Thank you to my good friend Tracy, of Tracy Diziere & Associates, Marketing Strategies & Communication, for writing up this great article about one of my more challenging organizing jobs.
“I’m excited to share with you a recent WIN for a Get Organized with Bridges client, who was thrilled with the work we did and now feels there is ‘light at the end of what, otherwise, was a very dark tunnel.’ Here’s the story of what we accomplished–yes, it took a whole team!–and how!
Our client was an out-of-town property owner whose elderly mother had lived in the house previously. However, it had been vacant for three years and was scheduled for demolition. After evicting the bird (yes, bird!) that had been living there, our challenge was to: (a) extract and handle the sale of unwanted items of value for our client as well as discover any additional means of maximizing return for him and (b) find, pack, and ship items (including fragile things!) to the owner.
Cleaning House and Making Money
Leather Bound Books that needed to be sold
Among the items to be processed were a ton of leather bound classic books; we explored options with a collector who was not interested and considered a book resale store, but realized that we would only get pennies on the dollar that way. Instead, we discovered Klury.com and made over $1,300 Ebaying these books! We also arranged for the sale of 7 guns for him at a gun shop in Cave Creek and made $770. Plus, some items are still at various consignment stores earning money for the client.
There were a lot of items were dated and old that we simply donated to St. Vincent de Paul. and Treasures for Teachers. Then of course there were items way too dirty to salvage, thanks to our fine-feathered friend! We had a very, very large pile of garbage that we needed to have hauled away. It was Rubbish Works to our rescue on that front. They loaded and hauled away two trucks full of trash and furnature.
The hard working guys at Rubbish Works really saved the day.
Essentially, we provided a full-service organizing engagement, caring for the owners things without him having to lift a finger, including cleaning the items and taking them to consignment. This is part of my program ‘Turn your discards into dollars’ and a way to recoup some monies to help pay for my fees. We even called a reptile rescue group to save the Chuckwalla lizard we found trapped in the shower.
Imagine our surprise to find this guy in the shower.
The Bottom Line
People have to understand that the value of their items is only worth what they can get paid. If too much worry is put into how much money are they going make (or think they should make), they will continue to hold onto their “stuff.” The objective is to move the items along as swiftly and efficiently as possible. The client has to be ready to let go but when they are, we are ready to help! “
Happy Full Service Organizing! Bridges