I have, in years past, taken horses to well known & established sales. None were close to home, some as far as 2,000 miles! If my price isn't reached I will no sale!! No qualms. One guy was about $800 off and came behind the scene to offer more, saying "she'll have a good home". Well, I thanked him and advised she already had a goood home...
...and was going back to it. (I still own her, she's 21 & has repaid me in spades!) I never take the "older broodmares" to an auction
They either retire with me or could be placed in special home with "return to me ONLY' status. OK, so far I have chosen to keep them
As to a general auction and the prices. IMO the prices have been too low for the seller for most animals but, no bidder is going to get to the second hit of the hammer and say "wait, I want to raise my OWN bid". It takes good animals to bring enough SERIOUS buyers to bid to a good price. If an auction is simply a place to "get rid of" the poor quality, then we can expect nothing else. Used to be auctions where sellers had to apply to enter their horse -- probably some around still but, since I haven't been pushing any to sell (or buy, actually -- but have bought 3 in past yr
) I just haven't looked for these type auctions.
Some guidelines as to what horses would be allowed to be a part of the auctions could be a place to begin improving the sales prices. Presentation, current paperwork, vet certified foal statis, a vet on site if you wanted to hire them to check animals, limited numbers of stallions, foals, broodmares, etc., could be positive considerations. I like a "steal of a deal" as much as the next guy but, quality of bid is driven by quality of the bidders who are going to arrive only if the majority of animals are worth their time and effort on a consistant basis.
Not to say there aren't some fine ones sprinkled amount the less fine -- just that they will not bring full value to their seller without many things being considered.