would step in to be the auctioneer for that player.

[Lucky]

Not sure why leagues still need auctioneers when everything can be automated, but when we used to do it off-line we'd take turns. If I was bidding on a player then someone else would step in to be the auctioneer for that player.

That's a good point, but I was referring strictly to off-line auctions...what we used to refer to as "in person". I've done lots of auctions both ways, and on-line auctions just don't have the great dynamics and feel of a truly live auction.

This year I'll have one done each way. They will both be fun, but I can't help but look forward more to the live auction.