What services do you offer?
We are primarily an auction company. We specialize in estate (living or deceased) liquidations. We also accept consignment items, space and time permitting.
Our services can be as simple as auctioning items brought to us ready for sale to our customers. More often though, we find ourselves cleaning, researching, and making minor repairs to items we are preparing for sale.
We offer pick up (additional time, therefore higher rate) when necessary, and if a customer desires, will pretty much do an entire house clean out. This means we will go through the home, barn, etc. and take most anything of value right down to the cleaning supplies under the sink and bring them to auction. When we finish, all our clients will have left to do is haul of the unwanted items to donate or trash and do the final cleaning. We do not do deep cleaning but certainly relieve our clients from that overwhelming feeling of "what am I going to do with all of this stuff?" Every client we have done a clean out for has been extremely satisfied and expressed their gratitude for taking a burden off of the mind.
In addition to the above, we are also available for onsite estate sales, business liquidations, storage unit auctions and more.
What kind of stuff do you sell?
We sell all kind of items including antiques, furniture, household items, collectibles, tools, coins, lawn and garden equipment, local interest historical pieces, advertising and much more.
Large items include automobiles, boats, trailers, farm equipment, etc.
We avoid items normally found at yard sales: Clothes (some exceptions), upholstered furniture, particle board furniture, etc. It never hurts to ask about your particular items.
What do you charge to sell?
This is also a very common yet difficult question to answer. Basically we work on commission, and the price we charge is directly related to the time and energy we devote in order to bring your items to auction and ensure that they bring top prices. Factors we consider are quality of items, cleanliness (how much of our time do we have to devote to cleaning and making it presentable), condition, sell-ability, are you delivering or do we have to pick up, and amount of time we have to spend packing for safe delivery. Every situation is different.
One other thing which warrants mention here is comparing rates charged by different auctioneers. For example: Auctioneer A charges 20% to sell a vintage Tiger Oak Bedroom Suite but does nothing except put it on the block, resulting in a selling price of $400 with a net to you of $320 after commission. Auctioneer B charges you 30% but spends considerable time cleaning and maybe even making minor repairs. This auctioneer researches historical facts about the suite, creating interest beyond the obvious intrinsic values while also spending time and money obtaining nice pictures and advertising. All of this brings a larger crowd and more excited buyers, bringing $600 with a net of $400 to you after commission.
We generally will not quote a price until we have seen what is involved in your particular situation. This is in your best interest as well as ours.