Southern Tier Auto Auction debuts in Binghamton

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Nov 21, 2003 by Dickinson, Casey J

BINGHAMTON - Auto dealers in the Southern Tier and Northern Pennsylvania have a new stop on the auction circuit. Southern Tier Auto Auction, LLC held its first vehicle auction Nov. 3.

Former auto-parts store owner Richard Harrison secured an 11,000-square-foot facility for the area's first auto auction. Harrison brought car dealer Charles Marini along as vice president of the venture. Before

the auction opened, vehicle dealers had to travel west to Waverly or north to Onondaga County to attend an auction, says John Klepfer, comptroller for Southern Tier Auto Auction. Located at 26 Track Drive in the Conklin Industrial Park off Route 81 exit 3, Southern Tier Auto Auction employs 15 and has approximately 20 part-time workers who help out on auction night.

"Our area needed an auto auction," says Klepfer.

Auto dealers buy and sell cars at weekly auctions held across the state. The dealers typically attend several auctions per week, traveling great distances to attend. Southern Tier has scheduled its weekly auction at 4 p.m. on Mondays. Central New York dealers sometimes visit CNY Auto Auction in Lafayette on Tuesday, Tri-State Auto Auction in Cicero on Wednesday, Rochester-Syracuse Auto Auction in Waterloo on Thursday, and the State Line Auto Auction on Friday, leaving Monday as the only day left open for Southern Tier.

At 4 p.m. each Monday, a team of drivers begins driving cars through three bays at Southern Tier Auto Auction. The former tractor-trailer repair facility allows for several cars to pass through, giving dealers a chance to inspect models just prior to their reaching the block.

"We have lots of bright lighting inside so dealers can see the cars real well," says Klepfer.

The auction has run 150 cars during each of its recent sales, says Klepfer.

"The first night, people were

there out of curiosity," he says, "but the next week they were here to buy."

Southern Tier uses three of its five bays, says Klepfer. The auction plans to open the other two as sales volume increases. Each seller pays a $20 listing fee and sale fee after the car is sold. The lot has 180 numbered spaces to hold cars for inspection before the sale. The auction's lot has another 120 paved spaces available for future growth. Two off-duty police officers and a security team watch over the car lot.

Once a car reaches the auctioneer, he reads a description of the car and notes any defects as well as special features. The auctioneers use dealer code words for vehicle attributes when describing each car. A car without defects "runs and drives 100 percent" in auction parlance while a car with excellent air conditioning "blows ice-cold air."

Following a reading of descriptions and disclaimers, the rapid-fire bidding begins with the auctioneer rattling off numbers so fast that his speech is often unintelligible to the untrained ear. At some sales, the selling dealer shouts declarations of the car's quality and worth during the bidding in an attempt to increase the bid price. The bidders signal the auctioneer throughout the auction until one emerges as the winner. Each dealer has an identification card that the auctioneer's assistant uses to process the sale. Southern Tier has installed a computerized auction system to process sales.

Problems with sales are worked out through arbitration in the auction office.

Dealers register with each auto auction they attend and receive bidding cards. The sales are generally not open to the public, though some auction houses occasionally hold public sales.

Southern Tier Auto Auction also has a restaurant, vendors, and briefcase checkin where dealers can park their paperwork.