What Is the Cashback Scheme, Exactly?
The house clearance cashback scheme is a straightforward method of deducting the auction value of your saleable items directly from your final clearance bill. It is the simplest idea in this industry, yet most firms skip offering it entirely.
Families handling a deceased estate often face unexpected financial burdens. According to 2026 industry data, an average three-bedroom house clearance in the UK now costs between £600 and £950 due to rising waste disposal fees.
We aim to reduce or completely eliminate that expense.
When you book a clearance with Coln Clearances, the team identifies anything in the property with genuine resale value. An honest estimate is then placed on those goods to offset your quote before you pay a single penny.
Sometimes this resale value covers a small portion of the price. In other cases, it covers the whole thing.
Occasionally, the items are worth more than the clearance itself, making the service effectively free. This happens most frequently during probate house clearances in older Cheltenham and Cotswold properties.
A lifetime of belongings often quietly builds up significant worth in these historic homes. This offset is not a fake discount applied to an artificially inflated price.
It is a genuine reduction against a fixed per-job quote, shown completely transparently on your paperwork.
How We Identify What Will Sell
We identify saleable items by drawing on founder Ian’s extensive background in the professional auction trade. Ian started Coln Clearances in 2014 after years of evaluating antiques and collectibles. That deep auction experience is what makes the clearance resale offset possible today. When Ian walks through your property or reviews your photos, he accurately assesses each item. He can look at a dining table, a set of china, or a box of old tools, and tell you within a tight margin what each piece will fetch at local salesrooms like Chorley’s.
What tends to have resale value:
- Solid-wood and branded mid-century furniture: Ercol, G-Plan, and classic Victorian oak dining tables.
- China, ceramics and glassware: Moorcroft pottery, Royal Doulton, and undamaged cut glass.
- Silverware and cutlery: Fully hallmarked silver pieces, canteens, and vintage teapots.
- Tools and machinery: Vintage woodworking hand tools and quality older workbenches.
- Books, records and collectibles: First editions, rare vinyl pressings, and specialised coin collections.
- Bikes, prams and children’s items in good working condition.
- Working white goods and quality electronics manufactured within the last five years.
What generally doesn’t sell:
- Fitted furniture and DIY-assembled storage units.
- Ordinary flat-pack items from mass-market retailers.
- Anything visibly damaged, missing parts, or heavily worn.
- Mass-market ceramics lacking recognizable maker’s marks.
- General household clutter and outdated bulky televisions.
Ian is completely upfront during the quoting stage about which category your items fall into. There is absolutely no incentive to inflate values because the offset comes directly out of the fixed price you are charged.
The Maths, in a Real Example
A recent three-bed clearance in Charlton Kings perfectly demonstrates how the maths breaks down in practice. We completed this job earlier this year for a family managing a standard estate clearance.
Commercial waste disposal costs continue to rise across the board. With standard UK landfill tax exceeding £126 per tonne in 2026, typical clearance quotes must reflect these heavy tipping fees.
Our auction value clearance model bypasses much of that cost. The Charlton Kings property contained several saleable pieces:
- A Victorian oak dresser (estimated £180 at auction)
- A dining table and six chairs (estimated £120)
- A set of hallmarked silver cutlery (estimated £220)
- An older wardrobe (estimated £80)
- A collection of Wedgwood china (estimated £150)
Total estimated resale value reached £750. The full clearance would have ordinarily been priced at £680 based on the volume and weight of the remaining waste.
The cashback offset completely covered the entire cost of the service. The family paid nothing for the physical clearance work, and any excess resale value generated at auction went directly into their pocket afterward.
While a fully free house clearance is not typical for every property, it is far from rare in older Cotswold homes. Most clearances generate a meaningful offset that takes a substantial bite out of the final price.
The Curbside Discount, on Top
The curbside discount is an additional price reduction provided when you move bulky items to the roadside before the vans arrive. This scheme stacks directly on top of the cashback offset to lower your bill even further.
Moving heavy items requires significant manual labour and time. If you stage the property by placing furniture outside, the crew spends less time navigating narrow hallways and steep stairs.
This efficiency saves valuable access time, allowing the final price to drop. These two distinct savings combine clearly on your written, fixed-price quote:
| Quote Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Full clearance base quote | £680 |
| Cashback offset (estimated resale) | -£750 |
| Curbside discount | -£50 |
| Final price to pay | £0 (plus £70 excess to you) |
What Happens to the Saleable Items
After completing the clearance, the team routes your saleable items to local auction houses, specialist resale partners, or directly to registered charities. The physical clearance phase is officially finished, priced, and paid at that specific moment.
What happens to the items afterwards falls entirely on the company’s shoulders. We frequently partner with excellent local organisations like Emmaus Gloucestershire for direct-to-charity donations when requested. Anything that can’t be resold or donated is handled through our 90% recycling process, so nothing salvageable ends up in landfill.
You never have to worry about managing lots, transporting heavy goods to salesrooms, or dealing with buyers. Once the clearance is done, your part is completely finished.
Auction proceeds apply directly against the cost of the clearance previously priced. If pieces sell for more than the initial estimate, the business absorbs the upside to cover transport and handling costs.
We take on the financial risk if the market has a slow day and items fetch less. This shared-risk approach is exactly why the estimate at the quote stage must remain conservative and highly honest.
Ready for a Free Quote?
Every Coln Clearances quote is completely free and automatically includes the cashback estimate as a clear line item.
The team covers the entire Cheltenham and Cotswolds region.
You can send photos for a quick assessment to start the process today.
Our team also provides free, no-obligation on-site visits to properly evaluate your property.
Ian personally reviews these requests and will respond the exact same working day.
Get your free quote or call 01242 830849 today to get started.