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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