ABOUT US
People Don't Bid On Scratched Furniture
For forty-three years, one formula prepared auction inventory worth millions.
It was never sold. Never marketed. Just used.
Until now.
THE STORY
My father doesn't talk much about the old days at the auction house. But when he does, he always starts the same way: "People don't bid on scratched furniture."
For forty-three years, he worked behind the scenes at Whitmore & Sons Auction Gallery in upstate New York. Not the glamorous job—no gavel, no podium, no applause when a Victorian dresser sold for three thousand dollars. His job was Sunday mornings. Alone in the back warehouse. Prepping consignment pieces so they looked good under the auction lights.
Because here's the thing about auction houses most people don't know: they live and die on commission. If a mahogany sideboard sells for $800 instead of $1,400 because of visible scratches, the house loses money. The consignor loses money. Everyone loses.
So my father made sure nothing went to the floor with scratches showing.
He didn't use the garbage products other prep guys used. The waxy sticks that left residue. The markers that looked like a kindergartener tried to color in the damage. The oils that made wood look wet and greasy for weeks.
He mixed his own formula. Kept it in an old Mason jar with no label. Applied it with a horsehair brush on Sunday mornings before anyone else arrived. And it worked.
The auctioneers loved him because his pieces always fetched higher bids. Buyers loved him because the furniture looked like it just left an estate—untouched, preserved, cared for.
He did this for four decades. Long before Facebook Marketplace existed. Long before people were flipping furniture from their garages. Back when auctions were the only game in town if you wanted to move volume.
FROM AUCTION HOUSE TO YOUR FLIP KIT
When he retired in 2016, I asked him for the formula.
Not because I was sentimental. Because I'd started flipping furniture myself and I was tired of losing money on scratched pieces.
You know the ones I'm talking about. The solid oak dresser you bought for $40 that should sell for $180—but it's got dog scratches on the legs. The mid-century credenza that's perfect except for the marks where someone's toddler dragged a toy truck across the top during a move.
Kids. Pets. Moving out. That's where 90% of furniture damage comes from. And that damage costs you money. Real money.
I'd been trying everything. Those wood repair markers from Amazon that dried two shades darker than the wood. The wax sticks that smeared if you touched them. The furniture polish that just made scratches look shinier.
One-star reviews everywhere. "Doesn't work." "Made it worse." "Greasy mess."
So I asked my father: "Can I have the formula?"
He wrote it down on the back of a grocery receipt. Told me where to source the ingredients. Showed me how to mix it, how to apply it, how to buff it in so it actually disappears into the grain.
I've been using it for eight months now. Every single piece I flip. Dressers, tables, chairs, floors—doesn't matter. If it's got scratches, this handles it.
And here's what I realized about three months in: this isn't just a "nice to have" product. It's an investment that pays for itself on the first flip.
You buy a dresser for $60. It's got scratches. You list it for $100 because that's all you can get away with given the condition. You make $40 profit.
Or.
You buy the same dresser for $60. You spend two minutes applying this formula. The scratches blend into the wood. Now it looks like a $180 piece. You list it for $180. Someone buys it in three days. You make $120 profit.
That's an $80 difference. On one piece. From two minutes of work.
My father understood this forty years ago. Every piece he prepped made the auction house more money. Made the consignor more money. Made the buyer happy because they thought they were getting a steal. Everyone won.
WHY WE'RE MAKING IT AVAILABLE
A few months ago, I told him I wanted to start producing this commercially.
He looked at me like I was crazy. "Why would you do that? You're already using it. Just keep it to yourself."
And I thought about that. I really did.
But then I kept seeing people online—people like me—asking for recommendations. Trying those garbage Amazon products. Losing money on pieces they should've been able to sell for top dollar.
I kept thinking about the one-star reviews. "Doesn't blend." "Greasy residue." "Color doesn't match."
And I realized: there's nothing good out there. Nothing that actually works the way this works.
So we're making it available.
My father's still involved. He mixes every batch himself in the same ratios he's been using since 1973. We source the same ingredients. We use the same application method—horsehair brush, not those cheap foam applicators that fall apart.
This isn't some dropshipped product with a fancy label. This is the same formula my father used to prep $200,000 auction inventories. The same one I've been using on my own flips for eight months.
It works on any wood. Oak, walnut, pine, bamboo, mahogany—doesn't matter. It blends into the grain. It doesn't leave residue. It doesn't darken over time. And once it's on, it stays. Even after you clean the piece.
You don't need to match colors. You don't need to guess. You just apply it and move on.
THE TRUTH
I'm not going to promise this will make you rich.
But I'll tell you this: if you flip furniture, and you're not fixing scratches before you list, you're leaving money on the table. Every single time.
My father knew that in 1973. I know it now. And if you're reading this, you probably know it too.
The only question is whether you're going to keep using products that don't work—or whether you're going to use the one that does.
THE NUMBERS
43 Years in professional auction use
$200,000+ in weekly inventory prepped
1973 - Year formula was created
One Mason Jar - How it started
Eight Months of personal use before launch
Sunday Mornings - When the work happened
The Lence Family
Whitmore & Sons Auction Gallery, 1973-2026