10.1 Prospecting, Listing Presentations & Competitive Proposals

10.1 Prospecting, Listing Presentations & Competitive Proposals

Where this sits on the blueprint: the DBPR Candidate Information Booklet allocates 7% of the examination to Soliciting — about 3 to 4 of the 50 questions, and the smallest of the seven subject areas. Rule 61G2-2.002(2)(g), F.A.C., states the same figure. Florida also makes it a mandatory apprenticeship competency: Rule 61G2-4.001(2)(b)1 requires training in "drafting and executing a contract for auction services with the seller," performed at least five times.

Soliciting is business development, but in Florida it is licensed business development. That single fact drives most of the exam questions in this area.

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Offering to Auction Is Itself Licensed Activity

Read F.S. 468.385(2) literally:

"No person shall auction or offer to auction any property in this state unless he or she is licensed by the department or is exempt from licensure under this act."

The phrase "or offer to auction" is the operative language. A person who has not yet called a single bid, but who solicits consignments, quotes commission terms, and holds out auction services, is already within the licensing requirement. The DBPR states the practical consequence in its Board of Auctioneers FAQ: "When representing yourself or your business to the public as an Auctioneer or Auction Business, you must be licensed to do so; otherwise you may be cited for unlicensed activity."

The same reach appears in the definition of an auction business at F.S. 468.382(1), which covers an entity that in the regular course of business "arranges, manages, sponsors, advertises, promotes, or carries out auctions." Promotion and advertising sit inside the definition, not outside it.

[!WARNING] The unlicensed-solicitor fact pattern. An unlicensed marketing contractor who cold-calls estates on behalf of a licensed auction house and quotes commission rates is engaged in offering to auction. Operating without an active license is a third-degree felony under F.S. 468.391, and the DBPR runs a dedicated unlicensed-activity complaint line. The licensee who directed the activity is separately exposed, because F.S. 468.389(1)(b) reaches statements made by an agent or by anyone acting with the licensee's consent.

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Step One in Prospecting: Run the Exemption Screen

Before investing in a prospect, determine whether the sale is even within the Act. F.S. 468.383 exempts nine categories:

[!TIP] The charity trap runs both ways. A benefit gala is exempt only if the person conducting the auction receives no compensation. An auctioneer who volunteers gains goodwill but no fee; an auctioneer who charges must be licensed and must run the sale under a licensed auction business with the full apparatus of a written agreement, escrow, and announcements. Candidates frequently assume the charitable purpose alone carries the exemption. It does not — the compensation condition does.

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The Listing Presentation

A Florida listing presentation has four honest components and one recurring temptation.

1. Property Assessment

Walk the property, categorize it into catalogued singles, grouped lots, and box lots, and identify anything requiring specialist handling — titled goods, firearms, alcohol, hazardous materials, or items whose sale is restricted.

2. Method Recommendation

State plainly which sale format fits, and why:

3. Realistic Expectation Setting

Present a range, tied to the venue and format being recommended, and explain the forced-liquidation dynamic covered in Chapter 8.1. Give the consignor the comparable evidence rather than a bare number.

4. The Written Proposal

Everything material goes in writing and, before the auction is conducted, into the agreement required by F.S. 468.388(1).

The Temptation: Buying the Consignment

The recurring exam fact pattern is an auctioneer who quotes an inflated expected result to beat a competing proposal. The analysis:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  INFLATED PROMISE TO WIN A CONSIGNMENT                                   |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  F.S. 468.389(1)(b)  false promise concerning value  -> discipline       |
|  F.S. 468.389(1)(e)  bad faith in a sales transaction -> discipline      |
|       + F.S. 468.391 -> THIRD-DEGREE FELONY route                        |
|  FDUTPA, Ch. 501 Pt II -> unfair/deceptive act in trade or commerce      |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

An estimate honestly held and reasonably supported is not a violation even if the sale disappoints. An estimate the auctioneer had no basis to give is a different matter entirely, and the file — comparables, dated notes, the written proposal — is what distinguishes the two after the fact.

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Competitive Proposals and Confidentiality

When several houses compete for one consignment:

• Compete on plan, not on promises. Marketing budget, buyer database reach, catalogue quality, settlement speed, and removal logistics are verifiable commitments. A predicted hammer price is not.
• Do not disparage a competitor's licence status without checking. Licence status is public on the DBPR verification system; asserting a competitor is unlicensed when they are not is itself an unfair trade practice.
• Treat consignor information as confidential. Estate inventories, financial distress, and family circumstances learned during a pitch are not marketing material, and disclosing them is conduct that demonstrates bad faith or dishonesty under F.S. 468.389(1)(e).
• Honour the incumbent contract. Soliciting a consignor who is already under a written auction agreement with another licensee invites a tortious-interference claim on top of the regulatory question.