A Consignment Auction Makes Downsizing or Combining Households Fast and Easy

There is enough stress when big life decisions have to be made to let fear drive the outcome.

With the aging of the population, more and more adult children are in the situation where Mom or Dad are either downsizing into a smaller retirement home or are coming to live with one of the children. Or, there may be two well-established adults combining households. You know what that means, don’t you? There is lots of stuff and nowhere for it to go.

Some of the items are treasured family heirlooms or the things that joggle fond memories. For instance, when his parents were moving, my husband wanted (more than anything) the scratched and dented cracker tin that held millions of saltines over the years. It held no monetary value, but was a treasure trove of memories of his family together eating soup.

All those things aside, there are many items that are no longer needed or wanted. And when two households combine, there are duplicates of many, many items and pieces of furniture that just won’t fit into one house.

The first decision in any of these scenarios is to get rid of stuff. That’s easy, but then the question becomes, “How?” That is where fear can alter the outcome and be costly.

How to rid yourself of all the personal property that isn’t moving with your loved one

It can be overwhelming to see all the full closets, drawers, and cabinets, can’t it? There are basically three options:

• Option No. 1 is to give it away. You can box and bag it all up and deliver it to the local thrift store. You may get a tax deduction, but you will receive no monetary compensation for any of it. Some organizations will come and carry some things away, but you will probably have to deliver the majority of it.
• Option No. 2 is to sell each item individually. Sometimes it is important for the owner to make as much money as possible out of the sale of personal property. There are countless online listing sites. Some charge a fee for a listing. Others, like community garage sales do not. The thing about this is that you must create a listing for everything you want to sell, item by item. You will have to set a price and perhaps, deliver it, or at least make arrangements to meet in a pre-determined location. With the abuses of these sites and criminal activity on them, it can be dangerous, so be careful. While you will make some money, if you have a lot of stuff to dispose of, it could take a long time. Some things might never sell. If you are eliminating a household, you could be selling off stuff (you are storing) for a long, long while.
• Option No. 3 is to sell it all at a consignment auction. The beauty of an auction is that everything will be sold at one time. You receive monetary compensation rather than a possible tax deduction. Contact LAWSON & CO. to talk about what you have to sell and how best to sell it. Some items might be best sold in a themed auction and they will be able to help you identify those. Most auctions are sold absolute, which means it is sold no matter what. That means you don’t have to lug anything home.

Fear and the auction industry jargon

People sometimes fear selling on consignment at auction. We find that is because the potential sellers don’t understand some of the language of the LAWSON & CO. industry – and that’s auction speak!

Most people understand what an auction is, but many don’t understand what it means to sell on consignment at auction. So, they take a pass and really miss out.

When you have personal property to sell but it’s not enough to warrant something like an Estate Sale at the home of the estate owner, you can still sell at auction through consignment.

Consignment simply means that the owner and auctioneer work together to sell the personal property and then the selling price is split between the owner and the auction house.

This is generally how it works:

1. The owner presents the personal property and consults with the auction house about how best to sell.
2. The terms of the consignment are agreed upon and a contract completed. At LAWSON & CO. the terms are always clearly defined and set at the onset. There are no surprises.
3. The property is removed to the location of the sale.
4. A date for the auction is set.
5. The auction house promotes, markets, and advertises the auction and the items for sale. For a LAWSON & CO. personal property auction, this means taking photos of the items and including them in an online gallery.
6. The auction is held.
7. The auction proceeds are settled and the owner receives a check and accounting for items sold.

As you can see, it’s easy on the owner. After the items are moved to the auction location, the heavy lifting is done by the auction house. In other words, at LAWSON & CO., we take care of it all. The owner doesn’t have describe, photograph, market, or make deliveries of sold items. Because LAWSON & CO. has its own auction facility in Danville, Indiana and they are long established auctioneers, you know they will draw a crowd and the market will give you a fair price.

Consignment for auction is the way you can give yourself a break and that can be the best, most welcome feeling when you are feeling overwhelmed. You don’t have to be burdened with the never-ending task of selling everything item by item. Let LAWSON & CO. help you take care of it!