Professional Auction Services Introduces First Online Horse Auction

December 8, 2012, Berryville, Virginia – Professional Auction Services, Inc. will produce it’s first online horse auction in January of 2012. Entries are open now for the 43^rd Mid Winter Sale for Quarter Horses and Paints.  The online catalog will be available by January 2, 2012 and bidding will open on Friday, January 20, 2012.  Lots will begin closing on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at the times stated for each entry.

This marks a shift of the east coast’s longest running catalog auction for Quarter Horses and Paints, away from a live auction format to an online only auction.  “The Eastern Mid Winter Sale changed the way Quarter Horses were sold at auction on the east coast in 1970 and it will change the way they are sold at auction again in 2012,” said Mike Jennings, President of Professional Auction Services, Inc.  “We will do everything that we do for a live auction, handle the promotion, the paperwork and the transaction for the sellers, except rent a facility and hire auction day staff,” continued Jennings.

Sellers can enter online using the convenient, new ONLINE ENTRY FORM.  Entries can also be made by mail or fax with an entry form downloaded from professionalauction.com or requested from the company’s office.  Sellers will provide extensive information on the horse’s disposition, training and health history.  An optional Pre-Sale Equine Physical Examination form will be provided to each seller that will be available on the horse’s online catalog page.

Horses will be grouped into sessions by type of discipline.  For example, a session for Western Pleasure and English Show horses, another for Halter horses, another for Cutting, Reining, ranch and cattle events and one for trail riding, family horses and general use.  Early entries will have more time for Buyers to shop them.

The online sale catalog information will post as entries are received.  The company expects to have a number of horses posted by Monday evening, January 2, 2012.

Bidding will open on Friday, January 20, 2012.  Lots will begin closing on Tuesday. January 24, 2012 at the times stated for each entry. Bidding on lots will close every 3 minutes. If last minute bids are received on a horse, an additional two minutes will be added to the countdown timer on that lot.

PleasureHorse.com asked Tim Jennings of Professional Auction Services about the motivation for making the switch to an online auction. “Well, I guess it’s a bit of ‘old dog – new tricks’.  We have been watching the market and how people have been responding to online auctions.  When the economy turned down in the summer of 2008, attendance at the live auctions seemed to be dropping.  It takes a special event to bring people out for a live horse auction.” said Jennings.  “It will also really help to broaden our auction audience,” Tim commented.  “You can be anywhere and attend an online auction.  It will also allow us to provide custom auctions with a relatively small number of horses.”

Professional Auction Services, Inc. has handled sale transactions for more than 50,000 horses in over 325 horse auctions. PAS, Inc. has teamed up with EDJE Auctions, a leader in the field of online livestock auctions, to create a marketplace with the latest in online auction technology and support.  For more information contact Professional Auction Services, Inc. at 800-240-7900 or visit professionalauction.com.