How To Make Money From House Clearances Step By Step

Jonnytwotimes

Hi, Just thought I would make a contribution.

2009 I sold my removals company which I had for 6 years and I would like to show how I made a lot of money from house clearances even though I did not do house clearances or advertise house clearances.

For this you will need access to a van or in some cases it can be well worth your while renting one or borrowing one or if you don't drive make a deal with a van man or a friend and possibly some storage.

First of all the main reason I did not advertise house clearances is because it can get real messy and as far as I can remember you needed permits to carry waste etc so I left that well alone, but every now and then people would phone and ask would I do a HC and I would asses whether there was any value in it.

So what you need to do is advertise in shop windows, gumtree, community boards etc for HC.

Now this is important were not interested in collecting peoples junk. We want the treasure.

You will be absolutely astonished at what people will PAY YOU to take away and you may find it hard to keep a straight face. Let me give you some examples. A well know estate agent asked me to clear out expensive London apartments out of all furnishings which were brand new on a regular basis. One of their clients put employees in there and sometimes they did not need the furniture or something like that I cant exactly remember the exact reasons, but the point is after I researched and priced everything it was worth on average about £15,000 each time. At one stage my house was full top to bottom with furniture which was slowly being sold on eBay.

Another time an education company asked me to remove about £10,000 worth of children s books brand new. I sold them as a job lot on ebay. there were many many more jobs like that.

So when somebody calls you asking about a HC first find out if its complete junk, if it sounds like treasure say you will go and do a valuation. When you get there if its junk quote them an outrageous price and pay to have it tipped legally if they accept which most likely they wont. If it looks like it could be worth money have a detailed look and say you will call them back with a quote in the meantime research its value and selling potential and if its good quote them low just to cover your initial costs of van etc. You may need to rope a few mates in to help, you do the clearance and you can either offer them a percentage of the total sale or pay them a flat fee that's exactly what I did and still do sometimes.

Thats it very easy and low cost to set up. They only thing will be going out to do valuations but as I said most of the time if its a company calling it can be easy to get an idea over the phone if its valuable or not.

I will try to answer any questions you have.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I think you are trying to give the impression its easy quick money...

its far from it.... alot of the house clearance firms/people i know are struggling, as there are too many fly by nights thinking its quick easy money....

You need a waste carriers license, public liability insurance, commercial van insurance.... you will also need an exemption for your business unit. as obviously you can not store the house clearance items in your house....

Also dont forget, a very high percentages of HC there is total carp which is basically is only fit for landfill, which will cost you approx £100 per load/ton.

Alot of relatives are now doing the clearing themselves, due to the costs, and not to be ripped off by HC people not paying the true value for things, and also charging ott amounts to do the clearance ( some clearances you pay for, others you charge to do)

And then you have your tax and insurance to pay,,,

House clearances are not a one man/person job.... so you will have to employ someone to help you..

I realy do hope that this thread does not encourage people into thinking its quick easy money...

Edinburghlass_2

My tip would be never to use someone like the OP as you will be done

Jonnytwotimes

I did not intend it to seem like you will be rich over night nor do I have any intention of having people done and I do resent that comment. I posted my experience of this market in good faith in the hope of helping people come up with some ideas, especially in the current economic climate. Perhaps somebody might already have the van or the insurances in place and may want to add another string to their bow or was thinking of going down this avenue already.

You wont have people calling you everyday offering you £1000's worth of goods I would have thought was obvious, but if you do get that call I wanted to advise people on the best way forward making serious money from this.

I did not expect to get shot down by starting a thread intending to help others.

afro25

It sounds like something to look into, but as others have said it's probably alot more difficult than it seems at first glance.

six_gun

A friend of mine does window cleaning and met someone who used to be in the same business.

This guy however moved over to HC.
He said he had done a "course" in Bristol, there was some sort of test or similar at the end but everyone passes.
He was busy going all over the country with this work.

I wondered what this course was.
What the test was about.
How he was getting work all over the country.

He must have the registration for move waste.
I wonder if he was a subcontractor.

My friend has not seen him again to ask him.
Clearly if you were getting subcontracted work on a regular basis that was a good start and then once established it would be easier to go on your own.

Any information welcome.

Additionally does anyone know of a forum dealing specifically with this?

it-is-only-me

Well, what can I say.... I run a professional house clearance company and have done for many years & to be honest its not all the op is making it out to be. It is definately not a way to get rich quick (or rich at all for that matter). It is a very demanding, stressful and at times heartbreaking work. Also be aware that the waste permits/ hazardous waste- which is required for tv's, fridges, paint etc & the insurances for this line of work are not cheap and are necessary. There are occasionally items of value to be found but these are few and far between as people are not as daft as the OP is making out and know the value of the items and in most cases ask for these to be knocked off the bill or sold seperately and the monies added to the estate. That being said if it is 6 years since the OP completed a clearance the world out there is now a very different place and everyone (me included) is looking after the coffers. No offence intended in this post but just felt that the view from the frontline should be added.

Jonnytwotimes

it-is-only-me wrote: »

Well, what can I say.... I run a professional house clearance company and have done for many years & to be honest its not all the op is making it out to be. It is definately not a way to get rich quick (or rich at all for that matter). It is a very demanding, stressful and at times heartbreaking work. Also be aware that the waste permits/ hazardous waste- which is required for tv's, fridges, paint etc & the insurances for this line of work are not cheap and are necessary. There are occasionally items of value to be found but these are few and far between as people are not as daft as the OP is making out and know the value of the items and in most cases ask for these to be knocked off the bill or sold seperately and the monies added to the estate. That being said if it is 6 years since the OP completed a clearance the world out there is now a very different place and everyone (me included) is looking after the coffers. No offence intended in this post but just felt that the view from the frontline should be added.

First up I never said it was 6 years since I did it. Once again I am not saying you will be rich overnight. I cant see any way to make this clearer but I am not advising anybody to set up a fully fledged HC business. If you are unemployed or have time on your hands what Im saying is its worth putting a few adds up especially if you have access to a van and see what sort of a response you get. That's it

I do apologise if my initial post has given the wrong impression but as I have said already I never ran a HC business or advertised it which is why I am advising thats its worth looking in to just see the response and you may just a get a few lucky breaks for all the time it takes to put a few ads.

it-is-only-me

Jonnytwotimes wrote: »

First up I never said it was 6 years since I did it. Once again I am not saying you will be rich overnight. I cant see any way to make this clearer but I am not advising anybody to set up a fully fledged HC business. If you are unemployed or have time on your hands what Im saying is its worth putting a few adds up especially if you have access to a van and see what sort of a response you get. That's it

I do apologise if my initial post has given the wrong impression but as I have said already I never ran a HC business or advertised it which is why I am advising thats its worth looking in to just see the response and you may just a get a few lucky breaks for all the time it takes to put a few ads.

Fair doos, but taken into account the amount of fly by nights who operate with no paperwork, tip on the nearest country lane (leaving the original owner to foot the bill, and face prosecution!) all who im sure do exactly what you are advising- ie buy a van, see it as easy work and then realise the implications involved especially when they go to the local council tip and are told they cannot empty business waste there and realise they have charged £20 for a van load that will cost them £80+ to get rid off. Not to mention do a crap job and leave the few reputable companies marked with an industry wise bad name.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Jonnytwotimes wrote: »

First up I never said it was 6 years since I did it. Once again I am not saying you will be rich overnight. I cant see any way to make this clearer but I am not advising anybody to set up a fully fledged HC business. If you are unemployed or have time on your hands what Im saying is its worth putting a few adds up especially if you have access to a van and see what sort of a response you get. That's it

I do apologise if my initial post has given the wrong impression but as I have said already I never ran a HC business or advertised it which is why I am advising thats its worth looking in to just see the response and you may just a get a few lucky breaks for all the time it takes to put a few ads.

what a load of tosh........

if someone takes your advice they will be breaking the law the minute they put an item in their van/car....plus no insurance etc...

people like you give the genuine HC firms a bad repuation....( or what you are telling people to go and try and do)

I am in the recycling industry, and i see people thinking they can make a quick buck at it.... and then they come unstuck, and realise, as they havent got a flipping clue, they lose money left right and centre, and end up dumping stuff, as they havent got the money to pay the landfill duty, which i think is around £97 at the moment..

pelirocco

Has anyone watched 'Storage wars' on sky? It shows unpaid storage unit contents being sold off to the highest bidder , they always find some hidden treasure in there ( funny how people cant pay their storage bills yet have high value items stored lol ) . We have had customers who havent paid their storage bills , but they only ever leave rubbish lol


As someone who has all the required licences , insurances , and paid a lot of money for them , I have seen business struggle because others dont run their businesses legit and can therefore 'afford' to undercut prices