by DONNA CURRIE
In 1970, James G. Murphy opened a little auction house in Washington state and “grew the company quite quickly through the late to mid-1980s,” according to Ray Gombiski, the company’s marketing director. James Murphy’s son, Tim, joined the business at about that time, and he is currently the company’s president.
That’s not the end of the family involvement. Tim’s sister, Julie, is chief financial officer and Tim’s son Colin has also joined the company and is now a vice president. Being related is not a guarantee of promotion, though. “Nothing comes easy,” Gombiski said. “When I started here, Colin was in the mud, setting up auctions with the rest of the crew.” Colin started at the bottom and he had to work his way up.
“We cut our teeth with small businesses and restaurants,” Gombiski said, but they have expanded over the years to include large businesses, banks, auto and truck fleets, government agencies and more.
The company has grown to include auction sites in Washington State, Oregon and Hawaii. They also conduct auctions all over the country at customer locations. The James G. Murphy Co. is one of the top 10 industrial auction houses in the country, and in 2001, James was inducted into the National Auctioneer’s Hall of Fame.
Gombiski actually became involved in the business because of an auction. He had been working for a boat dealership that had its assets seized during the economic downturn. Gombiski was contracted to liquidate those assets, and met the auction crew. “They liked me; they liked my personality,” he said, and he was offered a job. “They got me in an auction,” he joked.
The array of industries, individuals and items the company has auctioned is mind boggling, from meat packing plants to sawmills to trusts. Gombiski described it as “a pretty healthy mix.”
Every three years, the company handles an auction for the Department of Revenue where everything from collectible currency to artwork is auctioned off. A recent item sold at auction was a Picasso sketchbook.
The auction house had a little brush with fame when they conducted an auction following the bankruptcy of Michael Mastro, who was featured on the television show American Greed. At the time, that was the biggest bankruptcy case in the U.S. and the auction included everything from a chandelier that sold for over $40,000 to all of Mastro’s suits.
Gombiski said that the variety is what keeps him interested in the business. One day he might be operating a slide show at an industrial plant, and the next he might be advertising an auction that will take place in Hawaii.
Since they do so many specialized auctions, he needs to target customers in specific industries who will be most interested in the equipment, so he scours their own mailing lists, he buys relevant lists, and he pores over media to find buyers, so the sellers will get the most they can.
While he looks for buyers who will use the equipment, “we have scrappers at every auction,” who will take machinery and products that have no usable value. “The floor price is scrap value,” Gombiski said, and since there are no minimums and no reserve prices, 99.9 percent of everything is sold. “When we walk out, the building is going to be broom-swept and ready to rent.”
While the goal is to sell everything, Gombiski also enjoys going into plants and “understanding how they work.” When he sees a machine, he likes to understand how it functions, just because he’s curious. One day he might be examining a meat cutting machine and the next day it might be a CNC milling machine.
Since he started with the company, the biggest change Gombiski has seen is the way that the company has embraced digital technology. Years ago, an auction might have 300 pictures on the website, but now there would be 5,000 for a similar auction, giving the potential buyers a better look at the products. The company also has a good following on Facebook as well as eblast emails that tell buyers about new auctions, bringing in more people who are interested in buying.
About 2 1/2 years ago, the company started doing online only auctions for some of its clients, and now those are about 50 percent of the auction. Selling online benefits both the buyer and the seller, since a team doesn’t need to be at the auction site, and sellers don’t have to go to distant actions and wait for one item of interest to be sold.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the company’s dedication to the community. James Murphy was “a bit of a philanthropist,” and he was particularly invested in helping the homeless. The company still sponsors golf tournaments dedicated to that cause.
From its modest beginnings, the company has seen some impressive growth, but Gombiski didn’t want to speculate too much about the future. However, he was confident that, “Murphy isn’t going anywhere. The roadmap has been laid out.”
Published in the January 2019 Edition