Estate Sale Company - Any Tips?

[Anonymous]

We have an estate sale company coming to my parents' house tomorrow. My father recently passed away. He was a collector and had many hobbies, but we have also discovered he was a hoarder. We have tried to organize the house as much as possible, but we haven't even been able to get into some of the closest yet. Does anyone have tips on how to work with the estate people? What to look out for? My mother will be moving in with my sister, so we are removing most of the items in the house--everything from comic books to furniture.

[Anonymous]

Be prepared to spend a lot of money to have the estate sale company handle it.

[Anonymous]

If you assess which items have value and have an auction house sell those you will make money. Or you can sell valuable items yourself. If you have an estate sale place handle it you will break even, but not have to empty the house yourself quite as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you assess which items have value and have an auction house sell those you will make money. Or you can sell valuable items yourself. If you have an estate sale place handle it you will break even, but not have to empty the house yourself quite as much.

I meant to also say, you'll need to bring the items to the auction house yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you assess which items have value and have an auction house sell those you will make money. Or you can sell valuable items yourself. If you have an estate sale place handle it you MAY break even, but not have to empty the house yourself quite as much.

FTFY

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry for your loss, OP. My advice is to manage your own expectations. The goal is not to make money. The goal is to clean the place out without taking 1000 trips to the dump and wasting months of your and your sister's time. If you genuinely think there are valuable pieces in there, dig them out yourself like the PP suggested. But otherwise assume it is all junk no one wants.

It's hard - my parents had storage units full of my grandparents crap that no one wanted but that they felt bad throwing away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you assess which items have value and have an auction house sell those you will make money. Or you can sell valuable items yourself. If you have an estate sale place handle it you will break even, but not have to empty the house yourself quite as much.

Bad advice. Some items should go to auction, but you can definitely make money with an estate sale. Leave enough good items in an estate sale to draw buyers to the sale. If you Leave just auction left overs, you can count on no one showing up to the sale. Also, many, many times, items sell for a lot more at an estate sale than at auction. Online auctions are a dime a dozen and you have no control over what bidders decide to bid that day. You have more control over pricing at an estate sale. Take a look at recent local aution sold records...not doing that great. Talk to a professional for better guidance.