How does one become an auctioneer?

[Tad Carlucci]

My feeling is that auctioneers SHOULD have a good idea of what things are presently selling for. And, if someone asks, they should help with pricing. The main thing, though, should not be to suggest an opening (minimum) bid, but to suggest that it may be too high and likely to not get any bids unless lowered; or far too low given the rarity, etc. To me, that goes hand-in-hand with being a seller's agent, which is what an auctioneer should behave as. If you're suggesting prices and getting a lot of 'future sales' perhaps it's time to go to some more auctions and see where you're going wrong.