The West Bottoms of Kansas City. By Suzy Ince

I was going to write about the reinvention and re-purposing of Kansas City's West Bottoms. I was going to write about how wonderful it was that after years of quiet desolation the West Bottoms was thriving again. How a ghost town, in my town, had found a new heartbeat. How the buildings were full of color and people. How the West Bottoms, which had sat mostly empty since the great flood of 1951 which put an end to the Stock Yards and packing plants, had become inhabited again.

I'm sorry to say I can't.

Instead I have to write about the death knell that has once again begun to sound in the area by the river.

For years the buildings below the Kansas City buffs sat empty. Business that once thrived had literally washed away. Those that stayed saw traffic dwindle to an intermittent drip. As the business moved out; the dust moved in. And so those old beautiful brick buildings, with their hefty wooden floors, and interesting wooden beamed ceilings, sat empty, and lonely. Until, the haunted houses moved in. Then there was, from the end of September to November 1st, a flood of teens and twenty-somethings looking for nothing more than a good scare. And boy did they get it.




The Edge of Hell opened in 1975 and relocated to the West Bottoms in 1989.

The Beast opened its bloody doors in 1991.

The Macabre Cinema also opened in 1991. 

All can still be found securely rooted to the West Bottoms area. Each church of horror drawing somewhere from 3 thousand to 8 thousand fright seekers a night on the weekends. And they still are. Want some more information. Click here, if you DARE. West Bottoms Haunted houses

But that is only three buildings.

Then around 2007 a little store called Good Juju opened its doors on the first Friday of the month.

It was open only for that first weekend of the month and every first weekend since. Hipsters and thrift shoppers, Antiquers and re-purposers timidly sought out this new store. Filled with memories of yesteryear and the ever popular "one man's treasure is another man's junk." They liked what they saw and told their friends. And so, another store opened, and another. Soon the West Bottoms First Friday sales was an event. It was the place to be. Stores like



RE:,



Bella Patina,



Hickory Dickory,



Hello Sailor,



and Bottoms Up


were the places you'd scour every first weekend looking for that one of a kind thing you never knew you always wanted. (Yes I stole that line from "Fools Rush In, with Matthew Perry and Selma Hayek. Haven't seen it, go now, find it. You are excused from reading the rest of this blog. My husband disagrees, he said I stole it from him.)


People began to flock to the West Bottoms again.





Food trucks jostled for prime locations to snag the hungry or peckish shoppers looking for a meal or just a snack to perk them up. Street performers took to the streets for a laugh and a tip. During Halloween season these performers teamed up with the haunted houses to remind people that more was coming when the sun went down. Bands began playing on the loading docks of some of the stores, drawing crowds and luring customers in for that last minute of shopping. It was fun to hang out and meet like minded people. Perhaps run into an old friend. Young couples could outfit their new digs on dimes and dollars. Everyone was happy.

Then one First Friday in 2016 we showed up at the gravel and dirt parking lot only to discover a seedy looking individual with questionable credentials barring our way. Armed with a lawn chair, beach umbrella and a fanny-pack, he insisted that we were now required to pay for our once free parking spots.

Our group looked at each other, scratched our heads and drove down to the river to find our parking for free. Of course it was a bit of a hike, but we were there to save money, not hand it over to some scruffy looking guy standing by the parking lot, I use the term "lot" loosely, who may or may not be on the up and up. The shop owners were as equally perplexed as the shoppers. They had not been privy to this change in the status quo and it was unclear in their contracts exactly who had control over the "parking lots." There were additional opportunists and rough looking characters in the open areas under the 12th street bridge with their hands out collecting parking fees. This always gave me pause, seeing as how the area under the 12th Street bridge is owned and maintained by the city. It is altogether unclear under whose authority the parking fees were being collected. That was the first time my happy feeling was missing on the ride home with my friends. The community feeling among the shoppers and the shop owners was diminished. A part of the new West Bottoms feeling, was missing. As we talked we came to the conclusion that greed was the driving force behind the paid parking lots. It wasn't a good sign.

This last First Friday we were dealt an even bigger blow. Hickory Dickory, one of our most favored places to shop, announced it was closed. I blinked a few times as I read the announcement.

"After five years of asking all of our amazing customers and friends to visit us at HD at this time every month, it is with a heavy hear that I inform you that this month is different. Due to unfortunate issues with a new landlord, Hickory Dickory had made the very difficult decision to close our doors indefinitely."

No, no, no, this cannot be true. Yes, it was. Lucky for us the reminder of the announcement held a small gold nugget,

"However, as you so often hear, when one door closes, another opens and our case is no exception to this well known life motto.

Join us on our NEW journey form The West Bottoms to Westport! 

Opening August 2017, a new concept chalk full of uniquely curated good. Lemon Thyme will be located on Main street in Midtown KC.

Stay tuned for more announcements and details to come!

When life gives you lemons, it's LEMON THYME, folks!"

LEMON THYME

3921 Main Street

Thursday (evening): 5:00-9:00

Friday: 9:00-9:00

Saturday: 9:00-6:00

Sunday: 12:00-5:00

While this is a happy ending for the Hickory Dickory owners, I believe that this is the beginning of the end. The original owner of the building the Hickory Dickory crew rented from had history with the area and seemed to understand the delicate economic revival in the West Bottom. He had endured years of basically nothing, and should have relished in the reality of tenants capable of paying rent. He certainly should have been aware of the low overhead, which was a prime factor in making the whole West Bottoms First Friday's happenin' thing possible. He owned several of the buildings around the area and when someone came calling with an offer to buy the building it was too good too be passed by and he took it. I don't blame him.

As the new owner and landlord took possession of the building, repeated assurances were made to the HD owners that he would not raise the rent. Assurances were made that they were in this together, and every effort would be made to grow the HD business and make it successful. Whatever it took to make HD a smashing success would be done. Yet, after the first few months, the rent was raised significantly. The HD owners asked the new landlord to give them a week to respond, and countered with a list of things that really needed addressed if they were going to pay additional amounts for the space. Keep in mind, up to this point, virtually all improvements to the property were done by HD, at their expense, and in good faith, in the interest of all parties. The new landlord accepted the new terms and promptly failed to follow through with the necessary improvements. Relationships degenerated to the point where a third party was required to be present at all meetings. The months went by, the list of agreed upon improvements still undone, the landlord comes to collect the rent, and with no notice, requests double the amount HD had previously been paying.

Unfortunately the new owner seems to understand none of the aspects of the West Bottoms First Fridays happening. The community aspect. The razor thin operating margins. The desire of some goodhearted, and/or civic-minded people to be there, not purely for economic gain, but simply to be a part of it all. The subtle intricacies of the knife-edge economic conditions enabling the shop owners to continue to operate are real and cannot be wished away. The new owner seems to believe there is money to be made and all it takes is to squeeze the lemon a little bit harder.

And that, as they say, was that.

I admire the Hickory Dickory owner's nerve to give up and start another business venture, The Lemon Thyme shop. I applaud her get up and go and so glad she got up and went. Unfortunately the new landlord has purchased several of the buildings that are home to our beloved First Fridays haunts and I don't hold any hope that he will treat these tenants any better than he did HD. I fear a mass exodus of shops from the West Bottoms will begin soon. Will those owners be able to survive to fight another day, at another location? I can only hope. For now my prayers are with you all. Let's hope the West Bottoms survives and doesn't return to the Ghost Town it once was.

My Latest Find. By Katie Kucharski

Hi again! I am super excited to share this with all of you! I don't even know where to start, but I guess I will just jump in.

I have been looking for a small piece of furniture that needs a little TLC to fix up this summer. (As a substitute and future teacher I have a lot of extra time in the summer.) Anyway... I began looking earlier this spring at all of the estate sales, garage sales, and antique stores I walked into. I was not having any luck... it is the curse of looking for a specific item. And I was even pretty broad with what I was looking for but still couldn't find the right piece.

Just when I had kinda given up for the summer I spent the day shopping with my mom. Yep someone went with me on this trip, I didn't even have to do it alone. As we were finishing up our trip for the day I spotted the perfect piece of furniture.

Please ignore our storage behind the table.

Yes indeed this is a mid-century phone table! I absolutely love it! And it is in good enough condition that it won't take too long to fix up but still needs a little bit of love. In my next blog post I will show how I fixed up this piece to be one of a kind. It will be a little bit before I post that, but you can be sure to look for it. And please comment if you have any wonderful ideas about the table. I may like the idea enough to use it for myself, giving you some credit of course. I will let you know what I did and include steps to refurbishing and reviving older pieces that you just love but want to update just a little.

Swap n' Shop. By Suzy Ince

When I was little, 1968 or so, every Sunday, with out fail, my mother would pack up her station wagon with blankets and paper bags and head to the Heart Drive-In. 

Not what you're thinking.

This was every Sunday Morning. 

Armed with a thermos of black coffee and a doughnut or two, she'd leave just as it was barely getting light and drive down the street, not to be seen again until later that afternoon. Carefully secreting her finds into the basement, away from Dad's eyes, where she would would fiddle with them until such time as she thought they were ready for public, read dad's, consumption.

Some time in the wee hours of the morning the Heart Drive-in would undergo a magical metamorphosis. Erasing the tubs of popcorn and candy wrappers that were strewn across the lot. A lot that just moments earlier held car upon car of moviegoers, many who'd ridden in the trunk to get out of paying, and into the Sunday Morning Swap and Shop. Traders and Junkers from across the Kansas City area would descend upon the little Drive-in by the Little Blue river and set up their booths to sell their wares and trade with others.

The junkers, a very friendly and close knit group of people, would just as soon talk your arm off than have you buy something, would scatter their wares on blankets and tables, enticing passersby with a cup or coffee or a fresh made cinnamon roll. After a few minutes a sale or trade would be made along with a hand shake and a friend for life.

My mom was an antiquer. She had an eye for that old, yet valuable piece that was lurking, unbeknownst to the the seller, at the edge of a table or blanket. Sometimes she came home empty handed, but in good spirits for having a great time in her search. Other times the back of that old station wagon would be bulging with goodies. 

Her parents, my grandparents, were at most Swap n Shop Sundays. Grandma selling Amber Madrid glass that she'd found cheap somewhere around town at a low price and would resell it for a pretty impressive gain.

Grandpa taking that money would be buying as fast as Grandma could rake in the dough.

They were the original Jack Sprat and his wife, except with money, and in reverse. 

The Heart Drive in, thanks to the repeated flooding of the Little Blue river, closed in 1985 and is no more, but the heart of the Swap n Shop lives on around town and across the US.  

Nates 's in Raytown, is the Kansas City area's oldest Swap n' Shop and is open year round  every Saturday and Sunday from 5am to 4pm. It will cost you 1.50 to get in and if you want to sell it's any where from $10 for cars up to $30 for a mobile home. Here is the website for more information.
https://natesswapshop.com/

The Boulevard Swap & Shop will cost you $1 to get in and $15 to sell. They are open from 5am to 2pm. Unlike Nate's, Boulevard drive in is still a working theater. Get there early and shop all day. Take yourself out for a quick dinner and come back, of course you'll have to pay to get back in, and watch a first run movie. http://boulevarddrivein.com/wordpress/

It's been many years since my mom visited the Heart Drive in Swap n' Shop. Since then, the Saturday morning Garage sale on the radio has come and gone. It took lots of luck to sell something over the radio, basically sight unseen. In its place have popped up online Swap n Shops, such as...the Facebook Swap n' Shop. Search your town's name on Facebook for a Swap n Shop page near you.

And there there is this.

Varage sale? I guess that's a cross between Virtual Reality and Garage sales? These are also local home grown sales sites that encourage you to meet in a public place once you have decided to purchase/sell something. 

But for those of us who like the interaction between actual people the Swap n' Shops are still around. These days you don't have to bring your own coffee and doughnuts, there are plenty of food trucks to satisfy every form of hunger you might have. It's not just for the die hard shopper looking for that one of a kind deal either. Today's Swap n' Shops are a family affair. Now a days parents shop while their offspring listen to live bands or peruse to their hearts content through tie dye nirvana. Those who are looking for something to refinish, re-purpose and reuse are still in luck. and for those who are looking for something new or slightly used are happy too. 

All in all, there's something for every on at the local Swap n' Shop.

Happy Sale-ing

The Sale Groupies. By Suzy Ince

The estate sale world like many popular cultural events, have groupies. Yes, groupies, like Queen or The Eagles have groupies. 

Not the screaming crying groupies of the Beatles, which fainted with every shake of a mop top. Not that we haven't experienced screaming, crying and fainting at estate sales, but those usually come in the form of a wee toddler who knows how to work a room.

I'm talking about the faithful.

The people who will crawl out of bed at the butt crack of dawn and venture bleary eyed, through a snowpocalypse, driving one handed, while the other wipes the fog off the window, and the other balances a steaming cup of coffee, (Driving, wiping, balancing, oops too many hands, or are there?) all because The Brass Keys Estate Sale Company is having a showing. (Showing the new term for a sale in the estate sale community.) 

Like Grandma always said, "If your on time to an estate sale, you're already late."

They come in one, two, threes or more, but they come and wait quietly outside for the doors to open, so they can be the first ones in the doors.

They wait in the rain. 

They wait in the snow.

But they wait, and wait, and just as the doors open some jerk pops to the front of the line and says, "This rock, is my line holder. I placed it here this morning. See, I was waiting in my car over there." And you will stare dumbfounded as he is the first one to walk in the door. You want to kick him, punch him, hit him with your thermos of hot coffee, or pour your hot coffee on him. I personally would go with all of the above. It's not right that you stood there for hours to be the first one in the door and yet this jerk just plopped his keys, shoe, rock, or toenail clippings, in front stoop and then took a nap in his car. Some estate sale companies allow line holders and you should check their websites before you show up early. Fore warned is fore armed. Knowing a company does NOT allow line holding, gives you the freedom to pick up any keys, rocks or shoes, (Don't touch the toenails.) and fling them into the street. It might cause a stir with the one who put them there, but you have right on your side.

Okay, enough said. Back to the wonderful world of groupies.

Groupies are the life blood of the estate sale world. I myself have sorted these into the following classifications.

First you have the Pickers.

These are the pushy guys who put out line holders at several sales at one time. They are bullies and try to push the cashiers into giving them a deal on the first day. Deals as we all know are reserved for the last day of the sale. They are usually loud and talk bad about the sale even as they are seeing it for the first time. Disregard anyone you see talking down a sale or a company. You're an adult, make up your own mind.

Next there is the Interior Designers.

Usually a woman, but there are men out there. They know quality when they see it and are not afraid to pay the price for it. They are gentle beings out to help a customer of their own. They are often seen with a measuring tape or swatches of material. If you are in the market for an interior designer of your own don't be afraid to approach them and ask them for a card. Then watch them carefully as they fret over several items. If you feel they have good taste give them a call.

Which brings me to restaurant owners.

Looking to enhance the atmosphere of their Bistro, they too are seen with measuring tape in hand. One of our groupies actually comes in his Chef's coat. This helps him advertise his establishment, while he is looking for just the right piece that will welcome you into his world.

My last classification of Groupie is,

The Girls Day Out.

I say girls, but I've seen just as many guys come through the doors with their buds. These are people out having fun for the day. They may have a certain item they are looking for, or they don't know what they're looking for until they stumble across it. They've been together forever and you can watch them motion to each other when they see something they feel the others would like. A cheer can usually be heard when they've struck gold. It's a fun day out and there's no stress to anything they do. After a few sales, it's off to lunch, to plot out which set of sales they will tackle next. Suffice it to say this group is my favorite.

Which ever classification you fit into, and you know which one you are, remember that estate sale companies are working, not only for themselves, but for a client. So if you can't get that Faberge egg for a buck-fifty remember it's not up to the sales person to change the price and if you want to play the odds make sure you are the first one in line on the last day, which is when you can get the deal you were hoping for.

Happy  Sale-ing.

Age is Just a Number. By Katie Kucharski

Estate sales. Vintage shops. Antique stores. Oh My! No matter how many of these I attend I will still walk around feeling odd. But why? Just because I am usually the only one under the age of 30 walking around and actually interested, not just dragged.

This is my Mom, Sister, and Me. Yes we enjoy vintage hats. And we look good!

But lets back up for a minute...
I was the kid who accompanied everyone to these places as a kid, and sure sometimes I would be that  kid who was throwing a tantrum. But for the most part I love to be there with the older members of my family, listening to their stories of memories of similar objects, and imagining the stories of the items that were unique and sometimes just odd. I learned so many things about my family and just history in general that I almost always was excited to jump in the car and have an adventure.

And so I grew up appreciating the amazing things that one can find at an estate sale or antique store. I still go as a semi-independent young adult and just look at the past through a modern lens. I knew from a young age that music sounds way better on vinyl (still think so), furniture should be made of actual wood and built to last, and some of the best treasures are found when and where no one is looking.

This is my record player, I love it and have a wide variety of records to play on it. 

So... Now that you know way more about me than I thought I would ever share on my love of the past and its objects, I will move forward to the present. After I grew up roaming the past for objects that tell a story, I find myself still going on Saturday mornings just to see if anything has a story to tell. I often find myself walking around with people twice my age or more, and while this isn't as strange as it used to be (Thank you hipsters!) I still find the looks to be interesting. There is nothing inherently good, bad, or judgmental about a look in anyway. I can just always tell when I am getting a look that questions why "This young lady is walking around alone looking at things that were made well before her time."

I don't mind the look, I really don't. But just know that the next time you see me at a sale and look over with the look, I know you what you are thinking. And maybe next time you will engage in a conversation to see what I am on the hunt for that day, because you may just have the story that I am looking for. Either way, look out because if I am hunting for something I will find it, but don't you want to be in on that story? I know I would.

Remember age is just a number. My outside number is 26, but inside... well my friends tell me it's like 80, but however you look at me I am just looking for an adventure and a story. So stop and talk, I would love to hear your story too.

Katie


And yeah... I am rocking a sweet vintage dress with flowers and my aviators. I'm killing it too!

The MONSTER under your sink. By Suzy Ince

After working for an estate sale company for a few months, I knew I needed to change a few things about my life. I am not a de-clutter you life guru, or an organization aficionado, but I don't want anyone to delving under my sink either.

NOT my sink. This looks much better than mine.

It's an unspoken horror that we all live with. If it doesn't go on the counter, or into a drawer, it disappears under the sink, never to be seen again. I know you can't believe this, but I, myself, was guilty of this horrible act. Then, I had the honor of getting several bathrooms ready for an estate sale, two weeks in a row. Not only did I feel the need to rush home and shower with scalding hot water, I also thought I should probably make an appointment for a tetanus booster. 

So lets talk about,

The monster under the sink

It's scary and sometimes it's hairy, but it's not insurmountable. We all have one and acknowledging it is the first step to taming it. Possibly I'm not the only one with this problem so I'm baring my soul and letting you in on my dirty little secret and letting you know what I found in the darkness below.

My big monster under my sink, was the dreaded used Toothbrushes.

I was saving them for...I don't know, but I had seven of them. Why, Suzy, why? I guess I thought I'd use them to clean stuff. You know get the nitty gritty out of those oh, so hard places to reach. When I purchased a new one the old one went into a Solo cup under the sink, where they sat long enough for several layers of dust to encase them before I found them again. I put on my disposable gloves,(because honestly people, those gloves you keep and reuse are disgusting, git rid of them,) and threw them out.

For some reason I had a lot of loose cotton balls stuck to bottles of hair spray, contact lens solution bottles and of course the toothbrushes.

I've never even seen cotton balls like these, but they are pretty cool.

I can't even tell you how many of these there were or why they were even there. Probably from the bottles of aspirin that had piled up under there. Seems like just as you throw one cotton ball away two more pop up to take its place. It's a mystery that even the universe doesn't understand. They were gross and I threw them away.

Sorry I had to address this problem

We all have gross sponges  stacked somewhere in our house. There's no excuse. Clorox has disposable wipes that you use once and throw away. They are cheap and smell nice, every time you use them. Go, buy, enjoy!

Halloween make up

Okay, the drink was not under the sink, but it would have made the experience much more enjoyable and I won't say I didn't have a few after I'd finished. Let's face it I needed one or three afterwards. Beyond the sponges I found a ton of old Halloween make up. 

We are big into Halloween, (I'm on the left, hubby on the right.) so, I pitched the crusty stuff and kept the stuff that hadn't expired. But Suzy, you said to get rid of those monsters. I know, but I couldn't. Next Halloween I'll be glad I didn't. I did consolidate it all into one large freezer zip lock bag.

Yes, the dreaded Permanent rods

I had several boxes of Perm rods stacked up in the back of the cabinet, and my hair is pretty curly. Go figure. If you've ever had a perm you know them for what they truly are, torture implements. Why we can't just be happy with what we have, I'll never know. They like the Toothbrushes had become encrusted with dust. I donated these to the poor straight haired people of the world. May they forgive me.

I took my bags of trash to the dumpster and transported the small bag of donations the the Disabled American Vets, DAV, for short. And after a quick shopping trip I returned to deal with what remained.

No matter what state your monster is under that sink there is hope. Not all your stuff needs to be disposed of, and there are many different ways to cage the monster that remains. Here a few suggestions for the things you really need to keep. These are of varying price ranges and I'm sure you can find something that you can live with.

 Quick note. If you have an electrician on hand a neat trick is to wire some lights that will come on when you open the doors. If you don't have an electrician on hand there are lights that you press to activate, most have double stick tape on the back for easy mounting. Giving yourself some light will stop you from throwing that plastic bag or old make up under there.

But I digress. Here are some examples of a tamed monster.

A final thought.

People please, for God's sake, take a weekend, a week or a month and tame your monsters. There's no reason anything needs to stay there in the moist darkness under the sink. For all you know your junk spawned little monsters of its own and one day they will grow up to wonder what's out there past that little square door beyond the water trap. They may sneak out and set up residence in your closet and start a new colony. Stamp it out now before they take over the world. I promise you'll feel better and God forbid, if something happens to you, someone else won't have to visit the doctor for their booster shots.

Happy cleaning.

Estate Sales 101. By Suzy Ince

Whether you're moving across country, moving a loved one into a home or starting the heart ache of dealing with a loved one's estate, there's a good chance you'll have to deal with an estate sale company.

Most companies these days offer only two types of estate sale services.

Traditional in home sale.

The traditional in home sale. In which the company comes into the home and arranges the items and prices them. They will advertise the sale and will conduct the business from within the home. Make no mistake, the public will be walking through the home. 

You will be asked not to attend the sale or the set up. It sounds sketchy, but believe me you do not want to be there when the workers are dividing things that can be sold and those that will be donated and what needs to go into the trash. It's not pretty, but it must be done. If you have any sentimental attachment to something you should claim it for yourself before the work begins. Because, once the sale begins you will be under contract to purchase the item as any shopper would. That item which brings such cherished memories for you won't carry any value to the general public. Taking pictures of these treasures is a great way to insure you keep the memory without cluttering your home.

 This type of sale usually happens if the family, for one reason or another, do not want the sale happening within the home, or there is not much to sell. When this happens some companies will absorb the contents and place it within another sale, keeping track of your items against those of the sale at hand. Yet other companies have the space to sell the items at their store and you will receive a commission check as items sell. This is a wonderful option if it's offered. Of course, we all envision a space that makes our items stand out and look intriguing. "Buy me you," want it to say.

Unfortunately this is not always the case and your treasures may end up overshadowed or lost in the mire.

A third option, which is growing in the estate sale community, is the online estate sale. 

This scenario involves the item being photographed, priced and put in the company's online shop. Some companies run these as an auction with prices starting at $1 and staying active for on week.

Others are an actual online shop with a set price. These items can be shopped online and once selected is placed in the online shopping cart. The shopper is then redirected to Paypal and the payment is routed through them. You pay shipping. Think of it as Ebay for the estate sale world. 

That, my friend, is a good question. To have a company come in and manage your estate sale?
35-45% of the take, is the usual answer, except for hoarders and that is a topic for a whole other blog.

There is a lot of sweat and back breaking manual labor that goes into getting an estate sale ready. For those of you who've set up a garage sale, magnify that by 90%. 

It's not a job for the faint of heart or the weak of back. It takes a special person, not the eat paste kind of special, to work at an estate sale company. You are asking someone to do what you don't have the heart or the stomach to do yourself.

 Not only should you interview the owners and managers of an estate sale company, but you should take the time to ask a few questions of the people who will really be handing your loved ones items. Ask them how long they've worked for the company. What they like the best about being a part of the estate sale machine and what they like least? What did they do before they decided to work for this particular company? An owner/operator of any company should be happy to give you access to these people, after all you're trusting them to be committed, caring and honest.

If the company you've chosen is worth their 35% they will have specialist on their team. Specialist in china, furniture, weed eaters, statuary, tools, cars, you get the point. Not all companies will have all of these, but they should have contacts to cover the few I've listed. They also should have one or two appraisers available or on staff. 

Certified Appraisers Guild of America (CAGA) is what you're looking for.

The Certified Appraisers Guild of America (CAGA) is a professional accrediting organization providing certification of personal property appraisers. The Guild has been instrumental in helping to standardize the personal property appraisal profession. 

They should also be members of a few estate sale associations. I've listed a couple here.

NESA 

The mission of the National Estate Sales Association is to raise and maintain the professional standards of the estate sales industry while educating the public to make informed decisions when in need of estate sale services.

And.

The American Society of Estate Liquidators.

(ASEL) was established in 2001 out of a demand for a reputable Estate Sale Association to provide education and guidance to one of the fastest growing industries in the country.

I've given you all quite a lot to think about and I'm sure you will never think of estate sales the same. But being informed is the first step to being happy with the outcome of your estate sale sale.

Next blog will be more fun. I promise.