A day in the life of ....The House Clearance & Bric-a-Brac team
What is a typical day in the life of being part of this wonderful team?
I get in just after 8am each morning as I like to be able to plan my day ahead without any pressure. So, it’s on with a coffee and a catch-up with the CEO to see if there is anything I need to be aware of for the day ahead. Our team of volunteers will start arriving anytime from around 8.30am for a tea/coffee/relax before they make their way up to the mezzanine where we primarily work.
Part of the reason for me being in early is to prioritise what needs to be processed first (and how much). Having large display areas in both showrooms, we need to get a lot done to fill the shelves with items for sale. We have crates filled with donated items from the public or from house clearances and the team are responsible for going through each one. Items are sorted for any breakages and then cleaned, priced and put on display.
A major part of the role involves the House Clearance service. When a call comes into the call centre asking for information concerning the service, it’s directed to me to explain the process to the customer. I then arrange a viewing to visit the property and itemise everything that needs to be cleared so that I know how many people and vans are needed. A no-obligation quotation is provided to the customer there and then and a date is usually set for the clearance itself.
On clearance day we usually take two 3.5 ton vans and up to twelve people and will typically empty an entire house of all its contents in around 60-90 minutes. Back at the unit, we sort and process the items. Care is taken to identify items that have more value or are more collectable in general. These are then researched and photographed ready for sale through our eBay shop. Other items are put aside so that we can take them to a traditional auction.
We also grade and sort clothing before ironing them and pricing ready for sale in both showrooms, this is proving to be another popular service for customers.
During the sorting process we often come up with items that are better suited to our partner organisations and in those instances we distribute the items when we have enough products available. Spectacles are collected and sent to Vision Aid; some of our bedding is sent for the dogs at the Dogs Trust; bikes are sent to a local high school for their bikes project and disability aids are returned to Vision Products. All in all, we do our very best to ensure that items are sent to the appropriate organisation.
So, this is just a snapshot of the kind of operations we get involved with as part of the House Clearance & Bric-a-Brac team and thank you for taking the time to read all about us.