Steer Planet - Show Steers and Club Calves Forum

Being involved with several this spring, I'd sAy don't skimp on anything as far as getting cattle ready and presentable as far as picturing, videoing, clipping etc. 9 times out of 10 the people we had call and text us about calves just saw the picture and the video and the number and called us idk how many times I answered questions clearly stated like sire, dam, birth date etc. and 9 out of 10 times the persons bidding on said calf will never see them in person so the pics and videos are everything. I'd recommend CW.

The sale ad will feature 3 thumbnails ... they shoud represent your offering... ie   if you are selling steers and breeding heifers have both represented in the ad... I won't dig thru a sale to see if the last few offerings are heifers, bred cows , bullos etc... you would be better to have 2 smaller sales

Great topic, I too would like to have an online club calf sale within the next 3 years, but I am just concerned in getting traffic to come to me. I am located in Ohio. People that have online sales, how much foot traffic do you get? and how many of those bids online are from people who just like the picture and video of the calf? thanks

Steer I can tell you when we had ours we didn't have a whole lot of foot traffic but a lot of calls and texts. We had a lot more bids off people who saw the pics and videos on the site.

That can be a scary proposition in some sales, not yours I am sure.  Video is far better way to get a good look and not much they can add on video.

what was the pricing like on the videoing and picturing, and the sales cost and commission?

I'm not sure on pricing we used focus and mark sneed. I just dealt with calves. I appreciate the comments sizzler, I just try to help people out.

We do a September private treaty phone auction and a November online heifer auction along with an online bull auction in the winter.  We chose to stay with the private treaty deal on the market animals for a couple of reasons.  We have found that a large % of our steers stay within a 50 mile radius, but the elite end,  can and often do go to traders.  The private treaty format allows us to market cattle to fit specific local customers needs and feeding/care programs and also allows for the traders to maintain a greater degree of anonymity when bidding against others.  They seem to prefer that. 
the breeding cattle sell well for us online.  We still get the local foot traffic, but the online format allows us to reach a larger number of people across the county,  I am personally more comfortable buying females online, as i put a large emphasis on the program and pedigree when buying breeding stock.  if i trust the breeder/seller to represent them accurately i will not hesitate to bid to my perception of fair value.  The elite end will end up being viewed in person most times by the buyer or a representative for them.  We have been very happy with the results of the online auctions.  it hits a huge number of potential customers, exposes our program on a national level and allows us to deal with new buyers without the risk of getting stung on bad checks and shady characters. 
as a side note.  we picture and video for both the private treaty and online sales.