We have sold on Superior for the last 12 or 15 years.
A lot depends on the rep, but if you sit and watch the sale, you get the impression that:
1. weight and sex are paramont with little steers getting the best and big heifers the least - not a suprise. A lot of the sellers understate their weights assuming the slide won't penalize them as much as they gain in a higher price. (We show last year's shipping weights on our listing.)
2. There doesn't seem to be much attention to whether a calf is implanted or not.
3. angus and red angus usually sell well.
4. geography is important with remote locations being docked for transportation costs - and why not?
5. really well managed/closed herds don't usually get the premium they are expecting.
6. a good representative is absolutely key
7. buyers who get good cattle will come back the next year.
8 don't give a 2% shrink and the buyers will take 2% off their bids
9 Superior doesn't always do a good job of film editing. Our rep takes about 10-12 minuites of film which is edited down to about one minute. They don't always take the best one minute. We had one charlais calf in a herd of 750 and guess who is on the film - and it isn't even included in the sale.
10 VAC 34 immunizations are about the minumum. Many buyers won't bid on calves that don't have their shots.
All in all, it saves a lot of money for the seller. The last year we sold at the local auction, we took a 4.5% shrink on a 80 mile trip
Watching the sale progress through the day you can see times where a bidder or two will drop out for lunch or whatever and the price drops a few cents. Even seen a nickle within an hour.