The Auction It Today franchise tames the fickle Internet beast

A relatively new, Internet shopping franchise based in Brighton appears headed for a bright future.

The Auction It Today franchise has grown from a single store that opened in December 2004 to 114 stores across the United States and in several foreign countries.

"Our slogan is 'A global business on a local level,' '' said Dave Bryant, company director of franchise support and offsite sales, and a Green Oak Township resident.

John Hoose, the Auction It Today franchise founder and president, was a successful restaurateur in Howell, and later a mortgage company branch manager when he decided to switch career directions, using the Internet and eBay, the world's largest buy-and-sell service to establish the auction franchise. Hoose, 42, is a resident of Marion Township, where he lives with his wife and three children.

Hoose got interested in starting the Auction It Today franchise venture after watching the bidding escalate on an item he had placed on eBay.

"In the last 20 minutes it went from $70 to $370, and I thought it was pretty impressive,'' Hoose said. "It led to creating an eBay drop off site and then the internet shopping franchise. We knew this was something we could take to a high level.''

The Brighton auction franchise is two doors down from the Michigan Secretary of State's office in the VG's shopping centre on East Grand River Avenue. The company's second Livingston County store will open soon in the Willowbrook shopping centre, at Grand River Avenue and Latson Road in Genoa Township.

As an indication of its rapid growth, the company will soon open a 14,000-square-foot building on Appian Way in Brighton to serve as corporate offices, replacing smaller offices a mile east in Brighton Township. The facility will function as a warehouse and training site for new franchisees. Franchise owners have come to Brighton from as far away as Kuwait and Australia to train.

Auction It Today, whose stores racked up $15 million in gross sales last year, has 18 employees. That number will double within the next month, with the hiring of an additional 20 workers when the new warehouse and corporate office opens, Hoose said.

Company officials boast that Auction It Today takes the time and trouble out of posting items on eBay, and makes it easy for people who are not technically oriented. It also is a safe, secure way to sell items online for those wary of divulging personal information, Bryant said.

The Auction It Today procedure starts with customers bringing items they want to sell to their nearest Auction It Today store. In the case of estate sales, or if a person is elderly or infirm, the items will be picked up. The items are photographed and inspected to determine their estimated value. They generally are listed on eBay for one week. The company recommends that the seller not have a reserve, or minimum bid, and typically starts items at 99 cents. Larger items such as cars generally have a starting bid of $500.

The firm's commission ranges from 38 percent for items under $500 to 30 percent for items $500 and up. The fee to list each item on eBay varies from $2 to $5.

Auction It Today stores have sold some pretty unusual, even quirky items in the short time the company has been in existence.

"There's always something new and interesting coming through the door,'' said Brighton store manager Gail Owens.”It's like a treasure hunt.''

One of the most unusual items was a double-deck, 65-foot-long paddle-wheel boat recently retired from service in Grand Haven, which was sold for $145,000 to a man who plans on using it as an excursion boat in the Caribbean. Another offbeat item sold was a vacant school building in Alpena, plus the 4.5 acres that went with it.

Auction It Today handles cars, and recently sold a Shelby Cobra kit car, a 1932 Ford replicar and a '66 Dodge Charger muscle car.

The company also lists airplanes, motor homes and residential properties. In fact, Auction It Today handles just about any product under the sun except those eBay cannot by law accept, including alcohol, firearms and hate materials.

The business, which racked up $15 million in sales last year, averages between 7,000 and 8,000 items online among all the stores combined, at any given time.

The company's newest innovation is the store-in-store kiosk system that has been installed in more than 50 locations, including hardware stores, electronics stores and pharmacies. With the system, businesses can put their own merchandise up for sale on eBay, or allow their customers to shop online.

"That's what is going to give us our fame,'' Hoose said of the kiosks.”I think it's the wave of the future.''

Hoose said the kiosks can be a boon to small businesses because they increase sales without buying new inventory, liquidate stale inventory, and increase cash flow. The Auction It Today franchise provides the training, software and equipment.