Vivian's Blog

I am sure by now most of you know that Michael and I are Certified Appraisers.  Because I am so busy with the Estate Sales, I don't have time to do many appraisals, but Michael probably does more Personal Property appraisals than anyone else in the area.  He is currently doing an appraisal of the contents of the Chambers House for the Beaumont Heritage Society.  Over the past few years we have done appraisals on everything from individual pieces of glass to collections, small & large, to the contents of complete homes.

What kind of appraisals do we do? There are some obvious issues that arise.  A lot of our requests are for estate division.  We work with insurance claims.  After the last hurricane, we were busy with post disaster claims (proving the value of items that were damaged in the hurricane so the insurance companies would pay a fair amount).  We handle a lot of divorce appraisals.  Then there are a lot of appraisals where people just want to know how much one of their possessions are worth. 

So why in the world would you need an appraisal?  Most people don't realize that they really need to protect their possessions with an appraisal. 

So many people lost thousands and thousands of dollars after Rita and Ike.  In many cases, if not most, their losses were much higher than they should have been because they could not prove their losses that involved personal property. 

We offer a service to protect you from these losses, Pre-Disaster Appraisals.  These appraisals are a basic inventory of all of your personal property with a current value.  This is NOT JUST FOR ANTIQUES.  It is for the entire contents of your home.  

With a Pre-Disaster Appraisal, if you should have disaster such as damage from a hurricane, a fire, or any other event that destroys or damages your property, you can limit your financial losses.  When you make your insurance claim you will have factual PROOF of the value of your personal property.  Ask you insurance agent if that is important.  Ask anyone who loss thousands and thousands of dollars in one of the recent hurricanes, because they could not prove value of their losses.

 For more information about these services, check with me or contact Michael at 409.893.8803. 

We are currently working on a Pre-Disaster Appraisal of our home and it is really a lot of fun.

See you at a sale soon.

Just for fun, let's talk about another television show, the Picker Sisters.  Has anyone seen this one?  It is on Lifetime, but the schedule seems to be sporadic.  They just seem to pop up now and then.

This features two young women, Tracy Hutson and Tanya McQueen, who travel the country looking for "goodies" that they purchase, then take back to their shop in southern California.  They both are designers who have a talent for converting their finds into some very interesting items.

They are very personable, attractive, and sometimes funny.  While I hate to make any kind of remark that might be considered sexist, their attitudes and manner of dress (short shorts) definitely make the most of their feminine charms.  In almost every encounter with men in old farms, shops, boat yards, etc, they often become coy and flirtatious, taking advantage of their obvious charms.  And does that work to their advantage?  Of course it does. 

It is interesting to see what all they buy.  Sometimes it can really stretch the imagination to see anything of value in their "finds".  Then, at the end of the show, you see the fabulous imagination of their vision as expressed through their contractor, Alan Luxmore.  Most of their projects are really quite interesting.  Some are fabulous.

I actually enjoy the show, but the flirtatious attitudes tend to get a little old.  It is interesting to see what they find and how creative they are.  And they are definitely creative.  That is the best part of the show.

While they do occasionally get some bargains, they also often pay way too much for things.  Now and then they get things for practically nothing.  Just like real life.  However, they really do not bargain very well.  Their flirting and light teasing sometimes works to their advantage, but overall, they are only fair negotiators.

That said, the items that they create and the value the creations bring, more than make up for their deficiencies in bargaining. 

One complaint that is commonly "heard" on the internet is that many women viewers are disappointed because of the the things they "pick".  When they heard about the show, many women thought women pickers would be picking "womanly" things.  Instead they are crawling through old sheds, barns, etc and picking old iron, wood, tin, etc.  While some women love it, apparently many women don't find it appealing. 

So overall, I find the show interesting.  Unfortunately for me, I find it a bit boring.  As mentioned, the flirting and teasing get a little old and there really is very little excitement with what they are doing.  They aren't finding treasures, but rather worn out seemly junk that they turn into really attractive things.  While mildly interesting, it just isn't that appealing.  I watch, but I don't go out of my way to see it.  Still it is much better to me in many ways than The Pickers (which I will write about soon).

Check it out though.  You may enjoy it.

We are in the midst of an estate sale in Austin TX.  Like many things, estate sales are a little different in Austin.

We had a nice crowd and as always had a lot of fun.  It was a great sale and I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Just for fun I did a little research on the Internet, checking out the web sites of other Estate Sale Managers in the area.  There are a lot of people who do estate sales here, as you would expect.  There were some interesting differences.

One thing that was surprising is that some local companies charge a "Setup Fee".  For example, one company apparently has 3 principals.  When they have an estate sale, they charge in excess of $100 per person "Setup Fee".  This means several hunderd dollars are taken off the top of the estate sale proceeds.  They also take off the advertising costs.  Then after they have deducted all of that, they do a 60/40 split.  Wow!  Why would anyone put up with that?  What do they think a commission is for? 

Looking around I saw several other references to Setup Fees including on one website that proudly proclaimed they do not charge those fees.  Good for them.  They understand what fair business practices are and do not try to disguise their fees by  calling labor costs Setup Fees, charging the clients for it, and then charging a more than a full and reasonable commission on top of that. 

We work on a commission basis and never add an extra fee here or an extra fee there to try to pad our return.  Working on a straight commission is the the best incentive one can have to provide the absolute best service you can provide.  

Austin is fun.  We love doing sales here. I know there are a lot of good, hard working, fair minded, and honest estate sale companies in Austin.  It is a pleasure working alongside of those professionals.  The efforts of the good professional companies working together can help change the bad image that many people in Austin (and elsewhere) have of the Estate Sale industry.

Come check out our sale in Austin Texas.

More changes to report.

We have recently expanded my FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) section of the website.

If you click on FAQs on the menu you will be taken to the FAQs page where there are now two sections.  One is for Estate Sale clients or prospective clients and the other is for the Estate Sale customers. 

As we get other questions we will add them to the page. 

If you have any suggestions then please click on the Add a New Comment just below this article.  We always appreciate hearing from you.

I am often asked "Who does your website?". 

I am very proud of our website and am only too aware of its value and the importance to my business.  It is one of my most important tools. 

At first I had someone I knew in Beaumont who had made a couple of websites build my first one.  Unfortunately, it was not very effective. Pages on it sometimes took minutes to load, it had little information, and really was not very attractive.

Then almost exactly five years ago, Michael came to one of my estate sales and left a proposal (for a website - not the other kind).  That actually is how we met.  A short time later I had a nice professional website.  Since then it has continued to grow and has developed into what I believe is the best estate sale website in the entire country.  Michael continues to work on it on a regular basis to make sure that it is state of the art. 

He also takes care of the Search Engine Optimization for the site.  That is the process for ensuring the website does well in the search engines. If you search on Google for Beaumont Texas antique stores, he currently has 6 websites in the top ten for those search terms.  That is tough to do.  

For those of you who do not know, Michael has operated a website design and hosting business since 1995.  He did it fulltime for about ten years while he did antiques on the side.  A few years ago he switched to full time antiques and websites on the side.

He has developed over 300 websites in the past 16 years.  They are in almost every industry and business type from fishing guides, doctors, antiques, auctions, motivational speakers, authors, cities, blogs, historical organizations, small online sales businesses, food industry sites, resturants, party planners, high school reunions, artist, nature sites, band/music sites, organizations/associations, charter boat services, attorneys, and so many more. 

He also is an expert in Search Engine Optimization.  His websites including mine, do extremely well in the search engines.

Until just a few years ago, he hosted close to 200 websites, mostly fishing related.  These days he specializes more in antique related sites, but still takes assignments in any field.  You can check out his work at Antique Webs Overnight and Webs Overnight.

Just as information, Michael is also the owner of the Tattered Suitcase and the Antique Mall of Beaumont. 

There are plans for some other new and exciting features coming to the site soon.

See you at a sale soon.

Hi, Everyone,

Just a quick note about the Antique Mall of Beaumont and the Tattered Suitcase.

Both of these shops are owned by my partner, Michael Mathews.  They are both great shops and I enjoy it when I get a chance to visit them.  It is fun helping with them on the rare occasion that I can, just like he enjoys helping me with the estate sales when he can.  However, I don't have anything to do with their operation.  That is all Michael's area.

Michael also owns Appraisals of Southeast Texas and Antique Web Sites Overnight.  (He operated a web site design service for 12 years which is why my site is so nice.  :-) )

Several years ago, I founded the Antique Mall of Lumberton, which I owned for over five years.  I also founded the antique mall in Parkdale.

I really enjoyed operating those malls, but after my estate sale business grew, I decided to dedicate myself to providing the absolute best estate sale service that I could possibly have.  That is still my focus.

I hope you will all visit Michael's shops when you get a chance. Both of them are a lot of fun.

See you at a sale soon.

Vivian

I hope you were able to go to the Tattered Suitcase last Saturday for George Wentz's Art Show. It was really great.  Several hundred people came to visit with George and to see the art.

Michael will have the art works there until they all sell.  Stop by if you get a chance. It is fun to see George's paintings and you can own a piece of Beaumont's history - art by George Wentz.

There is more information about George and the Art Show on his web site at http://georgewentz.com.  (Michael designed the site for him.)

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to remind you that I am a certified appraiser, as is Michael.  We are both proud members of the Certified Appraiser's Guild of America.

If you ever need to have any of your antiques, collectibles, or any personal property appraised, let us know.  This can be for insurance purposes, estate planning, divorces, donations (IRS requires an appraisal for donations over $500), or any other reason.  We can appraise almost any kind of personal property.

The appraisal is a very formal written report that is accepted by the insurance companies and by the IRS.

We are also Expert Witnesses and can testify in court when needed.

Since I am usually busy with the estate sales, Michael does most of the appraisals.  There is more information about our service at our appraisals web site http://appraisalsofsoutheasttexas.com.

See you at a sale soon.

Vivian

Just a quick note about the mailing list.

If you are not on the list you should join. Our Mailing List Members get the latest information and pictures for the next estate sales AND we occasionally have SPECIAL SALES just for the members.

Each Wednesday night we send out an email to the Mailing List Members that has the information about that week's sale including a list of major items, times and dates, directions, and pictures.  There are also links back to the web site where there is more information and LOTS more pictures.

To join the list, go to the Home Page and click on the button on the left side that says "Click Here to Join Our Mailing List".  Then just follow the instructions on that page.  When you email your request, you will get an email from us to confirm that you want to be on the list.  When you open this email, you need to click on Rely and then Send.  That will place you on the list.

If you join the list and still do not get emails from us, then try to join again.  If you still don't get emails from us, then you may need to add us to your "White List" or "Approved List" with you email provider.  That is especially true with anyone using AOL.

If you don't want to be on the list, don't forget that we have a HOT LINE.  You can call 409 893-8888 after Wednesday evening and hear a recorded message about that week's sale.

We hope to see you soon at one of our sales.

Check out the Home Page.  Michael added this for me and it is fun.

We will be adding more of the talking images to some of the other pages later.