Auction house vs. garage sale

thesedays · #1 03/03/12, 02:41 PM

I will be moving later this month, and need to get rid of some stuff, mostly garden equipment that I won't need because I will be moving to an apartment. I'm thinking about having a garage sale, but it's still rather chilly around here, and am also thinking about contacting an auction house, something I've never done before.

What have those of you who have gone the auction route have to say about it?

rags57078 · #2 03/03/12, 03:00 PM

an auction house will get 20 to 30 % , try craigslist . if you was in my area I might buy it all

oregon woodsmok · #3 03/03/12, 03:07 PM

I suspect that auction house will only take better stuff. Most of the things offered at garage sales wouldn't interest them. They won't consign old jelly glasses at a nickel apiece and chipped plaster candle holders of kittens wearing house coats.

Gardening stuff in good condition, they might accept. But you should not have any problems with selling that.

The plus for the auction is that you don't have a bunch of people calling you or the occasional oddball coming to your house to check it out so they can rob you.

Joshie · #4 03/03/12, 03:12 PM

Do you have a local specialty newspaper? Could you put an ad on Craigslist? We have a small classifieds paper for sale at grocery stores and gas stations called the Tradin Post. I googled it and they have this paper in other areas. We found our place through Tradin post. Seems to me that a place like this would be the ideal way to sell your stuff. Auction houses can take commissions up to 40%.

Stephen in SOKY · #5 03/03/12, 04:31 PM

If you go the auction route, and there are many reasons to do so, I suggest you insist that all your items sell on the same night. Some auctions want to spread your things over several weeks. While I'm not sayng they hope you'll forget which has and hasn't sold, the opportunity is certainly there.

GammyAnnie · #6 03/03/12, 04:43 PM

Around here unless you have a whole house sale (ie. Grandma died and we need to get rid of everything) or farm buildings and machinery an auction house won't even talk to you!

Annie

willow_girl · #7 03/03/12, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GammyAnnie

Around here unless you have a whole house sale (ie. Grandma died and we need to get rid of everything) or farm buildings and machinery an auction house won't even talk to you!

Annie

This is to prevent people from selling the good stuff outright and consigning the junk to an auction.

alva · #8 03/03/12, 07:05 PM

I have done both
You will be lucky to sell half of your stuff at a yard sale
At auction everything sells Some stuff will bring more than you thought and some will bring less. You will have to pay a comission.
Over all I prefer an auction so all I will have to carry back into the house is a check

BarbadosSheep · #9 03/03/12, 07:36 PM

Before you decide to sell at an auction house, go watch one of their sales. We have one auction near us where you can bring whatever you want to consign. They have a lot of antiques, but Also a lot of modern stuff to. At that place, everything sells for a good price! But other auctions, stuff sells cheap. so go and see...make sure you pick a good one.

thesedays · #10 03/03/12, 09:49 PM

Thanks, everyone! I do have ads in the paper and Craigslist, and have sold a few items but as many of you almost certainly know, the majority of the callers turn out to be no-call no-shows.

Michael W. Smith · #11 03/03/12, 10:17 PM

I have experienced two different auctions. This wasn't an auction "house", just an auctioneer.

The first auction was my Grandmother's estate. Grandma had ended up in a nusring home, my Dad had bought the property, but all the stuff in the house had to go.

The auctioneer said he had a couple of ways of doing things - one was he got the sale ready - he and his people boxed stuff, or we could do it. We chose to do it ourselves.

The second part was for auction day. He could hire his helpers to help park cars and take the sold items to their rightful owners or we could do it. Again, we chose to do it ourselves - to keep as much money for Grandma.

The second auction was after my Dad died. We had a houseful of stuff, so again - we boxed everything and provided the help.

Now understand, the auctioneer is going to take at least a 15% commission. He is going to advertise in local papers, etc so you get charged for that. You can figure that's going to be at least $500.00 - possibly more. Toilets - do you want someone using the bathroom, or are you going to rent port a potties - if so, there is another cost.

Pros for having the auction - you sell EVERYTHING in one day. You usually give the people several days to get everything out, so you can figure everything will be gone. Your done, the auctioneer mails the check several weeks later after all of the checks he has received has cleared, and he takes out the costs of the auction plus his commission.

Cons for having the auction. The auctioneer is going to take AT LEAST 15%. So something sells for $100.00, and you get $85.00. Sometimes people dont' take everything. They only wanted one thing in a box, and they leave the rest. You will also have to clean up the trash left behind. You have no say on what something sells for. If you have an antique, and there is only one person interested in it - even if it's worth $300.00, it could sell for $5.00. That's not likely to happen, but it can. Also, as the auction winds down and if time is running out - they start selling box lots. This row of boxes - the highest bidder picks out his box. Anyone else can then pay that price for another box. Once everybody is done, it goes up for bid again. The first bid might have brought $10.00, the 2nd bid brings $8.00. They go through the process again. The 3rd bid brings in $3.00. After this, the whole row is sold for one priice. You might have 25 boxes left in that row, and towards the end of the day, someone will only give $1.00 for everything.

Usually people are looking for bargains at auctions.

As for the yard sale - you have to get everything ready, price it all, advertise it, run the register. Be prepared for people to "jew you down" on prices. You will still have things left over.

We are in another position now - for my in-laws estate. Right now the plan is to set a yard sale - and have it open every weekend through Spring and Summer. Then we plan on having an auctioneer come in - IF there is enough stuff left to bother with.

You could sell what you could and some auctioneers do have auctions at like the local fire company. The fire company makes out selling their food. And the auctioneer makes out because you have brought all the stuff in, and other families have as well. You then get rid of whatever is left after your sale.

Use Less · #12 03/04/12, 08:03 AM

Are there any year-round flea markets nearby where you can rent a space? That at least removes the worry of bad weather, too early in the year for yard sale to attract enough people, etc. Auction places want valuables. They will take "clutter" in order to have everything in a house, but the sale prices can be quite low, with stuff sold by random box lots. Do you itemize you taxes? Donating and taking a fair value can end up as useful as selling. People forget that taxes you don't owe are just as much real money as a little cash in hand. (I know I do.) Sue

thesedays · #13 03/05/12, 09:35 AM

There's a consignment store about 30 miles away that takes pretty much everything that's legal for them to resell, and I'm going to take my things there and see how much they can sell.

The store has been around for more than 20 years, so I would think they'd be quite reliable.

Bat Farm · #14 03/05/12, 08:28 PM

nevermind

foxtrapper · #15 03/06/12, 05:43 AM

Look closely at the commission fee, the auction fee (if such a thing is there), and disposal fees. These things are all frequently there to make sure the auction house makes money, not you.