If you are tired of losing margins, it is time to switch to no commission auction software that charges a flat monthly rate instead of a percentage.
It was a tough year for the auction industry, margins are down. Supply is tight. So why are you still paying a ‘Success Tax‘ on every Auction sale? Whether you sell tractors, antiques, cattle, or real estate, your software provider shouldn’t be taking a cut of your hard work.
Before you cut staff, cut out middle men
Running an auction business is more expensive than ever. Labor costs are up. Insurance is up. Marketing costs are climbing.
As an auctioneer or liquidator, you are constantly looking for ways to protect your margins. But while you’re busy negotiating better consignment splits or cutting overhead, you might be missing the biggest leak in your bucket: Your “Legacy” Auction Software.
Most auction platforms today—the big names you’ve likely used for years—operate like a “Silent Partner” in your business. They don’t source the inventory. They don’t photograph the lots. They don’t manage the chaotic pickup days.
But when the gavel drops, they are right there to take a cut of the money.
The “Triple Tax” on Auctioneers
If you look closely at your invoices (and the “Internet Premiums” your buyers are paying), you’ll see that most legacy platforms are charging you three separate times for the same event. We call this the Auction Success Tax.
1. The “Rent” Tax (The Seat License) This is the fee you pay just to access the software. In many legacy systems, you are penalized for growing. Want to hire a new clerk? That’s an extra monthly fee. Need another admin for cataloging? That’s another fee. You are effectively paying rent on your own employees.
2. The “Seller” Tax (% of the Hammer) This is the most painful one. Whether you just sold a $50,000 piece of yellow iron or a $5,000 estate jewelry lot, the platform takes a percentage of that sale. Why? Did the server work harder to sell the tractor than the ring? No. They take it because they can.
3. The “Buyer” Tax (The Internet Premium) This is the hidden killer. Many platforms force your bidders to pay a 1% to 5% “Internet Premium” or “Portal Fee.” You might think, “Well, the buyer pays that, not me.” Wrong. Professional buyers calculate their “all-in” price. If they have to pay a 5% fee to the platform, they simply bid 5% less on your item. That is revenue that should have gone to you or your consignor, but instead, it went to a software company.
The “Mall” Trap vs. Your Own Store
Legacy platforms (like HiBid or Proxibid) pitch you on their “Marketplace.” They tell you, “List with us, and we’ll put you in front of millions of bidders.”
It sounds great, but it’s a trap. It’s like setting up a kiosk in a mall. Sure, there is foot traffic, but those aren’t your customers—they are the mall’s customers. The platform owns the data. They can (and will) market your competitor’s auction to the bidder who just bought from you.
If you want to build a sellable, sustainable business, you need to own your customer list, not rent it.
The Benefit of No Commission Auction Software (The Utility Model)
At Selling Lane, we built our platform to handle any type of auction—Simulcast, Silent, Timed, or Live—without the “Success Tax.”
We operate on a Utility Model. You pay for the infrastructure, not the outcome.
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Estate Sales: Upload 5,000 lots and 20,000 photos. The price doesn’t change.
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Heavy Equipment: Run a live, low-latency simulcast for million-dollar machinery. We don’t take a percentage.
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Livestock: Process hundreds of head of cattle in real-time. Zero “per-head” software fees.
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Charity: Run a silent auction where every dollar actually goes to the cause, not the platform.
The Math is Simple, No Commission Auction Software is better
Stop asking, “Is this software good?” and start asking, “Why am I paying a commission to a computer program?”
If you switch to Selling Lane, you pay one flat monthly subscription.
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Zero Transaction Fees.
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Zero Percentage Rakes.
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Zero Internet Premiums.
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100% Data Ownership.
You do the work. You should keep the profit.
[Watch the Video: The Auction Success Tax Exposed]
(Embed your YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/oALc2lEorYs)
Ready to stop the bleeding? Whether you are running a weekly consignment sale or a quarterly industrial liquidation, Selling Lane scales with you without taxing your growth.
[Start Your Free Trial Today]
