Image Credit: Alesia Willard

By James Peters

Treats are her commission

Meet Sadie, Kamloops’ top online sales-model

Oct 14, 2021 | 10:51 AM

KAMLOOPS — A Brocklehurst resident has discovered the key to successfully selling items online: an effective sales-model.

Alesia Willard regularly uses Facebook’s Kamloops 24 Hour Auction page to offload items like furniture and electronics. In recent months, her posts to the page have exploded in popularity — not because of the items she is selling, but because her Siberian Husky, Sadie, regularly appears alongside.

Image Credit: Alesia Willard

“The first time I put her in one of my ads was a total fluke,” Willard told CFJC Today. “She just happened to photobomb it at the last minute as I snapped the picture. I was too lazy to retake it. Everybody loved it and then it kind of just become a habit after that.”

Willard says there is no question as to her most noticeable feature.

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“Her eyes. Twenty-four-seven, it doesn’t matter what she’s doing, she looks like she’s strung up on something — caffeine or whatever. That’s just kind of how she looks all the time. It’s a little creepy sometimes.”

Image Credit: Alesia Willard

Sadie is no ordinary product promoter. Capable of a wide variety of facial expressions, she is adept at attracting attention to herself and to the product being offered for sale.

“Not gonna lie, it kind of started as something that just kept the posts bumped,” Willard said. “I was getting more bids because people were constantly commenting about Sadie, and I was like, ‘Hey, she’s selling my stuff way faster.'”

Image Credit: Alesia Willard

The Kamloops 24 Hour Auction group has more than 48,000 members and hosts dozens of new posts every day. The page is a way for sellers to connect directly with buyers and find new life for items that otherwise might be sent to the landfill.

Sadie is more willing to part with some items than others.

“When I got her to pose on my couch, she was like, ‘This is my couch. What are you doing?’ It’s like she knows that the items are going to be sold,” Willard said. “There are definitely some items she’s less than enthusiastic about and then some she just stands there with a huge grin on her face.”

Image Credit: Alesia Willard

Willard says no one should feel Sadie is being exploited for her unique talents; she gets her commission in treats every time an item sells. Not only that, the five-year-old dog basks in the attention brought on by her newfound online stardom.

“She loves the attention. Anytime someone buys something, they come, they get to meet her — she just loves it. She’s just like, ‘Why does everybody know me?'” Willard said. “We’ve gone out on the streets a couple of times and people recognize her as the Facebook dog. It’s pretty funny.”

Image Credit: Alesia Willard

“It’s gone from being like, ‘I wonder if she’ll be able to boost this sale?’ to not really caring and just throwing it out there because some days are tough and I know that someone probably wants to see a silly Husky face.”

To follow Sadie without joining Kamloops 24 Hour Auction, check out her fan Facebook page.

Image Credit: Alesia Willard