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Love CTBids or Estate Sales? Consider Opening a Caring Transitions Franchise

The senior relocation franchise offers avid bidders and estate sales enthusiasts the opportunity to follow their passion for finding hidden treasures through their auction site CTBids.com, while also supporting seniors and their communities.

By Luca Piacentini1851 Franchise Managing Editor
SPONSOREDUpdated 11:11AM 07/11/23

As the nation’s only total-solutions provider for families needing compassionate care during life’s challenging transitions, the Caring Transitions business model is about making a real difference for seniors and families. And an increasingly big part of that solution is the ability to arrange and host an in-person or online estate sale through the brand’s proprietary platform, CTBids. The online auction site has over 614,000 registered users and over 9 million views a month. Franchisees can coordinate and facilitate online auctions for the client through the powerful proprietary platform and receive a portion of the liquidation sales to maximize their income. Ninety percent of all listed items on the platform are sold. 

Now, as CTBids becomes more and more popular across the country, many estate sale lovers are learning about Caring Transitions for the first time through the platform. And some of these thrifty entrepreneurs are even investing in opening Caring Transitions of their own. 

“In the past, 99% of the people who signed on to become franchisees with us were people who really connected with senior care services and the senior space,” said Ray Fabik, Caring Transitions president. “Recently, CTBids has become so predominant in the marketplace, that we have had a lot of regular bidders and customers who have fallen in love with the process. They find those hidden treasures, meet the local Caring Transitions owners, ask questions and really get excited about the opportunity.”

This is because, just like everything else the brand does, Caring Transitions takes a people-driven approach to the process of estate sales. 

“For us, it is really all about finding a new home for these items,” said Fabik. “These people are selling memories. If we can pass those on to someone else to continue that story, that is really the objective. We had one customer recently who was looking to complete a dining set that their mom had bought from a door-to-door salesman in the ‘70s. They found the last plate in a collection on CTBids. It is a fun and unique way to help and support seniors. It turns out there are a lot of people who want to be involved in facilitating that process.”

Take the mother-daughter duo of Susan and Chloe Roddy, for example, who recently opened the ??Caring Transitions of Eastern Wisconsin. Chloe first learned about Caring Transitions after stumbling upon CTBids during the COVID-19 pandemic when she and her mother were searching for online auction houses to fuel their love for thrifting. 

“We really enjoyed buying through CTBids in particular because the platform really does stand out,” said Chloe. “I furnished my entire house through CTBids! We’ve really come across a lot of cool things. Eventually, we stopped using every other place and just started buying and selling through Caring Transitions locations around us. We really enjoyed getting to know the other owners in the area.”

Both Susan and Chloe worked in the mortgage business before franchising. Susan had firsthand experience moving her parents and step-parent into and out of assisted living, while Chloe previously worked for a cleaning company that helped seniors. Their combined experience and familiarity with the senior care market, as well as their love of CTBids, led them to recognize the strength of the Caring Transitions business model.

“When we decided we were going to do something new, Caring Transitions was the first thing that came to mind,” said Susan. “I know how hard it can be to move elderly parents, and we could see the strength of the business model.” 

Now, as avid CTBid-ers-turned-franchisees, Chloe says she is on a mission to educate fellow bidders on the additional services that Caring Transitions offers, such as relocating and helping seniors. “We didn’t even know Caring Transitions was more than just an auction house before we did our research,” she said. “We really want to show people that we are much more.”

For fellow CTBids users or estate sale lovers like the Roddys, Fabik says the time has never been better to join the Caring Transitions system and take advantage of the brand’s low-cost business model, in-depth support infrastructure and meaningful offering.

“We are thrilled that CTBids is another avenue for people to learn about the power of Caring Transitions and our franchise,” said Fabik. “Maybe prospective franchisees want to help people sell items to the right buyers, or maybe they are interested in repurposing and helping the environment, or maybe they are lovers of estate sales themselves. Either way, this is a great choice for entrepreneurs who are interested in this market and want to take control of their own destiny while doing something they love.”

Caring Transitions has identified these states as priorities for franchise development: Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont.

To learn more about franchising with Caring Transitions, visit https://1851franchise.com/caringtransitions

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