People often ask me the question, "What is an antique, and how do you tell?" Well, surprisingly, the answer is actually pretty obvious and simple - in fact, you'll be sorry that you didn't think of it yourself.
Here at last is the true definition of "Antique" - and you'll want to write this down for future reference.
An antique is anything that's been so utterly useless and unused for such a very long time that it's still in pretty decent shape!
Question answered!
Monday, February 10, 2014
Saturday, February 8, 2014
All That Glistens...
They say that gold is where you find it. If we take that literally, then we might listen to those crazy guys on TV who say they'll buy our 'old, broken gold' and believe that they're doing you a favour when they buy the brooch your Aunt Edna left you.
Truth is, they're dealers out to make a profit, and there's nothing wrong with that - just make sure that the price paid is fair for all. Before taking your gold in to any shop, take the time to know what you've got. Is it 10k, 14k, 18k or what. And how much does it weigh? Even a cheap kitchen scale will give you a good idea of gram weight.
Then, check the value by karat and weight with any of many sites on the internet that provide the daily gold prices. And ALWAYS get a second opinion.
Truth is, they're dealers out to make a profit, and there's nothing wrong with that - just make sure that the price paid is fair for all. Before taking your gold in to any shop, take the time to know what you've got. Is it 10k, 14k, 18k or what. And how much does it weigh? Even a cheap kitchen scale will give you a good idea of gram weight.
Then, check the value by karat and weight with any of many sites on the internet that provide the daily gold prices. And ALWAYS get a second opinion.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Buried Treasure
A major part of our job in liquidating estates is realizing the highest possible revenue for our client. Normally this focuses mainly on the selling of the contents of the home, but sometimes, just sometimes, it becomes more of a hunt for buried treasure.
Case in point was a sale we did for a client, in which there was literally a metric ton of old paperwork, enough to fill a dumpster!
As is our custom, we paged through every one of thousands of documents before sending them off to the shredder. We found many lost family photos, decades-old tax returns, and more. Most of what we found was garbage, until we struck gold for the family in the form of a group of MATURED SAVINGS BONDS worth hundreds! Imagine the smiles on our clients' faces when we presented them with our discovery!
And, to think, this was money that could have been lost FOREVER!
Case in point was a sale we did for a client, in which there was literally a metric ton of old paperwork, enough to fill a dumpster!
As is our custom, we paged through every one of thousands of documents before sending them off to the shredder. We found many lost family photos, decades-old tax returns, and more. Most of what we found was garbage, until we struck gold for the family in the form of a group of MATURED SAVINGS BONDS worth hundreds! Imagine the smiles on our clients' faces when we presented them with our discovery!
And, to think, this was money that could have been lost FOREVER!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Avoid The Do It Yourself Disaster
We at Timothy Loughmiller Estate Solutions pride ourselves on our ability to offer solutions to 99.9 percent of those who come to us. Sadly, however, there remains that .1 percent which is beyond anyone's ability to help.
A sad case in point is Brenda W. (not her real name) a hairdresser who had lost her mother and was faced with dealing with a heritage house full of antiques and collectibles. Brenda's difficulties were compounded because she lived in Las Vegas and had responsibilities there as well.
Brenda made the trip to Toronto to arrange for the liquidation of her mother's estate, and that's where the trouble began. Thinking she was doing the right thing by her mother, Brenda attempted to deal with the mountains of tasks by herself, but soon found herself overwhelmed and, several months later, was still in Toronto and no further along, becoming increasingly frustrated and angry.
By the time Brenda called us she had exhausted every other avenue open to her, and was desperate. To her credit she had attempted to sell the contents of the home herself, placing numerous ads online, but to no avail. Unfortunately, it would be these ads which would be her undoing.
Something that she and any non-professional liquidator would not know is that, because her address had been so heavily advertised for months, it would be next to impossible to get people to attend a sale now - the reason being is that the appearance is that either A, all the 'good' things are gone, or, B, that everything is WAY overpriced!
If you choose to sell your contents yourself, please avoid Brenda's fate by following this simple advice: set a timeline, establish reasonable prices, and be open to negotiation even if offers seem insulting. Most importantly, set a deadline and adhere to it.
Of course, just as a professional is crucial in selling your home and realizing the best possible price, the same applies to the sale of contents. But whichever path you chose, commit yourself to it and follow it to the end.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Don't Let This Happen to You
One of the first things prospective clients ask me is, "Do I really need to hire a professional to sell and clear the contents of a home?" I think there's no better answer to this question than the sad story related by Gina M. in the following letter written to me. Gina apparently spent thankless days, weeks, months and long hours decluttering a friend's home at her own expense, and now feels used and abused. Don't let the following happen to you.
|
Gina writes: I just spent 2 months, 7 days week, 10-14 hrs a day decluttering a friends
house to prepare for her homecoming from the hospital. I was the only person
doing this. I am still there every 2 days caring for her cat who I am trying to
adopt out. My friend came home for less than 6 hrs before I had to call an
ambulance for her to return to the hospital. Now, I have learned that she will
not be coming home at all but will be going to a nursing home since she is
afraid to live by herself. Her sister is the one who called me in a panic after
her 4th day in hospital (beginning of May) stating that 'they' would condemn her
sister's home and never let her return to it since it was such a mess...she was
a hoarder but not as bad as you see on tv. Her sis was preparing to leave on a 2
week holiday that she could not cancel without losing $7000 and expressed how
she wished she could do it herself (she was almost crying and desparate) Now I
am hearing that all my hard work was not pointless since now they can now sell
the house...it is in showcase condition. Do you agree that they should offer me
'something' when they sell the house? My friend gave me 'gas' money to cover gas
only driving 20 plus km every day to work at her house. Everyone (my family and
friends) feel that I have been 'used' to get the house ready for sale. I was
only expecting to neaten things up, vacuum, dust, wash floors a week before her
return f rom the hospital and got 'roped' into this due to a panic call from her
sister. Since my friend had a trach installed and can no longer talk, her sis
told me the place had to be practically 'sterile' or she wouldn't be allowed to
come home. I was shocked and in a panic, agreed to do everything I could
including contacting her other friends to go visit her at the hospital during
the sister's 2 wk absence. I ended up spending my whole summer cleaning her
house. Should I, or do I have the right to expect anything from the sale of her
house?
What would this have cost a professional to do? Now, her sister is
hinting that I should run a garage sale so the proceeds can go to my f riend's
church...I think I've done more than enough. When my daughter wanted to buy an
outdoor lounger from my friend's garage, she asked for $40 since she paid $79
and had never gotten the chance to use it yet!!!! Prior to that, she said she
'didn't care' about anything in the garage and that the church could
sell everything and keep the money. I will be delivering the money to her in
the hospital but am shocked she would even charge me! What was my time worth?
What would you have charged? It probably would take a week for your TEAM of
workers to do the same?????
She is considering using an estate seller to sell her house contents...what
percentage would you charge to do this? No antiques, just nice furniture. I've
already thrown mountains of garbage away!!! The house is neat and sparse and
ready for sale.
I only cleaned her house so she would be able to live independently with
paid care workers and not have to go into a nursing home. She is only 59. She
told me she wanted to come home but told her other friends she was too afraid to
live alone. I've known her for over 30 years but have only seen her about twice
a year prior to her health problems...breast cancer 10 yrs ago. I have never
met any of her current friends or family until I was cleaning her house. she
led me to believe her two older sisters just wanted to put her away in a nursing
home so they wouldn't have to deal with her.
I never expected payment...I just wanted to give her the opportunity to
come home and live whatever time she had left with as much dignity and freedom
as possible. I was texting with her almost daily giving her pep talks and trying
to keep her on a positive track addressing her fears and life changes etc. Now
I'm wondering if I was only used.I have become an emotional wreck and am looking
after an 81 yr mom, daughter and husband still recovering from major surgery and
is diagnosed with cancer himself.
|
Move to Folder
Move to Folder
More Actions
More Actions
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
The ballad of "Be Nice to Me or I'll Take Your Signs Down!"
You may have gotten the impression that everything is buddy-buddy-oaky-dokey-honky-dory between antiques pickers and sellers - the simple fact is, nothing could be further from the truth. There is a constant battle being waged underground, beneath all the smiles and hello's & thank-you's, and the following story serves to illustrate that point.
Many, if not most pickers who earn their living off garage and estate sales tend to resent the professionally organized sale, and, to a lesser or greater extent, those of us who organize them. And, for those who REALLY resent us, the ultimate weapon is the ability to knock down the street-level signage so important in directing the public to our sales. So lethal to our clients' revenue is this attack that some sale organizers actually chain their signs to posts, and in my case, my staff is instructed that, no matter how rude or intimidating a picker might be, they are always treated courteously, with a smile, and, when necessary (and most often when not) with apologies.
Nevertheless, you can NEVER please everyone, and that is where this story begins.
Once upon a time Timothy Loughmiller Estate Solutions was contracted to do a sale in a nice little semi-detached home. It was a nice clean home full of nice clean treasures, but also fitted with nice clean brand-new floors which my client didn't want damaged. So, for that sale, we asked that everyone remove their shoes (something I don't normally do) and advertised the request plainly.
Needless to say there was one or two grumbles, but everyone complied willingly, anxious to purchase the treasures within. I say everyone with the notable exception of one lone foul-mouthed picker, a man I'd never seen before, of whom it later became obvious that he could hold a mean grudge.
"Why the H--- do I need to take off my D--- shoes? he demanded as he blocked the door, raising the eyebrows of those trying to enter past his substantial girth. "Is this place so D--- special?"
I replied as calmly and plainly as I could (without any H's and D's) that it wasn't MY idea, adding that my client made the rules. That's when he became even more hostile after learning that the sale was professionally organized (my guess is that he then realized he was wasting his time, with no chance to get something for nothing). Anyway, after about 50 people squeezed past him, curteously depositing their shoes by the door, he relented, discarded his worn loafers, and entered.
I thought that was the end of it... how wrong I was THAT day.
The next thing I knew, he was shoving his way out the door, cursing my cashier, cursing the sale, cursing me, cursing whatever he might have deemed to have offended his dignity. I just looked at my cashier, who was standing there staring shell-shocked, shrugged, and guessed about what would happen next. I thought that I knew EXACTLY what was coming, but I couldn't have guessed as to the extent to which it would be escalated.
Retrieving MY shoes I located my car keys and took a little drive. Sure enough, I was in time to see him kick over one of my steel-framed signs. Stopping to pick it up and set it right, I followed his route and recovered five more signs from where they'd been kicked over, ripped down, or thrown into trash cans.
At that point I was beginning to get mad - but no real point to that, so I simply reset all the signs and returned to the sale.
A bit later on, looking out from the sale, I was shocked when I thought I saw his car drive by (perhaps on his way back from his anger management class). Repeating my drive of earlier that day, sure enough, he'd taken down more signs, some of which I could no longer find. Lucky for me I had spares, and was able to replace the missing signage.
Twice more this happened that day before he tired of the game, and twice more I reset the signs - extra work for me, but we depend heavily on our signage and I had no choice.
But, at the end of it all we had a great sale (despite the permanent loss of 10 signs), everyone else was nice, and I made new friends as I often do - of course, I tend to think they only like me for the stuff I sell them, but hey, that's okay, it's what I do.
As for Mr. Curse-a-lot, we haven't seen him since... but we're ready for him with courtesy, smiles and apologies (whether deserved or not, whether they help or not) and, oh, yes, with LOTS of extra signs!
Many, if not most pickers who earn their living off garage and estate sales tend to resent the professionally organized sale, and, to a lesser or greater extent, those of us who organize them. And, for those who REALLY resent us, the ultimate weapon is the ability to knock down the street-level signage so important in directing the public to our sales. So lethal to our clients' revenue is this attack that some sale organizers actually chain their signs to posts, and in my case, my staff is instructed that, no matter how rude or intimidating a picker might be, they are always treated courteously, with a smile, and, when necessary (and most often when not) with apologies.
Nevertheless, you can NEVER please everyone, and that is where this story begins.
Once upon a time Timothy Loughmiller Estate Solutions was contracted to do a sale in a nice little semi-detached home. It was a nice clean home full of nice clean treasures, but also fitted with nice clean brand-new floors which my client didn't want damaged. So, for that sale, we asked that everyone remove their shoes (something I don't normally do) and advertised the request plainly.
Needless to say there was one or two grumbles, but everyone complied willingly, anxious to purchase the treasures within. I say everyone with the notable exception of one lone foul-mouthed picker, a man I'd never seen before, of whom it later became obvious that he could hold a mean grudge.
"Why the H--- do I need to take off my D--- shoes? he demanded as he blocked the door, raising the eyebrows of those trying to enter past his substantial girth. "Is this place so D--- special?"
I replied as calmly and plainly as I could (without any H's and D's) that it wasn't MY idea, adding that my client made the rules. That's when he became even more hostile after learning that the sale was professionally organized (my guess is that he then realized he was wasting his time, with no chance to get something for nothing). Anyway, after about 50 people squeezed past him, curteously depositing their shoes by the door, he relented, discarded his worn loafers, and entered.
I thought that was the end of it... how wrong I was THAT day.
The next thing I knew, he was shoving his way out the door, cursing my cashier, cursing the sale, cursing me, cursing whatever he might have deemed to have offended his dignity. I just looked at my cashier, who was standing there staring shell-shocked, shrugged, and guessed about what would happen next. I thought that I knew EXACTLY what was coming, but I couldn't have guessed as to the extent to which it would be escalated.
Retrieving MY shoes I located my car keys and took a little drive. Sure enough, I was in time to see him kick over one of my steel-framed signs. Stopping to pick it up and set it right, I followed his route and recovered five more signs from where they'd been kicked over, ripped down, or thrown into trash cans.
At that point I was beginning to get mad - but no real point to that, so I simply reset all the signs and returned to the sale.
A bit later on, looking out from the sale, I was shocked when I thought I saw his car drive by (perhaps on his way back from his anger management class). Repeating my drive of earlier that day, sure enough, he'd taken down more signs, some of which I could no longer find. Lucky for me I had spares, and was able to replace the missing signage.
Twice more this happened that day before he tired of the game, and twice more I reset the signs - extra work for me, but we depend heavily on our signage and I had no choice.
But, at the end of it all we had a great sale (despite the permanent loss of 10 signs), everyone else was nice, and I made new friends as I often do - of course, I tend to think they only like me for the stuff I sell them, but hey, that's okay, it's what I do.
As for Mr. Curse-a-lot, we haven't seen him since... but we're ready for him with courtesy, smiles and apologies (whether deserved or not, whether they help or not) and, oh, yes, with LOTS of extra signs!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
The Fabulous G2
Last season Timothy Loughmiller Estate Solutions was contracted to host a sale in a nice little Oakville backsplit house. It was a nice sale with Mid Century furniture and accessories, and did very well. During my interview with the client, she informed me that her father's old broken stereo was in the basement, and that it didn't work well, and, that if it didn't sell, I could just place it at the curb. I examined the stereo, assured her I was certain I could sell it, and not to worry.
On the day of the sale people were lined up at the door to buy the stereo, one lady even flew in from Montreal and took a cab to the sale. The first person in line for the stereo bought the "old, broken stereo", sight unseen, later sending a friend to pick it up.
After the sale, when I told my client the stereo had sold, she was indeed surprised. But, when I told her how much I had gotten for her dad's "old, broken stereo" her face went pale and I thought she was going to faint. Little did she realize the gem she had in the basement, for, it was one of the famous Canadian-made Clairtone G2 stereos from the 1960's (endorsed at the time by none other than Old Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra himself), and worth thousands of dollars - and that's exactly what I sold it for, thousands of dollars.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)