What is an Estate Sale and How Does it Work?
What is an estate sale?
An estate sale is simply designed to sell off your own or a loved one’s possessions. It is similar to the idea of a yard sale but much more involved and made for selling everything in the home. Every item is organized and marked/priced with a tag and is open to the public after set up.
Set up time can vary depending on how full the estate is, but typically takes 1-2 weeks and a sale will occur on a scheduled weekend.
How does an estate sale work? The stages of an estate sale
So, how exactly does the process work? Here are the stages of an estate sale in a nutshell.
First, the estate sale company goes through the home to organize and separate items into categories, staging the items and displaying them in a shoppable and eye catching way. More valuable items are organized into the main room of the sale, and household items are arranged throughout the house. Photos are taken for advertising and ads are created.
The items are then tagged and priced, and a final walkthrough is done before the day of the sale. Shoppers are organized in a line the day of the sale and let in by order. A steady flow of traffic is maintained throughout the sale and buyers are watched over to keep things politely maintained. Shoppers roam the house to look over items and bring them up to a check out area.
A sale can be 1-3 days, depending on the amount of contents. We try to sell as much as possible, discounting after the first day to move the items along.
After the sale is over, left over items that did not sell are prepared for donations. Any items that cannot be donated are left up to hauling.
When all is said and done, your home will go from being full, to being cleared and ready for its next phase. You’ll have an empty house, ready to be put on the market.
The set up process for an estate sale typically takes 1-2 weeks depending on the amount of contents in the home, and the estate sale itself is done on the weekend within the set up time. Donations and hauling can take up to an additional week
Why you should hire an estate sale company
The role of an estate sale company is to efficiently organize and liquidate your estate. Organizing an estate takes planning and a lot of hard work. An estate liquidation service takes the emotional burden away from the family as they are often emotionally tied to the items, and the process is overwhelming for most people.
Not only do we bring the experience of organizing the sale in a quick fashion, we also bring years of knowledge in pricing and in knowing if you have any hidden treasures in the estate. Having an experienced appraiser not only takes the wondering if anything was a rare and valuable item away, but it also nets you more money in general.
Organizing, pricing and negotiating deals with buyers is what an estate sale company does, all at your benefit to relieve you of the burden so you can concentrate on the next phases of your house afterwards.