| Kittelty’s Auction commenced operations on the 1st January 1987. The principal Auctioneer, Geoff Kittelty was first licensed on the 7th of March 1961 as an Auctioneer at Geelong wool sales. Geoff has since sold at Melbourne, Portland, Albury and Hobart wool centres. Some of the things Auctioned by Geoff in that time include Wool, Real Estate, Hides, Tobacco and Antiques. | |
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| During the mid 1970’s Geoff opened a Second Hand Furniture and Antiques Shop in Portland Victoria and commenced monthly Auctions which continued into the early 1980’s. Geoff's daughter Paula Kittelty and son Dean Kittelty of course worked within the business. | |
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| On the 1st of January 1987, Geoff with his wife Jan purchased an existing business known as Howard’s Auctions (formally Mid Western Auctions) and since that time Kittelty’s Auction Rooms has held regular Antiques & Collectables Auctions and General Household Auctions. | |
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| On the 14th Of August 1990 Dean Kittelty, Geoff's son commenced working within the business and soon after gained his Auctioneers Licence. The Auctioneering duties are divided up between the two. | |
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| On the 1st of January 1997 Kittelty’s Auction Rooms changed its method of charging commission. A buyers premium was introduced and thus the vendors commission was reduced. Commission rates are 10% Commission to the Vendor and 10% Buyers Premium to the Buyer. | |
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| Whilst most goods sold at Kittelty’s Auction Rooms are sourced from the wider Ballaarat area about 80% of these goods are sold to buyers from outside the Ballaarat district. Kittelty’s Auction Rooms maintains a mailing list of collectors and dealers from all over Australia | |
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| During 1997 - 1998 - 1999 Dean still maintained a full time role within the business and managed to complete a degree course at Ballaarat University gaining a Bachelor of Computing. In December 1999 Dean left the family business and worked in Geelong and Melbourne within the financial and stockbroking industry writing software applications for financial planners and stockbrokers. | |
| Dean Kittelty still worked at all Antique Auctions sharing the Auctioneering role with Geoff. | |
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| In June 2000 the building at 56 Main Road Ballaarat was sold and after a well earned holiday Kittelty's Auction Rooms moved to a larger premises at 109 Main Road Ballaarat where Antiques & Collectables Auctions as well as General Household Furniture Auctions are held regularly. | |
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| On the 1st of July 2000 The GST was introduced and a new software package written by Dean was installed and revolutionised the calculation of commissions and the GST. This software package has since been sold to several Auction Rooms throughout Victoria. Buyers Premium became 11%, Commission became 11% and the handling fee became 55 cents. All charges and fees are GST inclusive. | |
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| On the 1st of July 2002 Kittelty's Auction Rooms was passed from father to son. The ownership of the business went from Geoff and Jan to Dean and Lisa. The beauty of this hand over was that the only thing to change was the quality of the coffee served at morning tea. Life is too short for instant coffee. | |
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| The same high standards set by Geoff are still enforced by Dean (albeit maybe with a firm hand from father). There were but a few rules enforced with the changeover. Paperwork comes before sleep. Payment of vendors is on time and comes before ANYTHING. | |
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| 2004 saw many changes the most important was on the 19th of June with the arrival of Archie Geoffrey Shalders Kittelty. Archie made his auction debut guarding the cash box in the office at a general household auction on the 30th of June. Archie's auctioneering apprenticeship has already begun and we are looking forward to his arrival to the rostrum some time mid 2020. | |
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| 2005 will see the first change in commissions and charges since July 2000. The handling fee will be raised from 55 cents to $1.10. Kittelty's Auction Rooms remains one of the most competitive auction rooms in Victoria with most metropolitan businesses charging in excess of 15% | |
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| In January 2006 Kittelty's Auction Rooms moved to the new location at the Sunnyside Mill in Humffray St Sth Ballaarat. The move was as a result of the Main Road building undergoing redevelopment. The Sunnyside Mill is an enormous building with over 800 square metres of open plan space surrounded by brick walls which give a wonderful perspective for the antiques. The luxury of car parking space for nearly 500 cars is an obvious bonus. | |
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| Geoff's legacy is still evident in every part of the business and the current success of the business is based on 10% on Dean 's hard work and 90% on the business rules and code of ethics that Geoff (sometimes with an iron fist) enforced over many years. | |
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| 2008 saw Julia Kittelty join the family firm as one of half a dozen floor workers during antique auctions. Julia made the display of jewellery her own over the coming auctions. | |
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| 2010 has seen us move to yet another location at 5-7 Victoria Street Sebastopol. We have in excess of 1200 square metres of space and look forward to filling it. Our Humffray St Sth location whilst having a good land lord and it being a fantastic and historic building had many problems none the least of which was a leaky roof and having Rivers as neighbours!!! | |
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| Our new location has delivered many changes including only our second increase in costs in more than twenty years of operating. Our handling fee has increased from $1.10 to $2.20; This was a decision not easily taken but cushioned by the fact that we still offer a discount in excess of 20% in commissions and buyer's premiums to our nearest city cousins. | |
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| 2010 saw the next member of the Kittelty clan join the business in Lily Kittelty starting on the floor. In no time at all both Julia and Lily had stepped into the role of penciler for the auctioneer which is a role of great responsibility in which both have revelled. To have Julia or Lily next to me working whilst auctioneering has been the most enjoyable experience of my twenty plus years in the job. | |
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| As of the 22nd of August 2011 the commission rate and buyer's premium increase for the first time in the history of the business. Vendor's Commission and Buyer's Premium were raised to 13.2% The unheralded increased cost of wages left us with no choice other than to pass on a portion of these costs. We are somewhat content in the knowledge however that we are still more than 20% under the rates offered by our city cousins. | |
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| 2012 has seen the sad end to all public holiday auctions and two day auctions. Australia Day, Labour Day, Easter and the Queen's Birthday auctions have been a feature of our auction calendar for more than twenty five years. Sadly the new labour laws put in place by the Rudd and Gillard government with Workfair Australia mean that it is a non-viable proposition to conduct auctions on public holidays. All antique auctions are now held on the last Sunday of the month. On the upside we can now all enjoy a long weekend after twenty five years of missing out. | |
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| For twenty three years we resisted the temptation of passing on the merchant fee charged by The Bank. For all auctions conducted after the 1st of July 2013 Kittelty's Auction Rooms will levy a 1% fee on all Visa and MasterCard transactions. Be assured that this fee does not cover all of the cost of the merchant fees and also be reminded that the fee is voluntary. There is no fee levied on cheque or savings EFTPOS transactions and no fees are levied on any other method of payment. | |
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| On the 1st of April 2016 and as a result of increased merchant fees, rent, insurance, wages and postage the handling fee was increased to $3.30 | |
| Be assured that we are not to blame for the slow delivery of remittances and cheques. All proceeds are available to collect in person on the Friday after any auction. All proceeds not collected in person will be posted early the following week depending on our workload. Be assured it takes considerable time and effort to print, collate, balance, fold and seal two hundred cheques into envelopes. We are sorry about Australia Post as seemingly for the first time in living memory a business thought it was acceptable to increase the cost at the exact same time they decreased their service. | |
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On the 1st of January 2017 as a result of a marked increase rent and wages the commission and buyer's premium were increased to 14.3%
How we compare: - Kerley's Auction 16.5% commission and 16.5% buyer's premium or 15% higher than us. Glenelg Auctions 16.5% commission and 16.5% buyer's premium or 15% higher than us. Ainger's Auctions 19.8% commission and 22% buyer's premium or 38.46% and 53.84% respectively higher than us. |
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