By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
Auctioneering has been Jeff Gibson’s lifelong passion.
It’s a career path the Canadian County auctioneer, realtor and appraiser seemed destined to take.
Gibson has followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Richard, father Aaron and uncle Eric.
“This is what I’m passionate about; this is what I love,” said Gibson, who owns Gibson Auction & Realty. “I love helping people resolve a problem that’s overwhelming.”
Gibson Auction & Realty works with individuals and businesses across Oklahoma to liquidate their real estate and personal property.
“The most calls I get are when somebody passes away, is retiring or moving, and they have the real property and the personal property,” Gibson said. “That’s where I can help people the most.
“A lot of people just call a realtor, and then they have all this household or farm full of stuff to get rid of.”
The 2002 Mustang High School graduate talked about some of the most interesting items he’s coming across as an auctioneer – Native American art, 1800s sheriff badges, Sears Roebuck homebuilder tool kits, pottery, classic cars, and antique toys.
Since COVID-19 hit, online auctions have become the preferred method over live sales. His brother Charles helps.
“The glory of selling online is that it really opens up to sell worldwide,” Gibson said. “In the current auction I have now, I have buyers from Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Missouri, and even Minnesota.”
Gibson and his father started their family auction company in 2013.
But his journey in the industry actually started as youth while visiting his grandparents during summer vacations in Quincy, Mo., where his grandfather ran Fair Deal Auction House.
Gibson’s father worked with auctioneers Ken Reding of El Reno and Ken Carpenter of Mustang.
“I would watch my dad, and I just fell in love with it,” he said.
Starting at age 18, Gibson would help set up auctions and get bids out of the crowd as the “ring man.”
“I knew I had to learn the auction chant; I would always try to practice and mimic my father, but I could never quite do it,” he said. “So, I went to the Missouri Auctioneering School, which is called the ‘Harvard of auction schools’. It’s over 100 years old. It’s really a great program.
“They teach you all this rhythm and number drills. They send you on your way and hope that you practice and make something of it.”
SHEET METAL FOREMAN
Meanwhile, Gibson spent about 10 years a foreman overseeing crews for hundreds of architectural sheet metal projects atop commercial buildings and schools.
“When I was in the union, it was really hard to get 40 hours a week and I wasn’t getting any overtime (from contractors),” he shared. “So, on the weekend, I started working auctions.
“That’s where I really started getting the love and passion for auctions.”
Gibson left the union around 2010 to work full-time with his father in the auction business.
When his father passed away in 2015, Gibson took a break and returned to full-time construction work.
Two years ago, he knew it was time for Gibson Auction to be active again.
“This has always been my passion,” Gibson emphasized. “I’m really good at sheet metal work but you’re running somebody else’s job – for not a lot of money.”
Just this April, he earned his real estate license so he can now also help people find the “dream home” for their family.
As a professional auctioneer and licensed realtor, he’s working for himself doing what he really loves while helping others.
Gibson also is certified by the Certified Appraisers Guild of America. He writes and certifies documents that place a value on an item due to his knowledge of that item.
“Then someone can turn that into their insurance company and actually have that item insured for that value,” he explained.
Gibson specializes in appraisals of toys, glassware and pottery.
He and his daughter Shyann, 9, attend Life Church in Mustang.
“If dad is not working, then we’re at dance or cheerleading practice,” Gibson said with a wide grin.
Shyann loves to attend University of Oklahoma women’s basketball games and women’s gymnastics meets.
Call Gibson Auction & Realty at (405) 868-3788 or visit gibsonauctionandrealty.com
