Congressman Long Says Auctioneering is a $25 Trillion Industry in the United States

Congressman Billy Long wants to set aside a day as a federal holiday to honor auctioneers. While this may be no surprise since Billy Long is a 30-year auctioneer, his numbers need to be fact checked. Early into his speech Long says the Auctioneer industry accounts for $25 trillion in sales--TRILLION--T.R.I.L.L.I.O.N. I am thinking the solution to our national debt is to tax auctioneers! (And you know how I feel about taxes...)



Of course, this can't be factual. Where did Long come up with this number? The gross domestic product of the United States is just over $14 trillion. The gross domestic product is defined as the total value of goods produced and services provided by a country during one year, equal to the gross domestic product plus the net income from foreign investments. Long says it's 20,000 auctioneers producing this $25 trillion, and that number doesn't include the billions exchanged on E-bay.

Now Long says later in his speech, the car industry accounts for $80 billion of the total Auction industry and is the largest sector in the auctioneering industry. That's a far cry from the $25 trillion Long claims the Auctioneer industry produced.

Based on Long's $25 trillion figure with approximately 20,000 auctioneers in the United States, that means the average auctioneer is selling $10 billion of property in some form per year. Let's say they make an average 10% commission on what they auction, that means every average auctioneer in the United States is a making approximately $1 billion a year. Now think about that as you listen to Congressman Long carry on about the need for Auctioneer Day.