Frequently Asked Questions
Many times, a customer sees an item they wish to bid on, but can not be in attendence the day of the auction. This happens quite often. If you are not able to be at the auction, please feel free to contact Crawford Auction Service, prior to the day of the auction, qualify, and your bid will be honored.
Crawford Auction Service never wants to discourage a customer from bidding on an auction item just because they don't have the resources to get the item home that day. This is something that occurs frequently at auctions. If you happen to purchase something and don't have enough room to take the home with you immediately after the auction, please alert the Crawford Auction staff before you settle up. This way we can make arrangements with the seller or a moving agent to make sure that you are able to get your item home in a manner which pleases you as well as the seller. More times than not the seller is more than happy to make arrangements for your items to be picked up in a timely manner one or two days following the auction. However, please realize it is not the sellers responsibility to be liable for purchased items at auction.
Anyone can be a bidder at any Crawford Auction Service! Before you wish to bid for an item up for auction, visit our mobile auction office and talk to Cindy, our friendly auction cashier. She will ask you for your legal photo identification (State issued driver's license, Government I.D., or passport), your home address, and a phone number at which you can be reached. Then you are registered and will receive a bidders card with a number which represents your registration. It cost nothing to become a registered bidder! It's that easy!
Crawford Auction Service gladly excepts cash, personal and or business/company check (with proper identification), and cashier's check. We currently do not accept debit or credit cards. All winning bidders are expected to pay for items the day of the auction, before any items are removed from auction site.
At the end of the auction, our clerking and cashier staff settles up the auction. We totally the receipts of all items sold, collect all payments for items sold, and settle up with the owner of the auction before we leave at the end of the day. When you have a Crawford Auction, you will also have complete payment for your estate that day. We believe that this is the only way to business. It's been the only way we've done business since 1944.
An auction at its most basic definition is a publicly held sale at which property or goods are sold to the highest bidder. If you decide to have an auction, we will come out and list all items you wish to sell at auction so that we can advertise your auction publically to attract the largest amount of qualified bidders to buy your items at auction.
We will set up your auction so that your items can be sold in a timely matter the day of the auction, in a presentable and organized fashion so that bidders are able to preview all items they wish to bid on the day of the auction, and in a way that all items can be removed by the new owners after purchase.
We provide all materials need for set up and for holding the auction, including portable restrooms and food catering services.
We "start the bid" on all items at a price where all bidders are encouraged to bid. The reason for this is so that the auction continues at a reasonable pace, also, if nobody bids on a certain item, we buy it. This way all items you have listed to sell, are sold, even if it is us who buy it.
Once the auction is finished at the end of the day, we will settle up with you. Our cashier will total the entire auction, provide you will all receipts of items sold, bills for commission and expenses of the seller, and write you a check for your items sold at your auction. You will be paid before we leave at the end of the day. No exceptions. This is the way we have done business since 1944.