You are here: Home >> Northwest Austin >> Business Profiles >> Austin Auction

Austin Auction

Attention: open in a new window.

Written by Mark Collins Sunday, 07 October 2007

Enjoy an old-fashioned evening at local auction house

Austin Auction is a family-owned-and-operated auction house founded by Ross and Paula Featherston in 1983. Since then, their son Chris and daughters Laura and Victoria have joined the staff.

Several of the hundreds of religious statues soon to be auctioned.

“We had bought things from auctions and felt like we would like to be in the industry, like we had something to offer,” Ross said.

Austin Auction specializes in antiques and collectibles found all over the world. The Featherstons have worked hard to develop relationships with antique hunters in foreign countries, and it shows in the quality of merchandise they receive.

“The diversity of merchandise is what makes it interesting,” Chris said. “That’s our big thing; every week you’re going, you think you’re in a different store. Most stores have one or two new pieces, but every week the whole room out here is completely new.”

Austin Auction receives its merchandise in a 40-ft. long, 9 ft. by 8 ft. ocean container. Often times, the Featherston’s don’t even know what’s inside.

“It’s like Christmas every week,” Paula said. “When that container backs up, you never know what’s going to be in there.”

The auction process starts online when photos are posted the Wednesday before the auction. On-site inventory inspection is on Friday from noon to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 4 p.m. until the auction begins at 7 p.m.

Once the auction begins, it’s anybody’s game, even for those who can’t attend. During the pre-auction inventory inspection, customers can enter a bid to be placed during the auction, or request to be called on the phone while the item is up for bidding. In addition, Austin Auction uses EbayLiveAuction to allow any member of the Internet community to enter bids on merchandise.

“We’ll ship it here from Spain, and then somebody from Spain will buy it and we’ll ship it back,” said Chris.

In early 2007, Austin Auction expanded to provide services to people who were unable to make it to the auctions. The wholesale warehouse, located within the building, is filled with a variety of both new and antique items. All the merchandise is available to purchase immediately at wholesale prices.

Not everything Austin Auction sells is antique, and not all of it is foreign-made. The company also handles estate sales and consignment pieces. All these features are an effort to remain modern in a continuously changing auction market.