Every unwanted item, inside & outside the home, is sorted and separated in to the following priorities – sell, donate, recycle, shred, hazardous and dispose.
Auction houses are the most efficient & transparent way to sell the contents of a home.
These are registered businesses where all sorts of items can end up being sold. The items are consigned which means they are given a detailed description and photographed for the website and placed on the warehouse floor so people can inspect in person or online.
In the lead up to and then on auction day, multiple and increasing bids are received until finally, the highest bidder wins the item.
Auction houses are our preferred way to sell items because:
- they accept just about anything and there are no issues with the volume being accepted,
- they have the expertise to know an item’s provenance, value, history and demand,
- hundreds of people along with collectors, re-sellers and enthusiasts become aware an item is for sale thus pushing up the price,
- the market determines what the item is worth, not a family member, Clear Space or even the auction house. What it sells for is what it is worth – but the auction house knows what value at items should get and will pass it in if that level isn’t achieved.
- you don’t have to be continually disappointed or let down when trying to sell items online. Too many people don’t show up, are suspect or opportunistic.
On receiving the items, they will usually be auctioned within two weeks.
And then about 10 business days after the auction, the money will be paid in to your nominated bank account and a detailed sales report emailed to you.
All auction houses charge a commission on the final sale price of an item, to cover their costs. This ranges from 20% to 25%.
Clear Space has a relationship with all the auction houses in Adelaide. We know their people, rules, requirements and schedules. We deliver the items and monitor the progress until the proceeds are in your bank account. And because of our relationship, we can often take items for auction that are rejected when an individual delivers them.
We have sold in excess of 1 million dollars of items for our clients using auction houses!
Sometimes, if we determine the cost to get an item/s to the auction house is not economically viable, we will attempt to sell them privately and again, the full proceeds goes back to you.
Donatable – when we clear a home, if an item isn’t sellable, our preference is to not throw it away or send it to land fill. And this is always what our clients prefer.
But donating items is often one of the complicated components of what we do.
Charities used to be an unvetted destination where people would send everything, irrespective of its condition or volume, but not any longer. Quite rightly, they have become quite discerning in what they’ll accept.
Having been clearing homes for over 10 years, Clear Space has built up a large network of options to donate items to charities – both the well known ones and others that have little public awareness or might be overseas.
Below are just some examples of the extent we go to on behalf of our clients:
- food that is still consumable gets donated to a homeless shelter,
- out of date medical & academic publications, encyclopedias and magazines etc. are donated and then sent on for repurposing in to cat litter, for the financial benefit of the charity,
- kindergartens and child care centres have received lots of cardboard, scrap paper and art materials,
- litres of cleaning products have been donated,
- medical equipment and aids have been sent overseas,
- refugee and domestic violence support associations have fitted out whole homes,
- sewing clubs and guilds have been received a plethora of related items, and
- community gardens have benefited from plants, pots, tools and equipment.
Financial, Personal and Identifying Paperwork – at your request, we can have all the paperwork confidentially shredded using an accrediting company. You receive a Certificate of Destruction afterwards as proof.
Recycling and Hazardous Materials – the focus on recycling materials and environmentally aware disposal has never been as prominent or important. Gone are the days when you could load a skip full of anything you want.
Clear Space recycles as many items as possible and also disposes of any hazardous materials according to regulations. This includes paint, asbestos, car tyres and soiled mattresses.
Finally, items that don’t fall in to the above categories are disposed of at a waste transfer station. Here the items are still further sorted for recycling.
Call Mick today on 0404 361 386 to discuss your particular needs or complete the online form.
