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During the past year, our country has seen many changes in how we, as a society, conduct business and live socially. With that in mind, Russ Swanay Real Estate decided to be more innovative with how they conduct their real estate and personal property auctions. David Collins, Principal Auctioneer for Russ Swanay Real Estate, decided to change the auction format from live and online auctions to online only for all personal property auctions. The company decided to do a test run of their online only auction format and the results were pretty amazing.

In discussing the new format, Collins said, “We like to say that we are not estate liquidators, rather, we market our client’s estate to a worldwide audience. “The online process has been an ongoing national trend for quite some time and we feel that the Tri-Cities is a prime area to introduce this innovative format of online bidding.”

When comparing the online format to live auctions, the company found that their bidder participation rate went up from 60% to 96%. Literally, almost everyone that registered for an auction bid on an item. Collins stated that the firm sold items all over the United States and, also, internationally. Shipping for items is available, and this component of the bidding process has proven to be an added benefit when marketing personal property items.     

Sellers have given great testimonials about the result they have received from this bidding process with comments such as “I can’t believe that our things would bring that much money.” In addition, buyers seem pleased with the format and actually find it fun and a bit addictive. The firm’s online auctions generally start on a Monday and end the next Tuesday. Bidders find the format easy to use, less time consuming and eliminate the need to spend their Saturdays going to an estate sale, standing there all day, waiting to bid on one particular item. 

Not only does Russ Swanay Real Estate offer online personal property auctions, they have found that selling real property online has also been very effective. With the current influx of buyers to the Tri-Cities area, the firm’s format gives both the seller and the buyer the advantage of buying and selling at their preferred price.  

Regarding the online auction process, Auctioneer David Collins said “with the online auction process, sellers have the ability to market any item, any property, to a worldwide audience. We deem ourselves the most innovative auction firm in the Tri-Cities. No matter what a person’s auction needs may be, we have the experience, the ability and the innovative techniques to get the most money for assets.” Russ Swanay Real Estate has been conducting business in the Tri-Cities area for the past 49 years. The firm believes that the reason for their longevity is that they have continued to adapt to changing times and a changing market. With the introduction of the online bidding format, the firm feels that they now offer a market advantage that will help drive business for the years to come and look forward to serving all traditional real estate and auction needs in the future”.