Ohio Department of Agriculture — Auctioneer Program

About this board

Auctioneers handle other people’s money and property under time pressure, which is why Ohio requires licensure, bonding, and adherence to trust-accounting rules. Estate executors, farmers liquidating equipment, and municipalities selling surplus all rely on the license system for recourse if proceeds are mishandled.

The apprentice tier exists because auctioneering is a skill learned under supervision. An apprentice must operate under a licensed auctioneer — a detail worth checking when a young auctioneer is running your sale. Online-only auctions have complicated the landscape, but sales conducted by Ohio auctioneers of Ohio property remain squarely within the program.

ODA Auctioneer Program by the numbers

These figures are ours, not the board's — we computed them from the full State of Ohio licence file so you can see this board in context rather than one record at a time. Data as of September 2026.

Only 48.4% of the 3,912 licences this board has on record are currently active — the other 51.6% belong to people who retired, moved, changed careers, or simply let a credential lapse. That gap is the single best reason to verify a licence rather than assume a name in a database means somebody may practise today.

Most common licence types

When a licence from this board is not active, the most common reason recorded is lapsed (1,618 records), followed by upgraded (203). Our status dictionary explains what each label actually means.

0% of this board's licences carry a recorded board action (0 of 3,912), against about 1.6% across all Ohio professions. A board action covers everything from an administrative consent agreement to revocation, and it is cumulative over a licence's whole life — see how we measured that before reading much into it.

Computed by OhioLicenseCheck from the State of Ohio eLicense dataset (issued licences only; application records excluded). Refreshed daily.

Who verifies these licenses?

• •Estate executors and probate attorneys selecting an auctioneer
• •Farmers and businesses consigning equipment
• •Municipalities and school districts auctioning surplus property
• •Buyers confirming the legitimacy of a major sale

Verification tips

• Verify the auctioneer’s individual license and, for larger operations, the auction company license.
• Ask how proceeds are held — licensed auctioneers operate under trust-account rules.
• For online auctions of significant property, confirm who the licensed auctioneer of record is.

Renewals and expiration

Auctioneer licenses renew on regular cycles. Auction companies employing several licensees can track all of them together, and consignors can check status in seconds before signing a contract.

Frequently asked questions