Virtual Auctions Offer the Perfect Hash Tag

Virtual Auctions Offer the Perfect Hash Tag

Brian Hash has provided an outlet for buyers and sellers since he graduated from auctioneering school in 1993.

Photos by Linda Roberts

A small vintage trunk sports a new lining and is ready for the next owner.

By Linda Roberts

The wording on the back of Brian Hash’s t-shirt reads: “Got Auction Fever? We have the Cure.”

Hash has been providing the “cure” since he graduated from auctioneering school in Billings, Montana, in 1993. And, as an auctioneer, he’s sold everything from cattle to crystal goblets and anything imaginable in between.

Hash will tell you the last 28 years have been good for his business, enabling him to have a convenient location on three acres on the main street at Berryville’s east end. The property features office space, restrooms and a 9,000-square-foot main building that houses the myriad of merchandise sellers consign for weekly auctions. Tractors, cars, lawn equipment, large tools and much more are lined up just behind the building.

What’s missing is the singsong auctioneer’s cry as items come up for bid and are declared sold to the highest bidder.

Six years ago, Hash took his business totally online, with buyers registering and bidding from the convenience of their home computer or phone. “We were still doing some selling at our main building, but in 2015 we went cold turkey to online, closed for two weeks to set up (computer systems) and haven’t looked back,” said Hash, adding that the internet has made his business simpler and benefits both the seller and the buyer.

“We can move much more merchandise and involve many more buyers and sellers now,” he said. “It's all about convenience.”

Prospective buyers still have browsing time, and social time to greet friends while previewing merchandise each Monday before the online auction bidding begins at 5:04 that evening. The winning bidders pick up their purchases on Tuesdays. The remainder of the week is filled with new goods arriving for cataloging, tagging and arranging in orderly rows in the auction building and outside for the following week’s auction.

Hash estimates 85 to 90 percent of his buyers don’t preview what they purchase in person, preferring to utilize the online photographs taken when cataloging each sale. Hash and his staff of 10, which includes his wife, Dawn, daughter, Christina, and brother, Dennis, take care of the financial aspects of the business and catalog some 1,800 lots per week for the Monday auctions.

A graduate of Clarke County High School, Hash said he’s had a number of jobs before becoming an auctioneer. “I’ve driven trucks, hauled cattle, worked at the Berryville Farm Supply and the livestock auction before making the decision to drop everything and attend auctioneering school.

“I was married with a baby on the way and I just decided to go for it,” Hash said, adding that there were “some sleepless nights along the way.”

Hash said there is a demand now for both selling and buying and he sees his business growing to accommodate the market.

“I’m a small entrepreneur. I’ve always had the desire to be bigger but I’m not interested in chasing that almighty dollar,” he added. “A good level of success is better than always reaching for the stars.”

Hash knows his market and is well-known in the community with a large following who trust his salesmanship. His customers are repeat buyers and sellers who have been following Hash Auctions for years.

If you have the time to stop by and chat with Hash, he’d welcome the opportunity. And if you can catch him between conversations with his auction regulars, ask him to tell you the story of the gold coin they once found in a sugar jar while packing estate items for an auction. Yes, that’s the valuable coin that sold for $28,000 and was shipped to a buyer in California.

It’s true. There are still treasures to be found and auctions sometimes yield unexpected surprises. Just ask Brian Hash.

A small vintage trunk sports a new lining and is ready for the next owner.