Creamer wins state title, will now compete on the national stage

HARTINGTON — Austin Creamer has been around auctions all of his life.

As a youngster he had no choice but to follow his parents, Ryan and Janet Creamer, around as they conducted auctions throughout the region,

He learned to not only enjoy the auctions, but embrace them, choosing to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an auctioneer himself.

Creamer, 21, a current junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Cedar Catholic alum, was named the Nebraska Auctioneers Association state champion Nov. 20 at the Gateway Farm Expo in Kearney.

Creamer will now represent Nebraska in the 2020 International Auctioneers Championship at the National Auctioneers Association Convention and Show in San Diego.

He is following in the footsteps of his father, who has honed his craft for years, while also owning and operating Creighton Livestock Market, which put the family in and around the auction industry.

“I’ve been surrounded by the business and it’s something I like to do,” Austin said. “As a family it was what we’ve always done. I also like helping people, and I feel that’s what we are doing. We are helping people to liquidate their assets in a time of need,” he said.

He started helping out at a very young age.

“I started helping at the auctions when I was about 8 years old. I went to auction school when I was 16.”

In essence an auctioneer’s job is as a marketer for various assets and a salesman for these assets, he said.

It takes a quick fire lingo and an ability to make the audience understand.

“Being surrounded by it, I had an advantage, but it takes time to practice throwing around words to see what works for you,” he said. “When I am calling it’s kind of like a bunch of questions sped up. What the auctioneer is doing is communicating the price they have now, and what they are asking for to advance the bid.”

Creamer is studying agricultural business and economics at UNL, but doesn’t rule out the possibility of doing auctioneering full time.

“It’s definitely more difficult to do it full time, but there are people who do,” Austin said “I would love to do it full time. It’s something that I want to do, but I do plan on getting my real estate license. I have thought about being a real estate appraiser. I may not be able to auctioneer full time, but I would like to have the option to do that.”

In a time full of internet auctions, Creamer still believes there is a place for the auction and auctioneers going forward.

“The biggest challenge is probably setting yourself apart from an online component like an E-bay or something like that,” he said. “It’s to show people why we are true professionals and why we are a better marketing option for them. It’s also trying to change public perception that an auction is a last resort. You can look at all your top-dollar stuff, it is sold at auction.

“There are numerous technological advancements where auctions are being held online and we have adopted that as well. I just think it’s the Amazon era and the online part of that is here to stay. I don’t think that quite gets the excitement of the chant and I don’t foresee anything that can replace that.”