Openherd Alpaca Auctions

A complete advertising, lead generation, & sales system that works!

Learn why Openherd Auctions are different
and how they work >

You'll never sell the same way again!

The days of paying to put up a sales list and hoping for the best are over. Openherd brings you what no one else can offer - completely integrated auctions, advertising, sales lead generation, bidder tracking/contact, and detailed reporting. You can now run your own online auctions on the hottest, fastest-growing alpaca website in the country.

How are Openherd Auctions different?

Fully integrated

There's no need to dig up photos and spend time uploading information. Just pick your alpaca from your Openherd sales list, enter pricing and auction timing and you're done! It's that easy to run an auction — any time you want!

Maximized traffic

With over 2800 alpaca farms, Openherd is the largest, most current and active alpaca website to be on. Our high quality, free membership has made it possible for hundreds of farms not listed anywhere else to get up to speed, which is a great marketing opportunity for all that you'll find nowhere else!

Sophisticated lead-generation & sales tools

No other auction venue gives you the ability to track your auction activity and bids (identified by bidder ID only), allowing post-auction private treaty negotiations. Plus our detailed reporting will make your sales process better as you evaluate your auction response and bids and improve your performance over time.

How Openherd Auctions work...

Openherd makes the selling process simple, flexible, and powerful from beginning to end, making your life easier, and putting the most effective sales tool in your hands for less than the cost of a single print ad or live auction consignment.

Simple

Openherd has built a reputation for making alpaca marketing easy - and fun - and we're confident you'll say that about our auctions! With both ease-of-use and affordability in mind, we've designed our auctions to be a part of your everday sales activity, rather than a costly "one shot" approach to putting an alpaca in a traditional auction. Plus with our free membership you won't have to spend hundreds just getting a sales list up. Why not put those precious marketing dollars into something designed to actively sell and produce sales leads?!

Flexible

Openherd auctions give you the flexibility to list your auctions live at any time that suits you and your marketing plan the best. You can list them right away any time of day or schedule them ahead of time. Or you can choose to include your auction offerings in one of Openherd's periodic Signature AuctionsTM (details as advertised).

Powerful

Openherd auctions are not just an opportunity to solicit bids but are a complete marketing and sales package! As soon as you list an auction, Openherd starts actively advertising your lots on all our highly trafficked search pages, highlights them in search results and on your farm page, and lists them on the Auctions Home Page. Then every week any auctions ending within that week will be featured in our Auctions Classifieds email blast (Professional plan only), giving you nationwide exposure to over 4700 current alpaca breeders and interested parties!

Our automatic proxy bidding system allows bidders to place a maximum bid and our system will bid on their behalf in their absence or while they're bidding on other lots. People don't sit down to access the web all at the same time, so we've designed our system to work seamlessly whether bidders are online or not. Any bids placed - whether or not an item meets its reserve price - are all bidders that the seller can follow up with after the auction has ended (bidder identities are not revealed), giving you as a seller unparalleled direct sales leads.

How will my auctions get attention?

Included search page advertising

On every page load of all top-level search pages, featured auction listings will be displayed. Once a search is conducted, any auction listings that appear in the search results are automatically highlighted. Plus, for Professional plan subscribers, AutoAds that are for auctions will also be displayed with an eye-catching auctions icon.

Auction Home Page featured auctions

Every currently running auction listing will be included on the Auctions home page in its respective category. This gives every auction listing guaranteed exposure. Auctions that are ending soon (within 24 hours) are displayed with highlighted timestamps.

Weekly auctions classifieds email blast

All Professional plan subscribers' auctions ending within 7 days of the email send date will be featured in our weekly email blast to over 4700 alpaca breeders nationwide. Email advertising is one of the most effective forms of marketing and it's all included in your Openherd auctions membership plan!

How does the bidding work?

Live bidding anytime!

Openherd Auctions are "always on" meaning your auction can run any time you want and end on any day and time you choose, giving you control over the timing that works best for you. It also means that your bidders will be able to bid when it's convenient for them, instead of expecting them to all be online at the same exact date and time.

Proxy Bidding

Openherd's proprietary proxy bidding system allows bidders to enter a maximum bid amount so that they don't need to be sitting at their computer at a specific time. Openherd's system will bid automatically on the bidder's behalf up to their maximum bid, but never more than is necessary to win the auction.

Buy It Now!

Sellers have the option to enter a Buy It Now price. This provides bidders who "must have" your alpaca with a way to end the auction early by buying at a fixed price.

How do you generate leads?

Bidder activity is recorded

Every bid placed on your auction will be recorded and identified only by bidder ID. Once your auction has ended you will be provided with links to contact bidders anonymously by email.

Anonymous messaging

Bidders on auctions are identified only by bidder ID. After the auction has ended, the seller may contact bidders via Openherd's secure messaging system. Only if a bidder replies to a seller's email will their identity be known. This provides an anonymous bid and post-auction negotiation environment that is conductive to offers being made that may not be put forward if the seller and bidder knew each other's identity.

Winning Bids

If an auction has no reserve or meets its reserve price, the highest bidder will win the auction. When there is a winning bidder, their identity is revealed to the seller so that they may contact the buyer directly to complete the sale.

How can auctions help me sell better?

Bidding activity reflects pricing

The price of your item will determine to a certain extent how many bids you receive. Completed auctions give you an indication of what a bidder is willing to pay for your item. If no bids are received, a price reduction or improvement in your sales page information may be necessary to generate more interest.

Auction listing click tracking

Every page view of your auction listing is recorded in your My Auctions area for the duration of the auction. This can give an indication of how popular your item was in relation to the bids you received.

Timing

By reviewing your auction performance, you can start to identify patterns of what works best, including what ending times or days tend to bring in the most bids or page clicks. This can be helpful for scheduling future auctions for higher degrees of success.

"My first Openherd auctions resulted in lots of click traffic and the sale of a breeding! Thx Open Herd!"

— Jay Ward
AuSable Valley Alapcas, Jay, NY

Get started now!

Auction Plans Include:

Home Page featured listings ads.
Auctions Home Page listings ads.
Search page featured listings ads.
Highlighted search results.
Farm sales list highlighted listings.
Weekly Auctions Classifieds email blast (Professional Plan only).
List Herdsire Breedings and Package Deals (Professional Plan only).
Ability to anonymously contact bidders after an auction.
No Listing fees & sales commissions.
Guaranteed increases in page visits.

Openherd Auctions Professional - sell alpacas online in an engaging sales format

Exponentially increase your exposure and potential for sales!

Openherd auctions put your alpacas boldly in front of a huge number of site visitors, giving you the best possible exposure and avenues for selling your alpacas for the best value anywhere. So get started today!

"I wish I hadn't listened to that little voice in my head ...telling me that I couldn't do this—use Openherd as a marketing vehicle. I'm not computer savvy and I was sure I lacked the skills needed to get our farm out there on the web. I was so wrong! The process was easy, straight-forward, even fun. Thank you Openherd."

— Elaine Viscido
Green Mountain Farm Alpacas
Vergennes, VT

"We've been extremely pleased with the results of OpenHerd's auction product. The number of hits and enquiries we are receiving on our alpacas has risen dramatically since we signed up. Of all the advertising we've done, OpenHerd has clearly provided the best value. Thanks for providing a great product."

— John Petersam
Criative Acres, Jarrettsville, MD

Openherd Auctions FAQ

If you don't find the answer you're looking for, feel free to get in touch with us from our Support Page.

How can I sell an alpaca in Openherd's Auctions?

All you need to do is sign up for one of Openherd's affordable Auctions membership plans. Each plan gives you a full year of auctions on Openherd. Once you have an actived Auction membership plan, you can start listing alpaca auctions right away directly from your Openherd sales list. All you have to do is select the alpaca you want to auction, specify your pricing and auction timing, and you're done. It's that easy!

How much do Openherd Auctions cost?

Openherd auction listings are based on annual Auctions membership plans. After you have purchased an Auction membership plan there are no additional fees or commissions on sales. A valid Auctions membership plan is all you need, making Openherd Auctions the highest value online alpaca auction - and most respected - anywhere.

Does Openherd charge commissions on sales?

No. We keep things simple so that all sales and transactions are strictly between the Seller and Buyer. Once you have purchased your Auctions membership plan, there are no additional charges for listing auctions or any commissions on sales that are made.

How do Openherd's Auctions compare with traditional live auctions?

The key to any successful auction is participation. The more people who are present, the greater potential for competitive bidding. Traditional auctions have been seeing declining attendance due to the high costs associated with travel/transportation expenses, entry fees, and commissions on sales.

Openherd has grown to be the largest, most active alpaca website and has a much larger captive audience than any single traditional auction because the internet means that anyone across the nation with access to the web can participate. And with proxy bidding only Openherd offers, bidders can enter a maximum bid and Openherd's system will bid on their behalf in their absence.

Rather than requiring bidders to all be in one place at one time, which is not how people use the web, Openherd auctions offer the flexibility to bid when it's convenient over the course of a number of days. Without the high costs of hosting a traditional auction, Openherd is able to make auctions available at a fraction of the cost while providing exponentially more traffic and potential bidders, flexible bidding, and the ability of sellers to track bids and negotiate post-auction private treaty sales. All in all, Openherd is an unbeatable combination of convenience, savings, ease-of-use, and powerful sales tools.

How are Openherd's Auctions different from other online alpaca auctions?

Only Openherd is able to offer the combination of large-scale site traffic, completely integrated auctions, sophisticated advertising, sales, and reporting tools, along with features such as proxy bidding, bidder reporting, and integrated advertising, all managed through an extremely easy-to-use, intuitive member account system.

Openherd's online auctions have grown to be the most respected online alpaca auctions anywhere and has a very loyal following of our weekly Auctions Classifieds email blast. Other online alpaca auctions either lack the site traffic necessary to drive their auctions, the advanced technology for them to work smoothly, or they rely on bidders to all be at their computers at the same date and time, which is not how people use the web.

What is "proxy bidding"?

Proxy bidding is where you enter the maximum amount you are willing to pay for an item and then Openherd's system will automatically bid for you when another bidder outbids you - up to your maximum bid. Proxy bids will only ever be the lowest bid necessary to keep you the high bidder, so you'll never pay more for an item than you have to in order to win it. Proxy bidding gives bidders the flexibility to place bids on an item when they are not able to be present for live online bidding or are bidding on multiple lots at the same time. Proxy bidding example.

Is there a "cool-down" period before an animal can be relisted?

Yes. For 24 hours after an auction has ended, an alpaca can not be relisted and will display an "ended" message. After 24 hours the alpaca will revert to its previous sales list status.

When do the auctions take place?

On Openherd, auctions are constantly taking place and end at different dates and times, depending on when the seller specifies. There is a common assumption that fixed-date auctions are the only way to guarantee a lot of people to bid on lots. While this may be true for traditional auctions with people traveling to a specific venue, Openherd's online auctions allow bidders to enter a maximum bid and let Openherd's system bid on their behalf in their absence.

Plus, with our nationwide audience of thousands, anyone can bid at any time regardless of where they are or what time of day it is. They can bid when it's convenient for them and be kept in the loop of any bidding activity via Openherd's automatic email notifications. Therefore Openherd's auctions and the technology of the internet provide an ideal solution to attracting a large audience while giving them the convenience and flexibility to bid from anywhere at any time.

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