53rd SILENT AUCTION
Horton's
Antique Clocks
Welcome To Horton's Antique Clock Auction
AUCTION COMMENTS
Our clock auctions
have been strong during the economic "slow down." We have not noticed any
drop off in sales or dwindling interest in clocks. The only thing we did
notice was that some buyers
squeezed their dollars a little tighter when the recession first started.
When we came out of the reces
sion in 2009 bidding continued at previous levels. Reports from those who
still attend clock shows
are that attendance is continually declining and there are no decent clocks
to buy, therefore, clock auc
tions that offer good collectable clocks are doing well. We know that we
have an increasing number
of new clock buyers every auction, and the vast majority are computer savvy,
relatively young, and
almost none belong to, or attend, any organized clock function, i.e. clock
meetings and regionals.
They have no interest in "being involved" other than buying clocks. Perhaps
the best thing happen
ing to my clock sales is the increasing number of female collectors.
We have had 52 auctions and still many of our bidders do not know that they
can buy the unsold
items for our minimum price, plus 10%, in the days following an auction. We
mail a Price List imme
diately after the auction to all subscribers and post the sales prices on
our website. It shows what the
items sold for, and the items that did not sell. We have always sold 50 to
100 items after every auc
tion. If an item does not sell at all, we will decrease the minimum in the
next auction, and keep reduc
ing it until the clock goes away. We own the clocks and we are not running a
museum, so the clocks
must go away.
A word of advice to bidders. I notice every auction there may be one or two
clocks that many bid
ders want. They decide to bid on only one clock a clock they would love to
own, and bid strong
enough to buy it. The problem is, only one person gets that clock and
everyone else goes away empty
handed. Then they tell me, "I wish I had bid on other clocks". Well, you
can. I am not "Sotheby's" or
"Christies" auctions in New York, I am just a small operator buying clock
collections and redistrib
uting them to other collectors. We lay out some general rules of bidding but
that is just to make things
run half way smooth so as not to complicate my life too much. Here is what
you should do when bid
ding on one item or a hundred. Write some instructions on the bid form, such
as;
"If I do not get the #1 clock I want, then consider my other bids."
"I am bidding on three Seth Thomas No.2 Regulators, but I only want one".
"I am bidding on both English Skeleton clocks but want only the one you
think is the best."
As many of you know we are spending about half time in South Carolina.
Following this auction
we will be in Kentucky through February and part of March, just long enough
to get clocks shipped
or delivered. We will not be in Lexington until June 15th when we will
return to Kentucky to conduct
the July auction.
Our next large catalog auction will be July 2012. We already have enough
clocks for that auction
and at this writing the catalog is complete and ready for the printer except
for some last minute added
items, things that did not sell in previous auctions. Included in the July
2012 auction are a great many
clocks from my personal collection. As we downsize in Kentucky some clocks
have to go.
Good luck in bidding.
Horton's Antique Clocks
Carroll Horton
AUCTION ENDS JANUARY 31 2012