EBTH: If you know, you know. It’s an acronym that will land you a pair of vintage hard-to-find side-table lamps in the wee hours of bidding. To me, Everything But The House felt like a secret society that others seemed hesitant to divulge. But a platform that offered pre-loved items with a search engine and local pickup? I couldn’t resist going to ebth.com and creating an account to bid.
Growing up in a thrift store/yard sale household, the thrill of the hunt and the resale panache was genetically imbedded at an early age, and how much you saved/earned was a badge of honor (once, I sold my sister’s antique twin bed at my mom’s yard sale while she was at her high school job.) So when I first joined EBTH, the urge to bid on every shiny piece of jewelry was a trying battle, dear reader. If you like a bargain and unique finds, I dare you to (cautiously!) step into the Everything But the House online realm, where beauty and bounty mix and all is only a click away.
Here to tell us more is Pamela Winslow, Business Development Manager for Everything But the House.
The inception of Everything But the House: how did it all begin?
In 2008, Jacquie Denny and Brian Graves posted the first sale to EBTH.com. These two estate sale and antique enthusiasts envisioned a company that would carry on the legacy of interesting secondhand goods and change the way they are discovered.
With an initial focus on bringing estate sales online, EBTH’s passion for helping people and the continued development of our powerful platform made shopping and selling pre-owned easier and brought together a broader audience. The team has coupled a full suite of easy-to-use technology with a full-service approach to consignment, revolutionizing how homeowners, estate managers, dealers and collectors connect with a world of shoppers seeking rare and wonderful things.
How are you different from other auction houses?
Our approach is unique: each item starts at just $1 and we do not charge a buyer premium. This encourages excitement from our nearly 3 million registered users, which helps our sellers realize the most competitive auction prices in the industry. Our team of experienced curation specialists also make sure that all the items are accurately authenticated and described which drives buyers’ confidence in the items they are looking to purchase. On our estate sales, we will often take much more of the seller’s inventory than our competition. We look to sell lots with values of $150 or higher where many of our competitors won’t take items less than $500 in value.
Beyond Cincinnati, where else are you located?
Everything But the House’s primary processing center and corporate headquarters is in Blue Ash, Ohio with a secondary processing center in Columbus, Ohio. EBTH can help sellers throughout the United States by utilizing our remote crews and mail-in services.
What items are most sought after?
EBTH has a very diverse buyer base that actively purchases items in all of our major categories that include art, jewelry, fashion, collectibles, home decor and furniture. We passionately serve those who have and want uncommon things, living at the center of a community that celebrates the rare, historical, weird and wonderful. The more unique the item the more our buyers tend to follow and bid on the item. We have a strong connection to buyers from the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana areas so any items with specific ties to those areas tend to have excellent sale results.
Some clients have been in their home for decades, describe how Everything But the House helps ready their home to market.
EBTH starts our process with one of our Relationship Managers providing a free consultation. We work with the sellers to determine which items they may want to keep in the family, donate to a charity, dispose of, or which items would be a good fit to sell through our platform. After that consultation and if the seller chooses to proceed to contract with us for our service, our team of specialists will work quickly to organize, pack and remove the items to be sold from the home and transport them to our facility. We will photograph, authenticate, describe and prepare items to be listed for sale. While we prefer 30 days to prepare for a move, we have accommodated requests as soon as a week after the consultation. Moving all of these items out of the home helps alleviate one of the seller’s biggest hurdles to get the home ready for sale.
How fast or frequently are sellers paid?
Seller proceeds are paid out within 2 weeks from the completed sale date of the item. Seller payments are processed each Friday with checks sent every Tuesday.
If items that don’t meet your desired parameters, which nonprofits do you partner with locally?
New Life Furniture Bank, AmVets, St Vincent De Paul, and Goodwill Industries.
Rumor has it you’ve had many celebrity clients. Is there a favorite piece to date?
We have sold fashion for Susan Lucci, a Tesla belonging to Jack White from the White Stripes, an entire estate of items owned by Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, and a toy collection owned by Danny Woodburn, best known for his role as Mickey Abbott on the sitcom Seinfeld.
What is on the horizon for Everything But the House?
EBTH is excited about our new partnership with Sibcy Cline as it supports our primary mission to create relationships with organizations that are all about helping families in our communities.
We’d also like to expand beyond this region. We have Business Development Team Members in PA, IL and FL that will help us grow our geographic footprint in those regions of the country.
How can sellers connect and learn more or start bidding?
To register to bid, people can go to ebth.com and register to get a bidder number. To do an estate sale, or consign items with Everything But the House, please call Pamela Winslow at 513-477-1631.
