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.