You may be downsizing, liquidating an estate, clearing out “stuff” from over the years or even over generations—whatever your reason for getting rid of things, you have a lot of options available. 

Yard sales, estate sales (living and inheritances), online auctions, and live auctions are some of the most popular methods of turning accumulations into cash, but which will give you the biggest return? Which is most worth your valuable time that will yield the highest amount of cash?

We’ve all read the stories about people buying an important item—whether it’s artwork, jewelry, or highly collectible everyday items—online or at a yard sale for pennies, then turning them over at auction for thousands of dollars. An experienced auctioneer will help you avoid that misfortune!

Let’s look at just a few differences between selling through a live auction, a yard sale, and an online auction.

Live Auction. This is the easiest method for you as the seller, plus an experienced auctioneer can also put more money in your pocket. 

> An experienced, professional auctioneer has a following—customers are always watching for the auctioneer’s next auction and are ready to go with cash in hand.

> A good auctioneer knows how to advertise your auction—both in print and online—to make sure it reaches the widest audience, whether that’s a local, regional, national or even international scope. An auctioneer with experience knows if your items are worth more or are in higher demand in another region, so your auction may have both a live and online audience, as well as phone bidders.

> The auctioneer should have a good online presence—more people get their information online than from any other source, so your auctioneer should have a good website and an active social media presence.

> An experienced auctioneer has wide reach, via several different avenues: targeted print and online advertising, social media, email blasts, and mailed notifications.

> A knowledgeable auctioneer knows value when he sees it—what you think is junk may actually be worth quite a bit in the auction world. I can’t tell you how many people almost threw away hundreds or even thousands of dollars’ worth of goods because they didn’t know their items had value. Don’t throw cash in the trash!

> Your auctioneer does all the heavy lifting and organizing, you just sit back and let him and his team do all the work. A good auctioneer will organize your items and the overall auction so everything is more appealing to buyers and grouped to bring the most cash. 

>  A good auctioneer knows how to read his audience, get higher bids, and entertain them, all at the same time. 

Yard Sales and Online Auctions. 

• You need to advertise. Do you know where your items are most wanted by buyers? If you advertise online, do you know the best keywords to draw the most attention from interested buyers?
• Do you know the real value of your items? Without a good amount of experience, chances are you’ll underprice or throw out some valuable pieces. Or you may just represent them incorrectly or insufficiently, and you’ll get only a fraction of the amount they could bring at auction.
• Do you have the time and energy to invest in preparing and organizing your items?It takes time and work—and sometimes heavy lifting—to set up your items in a way that attracts the most attention and shows off their value. 
• Buyers at yard sales nickel-and-dime sellers, whereas bidders at auction raise the selling price with every bid.
• Online selling is extremely time consuming—you need to take good, clear pictures of each item, your items should be clean, and you need to write up a description that highlights the important points, explains any flaws, and is factually correct. If your item sells, you need to carefully pack and ship the piece.

These are just some of the considerations you should take into account before you decide which method of liquidation is best for you. If you’d like more information about the auction process or would like me to personally come out and assess the contents of your attic, basement, garage, storage unit, home, farm, or business, give me a call and we can set up an appointment.