Category Archives: Auction

Storage Unit Filled Estate Sale Or Auction
Storage unit filled, estate sale or auction. Questions to be answered.
EstateSalesNews.com has received many calls and emails from prospective sellers concerning the liquidation of personal property they have stored in storage units.
Sellers want to know what venue to use.
First question is how much is stored? What is stored? Have they asked the storage unit company if they could sell from the unit?
Many estate sale companies will not sell from a storage unit. The estate sale company has to look at what is going to be for sale, how can they display, will the storage company allow it and is it financially equitable for them?
Simply unpacking boxes to examine what is in the storage unit(s) can present a challenge.
Many estate sale companies are not set up to remove property from a storage facility to another location. On site estate sales are easier to look at and stage. They usually provide space for parking and traffic.
There are some estate sale companies that will provide the service, but usually at a much higher commission because of the work and restrictions involved. Some liquidators may offer to sell via online auction. Other estate sale companies offer both on site estate sales and auctions.
Auction companies may choose to pick up the contents of a storage unit and move it to a facility to be included with other partial contents in an auction.
If you are moving, downsizing or liquidating a loved one’s stored belongings, all of the above needs to be considered and investigated to determine what liquidation process will work best for you and if anyone in your area can assist.
Do not hesitate to consult with your local estate sale companies. If they cannot assist you, they may provide leads as to who can.
Knowing your local estate sale companies can provide you with knowledge to make wise, informed decisions.

Estate Sales, Online Auctions, Auctions, What Works For You!
Estate sales, online auctions and auctions are now in the national spotlight in print and on the internet.
Liquidations have become big business and which way you choose to sell your contents is now presenting sellers with decisions as to what will best work for their needs.
Many sellers with entire house contents choose an estate sale. The contents to be sold remain on site, with sorting, staging, pricing and selling all done within the home. Items have specific prices at the start of the sale and you have the ability to personally examine the items. The dates of the estate sale are fixed and hours set. Estate Sale companies advertise the estate sales with photos and the description on national estate sale advertising websites. The sale takes place within a two to four day time frame. It is usually impossible to live in the property once the set-up of the estate sale has started. As sales are made the articles are removed from the home. At the conclusion of the sale the commission or fee charged by the estate sale company will be deducted from the gross proceeds and you will receive the net amount from the sales within one to two weeks usually. Each estate sale company has their own payout time frame.
An online auction is conducted via the internet. They don’t usually contain the entire contents of a home. Most online auctions are suited for a limited number of items. They are removed from the property, photographed, posted online and the auction is run for a specific number of days. A decision is made by the seller and the company conducting the auction if any items will have a reserve (a minimum sale price) before the item is put up for sale on the internet. Most companies will charge a commission on the gross sales and pay you the net proceeds when all the contents have either sold or at a specified time (weekly, monthly, etc). They may also charge the buyer a commission or buyers premium. An online auction provides an internet audience and the major estate sale listing websites provide for online auction advertising for the items to be sold. The one major difference from an estate sale is you cannot handle the item. You see photographs and descriptions only.
Estate Sales And Auctions – Editorial By EstateSalesNews.com
Today with the internet connecting the world there are several ways to liquidate personal contents. There are of course estate sales, online auctions, and onsite auctions to name a few.
Here at EstateSalesNews.com we discuss the liquidation process by estate sales, but recognizing that in many instances an auction (either online or onsite) may be a better choice for some estates or some particular items. Whether it is an estate sale or auction each provides a needed service for a family, person, attorney, etc.
What we do not support is the inappropriate discussion by either auctioneers or estate sale companies that argue that only their way is correct in a public forum such as this on WorthPoint. A private opinion should be kept that way.
For an article on WorthPoint, written by a licensed Virginia Auctioneer, Wayne Jordan, called a Worthologist and writer for WorthPoint and blogger for Antique Trader Magazine, he wrote an article about the need for regulations for estate sales as the industry grows and he included information from EstateSalesNews.com along with link to our website. Estate Sales News has not written anything about the need for regulations and he took copyrighted material without permission and used it out of context.
This is unacceptable and we have contacted WorthPoint and await an answer and apology in writing from them and Mr. Jordan for copyright infringement. All the information we have presented here in this article is available to the public without requiring permission.
Virginia is one of the states that does regulate auctioneers by the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR).
However, there are many states that have no regulation in place for auctioneers or auctions. Click here to see a list of states and whether they do or do not regulate auctioneers.
We suggest he writes about the continuing need for auction regulations in states that don’t have any if he feels so strongly. An area he is very familiar with, instead of an area that he is unfamiliar with since we cannot find where he has ever conducted an estate sale, although Mr. Jordan’s bio on WorthPoint includes him being a Certified Personal Property Appraiser and Accredited Business Broker along with Accredited Auctioneer of Real Estate, Certified Estate Specialist, Certified Auction Specialist, Residential Real Estate and Accredited Business Broker. He obtained his auction credentials from the Mendenhall School of Auctioneering. According to his LinkedIn bio prior to receiving his auction license in 2006 he was involved in a music company, a claims service, and antiques. He has also authored several books ranging in topics from antique malls to real estate.
Mr. Jordan currently serves on the Virginia Auctioneer Board and the Cemetery Board. His auction license has reciprocity in several states including Florida, where your editor had her auctioneers license. I do not have it now.
Mr. Jordans’ article was derogatory about the estate sale industry. It was also disparaging about companies that provide education to estate liquidators because they are not accredited. Not an question for you Mr. Jordan to consider when so many auctions go unregulated without auction education in so many states.
To write a shock and awe piece about another industry is not in the best interest of any liquidation service or professional.
There are many estate sale companies that use online auctions in addition to estate sales to accomplish their goals and in September of 2014 we covered an estate sale company and an auction company working side by side to sell off the contents of an estate in Michigan.
Mr. Jordan you are not serving the auction industry well by your rhetoric about another industry. We are professionals and as such we need to respect one another and our chosen professions. We can agree to disagree, but not in the manner you chose. We also remind you about copyright laws. You may not use any part of EstateSalesNews.com in any future article.
Carol Madden, Editor, EstateSalesNews.com
Spring Time Is Only Weeks Away – Estate Sale, Moving Sale, Consignment or Auction
Now that Ground Hog Day is past spring is approaching and with it come decisions about moving, downsizing, relocating, or just a clean out.
For those in our audience that are doing more than just a clean out it is time now to start deciding what you want to keep and what you don’t. Then comes the big decision, how to eliminate all the unwanted or unnecessary items.
Now is the time to start looking for estate sale companies if you have more to eliminate than keep. You might even consider finding an estate sale company that would conduct what they call a partial sale, where it is limited to just a few rooms. Not all estate sale companies perform this particular liquidation, but it is wise to ask.
Start asking your friends, relatives, Realtor or attorney if they can recommend an estate sale company. Also start looking at estate sale listing websites like EstateSales.Net, EstateSales.org and Estatesale.com to see who is working in your area. There are other listing sites as well to check out.
When speaking with liquidators ask them if you don’t have enough for a sale if they would consider buying out what you have, take on consignment or recommend a local auctioneer that may do consignment auctions for small lots.
You may also want to inquire with an estate sale company if they assist in a clean out. Many now perform this function for a fee as well. The estate liquidation business has many facets today.
With the last 6 or so weeks of winter left (hopefully less) now is the perfect time if you are going to relocate to get the chore of sorting through and making your key decisions, but remember – if you have a lot “don’t throw anything out” until you have interviewed some estate sale companies. You may be giving away money unknowingly.