Auctions satisfactory beers (5)
I believe the answer is:
sales
'auctions' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'satisfactory beers' is the wordplay.
'satisfactory' becomes 's' (abbreviation in education).
'beers' becomes 'ales' (I've seen this before).
's'+'ales'='SALES'
(Other definitions for sales that I've seen before include "commercial exchanges" , "Periods when shops sell goods at discounted prices, bargain times" , "Opportunities to sell" , "Business department - retail events" , "a feature of Boxing Day?" .)