Here's a tip I learned with my rental home that could apply to getting auction payments (smaller scale I know). I had renters who were consistently late making their monthly rent. My contract was written stating rent was due on the 1st but late payment penalties would take affect for payments received after the 15th. The check always arrived on the 15th. The next rent increase & update on the contract I left those dates alone but gave a $50 credit if payment was deposited to my account on or before the 1st. I bumped the base rent up enough so that giving the credit was no impact to my bottom line. Plus, since they didn't use checking accounts and I am in a different state, part of their issue had been finding time to get a money order to send payment to me thru the mail. But I still bank local to them so I made arrangements for my bank to accept their payments deposited directly to my account (w/o disclosing my account info). Now they could stop to make payment on their way home from work or shopping. They were never late again! Lessons learned- 1. make it convenient to pay 2. make it more worth while to be on time. I've seen a few sellers on the auction use bonus' for fast pay, others offering credit card payments. I'm sure there are other creative ways to offer rewards for being fast pay. Of course technology problems always get in there with e:mail and such- maybe listing a good ole fashioned phone number and times you accept calls. For hobbyists who don't want to list their personal phone number on the net there are some tools like inexpensive online call forwarding services (example: accessline.com) that can be used to protect your personal number from view.

Harry - I DO get it. Expansion and growth are a rarity in a flat or down ecomnomy, even for the Ultra Wealthy. You must have made a fine professor, as you have macro economics down pat. I DO get it, the net worth of the majority of the world's wealthiest people is down, so is the majority of everyone's. Does this mean they flee to a financial bunker and stop spending? Heck no, some do , just like some of the merely rich do, just like some of the middle class does, and just like the everyone else. However, many are still out there doing things normally some are even bargain buying like never before: I didn't make up Rolls' or Gulfstream's #'s people are buying them! Even in a downturn big co.s are buying too: Delta just gobbled up Northwest and B of A just wrote a mega check for Merrill. Don't let the media persona of Buffet fool you. A few years back all he'd talk about was how flying commercial was the best thing to do and a private airplane was not smart. What's he do a bit later- buy a Gulfstream? No he buys an entire company full of private jets and keeps the largest Gulfstream there is on standby. Same with his home, his modest $200k +/- Omaha house is real enough, but what about his 15 million dollar place in SoCal that you don't hear about??? Same with his sob story about his secretary paying more INCOME tax than he does. That's because she MAKES MORE INCOME which is subject to income tax than he does. Think she pays more dividend income than he does? Who's AMT tax bill do you think is larger at year's end? Don't take the media's cookie cutter soundbites or eye candy as the absolute truth or big picture. Remember W.R. Hearst's contempt for the masses? "They'll belive what I tell them" Same is true in the media business today. He's an anomaly, the very wealthy spend trainloads of $$$ you just don't see or hear about it because the majority value privacy, anonimity, and their time above all else. DC - while I don't entirely disagree with the premise that the luxury goods sector is down as a whole like everything else, I do wonder about the sources of these stats? Some blogger from Orange Co. doesn't exactly instill confidence in me for the trends of the nation or world as a whole. I gave you 3 examples of rarely debated "luxury" items that have seen rises in sales during a weakening economy. I guess it boils down to what's going to be considered a luxury item and by whom. Does a $1000 Prada purse qualify, or is a luxury handbag more likely a Kelly Bag from Hermes at well into 5 figures these days? I don't think BMW qualifies anymore these days, but they are always included in "luxury car" rankings and catagories by most auto professionals. Another point I'd like to make that I think few around here get or agree with is that companies making luxury or high end goods don't rush to lower prices at the first signs of a downturn. Some not even after many quarters of neg. results , and some not ever. It defeats the purpose of positioning an item or company as "luxury" or " high end" if you are going to start charging lower prices because sales drop. You either create more demand or a better value proposition or you deal with flat or no growth for a while till you figure it out. Some don't and they fold. Businessmen with any seasoning and experience accept that slaes go up and down just like stock prices and comodity prices. They hope that the broader trend is a rise in the metrics that they use to manage and measure their business. So , don't count on a cut rate deal from Sub Zero , Viking or Meile in the frist part of next year or even at all. Long before they consider lower prices you'll see "incentives" like fridge, oven and cooktop full price DW at 25% off or Viking will throw in a set of their knives when you buy theri range. Miele might extend their warranty another couple of years but I'll bet the farm you won't see a sale from a German firm.

Is just the seat of the chairs upholstered? If that is the case it is fairly simple to reupholster the seats. The "slip seat" is usually attached to the frame underneath the chair at each corner; you unscrew the screws. It should take about 1/2 yard of fabric to reupholster unless there is a welt you want to replace. You can remove the old fabric which should be stapled on or if old fabric will not show thru the new fabric you can simply put the new fabric on top of the old. Using a heavy duty staple gun you pull the fabric taut & staple. The corners are the hardest part because you really have to pull hard to keep the corners from puckering. I have seen people that just fold the corners however to me that looks like a home job. An antique dealer probably would not be interested because the set is not at antique age as yet; a consignment shop may be a better bet or sellling to a thrift shop, although you won't get much.

A furniture consignment store may be the easiest. You won't like the amount of money you get back on it though as it may not be much more than a tax writeoff from a charitable donation to a thrift shop if you are in a high tax bracket.