Online Auctions
add up to
Great Downsizing
– By Fiona Hill
Having helped close to 100 people through the downsizing
process, we have developed quite a foolproof system to help
our clients with the complexities of organizing, and what to
do with all their “stuff”.
Phase One
Our process starts with a scaled floor plan of the new home,
followed by some agonizing, head-scratching decision-making
time over which furniture to bring, and ending in the most
important list... what to take with you!
Phase Two
This phase usually consists of the family “cherry picking”:
Son #1 wants the desk from Dad’s office, Son #2 wants the
jigsaw, while Son #3 apparently doesn’t want the school
books you’ve been storing for 35 years. And nobody wants
the pinwheel crystal.
This brings us to Phase 3: The energy-sucking, brainnumbing, dust-raising part where somebody has to decide
what to do with all the other stuff. This can easily consist
of multiple phone calls to antique and consignment stores –
which all have varying systems and rates of return, and may
require you to arrange transportation of the items. Having
spent a ridiculous amount of time getting nowhere fast, the
decision may be to just donate the dang couch!
Not so fast, my friend! It turns out that everything you are
donating must be at the curb, at the front door or (at the very
least) at ground level. But the dang couch is in the basement
and the bedroom suite is upstairs…
Enter the garage sale! More hours are spent sorting, tagging,
dragging, setting up and praying for a fine day. At the end
of the (rainy) day, the remnants go back into the house and
the money in the kitty is barely worth the trouble.
Phase Three
Phase 3 can actually be painless! We have had excellent
results using dedicated online auctions to deal with everything
from fine furniture and antiques right down to the old rakes
in the garage. We have found them to be safe, efficient,
profitable and advantageous in some surprising ways.
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The process is simple:
• The contents you wish to sell are photographed and catalogued in your home by the auctioneers (usually in one
day) and listed on the auctioneer’s secure website (NOT
on public sites like Kijiji).
• Potential buyers bid online for the items that interest them,
having already registered their credit card information with
the auctioneer.
• Occasionally, a buyer will arrange to preview an item to
evaluate its condition. This is supervised by the auctioneer
so the buyer need not meet you.
• The auction runs for 5-7 days and pickup of purchased
items is scheduled for 2-3 days after the auction closes.
Pickup is supervised by the auction managers and takes
only 3-4 hours.
• You receive a cheque for your portion of the proceeds either the same day or within a few days, depending on the
auctioneer. Payout is usually 65-70% of the sale price.
How this system is both efficient
and profitable:
• After you determine what you don’t wish to sell, you do
not need to sort anything else
• Items don’t need to be neither packed nor transported
• You do not have to find and make arrangements with multiple people (consignment, antique, collectors, charities)
• You do not have to worry about listing items on unsafe
websites
• There is an minimum of “hassle” involved: One day to
catalogue, and one day for pickup (and you don’t even
need to be home)
• A higher return on your items (generally 65-70%) than
other options
• Many items you thought of donating or throwing away,
will sell through this process. Selling 100 small household
items at $10 each generates $1000. Then add in the profit
from larger items!
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