BACKGROUND Gary established Gary Hill Auctions in 1983, and, over the past 24 years, the company has grown into a highly successful business. It has given Gary varied experience as an Auctioneer and Appraiser. Gary is a member of the Ontario Auctioneers Association, the National Auctioneers Association (U.S.), a certified appraiser and a member of the Certified Personal Property Appraisers Guild of Canada. During his tenure with the Auctioneers Association of Ontario, Gary served as President for two years and as Director for nine years. He was Canadian Champion Auctioneer in 1995 and 1996, a Second Runner-up in the World Championships in 1995 and First Runner-up in the World Championships in 1996. Raised on a farm in Zephyr, Ontario, Gary Hill, a veteran auctioneer, offers a unique and tremendously successful combination of formal education and lifelong experiences in agriculture, auctioning and marketing. He is a fully licensed, insured and bondable auctioneer. A well-respected and much sought-after member of the auction profession, Gary has even appeared in a TV episode of "Due South" as the auctioneer. Gary Hill Auctions has been integral in helping Ontario's banking, legal and private sectors sell merchandise and property. Having held thousands of successful auctions, Gary has sold everything from antiques, furniture, coins, sports memorabilia, collectibles to real estate, livestock, farm equipment and more! He is personable, entertaining and reputable in the auction industry and highly thought of by his colleagues. Well known for his honesty and integrity throughout the business world, Gary handles an average of three auctions per week and has over twenty-one years' worth of experience working with Ontario's car dealers at weekly auto auctions. He also volunteers his time to several charitable and community organizations.

SALES & SERVICES The Decision To Sell Gary Hill Auctions sells estates and partial contents of homes, including antiques, furniture, household items, collectibles, coins, sports cards, toys, glass, china, tools, lumber, cars, trucks, boats and real estate - house and property. The company also auctions off farm machinery, tools and the contents of close-out/retiring businesses, as well as having on-site farm sales which cover the York and Durham Regions. If you're looking for a profitable and entertaining way to sell your real estate - home, property or contents - at Gary Hill Auctions we have the answer for you. Depending on your needs, we can auction just one item or your entire estate. All items are sold unreserved to the highest bidder, unless you say otherwise. If you would like to meet with Gary, please give us a call. It is not necessary for Gary to see your items, but he will certainly want to come out and meet you. No charge! If you are unsure of what is saleable and what is unsaleable, the best thing to do is wait until Gary or one of his staff looks at your items. You certainly wouldn't want to throw away a valuable antique which may look like junk to you. Gary can give you an idea of what something might sell for at auction, and even whether an auction is the best way to go for you. He can also offer advice on how to go about organizing and/or packing to get ready for an auction.

Appraisals Gary is a certified appraiser and a member of Certified Personal Property Appraisers Guild of Canada. For probate purposes or to help settle family issues when dividing the contents of a home due to a death, separation or divorce, appraisals are often required. If you require a professionally prepared appraisal of goods, Gary will meet with you to view the items. There is a charge for this service which will vary depending on your requirements; for example, if extra research is required for some specific items or if the home is located a distance away. If you would just like a general idea of what an item would sell for at one of our auctions, you can either e-mail us a photo or Gary can quite often give you an idea over the phone and/or perhaps meet with you to view the item at no charge.

The Auction Location An auction can be held on your premises or everything can be moved to our sales arena in Uxbridge. Most estate auctions are held at Vanhaven Sales Arena, 722 Davis Drive, (just north of) Uxbridge. The arena is a large, bright facility with indoor washrooms and a lunch booth which serves homemade snacks. It has a seating capacity of 300 and standing room for 800. Our auctions attract large crowds with the average sale having 400 registered bidders. Most sales start at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Two auctioneers sell at the same time and a third auctioneer takes care of any outdoor items. An "on-site" auction is a sale held on your property. These sales are generally farm or business sales, although estate and moving sales can also be held at your home, if you prefer, and if the value of your items and location of your property and parking facilities warrants it. We have a portable office trailer and are computerized and equipped to handle payments by Visa and MasterCard. Debit payments will also be accepted if we are able to connect to a phone line at "on-site" sales. Of course, cash payments are always accepted.

Preparation for The Auction Items should be packed the easiest way possible in order to ensure nothing breaks in transit. We go through every box to determine how each item should be sold. Furniture items are cleaned. Minor repairs are done if necessary. All items we receive are given a "code" by which we identify who consigned the item to us. It is at our discretion how the items are sold. "Box lot" or "job lot" items are those which have little or no value if sold individually. Such goods need to be grouped together with other similar items, generally in a box, in order for us to get a bid on them.

Commission When the proceeds of each sale are tallied, a commission is deducted and a cheque is mailed within a week or so of the sale to the consignor. A higher commission rate is charged on all items which sell as a "box lot" or "job lot", if that lot sells for under a certain dollar amount; otherwise our standard rate applies.

Clean-up Fee If we do not get a bid on one or more of your items, you have the option of taking it back; otherwise, we dispose of it and you may be charged a disposal or "clean-up" fee. The fee is based on the weight of the item(s). Please advise us when booking your sale if you want any "no sale" items back.

Advertising We handle the advertising for each sale and we advertise extensively, including on the Internet. If the sale is held at our arena we pay for all the advertising. When booking a sale, please advise us if you would like to have your name, or estate name, or business name advertised.

Delivery Whether you have just one item or an entire household, all consignments must be booked in advance by phone or email. For a Saturday auction, delivery is Tuesday and Wednesday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (avoid 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. please) to Vanhaven Sales Arena, 722 Davis Drive, Uxbridge. Please advise if you need directions.

Pick-up If you are unable to deliver your items to our sales arena, we can pick them up at an hourly rate, which includes our traveling time to and from our arena in Uxbridge. If you prefer, we can drop off an enclosed unmarked trailer for you to load (generally we only do this if you have a quite a few items). The trailer drop-off charge varies with your location. The trailer can be left with you for a weekend, or a day or two during the week, depending on how busy we are with our trailers. Any pick-up or drop-off charges are deducted from the proceeds of the sale of your items.

Taxes & Proceeds We are responsible for collecting and remitting all Provincial Sales Taxes (PST) and Federal Goods and Services Taxes (GST) to the respective government offices. Your cheque, along with an itemized report, is mailed to you within a week or so of the auction.

Come and Visit If you wish to attend a sale to get an idea of how we run our auctions, and of how much things tend to sell for, our next sale is listed under "Current Sales" on this site. If you have any questions, or if we can be of service, please give us a call. We would be happy to help you. We welcome both buyers and sellers.