Community Highlights: Meet Austin Langdon of New Town Auctions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Austin Langdon.

Hi Austin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I have liked antiques my whole life. My dad worked for 7up for most of my life, and I started collecting soda bottles because of that. My parents would bring me to The Brass Armadillo antique mall, and we would hunt for soda bottles I didn’t have. My first job was at Brass Armadillo, and I learned more about antiques. A group of dealers took a 15-year-old under their wing and taught me a lot. I owe alot of my early knowledge growth to two people in particular, Richard & Mary Frost. They had been antique dealers since the 1970s, and we quickly bonded over our love for Chevrolet Corvettes, antiques & gas/oil collectibles. They became like grandparents to me because I spent 2-3 hours with them every other night when they came in to restock their booths.

I remember Mary saying she once saw me more than her grandkids. They will be lifelong friends of mine, and they continue to come by the auction house weekly, looking for more items for their antique booths. Once I left Brass Armadillo, I worked at a furniture store in Lees Summit. While working there, I moved to Pleasant Hill from Lees Summit and met my current partners, Alyn & Julie Brown. I would sell items at swap meets, and Alyn would be a frequent customer of mine, always buying oil cans from me. Once, he told me he had a store in Pleasant Hill, and I would shop there about once a week. We gradually became friends, and one day, we talked about auctions. And I said it had always been my dream to own an auction house. Over time, Alyn said he would be open to the idea of opening one with me, so we sat down one day and decided how to do it. We have been going strong for 1 1/2 years and have so much fun with it. Alyn is our auctioneer, and I am the lead ringman, with my dad being our other ringman.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a challenging road. Building a business from the ground up is much more challenging than imagined. This is my first time doing this, so I’m learning along the way. Initially, the struggle was finding enough consignments to have a weekly auction. For the first 3 months, Alyn supplied 1/4-1/2 of each auction item from his store inventory so we could have an auction that week. Our first auction was on March 12th, 2022. On June 19th, I fell through a barn floor 16 feet and shattered my pelvis and right elbow. That put me in the hospital for 2 months, and we were unable to have auctions. That hurt us as such a young business; we were able to resume having weekly auctions in October of 2022 and have been going strong ever since.

I appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about New Town Auctions?
We are a weekly auction house that specializes in selling antiques and collectibles. We are a great place to go if you are a collector, dealer, online reseller, or want weekly entertainment. We are different from other auction houses because we don’t just take any consignment. We only want to sell antiques and collectibles because that is what our buyers seek. I am most proud that we consistently bring quality antique items to auction every week. We are scheduling auctions for the beginning of next year because we have so many consignments. I recommend telling the readers they should check out one of our auctions! You never know what we will sell each week; we have sold some unique items in the past! Whether decorating your house or filling your antique booth, you will find something you can’t live without at one of our auctions.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
The best way to support us is to like and share our Facebook posts. Spreading the word about our auctions is the best way for more people to learn about the tremendous weekly items we sell. If you ever want to consign an item with us, call Austin at 816-896-0794.

Pricing:

• We don’t charge a buyers premium!
• Consignment Fee 30%

Contact Info:

• Website: newtownauctions.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newtownauctions
• Other: https://www.estatesales.net/companies/MO/Pleasant-Hill/64080/149132