By GAYLE WEBER

gweber@dailynews.net

Jason and Brandon Pfeifer are just having fun.

Granted, they often put in 80-hour work weeks and sometimes get in over their heads, but their auctioneering business remains a hobby and something they can enjoy.

"Some people collect baseball cards," Brandon Pfeifer said. "We do auctions."

The brothers started Pfeifer Brothers Auction in January 2004 but kept their day jobs. Jason is an insurance agent in Russell, and Brandon is an electrician and farmer in Ellis.

The majority of the preparation for their auctions, whether it be household, farm equipment or otherwise, happens at night or on the weekends.

"You put in some long days because you go do the auction stuff after your day job," Brandon Pfeifer said. "On the bigger sales, you just take off and get things done."

It can take anywhere from three weeks to six months to get an auction ready. Much of that time depends on how many items will be sold and how much cleaning up and sorting there is to do.

When the Pfeifers first started out, they thought doing an auction every other month would be plenty. But that soon increased to one per month, and now they try to keep it to two per month.

"We thought our wives were going to shoot us when we did four (in) a month one time," Jason Pfeifer said with a laugh. "They told us, 'Never again.' "

That's probably because the Pfeifers' wives, along with much of the rest of the family, can be found helping out on sale day.

Jason's wife, Beth, serves as the clerk, and Brandon's wife, Chandra, serves as the cashier. The Pfeifers' dad, Eldon, and Russell Extension agent John Stannard help out during the week getting items ready, as well as on sale day.

That leaves the Pfeifers' mom, Charlotte, to babysit her grandchildren during the auction, although the youngest Pfeifers have been getting more interested in the business lately.

"Our kids love to go, love to help load stuff, move things around and hold stuff," Jason Pfeifer said. "We're training our successors, I guess."

The Pfeifers are self-taught auctioneers, learning their trade from a time when they were just old enough to load up their father or grandfather's pickup with items bought at an auction.

"We just learned from other auctioneers, books and tapes," Brandon Pfeifer said. "The big thing is listening to the public and doing what they want and taking advice."

Local antique dealers helped the brothers when they first got started, telling them what certain items should be bringing based on their age and condition. The brothers still try to attend other auctions to get a handle on how items are selling.

"Markets go up and down," Jason Pfeifer said. "It's just a matter of paying attention to what you're doing."

The Pfeifers have considered buying a building to turn into an auction house but have yet to make the commitment.

"It's a hobby for us yet," Brandon Pfeifer said. "We always say as long as the people there are having fun, we're having fun.

"That's what brings us back."