The simplest way to downsize after retirement is to run an online auction for the things you no longer need, so buyers come to you instead of you hauling boxes to town. You sort what stays and what goes, we photograph and list everything, and folks across the region bid from home. When the auction closes, buyers show up to pick up their items, and your things get Sold and head off to new homes, and you're not stuck with a garage full of leftovers.
Where do I even start with a house or shop full of stuff?
Start by walking through and making three rough piles in your head: keep, family, and sell. You don't have to be perfect about it. The keep pile is what goes with you to your next place. The family pile is anything you want your kids or grandkids to have. Everything else can go to auction, and that's usually a bigger group of items than people expect.
Once you have a sense of what you're selling, give us a call or fill out the form on our sell with us page. We'll come take a look, talk through what things are worth, and figure out whether a single auction or a couple of grouped ones makes the most sense. Tools, furniture, kitchen items, ranch equipment, generators, even the odds and ends in the back of the shed can all go in the same sale.
The nice part is you don't have to price anything yourself. We've got a good feel for what this kind of thing brings around here, so pricing is on us. You just point us toward what's going.
How does the online part actually work?
We run the sale on HiBid, so folks can look through your items right from a phone or computer, place their bids over the days the auction is open, and the highest bidder wins when it closes. You can watch your own live and upcoming auctions online while it's happening, which a lot of folks enjoy.
We handle the photos and the descriptions, and we try to be honest and detailed so buyers know exactly what they're getting. Good pictures and clear notes bring more bidders, and more bidders usually means better results for you. If you're new to how the bidding side works, our FAQ walks through the common questions, including how maximum bids work.
Because the auction is online, your items aren't limited to whoever can drive out on a Saturday. Somebody in Rapid City, Custer, or a couple counties over can bid just as easily as your next-door neighbor.
What about all the hauling and pickup?
This is the part folks dread most, and it's the part we try to take off your hands. Instead of you loading and delivering things, buyers come to the location to pick up what they won. We keep pickup open for a good long window and lend a hand loading, so nobody's scrambling and heavy items don't fall on you.
Some smaller items can ship, too, if a buyer is farther away, and we lay out how that works in our post on what pickup and shipping really look like. Between the pickups and the shipping, most of a property clears out on its own once the auction ends.
Downsizing is a big change, and it's usually tied to something bigger like retirement or leaving the ranch. Our aim is to make the selling part the easy piece. If you'd like to talk it over, reach out through Ramsey Auctions any time, and we'll help you figure out the next step.