The Profitable Side Hustle That Helps Families in Need: Online Estate Sales

[00:03] >> Sue is part of a unique estate sale business where she helps people clear out a bunch of their stuff fast. In exchange for running the sale, she takes 35 to 50% meaning for a few hours of leg work and logistics, she can make

[00:15] thousands of dollars. >> You want to have a minimum of a $5,000 sale, which is pretty easy to do. >> The twist here compared with traditional estate sales is putting the items up for bid on a popular online auction site.

[00:28] a the secret sauce. customers, her best practices for maximizing sales, and how you might area. >> But the total auction grossed $17,000

[00:42] amazing. So. >> Your typical split is half goes to the homeowner or to the maybe the kids who are executing the estate sale? >> Half roughly half goes to it's either in

[00:56] this case it was the niece of the pri- so a person that passed away, and the niece I assume was the executor, so it went to her. Um that's often how it goes. Sometimes it's a downsizing auction, so the people

[01:10] actually yesterday we did one and we called it the castle house because these looked like a castle. It was brick. It was had like a turret. It was just gorgeous, beautiful home. And but they were moving, they were downsizing, you

[01:25] were going to move out of state, so and that very well. Um but again, typically it's about 50%. We do have a lower take for uh silver and gold items,

[01:40] uh which is like 35% to us. >> Okay, got it. Got it. >> But in any case, we you came in, you took the pictures, you you sold the stuff, we'll get into all that, and call it call it eight grand for a couple

[01:53] weekends worth of work in this case. >> Yep, that's right. >> Now, estate sale services have been around forever and I kind of have a picture of it in my mind from when my grandma and grandpa passed away or

[02:06] downsized out of their house and it was like an in-person thing. Like people were walking through the house and saying, you know, I want that or the piano or the dining room table or whatever it was.

[02:20] This is a little bit different, right? >> Yes, and I wish I knew about this when my parents passed away because um it is so efficient process. So, instead of the traditional estate sales,

[02:34] in, having a bunch of strangers coming to your house and just willy-nilly looking at things, maybe some things might go missing, who knows. The difference in this process is I would come in and usually in a day,

[02:48] take pictures of everything, um we go home and catalog it. It's it's could go online and maybe 2 days, the auction runs for a week. At the end of the week, only the winning bidders would show up to get their items. And usually

[03:03] there's a 1-day pickup period, maybe 4 hours, um and then that's it. It's very efficient, quick. Again, you don't have a bunch of strangers coming in. the house is if they need to move out, maybe a big piece of furniture,

[03:16] something like that. >> Okay, so this is this is the part of the pitch or maybe part of the benefit to the to the homeowners. Is that like, strangers walking through your stuff, we're going to put it all online." And

[03:29] what's going on? >> It's it's similar to eBay, yes. So, um I just set an auction go live today. So, it goes live, runs for a week, uh at the end typically it ends. So, the auction that went to live today is going

[03:45] to end next Tuesday, I believe, and it starts to end at 7:00 p.m. or I'm time. Um and it's a rolling close. So, that means lot number one starts to close and every 20 seconds um, it closes each item. So,

[04:02] time. >> So, this is not eBay. This is like an estate sale specific one? >> Um, yes. It's called Auction Ninja is it third-party platform that we used. Um, there's a couple of them out there.

[04:16] Auction Ninja is just happens to be the one that um, I use. >> Okay. So, if So, if I'm coming in and saying I guess maybe you know, I'm thinking down the road to okay, I'm would kind of

[04:31] gently uh, put my name out there to real estate agents or to moving services maybe somebody who would be helping people kind of in this transition stage >> Right. >> to get my name uh, into the ring as a

[04:44] potential estate sale helper person. >> Mhm. doing this like for years. It's a service that's been around forever. So, what you know, what's kind of the the opening pitch or what gets you selected

[04:56] >> Honestly, a lot of people don't know first of all, we're taking the overwhelm off of you. It's hands-free for the customer. You're not having all these strangers coming in the house. So,

[05:09] was like, I don't want anybody coming in and you know, she was very adamant about that. Sometimes older people don't want that. Um, I think a lot of people like not this is anything that's kind of hard

[05:23] to say, but people like that we're all women in in >> Do you find yourself competing with other services like, oh, they're going to offer me a uh, 60% take versus 50 or something like

[05:37] >> Yes, that's true. I will say that um, typically we're a little I don't know what I how to say it's like less picky about the things we'll put in. So, I think that's what sets us apart because around here anyway, a lot of

[05:52] these competitive companies are more, you know, they going for the big bucks. So, they might look at a house and go, you they're not finding a lot of high value items. So, I will say that is something

[06:05] that sets us apart. >> Okay. Well, we'll take everything. >> You just You just want it gone. >> Yes, exactly. They just want it gone. >> Is that part of the process? Like, look, if it doesn't if it doesn't sell,

[06:19] removal. >> Almost everything sells because with our process, the bidding starts at only a dollar. So, it's very rare that things don't sell. As far as we don't really do like a junk clean out, uh but we do have

[06:35] uh referral partners. So, we we will offer that up to people as well as like cleaning companies, that kind of thing. But, for the most part, everything sells. It's great. People love to bid.

[06:48] up there and I guess it sold for a dollar and I more for it. Like, do you have customers coming in and say, well,

[07:00] know, this this item, this item, this item, something like that. today. She wants to sell some artwork. And so, there are reserves if you want. Um we generally tell people you can put five things up for reserve. So, so, in

[07:15] um the auction ninja, people go crazy about bidding. It's like a It's like the secret sauce. Like, they love to bid. It's It's like, you know, it's like a winning thing. I can't tell

[07:29] up to me and they're like, "Yay, I won it." And it's um So, that's like this particular buying base, they love to win, you know? And And we always say all it takes is two people who really want something

[07:43] really bad." Like we had this vintage bugle from the 1800s. I don't know bidding war that went on for hours and it sold for almost $5,000 for a bugle. And um I heard from the losing bidder

[07:57] buy this as a birthday present for my husband." And um anyway. >> Okay, yeah. So people people there's there's enough of a built-in audience of auction lovers here on the Auction Ninja

[08:11] um unlikely to go. And and so the customer could set a reserve on a on a handful of specific items. It was more like, "Look, going to see it where if it's really worth anything, it it'll it'll sell.

[08:25] >> This particular audience, they don't like reserves. Uh we we did an auction for a a gentleman who lost his wife and he had absolutely beautiful things, gorgeous pieces of furniture, and you know, he was an older gentleman. He's

[08:39] like, "I paid X dollars for this." And he put reserves on my five pieces of furniture and they never sold and then we had to do a second auction. >> Um it it and we put them at a dollar and of course they all they didn't sell for

[08:52] a dollar, but you know, um so we try to tell people not to put reserves, but you can do that. So like I see that silverware. I'm telling you grandmother's silverware lately. >> Yeah, check this out. 4,200 bucks for

[09:05] this uh and there's still 5 hours left on this. $4,200 for this sterling >> We've sold at least four or five sterling silverware sets over the last month and they've all gone

[09:19] for at least $4,000. >> What Okay, so they they have they tell you the weight on it here. What's the raw metal worth on this? >> You know, that's a great question. Uh we do weigh out every single uh you know,

[09:32] we'll we'll say how many in grams. Um I I don't know. I'm not a I'm not a >> I don't know if they're melting it down or >> 41 bids here and in your case most of the buyers are local. So in contrast to

[09:47] everything, it's like most of the people look we have a dedicated pick up day uh grab the thing. >> Um that's partly true, although we've expanded our shipping lately and we we ship maybe 10% of the items are shipped.

[10:03] Like the silverware I can tell you will will likely get shipped. It's it's mostly local local buyers. I I would also say maybe like 40% of our buyers are resellers. Like they have little stores or maybe they sell on eBay or

[10:17] things like that. >> Yeah, we have a signed framed uh Barry Sanders jersey from uh from the Lions. The current bid $71, 27 bids going back and forth on this one so far. I imagine for the right fan with the right man

[10:33] cave uh Lions fan would pay more than 71 bucks for that. >> I think you're right. It's fascinating the things you can find on Auction Ninja, too. It's just and some things will sell will go like,

[10:46] money?" And but I always say, you know, that the find you as long as you title it correctly correctly and whatnot. So and take great pictures. >> Okay, so that may be the steps. So you

[11:00] get the like the house under contract or an agreement to to do this and then the cataloging everything that's in there. But it's still like really tedious to do that and then take multiple pictures of each and every one. What's your process

[11:15] like for that? >> Um so the process is we look at everything um and we we try to pick out the nice um because, you know, you go into a house and there's a million things. So

[11:30] and that comes with getting to know maybe some people know that maybe some people don't but you do want to kind of get to know that so try to pull out the high value things first those are singles and again you want to take great

[11:43] pictures with you know I have a method for that um >> What what's an example like obviously the sterling silverware you know what for you >> um some art pieces lately um art has

[11:58] been doing very well um you know signed art limited edition art that's been doing great and we've been shipping out a lot of artwork unique little you know MCM mid-century modern things

[12:13] you know things you can never find anymore it could be like a a brass cat figurine or something I will tell you people love cats and jewelry goes with that even costume jewelry people love costume jewelry um things that are

[12:25] unique you know you glass is one thing where like no glass um unless it's marked like Waterford but in general come up and oh I you might what about my China it's lovely and it is lovely but

[12:40] it's just doesn't sell that well and you have to be kind of tactful and have um you yeah they get this in their home for you know what you know what your stuff is junky you you have to be like well

[12:56] you know it's just not as sought after as it used to be or you know something that's if you're dealing with the people are still alive you know if it's with their maybe their parents stuff

[13:09] they've taken what they wanted and they're just like oh we want it all gone I'm trying to put myself in the mindset of the buyer and I guess you said most so they're trying to pass it on to somebody else but just there's not a ton

[13:22] of shelf space or desire to have knick-knacks Um >> You know what? Little old ladies love buying knickknacks.

[13:37] they they do. They still buy it and there's there's still a lot of people Um and I obviously things like, you know, power tools, like expensive tools are great because all that stuff is so

[13:49] expensive to buy now, so um you know, we'll sell generators or the ride-on lawn mowers or, you know, things like that are wonderful. >> So the single items, cuz you said the high-value items, those are going to be

[14:04] uh single listings like we saw the silverware set, we saw the Barry Sanders jersey, single item. Um and then the other I the alternative, I assume, is lots, like a bundle of things that are similar.

[14:18] lot of dishes and mugs and whatnot. Um but you know, typically if it's a house that again, maybe someone's lived there for 50, 60 years, you're going to find some treasures in there and unique

[14:33] things that you just don't see anymore. Uh people really like that kind of stuff always sells. You know, someone will come in and go, "Oh, I had that. My or you know, that kind of thing.

[14:46] you know, that kind of thing. Um older toys sometimes do well. >> Okay. >> like Fisher-Price toys sometimes older, kind of a thing. >> Yeah, still made out of wood and, you

[15:03] make them like they used to. >> Right. >> What's your process like for taking the pictures? Are you doing that kind of in place in the house or you got to take it back to your light box studio setup?

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[17:27] >> Audio setup. >> Everything's done in the house. So, uh we'll bring lighting. Um we'll bring like foam boards to have like maybe black and white. So, if it's glass, we want to put it on a black foam board. If

[17:43] it's a dark item, you want to put it on white. You know, you kind of want to photo, obviously, and lighting is very important. We'll work through the rooms, you know, everything in the dining room. We'll take everything there. Um

[17:56] and everything stays where it is for the most part, unless the client for some reason needs it moved whatnot. But And then everything's given a number an an identification number. Um you know, 1 through 50 is in the

[18:09] And then when we put >> put the stickers on them like a moving company or you just have your own internal inventory tracker? >> our own internal thing. >> Is it a spreadsheet or what do you use

[18:21] >> Uh so, Auction Ninja will actually assign numbers to you. So, if you're using Auction Ninja, you can just um you just print off the numbers you assign,

[18:33] basically. Um so >> As you go through room by room, item by >> Yep. So, we pre-print the numbered labels and we just stick it on there. Yeah, I will say you want to get a tag or sticker that doesn't leave a

[18:45] residue. That's a big no-no, so. >> Especially on older pieces and stuff. thing with your >> Seriously, like one time I had a a box of Okay, this is something I myself got into a bidding war. Uh this

[18:58] time, you know what? I never knew I needed this thing. It was a they were called cheese mice cheese or cheese mice. Never heard of them before. They were the cutest thing ever. These little wooden mice that you would have

[19:12] would put you know you're serving a crudite and I was like I have to have these so I had put the sticker on the box and it was a very old box and sure enough a little thing had come off of it and I was like I should have known

[19:25] better but um I did not end up winning the cheese mice by the way um but the woman who came to pick them up I was like I was bidding against you and she was like I had no idea I needed these so bad but she

[19:38] didn't really need them but she wanted them I assume like a bulk upload for these images or is it really like okay one one

[19:50] of each thing >> so the way I do it is you have all your photos on your camera unfortunately auction ninja doesn't have an app for some reason but I'll put all the photos

[20:02] on my computer and then I'll just drag and drop so you know item number one drag them and it's pretty it's pretty quick and then I use I use Google Lens to identify I mean what most of the stuff I know what it is anyway but

[20:15] Google Lens is great so you can just right click Google Lens and then copy and paste the title as long as it matches sometimes Google gets it wrong >> okay this is to identify items without a barcode without a label okay

[20:34] way to do it I don't know what this thing is yeah ask the AI to tell you >> mhm >> okay so the pictures go up the listings go up and then then the fun starts then the auction starts everything starts at

[20:47] a dollar it's a it's a week long thing and if it's anything like any of the I've paid attention to all the action happens at the very end or do people >> everything happens in the last few hours >> which is yeah that'd be so stressful for

[21:03] we got no action on this >> it's so stressful. So many times like there's no nobody's bidding. Nobody's bidding. Then I get a little nervous and then we're like just you wait. Just watch and all the magic happens in at

[21:16] >> In the way you described it it was the the timer the end. Is that true? >> Yes. If you have two people bidding on

[21:28] the same thing, if somebody bids within the last 5 minutes, it resets to another 5 minutes. >> Okay, to prevent uh sniping at the last second. >> I don't know why that happens. I think

[21:40] more money, but um that happened to me one time. I was I was selling a Bose stereo system. So I'll put my own stuff in the auctions and I remember I was going out to dinner with my daughter and um you know, it was

[21:54] it was only up to like $50 and I kept watching it on my phone and I every 5 minutes somebody with two people clearly were bidding on it and 3 hours later it finally ended and it it got up to like $350. I was so excited.

[22:09] >> All right. Yeah, that's that's a little little bit better than the $50 initial So sometimes that week-long auction could get extended maybe by quite a bit particular item, too. >> Yep.

[22:23] to like Peter out. I don't think it's ever gone over like past midnight kind of a thing. I think >> They hit their limit at some point. >> hit their limit.

[22:36] >> Wouldn't allow you to say look, my top bid is $100 for this thing. until that point and then >> that all the time. I tell myself that. And so you can do that. It's it's very similar to eBay, I believe, where you

[22:51] you can start at a dollar or you can say okay, I'll $20, but then it will say oh yeah, you're the you're the high bidder at a dollar. So it won't go up to $20 only unless somebody bids $19 against you, if that makes sense.

[23:04] >> Okay. Talk to me about some of the marketing relationships. I think we got a an idea of kind of the mechanics of how this is going to work once we get into a house, but how about

[23:19] on the getting people to sign up with us in the first place? Some of the partnerships that worked or some ways you found effective to kind of get your name out there. >> Um definitely realtors are a great

[23:31] you know, they they have these people coming to them ready to sell this house?" So, realtors are a great partnership as well as

[23:43] um people who work in maybe like an assisted living community and they're these older folks coming in and they're assisted living community. So, those are good people to have relationships with.

[23:57] with a woman who does home staging. She's staging these multi-million dollar homes and these people have to get all this stuff out and you know, she's got to get the stuff out. So, um that's also a great

[24:11] >> the staging comes in cuz she's saying, "Well, we got to take the listing earlier in the process in that case. >> Yes. Yeah. So, she's good to know. Um we've also been lately dealing with clean out companies. So, that's around

[24:26] here that's they're everywhere these clean out companies. Um that's more on the consignment model. So, that's you know, these typically they're cleaning out a house. They have all this stuff and you know,

[24:38] and they come to realize, "Hey, some of this stuff is worth money." So, they're partnering with us um because we have a separate consignment division. >> another way to Yeah, we had uh 1-800-Got-Junk on the

[24:54] you resell any of this stuff?" He's like, "Well, some of our franchisees have tried for a while, but >> Really? Oh my gosh. They must have so many good things. >> Yeah. And so, I was like, "Oh, I always

[25:07] take the stuff away. So, it's like, "Oh, you can get inventory for better than free." But, I don't know. This is not the not their model. >> So, on that note, that's another great selling point because I had a friend who

[25:20] had to get out of her house quickly. The house was being sold. She had to find a what? I'm just going to rent a dumpster." And I'm like, "No, don't do that." So, I I had an auction at her house, and not only did she not have to

[25:34] rent a dumpster, but she made money. So, you know, I'm saving her all this money from not renting a dumpster, and anyway. Um I think that's a good selling point. know, I would think eBay, Facebook Marketplace, but no, there's a whole

[25:49] Auction Ninja site. >> Yes. Yeah. And Auction Ninja will promote you, too. I I I a lot of people who buy things about your company, but I've been buying on Auction Ninja." And they

[26:05] they find you through Auction Ninja. So, that's also kind of nice. >> Is there anything you need to do to promote the listings, or is it just literally like, "I'm going to put it up there at a dollar, and

[26:19] process?" >> We do promote on um uh estatesales.com and estatesales.net. So, those are kind of the two big ones. Um and we definitely get traffic from

[26:33] from there. >> back to the Auction Ninja auction? >> Okay. >> So, those are probably the biggest >> So, those are probably the biggest promotions that we use.

[26:48] >> Yeah. >> But, you're not syndicating to any other sites? >> Uh no. No, just those two. >> Have you ever experimented or uh somebody on your team doing uh live

[27:02] selling uh for some of the stuff where Yeah. Hey, we're walking through the >> That's a great idea. We haven't done that. Usually we sell like house, but you know, that's a great idea. I just um

[27:18] thought about that. I think that would be great. Um I know I have a friend >> be uh having a moment right now, so that may be the next next stage for the >> it's funny cuz we again, we did an auction for this woman and we sold her

[27:32] parents' house and she kept telling us that she was a whatnot seller and I "What are you talking about?" And she's like, "Oh, yeah, you So uh >> This could be the next thing.

[27:45] >> Yes, it could be. >> And so the next next stage is people come by and pick it up during this window or you ship the stuff that needs shipping. And is there anything left over? Are you charging shipping to the

[28:00] buyers if if they're out of state? >> Yes, charging ship shipping to the >> Okay. >> We don't do free shipping. Maybe some companies do. Um even when I've been selling on eBay.

[28:12] Now, I've been selling on eBay for 25 years, believe it or not. A long time and uh I used to do free shipping, but I don't know. I And if buyers No one really complains about it. I >> Yeah, they expect it, I suppose, for

[28:24] >> Yes. Um and the other thing too, I think with the things that we have, again, they are really unique. A lot of the stuff is one-of-a-kind. So, if they're if we're shipping to someone,

[28:37] they really want that thing. Like we just shipped a um like a Beatles record that had been in a frame and it had been signed by Ringo Starr and it was he paid like $1,500 for it, and he paid thing was huge, and he paid quite a lot of

[28:51] >> Okay. Well, >> Yeah, he was he was okay with it because he really wanted it, so. >> How much stuff in terms of auction value does a typical house have? I'm trying to think of like what

[29:06] somebody were to come in and just auction it off? I don't know. sale. Um which is which is pretty easy to do because again, at the houses we're going into, they have so much stuff. It's

[29:22] to make sure that's worth your while. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> I don't really want to take this one. >> Yeah, every once in a while. Gosh, I mean, there was a house that we

[29:37] it was I think we did a preview in the winter, and then we came back in the think an animal had died in the house or something." It was terrible. But, so we brought everything out to the porch to take

[29:51] Um they actually had an old really gorgeous Model T Ford. The the person who lived there was like a Model T person, and it was beau- and that alone, that auction also probably did like $15,000. So,

[30:05] I guess sometimes you just got to you got to deal with it. >> You never know. That's the thing. That's like, "What treasures in there?" But, yeah, we don't we we wouldn't do a house that was dangerous or had mold or we

[30:19] know that kind of thing. We we we'll draw the line. >> Do you ever get anybody asking you to, "Oh, could you run my garage sale for you just like even a neighborhood consignment event or anything like that?

[30:34] and this, what Now now we just need more inventory. Like where else do we source it? >> You know, that's a great idea. I know no

[30:46] one's ever approached me like that. I um I I do have my own clients that they want me to sell things not in a I'm just I'm kind of anti-ad sale only cuz I feel people are going to nickel and dime me to death, but that that's another thing

[31:00] about the auction ninja is I put my own things in there. I I have a client that's a house stager. I put everything I don't even almost do put it in, you don't have to deal with it. I pretty much guarantees to sell.

[31:16] Um people come and pick it up. Um it's it's it's so easy as a seller um to to do it that way. And again, I love the eBay. I've been doing it for years, but it's just you know, having inventory sit that's

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[33:46] gusto.com/sidehustle. It sounds like doing a little bit of promotion on these external sites to drive some additional eyeballs over to Auction Ninja. And then, anything else you're doing to make your listings kind

[33:58] of stand out and sparkle in the eyes of prospective buyers? >> Um I think the one of the best things is you really want to be able to take a good photo. So, um and maybe sometimes unique photos. So,

[34:13] sometimes I'll have, you know, something and I'll I'll hold it like this and click take a picture like that. Or, um you know, your first photo, you want you want the click, right? So, you you have to be able to

[34:26] pose something good. You have to take pictures of all the sides. Definitely something. You want to take measurements. If something has a chip or a crack, you want to zoom into that because you know

[34:40] all that stuff will prevent refunds. And people people tell us all the time how our photos are amazing. So I will say that's very important. And if

[34:52] iPhones. Get yourself a good iPhone. >> Okay, showing showing the flaws if if there are any. You know, make sure you're presenting it accurately and honestly

[35:04] "Wait a minute, this thing has got a crack in it." As long as you're honest. anything else on the listing side or or Auction Ninja best practices? >> Um so they have a thing on Auction Ninja

[35:18] when you put your auction on um you want to have your first 20 things be in the order where it's your nicest things. So you want you can reorder. So taking pictures, click click click, and putting it on. But before you make your

[35:34] your first 20 items cuz that's going to show up. And you want people to continue to do that as well. And then they have a thing called pick five, which is your five favorite things. So for example, the one we're doing tonight, number one

[35:49] of course surprisingly sterling silverware set. That's number one. So up. That's very important. >> Yeah, I found this one near me. So they kind of have this like cover image that

[36:02] is a amalgamation of a bunch of the stuff that they have. And then to your point, they have maybe prioritized some of the more unique or or higher dollar items towards the top. This mahogany writing desk, this thing

[36:18] looks like an antique and a half. A hand-carved ceramic smoking pipe signed SLO. Not sure what that means. Um and some unique pieces of art and a pre- pre-Columbian

[36:34] pieces of art and a pre- pre-Columbian effigy fish form earthen vessel. >> That is that definitely checks the unique box. Uh $25, 6 hours left if you want to get in on that one. >> Ooh, I'm going to bid on that. I got

[36:47] Okay, so prioritizing some of the high higher perceived value in the eyes of the shopper. >> Yes. And and then I think so and then people will be like,

[36:59] know, and they'll they'll continue to click through. So. things from the same sale? >> Oh. Mhm. Yeah, we definitely have the usual suspects that come and they'll buy Of

[37:12] they'll buy a lot. But then we have some people that just love to shop. Well, like we have this lovely older gentleman, Bob. We love Bob. He'll He buys maybe 20 to 30 items every auction. He's got a lot of stuff.

[37:27] >> Does he just Does he have a store or does he resell >> I think he's got he's >> He's a collector. nicely, yeah. He He lives on like 100 acres and he's got a lot of room and

[37:40] he's got a lot of things. >> All right. Well, in a few years you may >> you're right. I think you are absolutely right.

[37:54] split after the auction uh with the with the homeowner. Are there any other that that's kind of how it just how it works? We'll take a a performance-based commission on what sells. >> Um we have our going into the person's

[38:09] house, that part of the business. But then we also have a consignment part of people out there that don't have a whole house full of stuff. Maybe they have 10 things. Maybe they have 50 or whatnot. You could just do that. You could just

[38:23] not even go to people's homes. If you had a garage, you could just continue to do auction and just sales out of your garage on a consignment basis. >> How does that side work for you? People kind of know you have a reputation for

[38:36] being able to move some product and so they say, "Hey Sue, can you help me sell this stuff?" >> I I would get people um on the moms group on Facebook. I would you know, just

[38:48] that's probably how I started to get my first um clients for lack of better word, but yeah, I would just put myself out and word of mouth that type of thing travels very fast. Like, you know, the moms. Maybe it's a mom thing, I don't

[39:02] chat, but >> Yeah, if you need help getting rid of something, uh Sue can help. I think that's such an easy way to start and cleaning or we have kind of a neighborhood garage sale that happens

[39:17] >> Yeah. >> where you could easily go around cuz same weekend. Like, look, if you have something that doesn't move and still help you with that. >> Right. Yeah, and people love that. They

[39:31] spring cleaning, this is a great time of year to do that cuz everybody's got, "Oh, I got this I got to get rid of." Like it's it's it's just a nice thing. Um or you know, maybe you have a friend whose parents are downsizing or moving

[39:45] yourself out there. Peo- people really will take you up on it. It's very popular. >> Right. Such a being dealing with the listings and the tire kickers and the messages on Facebook Marketplace or

[40:00] want to deal with this." >> Even me, I'm like, "Do you really want to be looking at that? Is this available message?" Like I Um >> If I'm an individual seller, can I start

[40:15] does it have to be like a real like lot of products? >> Um are you talking about doing in >> Like if I just have, you know, a couple rid of, could I start something on this Auction Ninja, or does it need to be

[40:28] stuff to get any attention? >> So, you want to you want to have at least 100 items. Because it I think you just you're not only sees you have five things. >> Got it.

[40:41] >> It depending on it is, but yeah. >> That's good to know. it will do. >> What's a typical week of a cadence here? there for 10 hours on a Saturday cuz it's all online, but where's where's the

[40:56] time going in into the photography, into the marketing, into the whatever else? >> I would say the photography by far takes up the most time. That's that's where your time is spent on the photography. And then you're

[41:09] putting it online and cataloging it, that's maybe a quarter of the time you spent doing photography, roughly. Um and then the rest of it is is easy peasy. It's you know, maybe responding to questions. The marketing again is

[41:24] just using those two sites or you know, you put something on your Facebook page. But yeah, that that that in the house or photography is your huge chunk of time. But then once that's done, the rest is

[41:37] much easier. >> What's surprised you the most along the way? >> Um honestly, some of the things that people spend money on. Um

[41:49] I'm trying to think. Oh, we did sell this antique book one time. Um Just an old this old antique book. It was like a children's book. I wish I for like $5,000. I could >> Woah.

[42:01] >> I couldn't believe it. So, Uh we always say like like look at every single thing. We'll do some research on sites sometimes if you don't know. It's another tip. Like if you don't know, especially with antique books, I'll tell

[42:14] you, um a first edition, you know, look it up while you're there at the house or um because otherwise, like an antique book might be put into a lot of books. uh >> Oh, I see what you mean. So, make sure

[42:27] that has its own individual listing. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Do the customers ever come back and and they look at the total and they say, "Okay, you sold 12 grand worth of stuff." Are they

[42:42] disappointed? Are they happy at that stage just that it's over? >> Honestly, I think they're all thrilled. I I've never once heard a heard a client to be sad about it, you know? Yeah. >> I guess they already took It's all a

[42:56] bonus for them for the most part. >> Yeah, because again, you know, if you if they've already taken whatever is special to them, and they're just at the point that's kind of your, you know, client

[43:10] dealing with these people who don't want to deal with the overwhelm, and you're assisting them. You're providing this great service, and house. And they're they're they're floored.

[43:22] I wish I need to set up like a uh a the camera doing like the before and cuz just the other day, that house that sold 17,000, it was crammed full of barely walk. And then by the end of the auction,

[43:37] it was completely empty. It was great. >> Yeah, collecting collecting those testimonials from the from the customers, I'm sure, helps sell the next person. >> Yes. Yeah, for sure.

[43:50] want to take this thing? >> Um I I want to actually teach this to other people. I think it's a great side hustle or even a full-time thing. So, um looking at um

[44:02] maybe writing a book and or I'm going to start up a YouTube channel to to um teach other people how to do this. Mhm. >> Well, very cool. auctionmastery.com is where to go to stay connected with the upcoming YouTube channel, the

[44:16] upcoming book from Sue on that. We'll link that up in the show notes as well. Let's wrap this thing up with your number one tip for Side Hustle Nation. >> Uh my number one tip really is all about the photos. Uh learn to take good

[44:30] photos. Um I can tell you also if you have says, "How big is this vase?" If you have something that you might not necessarily know how big it is, like a

[44:42] vase, it could be a little vase, it could be a 3-ft tall vase. Um hold it or something like that. So, it's all about the photos. You have to get >> of scale in some of the pictures. >> thank you. Sense of scale. Yeah.

[44:58] Well, this has been a lot of fun. This is a a new to me site. Oh, I mean, the kind of a unique angle on it that hopefully some listeners can can go out and run with. Again, auctionmastery.com. You can find Sue over there.

[45:14] My initial thought, like, low-risk way to start maybe just putting it out in "Look, if you got something to sell or this neighborhood garage sale that's coming up, like, be the be the consignment guy." You know, try and

[45:27] start it off low-risk way to get some inventory, get some sales experience >> Absolutely. >> If you're wondering what to listen to next, I want to invite you to take our little quiz at hustle.show.

[45:40] You can do it right from your phone. How it works is you answer a few short multiple-choice questions, and then it'll build you a custom-curated playlist of some of our greatest hits episodes that you can add to your

[45:52] device. You can learn what works, and you can go make some more money. Again, hustle.show for that. Big thanks to Sue for sharing her insight. Thanks to our free for everyone. For all the latest

[46:05] offers from our sponsors in one place, sidehustlenation.com/deals is where to go to find those. Claim your discounts. That is it for me. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you find a value in the

[46:17] share with a friend. Fire off that text message to that professional garage sailor in your life, someone who needs to hear this. Until next time, uh let's and I'll catch you in the next edition of The Side Hustle Show. Hustle on.