Section
SANDY, OREGON THURSDAY, FEB 21, 1980
The Sandy Post
,<z. • '
Area News
‘I Ijave 4,
wljo
will give ipe 6?’
“ There’s lots of room at the top for
the best” an old auctioneer told him
once and it seems that Paul Spence is
headed right for the top.
The Sandy resident has only been in
the vocal occupation since 1978 but he
has moved up fast and he seems to be
in great demand both locally and
regionally.
A bonded and licensed auctioneer.
Spence is senior associate auctioneer
at the TransAmerica Auction Co. in
Portland.
Public auctioneering became an
alternative occupation for Spence
when he got "crippled up” in an ac
cident and couldn’t work in his home
builder construction profession. He
has had five back operations since the
1973 mishap.
The energetic and likeable Spence
said he got tired of laying around and
collecting worker’s compensation so
he went looking for something to do.
What he found was a job that pays so
well and that he enjoys so much that
he wishes he would’ve started the new
career as a young man.
“ I wish I could’ve done it (auc
tioneering ) 20 years ago,” he said. " I t
is easy to teach a young guy to be an
auctioneer.” I t ’s not so easy to learn
when you get older, he added.
His most recent charity gig was
Feb. 13 when the local G irl Scouts held
a cake auction at Firwood School. A
capacity crowd filled the gym as
Spence helped sell approximately 60
cakes for $400. G irl Scouts made the
cakes with the help of their fathers.
Spence also was the volunteer
auctioneer for local Cub Scouts who
earned $359 for fewer cakes. The Cub
Scout cakes went for approximately
$10 each while the G irl Scout cakes
sold for $6 each.
He says he loves doing charities and
has volunteered his time and ex
pertise for the Sandy Merchants, the
Portland League of Secretaries, the
Oregon Epilepsy Association and the
Young Republican’s Charity Auction.
The day before he did the G irl Scout
gig, Spence was in Denver making
plans for a $2.5 m illion industrial
equipment auction. The big auctions
need six to eight months of
preparation before they are held, he
noted.
Spence had a sore throat after the
G irl Scout auction because he forgot
to have a fresh lemon with him in
Denver, he said. He always carries
lemons with him at auctions because
they keep his mouth moist. Bourbon
and lemon juice are also good for
hoarse throats, he said.
Spence went to auctioneering school
at the Western School of Auction in
March 1978. The Billings, Mont, school
has a two-week course that teaches
the basics of the profession, he said.
The total course lasts 127 hours.
Past auctions included a classic car
auction held in Portland during the
fall when the top car, a Rolls Royce,
went for $70,(MX).
You only have two weeks to learn to
be an auctioneer? Spence was asked.
• They know within three days if you
have what it takes to be an auc
tioneer,” he answered. If they don’t
think you can cut it in three days, then
you get your money back and a
goodbye, he added.
But you only learn the basics in
school, Spence emphasized. Most (rf it
you learn on your own and from
talking to old auctioneers.
One of the things that is learned in
school is how to breathe from your
stomach, Spence said. The ex
perienced auctioneer said he now can
make a sale before taking a breath of
air.
Sandy resident Ernest Marshall “ bids” during the cake
auction. Sitting next to him is Tammy Brimser, 12, of Sandy.
He ended up buying the cake, one decorated with houses and
trees, made by G irl Scout Becky Piper and her father, Ralph.
"TTiat’s why all auctioneers have
big tummies,” he said with a laugh.
"You have to talk fast for a long time.
I sell an item without breathing. The
numbers are in your head, you don’t
have to think about them, they are
there automatically.”
Knowing how to read people seems
to be a tra it of auctioneers. "You have
to know when to yield and when to
hold them and when to fold them,”
J Èr ib
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n
People
Home & Garden
Features
Paul Spence
Spence said.
“ I love meeting people,” he says
when asked why he wanted to be an
auctioneer. " I like to meet people, like
to travel and like livestock and
machinery, things I auction off.”
The Montana native specializes in
auctioneering heavy in d u s tria l
equipment, livestock and horses.
Despite being a noted auctioneer who
makes good money he makes 10
percent of profit earned at the big
auctions plus a day’s salary, Spence
always finds time to do local charity
auctions.
He is currently preparing for,
besides the Denver sale, a public
auction for purebred Arabian horses
to be held in Seattle in October of this
year. The 80 head of horses should
gross $1 m illion in sales, he added. It
w ill probably take him five minutes
to sell each horse at a minimum of
approximately $50,000.
As in every auction, it is expected
that some of the horses won’t be sold,
Spence said. In that case, the owners
w ill lose the $250 entry fee per horse.
Most of the big auctions are held in
the summer despite the fact that on
hot days people won’t bid and on cool
days they w ill, Spence said.
Spence’s dream is to go back to
Billings where he went to auctioneer
school and do an auction where his
instructors can see how good he has
become.
"You don’t really know how good
you w ill be until you get out in the field
and work at it,” he said. "You leave
school without knowing if you’ll make
it or not.”
The popular auctioneer seems to be
headed toward the top where there’s
lots of room for the best.
**
1
1
B
Boring third grader Sandy Gates, 8, gets
involved in the bidding herself and buys a
cake.
A large crowd participated in the G irl Scout cake auctiou held Feb. 13 in the
Firwood School gym. The local G irl Scout organization made approximately
$400 at the fund raising event which was conducted by expert auctioneer Paul
Spence.
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