By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Lincolnville auctioneer Joe Vinduska and his wife, Tish, have the estate auction routine perfected.

Friday, they ran an estate sale for the family of a Marion resident.

In all, 132 people eager to get a good buy came to the couple’s new location in Marion’s Industrial Park.

The Vinduskas started with tables containing boxes of jewelry and household décor, holding up a handful of jewelry and décor items.

Vinduska bantered with the crowd.

As Tish held up a box of jewelry and bidders were slow to bite, Joe said, “They’ll work for fishing lures in a pinch.”

His words drew a chuckle and the first bid.

A wooden box of jewelry sold for $22.50.

With Tish holding up a box of necklaces, Joe picked out a few and held them up.

“Depending on who you are, it’s a belt or a necklace,” he said. “If it’s a belt, you need to gain some weight. Come to our house. We’ll fatten you up.”

Jewelry prices went up as bidding went on.

A box of old children’s books went for $27.50.

Tish picked up a large, red footed vase. Joe took it and said, “Here’s my shot glass. One glass and I’m shot.”

The auction went well, Joe said.

It’s a business Joe could not do without Tish. She’s as much of the business as Joe is.

“When I met Tish, I was cleaning out a property at Little River,” he said.

At that time, Joe wasn’t an auctioneer, but he set up auctions for banks.

“On our dates, we were loading auctions,” he said. “I said, ‘This one is a keeper.’”

They married in 1994 and officially entered the auction business in 2000.

Their next sale will be Nov. 19, followed by an auction Dec. 3.

The couple plans a flea market Dec. 11 and 12.

Turnout at Friday’s auction was so good it pointed to something more that needs to be done.

“We’ve got to get more chairs,” he said.

Joe said the couple go through a house in preparation for an estate sale and select the most auctionable items. Other items are disposed of by family members of the owner.

He sometimes has to stop family members from throwing away high-interest items.

One recent house was so packed with items there was no way to walk through it. Much had to be discarded first.

The family, however, was tossing Matchbox cars, still in original boxes, into the trash. Knowing the cars were likely to fetch high bids from collectors, Vinduska had to tell them to stop pitching them into the truck.