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"Our business is not like a garage sale," Walburn said. "At a garage sale, you know you will never pay what is written on the ticket — you will offer less. But here, the price goes up rather than down."
New online auction service asks customers to 'Bee Green'
Thu, Jun 18, 2009
BY ABBEY MOORENUNICA — Tonja Walburn is requesting that people renew, reuse and rethink their garage sale items this year.
She and her husband run Bee Green Online Auction Services.
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"Our business is not like a garage sale," Walburn said. "At a garage sale, you know you will never pay what is written on the ticket — you will offer less. But here, the price goes up rather than down."
Walburn said she and her husband, Kevin Dewald, started the auction company in an attempt to finish what West Michigan Online Auction had started. Walburn and Dewald bought out the former West Michigan Online Auction.
Although the previous company also linked sellers to buyers, Walburn hopes that Bee Green's new message will prove to be more successful. She said the new name encourages customers to be "green" by recycling and selling their items instead of throwing them into the trash.
Bee Green links sellers to buyers through an Internet-based auction site. Buyers are also encouraged to see the items for themselves at their office at 12261 Cleveland St. in Nunica.
"It's nice to take a peak at something before you buy it," Walburn said.
Their grand opening was May 28.
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Bee Green holds a live auction every Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Bids can be left online or at the showroom.
Customers can submit an unlimited number of items and receive 70 percent of what their items are worth.
There is little restriction as to what can be submitted as an item.
"I just took a look at a huge box of jewelry and we have a motorcycle in the garage," Walburn said. "It's like Christmas every Thursday. It's just like a treasure hunt every single week. Our items are very across the board."
Walburn does some cleaning up of the items to make sure they look valuable and polished, but they will not accept items that are broken or unusable.
"We are not furniture repair folks by any stretch of the imagination," Walburn said. "My background is design, but I sure am learning everything else."
In order to submit an item, sellers must register on the company's Web site. Once a username and password is obtained, the fun begins.
Because registering can be difficult for those who are not computer savvy, Bee Green provides a computer in their showroom for in-store help.
"Most people around here we discovered have dial-up (service), so we have a faster Internet connection allowing them to bid right here at the showroom," Walburn said.
Although their service is somewhat like eBay, Walburn feels that they offer a more customer-friendly service. Rather than spending two days checking on the Web site to keep the highest bid, they limit the auctions to the 13-hour time block.
Walburn also thinks that customers will appreciate the fact that if they want an item they do not have to wait two days to receive it.
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Sellers and buyers must be at least 18 years old to submit an item or bid. Items must be submitted before Tuesday of the week of the sale.
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