Side gig turns into full-time auction store in Marion
Staff writer
Don and Karen Wedd have transformed a side gig into a downtown Marion business with Uneek Auctions.
The couple conduct both online and on-site auctions.
They have been doing auctions since 2014 but moved the business to Marion earlier this year.
The transformation to full-time auctioneers happened after both lost their full-time jobs during COVID-19 shutdowns.
“I haven’t worked for a paycheck for years,” Don said.
Having more time to devote to their auction business allowed them to grow it. For a while, they operated out of Peabody, where they live, in an old church building.
When they started, they bought inventory online and sold it online. People said they could make a lot of money doing that.
Nowadays they are hired to do auctions.
They try to do an auction about every two weeks, Don said. Some recent ones have lasted more than a week.
Each online auction is set to close on a particular day. Lots start closing in the evening, and the auction is over at midnight.
“We offer shipping so people can pay online,” Don said.
Many customers pay in the downtown shop and pick up their items there.
When people come to their business from out of town, they may bring others with them and do business with other merchants, restaurants, and the like, Don said.
Some auctions, such as estate auctions, sell items stored in the owners’ homes.
One family called them in a hurry because the house already had sold and the contents needed to be gone within a week so the new residents could move in.
In those instances, customers go to the estate to pay and pick up their items.
“This year, we got our real estate license as well, so we can be all-inclusive,” Karen said. “We can sell the house and the contents.”
Uneek Auctions also offers consignment auctions.
Their business covers a large area, including central, western, and southeast Kansas, Oklahoma, and southwest Missouri.
Their online page has more than 21,000 registered bidders in the area and more than 100,000 registered from outside the area.
Karen said that the couple was trying to set up a lunch-and-learn event, and that, at some point, they will be featured in a documentary.
“We’ve always had a love for antiques and stuff, and grew up going to auctions,” Don said.
Karen is a Peabody native and Don grew up near Great Bend.