Auction house businesses sell everything from jewellery to houses to cars to large lots of personal belongings. Everything imaginable can be auctioned off.

All you have to do is look at the random listings on eBay to see how wide of a variety can be sold. Auction house businesses are all over and pretty simple to start, all you have to do is follow these steps to be on your way.

Things You Will Need
  • Auctioneer's license

  • Business license

  • Capital

  • Items to auction

Get your auction license or get a licensed auctioneer. Depending on the state you live in there are certain licenses you much obtain, including business and auctioneer's licenses. You can earn an auctioneer's license as quickly as two weeks by attending classes at an auction school.

Obtain items for your first auction. Once you have all the business details set up you need something to auction. Check out local classifieds or for-sale sections. If someone is trying to sell a house or an estate, pitch your auction company to do the business. Or set up a consignment auction where people put items in the auction.

Advertise. In order to get more auctions set up and get your business name out in the public, you have to start an advertising and public relations campaign. You can either do this by yourself or, if you have the extra money, hire an advertising firm. If your doing it by yourself, talk to local newspaper editors about covering something unique about your first auction, place ads and put out signs.

Have the first auction. Every auction house business needs its first auction to prove that they can get bidders there and actually sell items. Having a well-run business is the best way to gain more business. Many people who attend auctions attend them on a regular basis, and they will contact you to bid at your auctions and also to have you sell their stuff for them. Building a client base is the best thing that you can do for your auction house business.