Great auctioneers are made, not born," says Paul Dewees. These days the president of the Missouri Auction School in Kansas City, Mo., one of 50 or so such institutions in the country, is practically mass-producing them. Three hundred students have graduated this year, each paying $795 for an eight-day course meant to demystify the centuries-old trade. They spend a lot of time on elocution, mangling their way through tongue twisters like "Betty Botter bought some butter." They get lessons on how to advertise and promote auctions, manage an auctioneering business and shovel through the paperwork.
展开▼
