I Love Consignment AuctionsWhen you want to recycle stuff in a hurry, consignment auctions can be the way to do it. Think of it like this: when you put an item up for sale in a store or other market, it could set there for days, weeks, months or even years. When you auction an item it will sell (or not sell) in one day. The percentages of items that do not sell are very low.
Auction or Consignment AuctionWhat is the difference between the two? 99.9% of all auctions are consignment auctions, as the auctioneer rarely owns the merchandise that he is selling; hence a “consignment“. The difference is how many different people are contributing merchandise to be auctioned. In an estate auction, all the consignments are usually from one estate or seller, likewise, in a living estate auction. Many different people and businesses contribute items in a consignment auction,Here is an actual ad for a consignment auction: “Contact Us TODAY to consign your Tractors, Vehicles, Trailers, Farm Equipment, Shop Tools, Yard & Garden Equipment, Boats & RV’s, Antiques, & Good Quality Household Items. Let us turn your unwanted items into CASH!” I know, it makes you want to clean out the garage, the barn, the attic, the basement and recycle all that unused stuff into cash.
Recycling at Consignment AuctionsThere are several big consignment auctions in our area, but there is one we like particularly well for selling. We take a trailer load of stuff (recyclables) that we do not want any more and drop it off on consignment.The day of the auction, we look around to find the items we might be interested in (reuse). Take a friend and your cell phone, cuz this baby is huge. I’m talking acres with five auction rings and it goes all day-- sometimes until dark. Anyways, drop off the stuff you don’t want, and go buy the stuff you do want. Make prior arrangements and you don’t even need to pay for your purchases, they will deduct them from your sales. This can be an easy way to trade the stuff you don’t need any more for the stuff you do want and come up with some cash in the process. This is my kind of recycling and as an added bonus, No packaging, no bags, no hard to recycle plastic over wraps.
Reasons Why I Like Consignment AuctionsMany different sellers. You just never know what you might come across to buy.Buyers know this, so you can sell virtually anything that is usable. Social Function. Ok, so it’s just a lot of fun, and you see pretty much everybody that’s anybody. :)
How to Sell at Consignment AuctionsIf you have never explored the auction route you will need to find out if there are any auction houses in your area. Talk to friends; check the classified section of the newspaper and the yellow pages of the phone book. There are also auction resources on-line such as The Auction Exchange and Collectors News that have regional listings.Once you have a list of auction houses, start checking them out. Nowadays most have on-line web pages that give directions and dates as well as the type of merchandise that they handle. Some will be happy to sell all your belongings and your real estate to boot. In our area, most of the auction houses that handle estate auctions also hold one or two consignment auctions a year. Call them to see when, where, and what they are accepting. Every auction house is different, but it is usually pretty straightforward. An auction employee checks in your merchandise and issues a lot number (not to be confused with a bidder number). You or the employee marks the items with the lot number and that is it until auction day. If you have an entire household of items to dispose of, you may want to consider an estate auction, or living estate auction. Commission RatesNot every auction house has the same rate schedule. Not every auction house has the same rates for different types of auctions. Check with several different auctions to get an idea of what the going rate is for your area. Here is a sample of commission rates from a local consignment auction in my area.$1.00.........................$1.00 $2.00 to $6.00................$2.00 $7.00 to $25.00.................30% $26.00 to $200.00...............20% $201.00 to $500.00..............15% $501.00 to $5,000.00.........…..10% $5001.00 & up....................5% Max Commission per Item....$1000.00 The column on the left is the per unit selling price and the column on the right is the commission charged. Obviously, they do not want items selling for $1.00 or even many items under $25.00. How do you know how much your stuff is apt to sell for? Well, auctions can be on the fickle side, so it can be hard to tell. Try to attend a few auctions--especially one that is run by the auctioneer that you plan to use. This should give you a good idea of selling prices. Always try to find an auction that is selling the types of merchandise that you want to sell. If you try selling designer baby clothing at a coin auction you are not going to realize the same selling price as if you sold your items at an auction of children’s items. Ok, so you would never be able to get baby clothes in a coin auction but you get the idea. Always try to match your stuff to the auction, or the auction to the stuff you have to sell. One quick thought on what to sell. Just because it is something that you are considering tossing does not mean that someone else cannot use it. We have friends that had defective vinyl siding on their house. They took off the old siding, and replaced it with new, in an insurance deal with the siding manufacturer. They took the old siding that most would just dispose of, and sold it at a local consignment auction. Someone else needed it for an out building, they got a great deal, the original owner made a couple of bucks and the siding isn’t in the landfill. In my book, this is a win win situation. Reduce, reuse, and recycle in its purest form. It is a beautiful thing. If you have many lower priced items, you can group them together in a cardboard box and sell it as one lot. This is known as a box lot. You can group like items together, or make up boxes of random stuff. If you have lots of one item, such as puzzles, I would put them all together rather than lots of boxes with one puzzle each. Some other ideas would be books, kitchen items, Tupperware, pots & pans, Christmas items, beach toys, blankets, old bottles, (you get the idea) the list is endless. I have seen box lots sell for several hundred dollars per box. I have seen box lots sell at $5.00 for 20 boxes or $.25 per box. If you want to try box lots use your imagination and sense of humor (if applicable).
Reserve Auctions vs. Absolute AuctionsDifferent auctions have different rules so check to see if it is a reserve price auction or absolute auction. In a reserve price auction, the seller sets a minimum price that they will accept for their item. If the high bid is less than the reserve price the item, remains unsold. In an absolute auction, or no reserve auction, the item sells to the highest bidder, even if that price is $1.00 or what ever the minimum opening bid is. Some auction houses have a $2.00 minimum, or $5.00 minimum so check first if this is a concern.Some auctions don’t have reserves but allow bid backs. In a bid, back the owner of the item is allowed to bid on his own item. If he is the winning bidder the item is unsold (seller takes it home) and pays a reduced commission. Personally, I don’t care for bid backs as either a buyer or seller, but such is life. Rules are usually printed on flyers and paper work associated with the consignment agreement. If unsure, the auction personnel should be willing to assist you in any questions prior to signing an agreement. Therefore, we have found an auction house, consigned our items and now it is auction day. Depending on the situation, you may be present, or you might not be. Since I love a good auction, I would never voluntarily miss one, so you know I will be there. If the auction is a large outside auction, you will probably want to watch your stuff or have someone watch it for you. We had someone let his or her children ruin a nice Jacuzzi tub that we did not watch closely enough. Anyways, if it is something that can be damaged, you should watch over it. If the auction is taking place inside a building, the auction personnel should be able to keep an eye on it for you. If in doubt, ask what they recommend. After the auction is over the staff tallies everything up, sends out a statement on what sold and for how much, and your check minus the commission. This varies from location but usually takes about 2-3 weeks to get a check.
Quick checklist for auctionsDo I want to get rid of the item in a hurry?Did I explore other avenues of disposing of the item and decided against them for whatever reason? Did I explore different auction venues to find the one that fits? Am I comfortable selling this item for what ever it brings? Or do I need a reserve price. Is this particular item selling? If not was it bad timing, (selling a Cadillac Escalade in an area of high gas prices and high unemployment). Remember it has to be good stuff (maybe not to you, but to someone), stuff you want rid of in a hurry and stuff that you just can’t justify taking the time to sell any other way (for what ever reason). If your recyclable meets these criteria than a consignment auction is an avenue that I would recommend trying.
Hey, I want to leave Consignment Auctions and go back to the Outlets Page
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