If you are one of those fortunate folk who has a tidy house, with just one of anything useful, and empty cupboards, shelves and lofts, read no further. If, on the other hand, you have a house and/or garage, and possibly a shed full of goods which you perhaps have inherited, your teenage record collection and maybe even gifts that the kids have no interest in any more, you might like to carry on reading.
Having run my business for over 25 years selling stamps, and associated philatelic ephemera on EBay and learning to cope with the vagaries of online marketing, I am in a position to be able to a help villagers to dispose of other ‘stuff’ via EBay. Not being an expert in any particular field, apart from stamps, hasn’t seemed to diminish the returns; it’s a big old world out there and there is always someone who knows what something is worth.
Over the years I have been able to help to raise many thousands of pounds for various charities. For St Margaret’s Hospice, the memorable item was a letter written by George Bernard Shaw for which a donation of £500 was forthcoming. Heather Walker of Brockwell Lane was able to donate £635 to the church from the sale of a pre-war Dinky toy found in her attic, and George Burnell, who paid 10p for a paperback at one of Roger Langrish’s book sales, received £675 in respect of a 1st edition of Ian Fleming’s From Russia With Love.
More recently a local couple asked me to look over Grandfather’s coin collection, and they were somewhat surprised and elated to receive the rather staggering sum of £2,650 from Spink Auctioneers in London for a 17th century gold coin minted in Peru. Not to mention £1,200 for the rest of the boxful. Slightly more mundane, but with just a little bit of help that was required, I found a new home for an electric mower in return for £350, for a grateful villager who was no longer able to use it.
If you would like me to help you to dispose of anything, whether it is for charity or for your Caribbean cruise fund, give me call on 01643 841253, or knock on the door.
You might be surprised.
Paddy Parnell
Stag Cottage
Wootton Courtenay 