JKern Auction Group brings the fun of live auction to Sandpoint

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff Writer

Julia Kern is best known as the founder of Gypsy-Girl Estate Sales, which organizes and hosts estate sales around the greater Sandpoint area. But in her more recent endeavors, Kern is branching out.

The latest tool in Kern’s tool belt? An auctioneer’s license.

Julia Kern.

JKern Auction Group will make its debut this weekend with an auction on Saturday, Nov. 4. Kern said she was inspired to become a licensed auctioneer after hosting a number of estate sales that ended with several unsold items. She ended up donating the goods rather than auctioning them, which is what she would have rather done.

To make sure that never happened again, she attended the Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Mont.

“The auction process is so cool,” she said. “I’m going to make it so fun. I think eventually people will come because of how much fun it is, and of course because they get great stuff for a great price.”

Kern said her auction space, located across from JC Penney in the Bonner Mall, is warm, offers plenty of natural light and can hold upward of 100 people. She said it’s the perfect space to house her array of auction goods, which she said are always clean and easy to access.

“Everything I have is clean. I cleaned it myself,” she said. “It’s fun, it’s clean and everything is organized.”

Items featured at this weekend’s auction include bedroom furniture sets, a leather massage chair, propane porch heaters, a collection of antique classic car replicas, a few nice sofas and more. People can preview items on Thursday or Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. or 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the day of the auction. The auction begins at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Just a fraction of the items available for auction.

Kern said she accepts absentee bids, and will tell bidders before an item is auctioned that there is an absentee bid on the item. There are also several “buy it now” items, including mostly books and clothing, available for purchase Thursday-Saturday.

“People ask ‘what does this benefit?’ I do this because of death, downsize and divorce,” Kern said. “There’s so much, there’s something for everybody.”

Kern said anyone interested in consigning with JKern Auction Group should call her at 208-920-3286. To keep updated on upcoming auctions, follow the JKern Auction Group Facebook page.