Martindale Auction Services

Acceptable consignment items can be a single item or an entire household, farm or business.  Quality consignment items are clean items that would be considered antiques, quality household items, collectibles, tools, coins, jewelry, furniture, etc. Real estate, vehicles, trailers, RV's, four-wheelers, boats & motors, and other rolling stock may be offered, as well.  

Respectfully, garage sale leftovers are not acceptable auction items and will not be accepted. If in doubt, feel free to call for clarification. We do not provide "clean out" services for partial estates and consignments and will accept saleable items only.  In addition, we may request representative photographs of the items or a general overview of the estate.  We also will ask to view in person the items or estate to be offered.

(Examples of unacceptable items would include paperback novels, magazines, clothing, shoes, box lots, children's toys, car seats or booster chairs; dirty, no chipped, cracked, incomplete, non-working or broken items;mattresses or box springs, plasticware, personal hygiene items, scrap building materials, chemicals, paints, and the like.  The Auction company reserves the right to refuse any or all items for any reason.)

The commission charged by the Auction company to sell the item may be different for items we pick up verses your delivering the item.  Consignors requesting pick up services should understand that the consignment must meet a minimum threshold to be considered for this service.  Please call for details.

If you need to sell an entire estate, call to discuss arrangements.  We will schedule an appointment to visit with you and to view the estate, property, assets, etc.  We can help you determine the best Auction option available to you.  We will discuss the difference in fees and commissions for each situation.  Fees are based on the services provided and quality/quantity of items.  

Options may include onsite for live or online auction or a combination of both; or items may also be relocated to accommodate live, online or a combination thereof at our online facility or other venue.  Onsite auctions allow us to offer services not available for parital or consignment auctions, and we are happy to visit with you about additional services at the time of our site visit.

Items in storage can be a bit tricky.  First, it will be important to know the size of the storage unit you currently are renting.  This can give a general impression of the quanity you wish to sell. Then, we have to be able to determine if the items that are in storage are acceptable auction items.  We cannot know this if items are boxed and wrapped. Preliminary photos of the entire unit overall will be requested, as well as contents must be revealed in other photos to give an impression of the contents in the storage locker and in the boxes.  Again, a site visit in person will be in order.  

We often suggest to a potential seller with this situation that they can rent another storage unit and go through the items, sorting into the new locker what they wish to send to auction and photographing those items as they go.  This doesn't ensure that the items will be acceptable and sold at auction, but it does ensure that you have an pictoral inventory of what is contained in the units.  Once it is determined that the items are saleable items, the commission varies based on whether the items are to be picked up or whether you will have them delivered. Respectfully, we do not provide "clean out" services; but may be able to assist with recommendations or suggestions.

Again, condition is an important consideration of acceptable items.  Items that have been wet, have insect or rodent infestation, odors, heat damage; broken, chipped, cracked, non-working or incomplete items will not be accepted. (Please also review the list above.)

Consignment checks will be issued within 30 days of the date the items were sold, but most often within 7-14 days.  You will receive a copy of the clerking description in the form of a printout that detail the items sold.  In addition you will receive a copy of the settlement sheet showing commission charged and any other expense incurred.

No.  Please, always call first to make arrangements.  We try to coordinate the consignors and their items to make sure we have a good balance of items.  You don't want to load that heavy solid wood armoir and get here only to discover we don't have room for it and you need to bring it next week instead -- or worse yet, an entire trailer full!