Bill Bunch, of William H. Bunch Auction and Appraisals, is proof that if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.
After 40 years in the auction business, Bunch said he couldn’t be having a better time.
“I’ll have as much fun [at our next auction] as I had 40 years ago. I hope I keep doing what I do because I love coming to work. It’s not coming to work. For me, it’s coming to play. It’s not a business, it’s a lifestyle,” he said while celebrating his 40th anniversary.
Bunch began his career in March 1974 when he and two friends went to auctioneering school in Mason City, Iowa. The class was 10 days of intensive training, he said in a 2002 interview.
His first auction was April 13 of ’74. Bunch still has a copy of the ad for that first sale, a two-column by 4-inch ad that ran in the Cecil Whig. The ad listed only 30 items.
Bunch remembers times in the early days when there were more people working for him than there were people buying items.
“That’s a scary situation,” he said, “but you weather it, you tough it out and enjoy the ride.”
He spent years working out of West Chester and more than another decade holding auctions at the Concordville Inn. In May 2002 he moved into his permanent location along Route 202 at Hillman Drive in Chadds Ford Township.
The site was once the home of the Lancaster Truck Body Co. And while Bunch’s first auction only had 30 items, his space today accommodates much more. He has more than 15,000 square feet with a main showroom of 5,400 square feet.
Over the years, Bunch acknowledged seeing good times as well as the bad.
“We’ve had some low points,” Bunch said chuckling, “but one of the most exciting moments was in 2000 at the Concordville Inn when we sold a painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner for $560,000…We continue to hold the record for his works at auction, not beaten by anybody, Sotheby’s, Christy’s whoever. We hold the record and I’m very proud of that.”
He added that there was a second high point, that of opening in Chadds Ford in 2002.
“This was really a demarcation between an auctioneer who operated out of leased and temporarily rented space, such as the Concordville Inn. As great a venue as that was, and we had many great auctions there, to have our own location with our own branding in a great town like Chadds Ford Township has been a real blessing and a real plus.”
On the downside, was the recession of 2008. He said that resulted in sales prices reverting to those of the 1970s.
“There were a couple of scary years in there. I came out of the ‘90s, which were the boom decade in so many ways in our economy and society, and opened in the teeth of a recession. But, I will say the market is showing signs of revival today.”
As for the next 40 years, Bunch just wants to keep on coming to play.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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