Auction vs. Selling - Suggestions Needed

RubyRed · #1 12/16/13, 03:58 PM

I was hired by a "prepper" minded person to sell his items. We have until April 1st, to get everything of value and worth out before the bulldozers move in. He has years of stuff he has bought through auctions, private listings, etc. One of the reasons we get along so well, is because we both understand the terminology of scraping, re-purposing, even some sort of hoarding. This place for some people, (me) is like being a kid in a candy store, this stuff is NOT junk.

We are discussing different ways of getting these things gone. Given the weather, and quite a few things are outside and frozen to the ground, I think having an auction maybe around the first of March would make more sense. Then what doesn't get sold, we scrap it, give it away.

I have started to take pictures of the bigger things, like a camper, a metal enclosed older concession stand, two types of construction trailers, stainless steel appliances galore, boats, canoes, cabinets, custom tools, machinery, the list goes on...EVERYTHING is going to be gutted. He has three housing units on the property, plus five sheds.

What other ideas and experience do you folks have with something like this? I am building a website to showcase the items and hopefully make them more organized for the viewer.

I will be meeting with him again in the next few days to go over our game plan.

mmoetc · #2 12/16/13, 04:31 PM

You say you were hired by this person. Not to get too personal but are you being paid a lump sum or will you get a percentage of the final proceeds? If it is lump sum, set amount, will you be responsible for the auction fees? What do you want to get out of this? Are you helping a friend maximize his profits or are you trying to maximize yours. How much time and effort are you able and willing to put into this project? Do you have a written agreement spelling out fiscal matters and expectations? I would get one. No matter the answers to any of this I would contact a couple of reputable auctioneers, preferably one's that have some internet presence as you want the widest customer base possible, and have them give you estimates on worth and what they will do for their money.

RubyRed · #3 12/16/13, 04:40 PM

Those are great questions, thank you mmoetc! I knew I would get some help with brainstorming here!

I will be paid hourly at an agreed amount when we begin to work getting ready for the physical auction its self. He is responsible for the auctioneer and the fees. I basically am working as a consultant, sales and marketing and physical labor.

Anything I sell privately I get a percentage of the selling price. Personally, I would rather sell quickly and give the buyer a better deal so my time isn't absorbed by research. Time is of the essence right now. He and I make some money and the buyer gets a good deal. He needs this stuff gone ASAP.

mmoetc · #4 12/16/13, 04:55 PM

I'm still a bit confused about your role. Most of what you are aiming to do are a part of the auctioneer's services. The auction company will also likely object to you selling off the good stuff and leaving the leftovers for them.

RubyRed · #5 12/16/13, 05:08 PM

Basically, the auction is going to be the last resort. If he hired one, we would leave certain items untouched. Like the machinery and the tools. I do not have much experience with auctions. If advertisement is done right, we can have a huge garage sale on the premises, a few weekends in March.

That's what we are trying to decide, what would be more advantageous for both of us. I have some people local that want to buy some things right now, like the stainless steel appliances.

Edited to add - He would rather see me make money and the buyer get good deals, vs the auctioneer get the chunk sum. It's no different then selling your house on your own than to have a large sum of proceeds go to a real state agent. Keep in mind, he is a prepper and he has that in the front of his mind. Or am I missing something?

DAVID In Wisconsin · #6 12/16/13, 07:08 PM

We had a very successful auction about 6 years ago at our business. Best thing we ever did. People paid us great prices and. They hauled everything away. It was fast and easy. Our auctioneer did everything. We never lifted a finger. Our auctioneer suggested we not try to sell things before because normally the things we'd sell are the big most wanted items that bring buyers to an auction in the first place. Even after the auctioneers fees we came away with top dollar on most things. Good luck!

travisn · #7 12/16/13, 07:12 PM

craigslist?

Molly Mckee · #8 12/16/13, 07:28 PM

A garage sale in a place like you are describing would be a nightmare. I have helped with large charity sales and without lots and lots of help shoplifters abound. people will argue the prices, instead of bidding them up as in an auction. A large auction or several auctions if the amount of stuff is overwhelming, will probably net you much more money. A good, qualified auctioneer can bring up the prices and get people buying.

plowjockey · #9 12/16/13, 07:56 PM

Auctions - lots of people with money - all at once, competing with each other, everything sells and is over in a few hours.

Every other method of selling - none of the above.

Sometimes auctioneer commissions are money well spent, when you make a lot more than selling individually.

Raymond James · #10 12/16/13, 08:05 PM

I would go with big auction company that advertises widely. Then send out info to surplus stores, prepper groups that you are having the auction. Plan it on a weekend in March.

Allen W · #11 12/16/13, 08:29 PM

You can have too much junk on an auction and loose your crowd. Be honest about what is there and what real value it has. Sort the best out for auction, craigslist or local advertising for some of the "some body might want this" and scrap the rest.

Wanda · #12 12/16/13, 08:45 PM

Allen W is on point about the type of items offered at auction. You have to have 2 bidders for an item to bring much. If you sell the better stuff that would draw a crowd before the sale you are doomed. Call the local auctioneer and show him what you have and he will tell you real quick if it is worth having a sale. If you have a deadline to be done do not wait to long because it will take a lot longer than you think. I have been thru this twice in the last ten years and it can be a lot of work .

simi-steading · #13 12/16/13, 08:57 PM

My wife and I do a lot of buying and selling, both locally and through the web, so we've learned a lot...

First is, it's a LOT harder to sell stuff than it is to buy it...

Second, building your own site and selling it there is very time consuming.. both to build the site, and to get enough traffic to make it worth the while.. It' takes a LONG time to get word out about it, and get enough traffic through it to start getting any sales.. You are much better off to invest the time in a well traveled site.. Such as Craigslist, Ebay, Etsy, Amazon, Bonanza and such.

No matter how well traveled your site is and how many replies you get, flaky people are a real pain and take up a lot of your time. If you are selling somewhere like Craigslist, you'll deal with 4 flakes to get one decent sale is about what we've come to realize.

If you are selling large items through the web, you need to be real sure you have a trustable shipper, and make sure up front you have your shipping costs correct. You can lose a lot of money real fast over a large item if the shipper gets there and it's not what they thought you had... Additional costs can be tacked on for what you didn't describe correctly.

As pointed out, if you sell off all the good stuff first, then the auction company won't want to deal with you. They are there to make money. Not sell junk. If you have a lot of good stuff to draw the crowd, then they will sell the junk along with it, but if you don't have anything to draw the crowd, you're not going to get a auction company interested, but if you do, you're not going to have much of a crowd..

You might consider a tag sale.. or tagged estate sale. It take a LOT to get organized and tag everything, but a well advertised sale will do better than an auction. At an auction, you don't know what you'll get. You may have a lotof people bidding low.. but at a tag sale, you can name your price... then as the days progress, lower the prices 10%, 25%, 50%.. etc.. eventually if it's item worth anything, it will sell, and usually for more than you might get at an auction.

If you have a way to move a lot of items, well established flea markets you can do real well. We do a local one around here every now and then, and do quite well. I've turned a few collector friends on to it, and they do well too..

I think you may have bitten off a lot more than you think judging by your questions.. One other option is, make a dollar offer for everything and buy it all out for yourself, and sell as you can. I don' think you understand with how much it sounds like you have to move, how much work it's really going to be..

To me, an auction is a last ditch effort to get things moved.. You usually don't get near the money for the items as a whole as you could if you took the time to market and sell at the best possible prices.

rags57078 · #14 12/16/13, 09:12 PM

where is these items at ? please pm me the site link when ready

Wanda · #15 12/16/13, 09:13 PM

The big problem that you can not control is weather. You have the 3 worst weather months to get it all done. In my part of the Midwest you could lose half that time to weather. If you have to pick a day for outside sale or tag events its a roll of the dice.

haypoint · #16 12/17/13, 08:09 AM

1800lastbid.com
If you have an auction, everything gets sold. If you sell what you can, now , there won;t be enough good stuff to attract a lot of people for an auction. If you can get 20 people to show up to buy a table saw, one might be willing to buy those old snow tires, while he waits.
A lot of farm land and homes are being sold at auction for big money. Look through the past sales from that web site listed above. Good stuff sells good, junk goes cheap.

Allen W · #17 12/17/13, 09:32 AM

My wife puts together auctions for a local auctioneer, boxes, loads trailers, etc, and I've done a farm auction or two.. Your behind already and don't know it. Three housing units, and five sheds, how big are these? It can take a day or two to clean out a large garage or work shop and box the smaller items depending on how packed it is.

RubyRed · #18 12/17/13, 09:25 PM

Thank you everyone for your input! This gives me a lot of food for thought....

Harry Chickpea · #19 12/17/13, 09:43 PM

If push came to shove, I could probably make a bit of copper piping out of sheet copper. What does that have to do with anything? You are trying to do the same thing a GOOD auctioneer does and has spent years doing and perfecting. Start cherry picking and your friend will end up losing. If you want to help, help with the smalls.