Delivered

Simmons & Company Auctioneers: auction catalog app

A desktop app that reads the lot tag in every auction photo, renumbers the pictures and builds the catalog.

Status
Delivered

The business

Simmons & Company Auctioneers runs consignment auctions. Every item is photographed with its lot tag in the picture, and every photo has to carry the right lot number before the sale goes online.

The problem

  • Renaming thousands of auction photos to the right lot number was done by hand.
  • Two off-the-shelf tools they had tried for the job were dropped.
  • Hours for each person and each auction were kept in a notebook and a spreadsheet.
  • Consignor settlements took weeks to put together from the auction software's reports.

The standout feature

One folder in, every photo numbered

Point the app at the folder from photo day. It reads the lot tag in each picture, groups the photos by lot, picks the lead picture and writes renumbered copies. On the client's own 2,427 auction photos the app accepted zero wrong lot numbers.

What we built

  • Point it at a folder of photos. It reads the lot tag or sticker in each picture, even sideways or upside down, and writes renumbered copies. The originals are never touched.
  • It picks the lead picture for each lot by a small marker dot the photographer adds.
  • A Things to look at list puts the doubtful photos first, with checks for missing lot numbers and numbers out of order.
  • It turns photos upright and crops them to the item and its tag.
  • A catalog with AI-drafted lot descriptions, a searchable shelf of reference books and consignor import.
  • One press makes the export files for the online bidding sites and the catalog workbook.
  • A USB barcode scanner looks up a product code and fills in the lot title.
  • Time tracking by person, auction and task, expenses per auction, a pay page, files for the accountant and consignor settlements built from the auction software's price export.

How it works differently

BeforeNow
Renaming photos one by oneThe app reads each lot tag and renames the copies
Checking every photoOnly the doubtful ones, shown first
Hours in a notebookTime logged by person, auction and task
Settlements pieced together over weeksBuilt from the auction's price export

Build speed. A working draft and walkthrough were ready nine days after the contract was signed, and the finished app was delivered twenty days after signing.

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After we build it

Who fixes problems
We do. One year of bug fixes is standard in every contract. If something we built breaks, we fix it.
What you own
You own the code, the database and the accounts it runs on.
Your data
Your data moves with you. It sits in a database you own, so it is never locked inside our system or anyone else's.
Your team
Your team is trained on it. We walk your staff through the screens they will use.
If we disappear
You hold everything another developer needs to pick it up: the code, the database and the accounts.
Who you talk to
We are a US team based in Florida. The person who leads your build is the person you talk to.

Who builds it

  • A US team based in Florida.
  • The person who leads your build is the one you talk to, start to finish.
  • We copy what you like about your current software, fix what you don't, and you own the result.
See all our work

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