For one thing, a handshake is no longer enough to seal a deal. For another, paperwork has increased. The nature of their business has also changed. Forced-sale auctions once made up the vast majority of real estate auctions, but the younger Mr. Campbell said more property owners are seeing auctions as a great way to sell quickly. That type of sales now accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the auctions they handle.
Auctioneers have also become more knowledgable over time, the three people agree.
Part of that has to do with more access to information. The key to the businesses, all three said, is understanding that the actual selling of an item is the final and least significant responsibility of an auctioneer. Someone who looks at the whole picture like a doctor. The elder Mr. Campbell reads four or five newspapers a day and makes a whole-hearted attempt to keep up with technological changes in the industry. After 50 years in the appraisal and auctioneering business he still thinks there's more for him to learn.