Igor at sunset near the Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun, Mexico on November 11th.

Sunday, August 22, 2021

Well, that was a successful day!

We were up at 5:30am Saturday morning, moving stuff around before it got too hot out. Man, that was a lot of work. We can't believe how one guy can own that much stuff. It really makes us appreciate our simple lifestyle!

People began arriving at about 8:00am for the 10:00am start of the auction. The auctioneer himself arrived at 9:00am, along with his five helpers! 

He brings a small travel trailer as an office. Two women work in there. Another woman goes around with him as he auctions stuff off and writes down the details. And two guys go around holding up items as he auctions them off.

Lots of people inspecting the goods at 9:30am.


He started off with the household goods.

Never seen so many vehicles in the village of Galetta.

It became a problem though. Some people aren't very smart and there were a couple of driveways blocked off. One of the neighbors had no sense of humor and rather than trying to find out who owned the vehicle, they called the police. The police called bylaw enforcement, and a guy came out and wrote several tickets and made people move vehicles for ridiculous infractions like being parked facing the wrong way on the street. The whole situation was just stupid. One of the things we don't like about Canada is that there are too many rules here.

There were 117 bidders registered.
About the size of crowd we were hoping for.

The auctioneer, doing what he does.

I took a video for you... turn up your volume.

As is to be expected at an auction, some items went for more than we though they would, and some items went for less. 

We were told that furniture typically doesn't sell well at auctions, and that was pretty much true. Although, much of the furniture in the house had itself been purchased at auctions years ago, so it probably didn't cost much to begin with.

Although, Ruth's dad had bought a brand new Palliser leather power recliner sofa a year or so before he moved into the retirement home. It was a beautiful and comfortable couch and he paid $3,000 for it. There was only one bidder really interested in it, and I bid against him until I let him have it for $1,000. He got a deal on it. If I had won the bid at a price cheaper than that, I would have sold it privately.

But I did end up with a set of Birks Cascade Crystal glasses and bowls. I think there are about 26 pieces altogether, and I'm sure Ruth's parents paid hundreds for it back in the 1980's. I paid $65 for the whole set. If I hadn't bid it up, it would have sold for about $35 and I just knew Ruth's parents would have cried if it had been sold so cheap. I will advertise and sell it privately over the next few weeks. Pretty sure I'll be able to easily double my money.

But the tools and woodworking equipment did really well. Some of it went for much more than we expected. The air compressor went for $600, and a band saw for $750. All the small tools did better than expected also.

The grand total came to $15,500 which was better than we thought. The auctioneer had told us ahead of time that it might be between $6,000 to $12,000 depending on the crowd. I personally had guessed $10,000 but as the auction went on I thought I had guessed low.

The auctioneer takes 18% off the top, and another $525 for advertising leaving net proceeds to the estate of $12,100.

It was a lot of work, but we're glad we did it this way. Almost everything is gone in one day. There were a couple of things that simply didn't attract any bids, but it's mostly stuff that we will leave out at the road and it will disappear on its own!

The grandkids came up and sold cold drinks for the day.
Sadie, Cameron, and Ruth's sister's grandson Dominik.
(Cameron is on crutches because he cut his foot the other day. He will survive!)

By the time we tidied everything up and got out of there it was after 5:00pm. We had a forty minute drive to our house sit and by the time we got there Ruth just didn't feel like cooking. I don't blame her. We were beat. We went out to the restaurant our daughter works at and celebrated our work for the week!

Sid the cat was here waiting for us.

Home for the next five and a half weeks.

Today, we go for a family BBQ at Lindsey's house with Ruth's side of the family.

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Record low deal on this popular Shark Stick Vac.

And in Canada...

18 comments:

  1. A well deserved dinner out. Congratulations on the auction. Just another reminder of what it's all about. It's not stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a well deserved dinner and we totally enjoyed it. It felt good to sit back and relax for a bit after such a long day.

      You are totally right, stuff means nothing, memories mean everything!

      Delete
  2. So happy all of your hard work paid off, for more than you thought and with less to get rid of now than I thought, looking at the pictures. Now you can relax and enjoy the house sitting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are so happy to that the work paid off, the weather was great and we had a good crowd and yes, most of the stuff disappeared. We are so glad that there isn't much left for us to get rid of now.

      Unfortunately there is no relaxing yet, we still have to get the house cleaned up and ready for sale so I am pretty sure our next couple of weeks are still going to be pretty busy but at least it doesn't feel quite so overwhelming now.

      Delete
  3. A lot of work but a successful day! Ruth deserved her day off from cooking!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a successful day and we are so glad to see all that behind us now. Next we have to work on the house itself. Things don't feel quite so overwhelming now though and fixing up the house and getting it all spic and span shouldn't be such a huge job.

      It felt good to sit down and relax and have a nice meal cooked for us at the end of a long day. :-)

      Delete
  4. Glad the auction went well and it brings you one step closer to freedom.
    After a hot day outside, eating out is refreshing.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, we are happy that it was a success too! And yes, we are one step closer to having this all behind us.

      Delete
  5. Wow,you2didwell!Glad oriental!Rawn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It wasn't just the two of us, my brother and a family friend did a lot of work too, especially on Friday and Saturday morning getting all the stuff out onto the lawn for the auction. It was all a team effort.

      Delete
  6. So happy for all of you getting thru Sale day! Being a cat lover myself, hope you enjoy your time with Sid the cat. Love his flat ears!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Connie and Barry, we are very happy that the biggest job is now behind us and that it was such a success.

      We are definitely going to enjoy our time with Sid, she is a sweet cat even though she is a little shy.

      Delete
  7. Wow! Great auction!
    Good job on the sofa & crystal.
    I bet you slept like rocks :o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! It was a great auction, we are so happy that we had great weather and a good crowd and that we got rid of just about everything.

      It will be interesting to find out what Kevin will get for the crystal when he tries to sell it online.

      Surprisingly enough, we didn't sleep quite as well as we thought we might have but I do know we went to bed early and fell asleep quickly, we just woke up too early.

      Delete
  8. A huge benefit of your lifestyle is that it effectively precludes you from accumulation of stuff...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely!

      We think that it is so funny that we can have such little stuff and yet be so happy. We feel good that our children will never have to deal with getting rid of our stuff, a half and day and they will be pretty much done, lol!

      Delete
  9. Sad thing is, beautiful pieces like the crystal just aren't wanted by the younger generation, even family pieces. Hope you can find a buyer for it that recognizes its beauty. We have so many family "treasures" that go back three generations but our kids just don't want them.
    What a job to have behind you! Is it a seller's market in Canada? If it is, makes it easier to not have to do so much work on a house. Just a general good clean and you are good to go. Hope it sells quickly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are totally right, the majority of the younger generations don't want that type of stuff but neither did Kevin and I growing up. We never wanted to have fine china or crystal and our children even less so. We hope that we can find a buyer as well.

      My parents also had stuff that went back several generations, my brother took the grandfather clock that belonged to our grandparents in England and probably their parents before them. Lindsey, our daughter to the old pine chest that I had wanted to keep in the family and my sister took some special china that had also been in the family for a long time but that was pretty much it.

      Yes. it is definitely a seller's market in Canada, especially for properties out in the country. We shouldn't have any issues selling the house and property. There are a few things we need to do first and a good thorough clean of the house and we should be good to go.

      Delete

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