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PEORIA, Ill. — Bill Burke caught the bid-calling “bug” when he attended auctions as a youngster with his grandfather and has brought that love forward to his own business today.
“I’ve always enjoyed auctions. I love to sell items, whether it is at an auction or traditional real estate,” Burke said at the Illinois State Auctioneers Association conference.
“I just enjoy it. I’m a first-generation auctioneer. I’ve learned everything that I’ve learned coming to these conferences. I make it a big deal to be at the ISAA conference and attend the National Auctioneers Association conference because you learn a lot.”
Burke, owner of Bill Burke Auction and Realty in Robinson, was seated as ISAA president during the annual conference.
He is a 2000 graduate of Oblong High School and a 2005 graduate of the Missouri Auction School.
“I worked at an auction house for a couple of years for a company in Olney, Illinois, before I went to auction school, and I started auctioning right out of auction school,” Burke explained.
After a few years of bid-calling part-time, he began working full-time for a Robinson auction business in 2009 before opening United Country Burke Auction and Realty in 2013. Five years ago, his business constructed a 10,000-square-foot auction facility in Robinson and the expansion continues.
“We’re general auctioneers. We sell everything from pots and pans to land and homes. We sell a little bit of everything,” Burke said.
Highlights
He has a long list of favorite aspects of the auction business.
“There is something new every day. When my phone rings, I could be going to do a $500,000 real estate auction, or I could be walking into a hoarder’s home the next day. We change so much in our general market, and I love it. I don’t work for a living. I love my job, so I don’t work for a living.”
The friendships he has developed over his career are also a highlight. For example, Junior Staggs, a Tennessee auctioneer and one of the speakers at the ISAA conference, and Burke are close friends.
“We’ll call each other and bounce an idea,” Burke said.
The annual ISAA conference was once again filled with top-notch speakers and continuing education opportunities for its membership. Burke served as chairman of this year’s conference.
“We had Beth Rose, a very powerful real estate auctioneer from Ohio. She taught some real estate classes at the conference. She also had a class about empowering women in the auction industry, which to me is a great deal. I have a wife and three daughters. None are in my business right now, but they all support what I do, and I think this is a business that you’re going to see more and more women getting into,” Burke said.
“We brought in Junior Staggs from Tennessee. He taught Online Auction 101, which was basically for someone who has never done an online auction, and teaches them how to think about getting started because it’s a whole different animal. He also taught an in-depth second course on the advanced online auction and dove into how to do it, how to use it and everything else.
“We also had George Michak this year. He is from Pennsylvania and is an attorney that practices auction law. He looked over contracts and went over contracts and how to make them better.
“We are very blessed with the speakers we get. We’re trying to give our members what they need to go out and succeed whether you’re in southern Illinois and selling a tractor or in downtown Chicago selling very nice antiques.”
Networking
Although auctioneers may be competitors in a certain area, they also share information and help one another out when needed. Networking and camaraderie are also a big part of the annual conference.
“In the old days in the auction industry, you never called your neighbor to come sell with you because you were afraid he might get your next auction. The National Auctioneer Association put on a big push of Auctioneers Helping Auctioneers. We have guys in this room that we really don’t normally compete a lot against each other, but if I have a question, I can call them,” Burke said.
“I called another auctioneer the other day and asked about a machinery auction and what did he think I should charge. He told me what he charged. It wasn’t a price fix, but I don’t sell a whole lot of machinery, so I wanted the information to try and know what to do or how to do a justice and a service for my client. It was perfect and my client was extremely happy, we were happy, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Trends
The auction business continues to evolve and Burke has seen several trends since he started in the business.
“The auction world is changing every day and if you’re not in an association like the ISAA or the National Auctioneers Association or another association at some of these schoolings, you’re getting left behind,” he said.
“Even in the last five years, the online auction side has taken over so much that it’s kind of crazy to be honest. There is so much technology going on.”
Goals
Burke has set a number of goals he hopes to accomplish during his one-year term as ISAA president, led by making the organization stronger.
“We have a lot of growing to do. I feel we have a little bit of a disconnect between our younger and our older population because of the change in the business. The way they’ve done it for 40 or 50 years isn’t the way it’s done today. When I started we had a one-page contract. Now most of them have 10- to 13-page contract,” he said.
“And it’s a whole different world when you have to start talking about online bidding and even mixing online bidding into a live auction. So, there’s a disconnect, and I feel that I want to bridge that. We have 10 district meetings across the state, with two meetings in each district each year, and I’ve made it a personal goal to be at every one to try and bring our members together, keep them engaged and grow the association.”