auctioneering business<\/a>, which stretches hundreds of miles in every direction and has grown in scope during his lengthy career specializing in everything from cars and antiques to real estate and airport equipment.<\/p>\nHe\u2019s now responsible for auctioning thousands of items annually from Pittsburgh International Airport\u2019s lost and found.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s airport auction is set to open Tuesday, and customers browsing the online-only listings can bid on lots of jewelry, technology and suitcases until Sept. 8.<\/p>\n
The airport auction is just one piece of a career that has made Pyle as much a collector of relationships as he is of cars: He values the people he\u2019s met through his craft more than any material goods he acquires.<\/p>\n
And, at 64 years old, he still auctions in his signature cowboy hat and boots for the same reason he did as a kid: \u201cIt\u2019s just fun to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying I\u2019m beyond needing to be profitable, but it\u2019s more of a, \u2018What can I do for this customer?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Opening bids<\/p>\n
Pyle was born and raised in Mount Morris, a holler from the West Virginia border. He grew up in the fields beyond where his cars now sit, practicing his auctioneer\u2019s voice atop the family tractor as he mowed the grass.<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s father, Don, owned a used auto dealership in town and began the car collection they now share with a 1930 Ford Model A Roadster. He took Joe to a family friend\u2019s car auction when he was 10 years old, sparking his interest in the craft.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s selling these cars \u2014 bang, sold \u2014 and so when I come home, I said, \u2018That\u2019s what I want to do when I grow up. I want to be an auctioneer,\u2019\u201d Joe Pyle said.<\/p>\n
Back home, Don Pyle watched his son recreate the scene with Lincoln Logs and Matchbox cars. He resolved to cultivate his son\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tell when somebody\u2019s going to be something or not,\u201d Don Pyle, who is now 95, said.<\/p>\n
Don began taking time away from his business to crisscross the West Virginia back roads with Joe on the hunt for antiques to auction off, always filing away who owned what.<\/p>\n
He also bought Joe his first auctioneering cassette tapes, where he learned how to fire off numbers in rapid succession.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old guy told me the more you practice, the better auctioneer you\u2019ll be,\u201d Joe Pyle said.<\/p>\n
Practice soon turned into real-life results when another family friend, Clair Kearns, invited Joe to help him auction fencing and tools in Eighty-Four. That\u2019s where he made his first sale: A garden hoe, for $2.25.<\/p>\n
Pyle returned every week that summer, graduating to eggs, which Kearns had a massive surplus of. He taught his young understudy to give customers more eggs than they purchased to offload inventory.<\/p>\n
If someone already bought 10 dozen eggs, would they refuse 20 dozen for the same total price?<\/p>\n
\u201c(Clair) used to tell me, \u2018When you get on an auction block, you are in charge. You can\u2019t let the crowd control you. You control the crowd,\u201d Pyle said.<\/p>\n
Pyle bought his first car, a 1972 Chevy Malibu SS, for $1,400 when he was 14. He promptly auctioned it off for $2,100 \u2014 a \u201cwindfall\u201d profit of $600 for a teenager, after fees.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d been going to the flea market making 30, 40, 50 bucks on the weekend. Then all of a sudden, one shot, $600,\u201d he said, thumping his hand on a vintage ice cream parlor table in one of his sitting rooms.<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s next find was a Dodge Dart Swinger, on his way to building his very own business: Mountain State Auto Auction, which still operates to this day.<\/p>\n
Lots of lots<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s decades as an auctioneer have supplied him with a seemingly endless supply of anecdotes.<\/p>\n
He could talk about the time he wrangled 36 raccoons \u2014 one \u201cas big as a Collie dog\u201d \u2014 in a barn full of antique cars in New Castle, or the wealthy woman in Morgantown who was mortified that she had let a then-teenager oversee \u201ca heck of an estate sale,\u201d but still became a repeat customer.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also developed an uncanny ability to provide a price range for an item he lays his eyes on, borne from sheer market memorization.<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s contacts from his early years auctioneering gave him a running start, and he grew quickly as old-timers retired from the business and passed their networks to him. At his peak, he could work at least eight auctions per week, often running well into the night.<\/p>\n
His once-modest auto auction went through 14 renovations and now sells up to 42,000 cars per year, by his estimation. He operates more than a half-dozen satellite offices in West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania and Ohio.<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s individual auctions venture even further afield: as far north as Erie, as far east as Roanoke, Va., and as far west as Kentucky.<\/p>\n
Pyle has to stay light on his feet when it comes to appraisals, since antique values can shift with customers\u2019 tastes. Older generations placed more value on wooden furniture. For example, a bedroom set that may have sold for $10,000 earlier in Pyle\u2019s career might bring in $1,500 today, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople that are inheriting that stuff now don\u2019t get too excited about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sellers used to pay a commission, while buyers today pay the premiums instead, Pyle said. That\u2019s because overhead costs to run an auction have increased alongside more involved setups with video screens and required workers\u2019 compensation, he said.<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s real estate wing \u2014 established after the 2008 financial crisis \u2014 has grown from 15 to 20 auctions in a typical month to 36 in a single week in July. He sold a building last year for $4.9 million in the largest single-session transaction of his career.<\/p>\n
Many of Pyle\u2019s auctions are now online or hybrid, since fully in-person events take \u201can army\u201d of his employees to handle. His annual auction of Pittsburgh International Airport\u2019s lost and found could draw up to 1,500 people and last for 10 hours. It\u2019s now done online.<\/p>\n
While online auctions take longer since bidding isn\u2019t live, Pyle\u2019s employees have an opportunity to catalog and identify the airport\u2019s grab-bag of items, which could be hiding treasures like a 14-karat gold ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re the seller\u2019s agent, and so we\u2019re trying our best to net them the most we can net them,\u201d Pyle said.<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s brand has grown alongside his business. His calling-card cowboy hat features prominently in his logo and he dons it everywhere he goes, happy to be recognized at a restaurant or a West Virginia University football game.<\/p>\n
He even ventured into TV commercials beginning a decade ago \u2014 some of which he films at home, using his cars as an eye-catching backdrop.<\/p>\n
Auction school<\/p>\n
Pyle said he was a diligent student, graduating near the top of his class of 239 at Waynesburg Central High School. He always planned to go to college.<\/p>\n
But his father convinced him that continuing to build his auctioneering business would be a better investment, overcoming his skepticism that it would pay enough to support him full-time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s like, \u2018I promise you, you will have so much business, you cannot keep up with it,\u2019 \u201d Pyle said. \u201cThat was an inspirational, turning-point moment for me because all my buddies are going off to college \u2026 here I am, I\u2019m going to be out here digging in an attic of a barn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than continuing as a student, Pyle learned to enjoy teaching his craft to others. He has personally trained 49 businesspeople to swell the ranks of his company, including car dealers, real estate managers and 17 auctioneers.<\/p>\n
Pyle has had the most luck teaching recruits when they are young, just like he was when he started.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found out if we get them when they\u2019re in their teens, it\u2019s a lot easier to get them trained than it is when we get them when they\u2019re 30 or 40,\u201d Pyle said.<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s wife, Charlotte, and his sons, Andrew and Aaron, also became auctioneers through his encouragement. Andrew and Aaron, as third-generation car enthusiasts, now handle that part of the company.<\/p>\n
There are some Mondays when Pyle, his wife, and his sons are all working auction blocks simultaneously.<\/p>\n
Charlotte said \u201ccouldn\u2019t be prouder\u201d to have raised Andrew, 35, and Aaron, 39, as auctioneers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to work at it \u2014 the boys have it in their blood,\u201d she said. \u201cOver the years it\u2019s been a great family experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
As mesmerizing as an auctioneer\u2019s rhythmic chants can be, Pyle is much more interested in his trainees\u2019 relationship-building with bidders to keep them engaged.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not near as worried about how good you can count numbers as I am how connected you are to the customer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s pipeline of recruits has become self-sustaining after decades of developing his social network. He\u2019s noticed that he tends to find people of high character in groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you get one that\u2019s (of) excellent character, a good worker, business-minded, entrepreneur-minded, usually that\u2019s who they run around with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Garrett Wilkerson, 25, first connected with Pyle through a mutual friend while studying business at West Virginia University. Pyle asked him to manage a classic car auction in Pittsburgh, and he sold about $3 million worth of Corvettes that day.<\/p>\n
After seeing what was possible as an auctioneer, Wilkerson passed up his dreams of Wall Street to work for Pyle.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe\u2019s blessed me beyond belief,\u201d he said. \u201cI learned more from four months of riding around in the car with Joe than I did in four years of sitting in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pyle considers Wilkerson and the rest of his auctioneers his \u201cadopted boys.\u201d While Wilkerson\u2019s parents are in his life, Pyle said employees don\u2019t have present-day role models.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live in an unfathered nation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s scary, but it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pyle and his auctioneers convene in Charleston on Thursdays for \u201cBro Night,\u201d where they share dinner and talk about what they worked on during the week \u2014 or what unusual items they auctioned.<\/p>\n
Pyle rattled off a sample list, from Al Capone\u2019s poker table to a Mickey Mantle rookie card.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sold Marilyn Monroe\u2019s pelvis X-ray last year,\u201d Wilkerson offered.<\/p>\n
Pyle stuck a hand up to stop him from elaborating, a cheeky grin breaking out. \u201cPeople are going to think I\u2019m some kind of smut guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilkerson was hardly a social butterfly when he started. Now, he said, his family jokes that they can\u2019t go anywhere without running into someone he knows.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom my side, this isn\u2019t a job; this is a lifestyle,\u201d Wilkerson said. \u201cYou have to be fully committed to it, and it\u2019ll treat you right in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pyle\u2019s training has also paid practical dividends, since his understudies run most of his auctions now. But he still loves to get involved, whether he is providing input or working with a longtime bidder.<\/p>\n
He doubts he\u2019ll retire on his own accord.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always tell the boys: When it\u2019s time to put the gavel and microphone down \u2026 you tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe R. Pyle may cheerfully say he\u2019s never truly worked a day in his life. But the 92…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-270502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}