I’m going to walk you through the estate liquidation process that we deal with everyday in situations such as yours. Hopefully, this will leave you feeling more knowledgeable and relaxed about what it is that you are about to go through. Panic and worry seem to melt away once you are informed and well read about the procedures that we liquidators go through to ready your home and personal items for complete liquidation prior to emptying your home for you.
Assessing the home
- To begin with, Jennie and or crew members will visit your home or the residence in question. We will walk through and do a thorough review of the contents and reach a decision as to whether or not to proceed with an estate sale. Should your contents not be enough for a sale, rest assured we will put you in contact with a reputable and caring local charity which will best suit your needs, where your families belongings can be best used and appreciated by those who have little or nothing of their own.
Finding your liquidator
- In the case of the home having well enough content to actually proceed with a sale, now is the time for us to agree on a commission and negotiate the contract, and sign such to begin our work in order to liquidate your estate. We don’t like to waste either of our time in beating around the bush to decide when and where; it is best that you are ready when you call us to interview our company, so that you can make an informed decision on who will best fit your needs. We like that you choose us with an open and educated mind and that you will always be happy with the finished product, and that you did in fact make the right decision.
Beginning the basics
- After setting a date for the sale to be held (at least seven to ten days after contract signatures) we will ask to have a key and full run of the home to work in day or night, depending on how much there is to do. We will then begin to unearth, clean, sort, photograph, research, and market your items for sale. Within a few days we will send out an email invitation of what is available in your estate to our trusted clients and loyal following. We shall send an additional email or more during the four days prior to the pre-sale, adding any significant items we find during the rest of the week. The mailing and flier information are costs we share from the gross proceeds of the sale itself, as well as any print ads, pre-sale or worker food, labor or crew and basic clean-up costs. This will all come out of our pocket and be reimbursed at the end of the sale from the proceeds, leaving the result of the net sale to be divvied up between the owner and EstateSalesHelp.
Building the sale
- After we have organized your home by bringing in dozens or more tables, chairs, cases for display and anything else needed to give your sale, such as tarps and awnings for outside wet weather, we will then price all substantial items that we are able, for the pre-sale and sale beginning at 4pm on Thursday evening. That night being an invitation only sale, your family, neighbors and whomever you so choose, are welcome to attend the sale and buy prior to the public who come from newspaper and public advertising. We begin with the general public sales at 7am on Friday and continue on Saturday from 7am until approximately 4pm with all items marked half off. After 4pm, we generally give away many items leftover for free.
Giving the sale
- Now comes the time for the sale once everything is in order and looking it’s best. In order to make the sale the best it can be, we ask that nothing be removed from the sale after our crew comes to work on the house, save personal items which we have set aside for your family, any monies found, fine jewelry we will ask if you would like to keep, as well as coin collections and guns or extremely valuable family heirlooms. We don’t want anyone to regret selling something that was part of their family and they are unable to replace. We want the end result to be a happy and contented one, never one of worry.
Catching all the bases
- During the sale, if our crew has any questions for you or your family, we will need a contact number to be able to phone you at and ask any questions that may come up. Should we find something we have a question as to whether or not you might want to keep, we would like to ask you prior to adding it to the sale. As a matter of fact, we generally like the family to walk through the house on Wednesday evening once every thing is in place for the sale, and be sure that nothing they have hunted for and not found prior, is sold and gone before the public comes in to buy. We do ask that nothing we have advertised, or photographed for the website, be removed prior to the sale as this gives the clients a false sense of bad advertisement or the impression that we have pre-sold items, which we will not do.
Financial outcome
- As the weekend progresses, the first day will usually gross 50 percent of total sales, Friday an average of 30 percent, Saturday normally around 20 percent. That’s okay, as we need Saturday for half off, and free giveaway at the end of the day, should you so choose for us to give your family’s items to the poor and needy at the end of the sale. The clean up will take place on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning until all is done. If you so choose, we will clean the yard, garage, entire premises and whatnot, adding this costs to the end of the families net results and paying for it from their end only.
Finishing with pride
- Our goal is three fold; to make this process as painless as possible; allowing us to do the hard word and show respect for the memory of the deceased, to enable our clients to find magnificent items to add to their collection at a fair and decent price, and in the end to make a living from a business we love being a part of in every way. With these things in mind, we do our best to please all of the people we deal with, while holding tight to our integrity and following our hearts with the knowledge that we are doing the best job we are able and earning a track record we can be proud of.
- The following is a guide for shoppers more than clients who hire us to help them have a more enjoyable time of coming to the sales, waiting to enter and buying the items they came to obtain as well as follow up etiquette of post-sale behaviors and expectations.
- Estate Sale Etiquette
- There are many different ingredients that will help your time spent at any given estate sale be more enjoyable both for you and your guests as well as the host presenting the estate sale.The following content is more a guide than a rulebook but might be a good list to print out and bring along with you, should you be visiting one of our estate sales in the near future for the first time or even if you are already a fan of our estate sales but find your experiences not as positive as you would hope they might be.
- By following these rules, you can be sure to have a fun and profitable time on your future visits and also be welcomed back time and time again to upcoming estate sales we may host.1) Following line or list rules; sign up, wait patiently for your time to enter and do not leave the premises once your name is on the line list. Enter in order of signup.
2) Never smoke on the premises
3) Watch your language as well as the volume of your voice; you are not at a ball game or in a bar setting, you are visiting another person’s property and more than likely they recently lost a loved one and are sensitive to your behavior and your words
4) Do not litter, bring it home with you or dispose of properly.
5) Have your own boxes and or wrap for items you will purchase with you at the sale, do not expect the company or family to provide them or the labor needed to wrap your items purchased
6) Have cash on hand for purchases, do not expect the sale to take credit cards or accept your personal or business check if you have not already cleared this with the host company or family giving the sale
7) Do not push, shove or be too aggressive while shopping, wait your turn at cases
8) Never, and I mean NEVER shop from the hold tables or touch anything that another person has put on hold…this means NEVER!
9) Buy every item you choose for keeps. There are no returns at an estate sale. You are not at Macys. This is buyer beware territory and when you spend money on something that is broken, chipped or damaged, it is normally priced accordingly. Bring a magnifying glass, your glasses, a small pin-light, anything you may need to choose wisely. Once you buy it, you own it. There are no returns of any kind in most sales.
10) Bring help loading your large purchases into your vehicle; don’t count on the company to have labor to help you load or a truck to bring the item to your home. While some of our companies may offer this service, many don’t. Come prepared and think ahead.
11) Bring your own SOLD tags with preprinted name and phone number on them. Do NOT sticker anything sold that you do not plan on buying….ever! This is one of the biggest gripes I have about buyers. They will come into the sale and put their name all over the house on all sorts of items and then lose interest in their choices leaving them for the next day. This is unacceptable. By doing this, you cause the company or family selling the items to take less money or be forced to give a discount on the item the next day as you have taken it off the market during the premium hours of the sale, the initial opening period when folks are all pumped up to spend money. Once the initial opening is over, the crowd dies down and we do not have the momentum needed to get top dollar. This is one mistake I have a hard time getting past and will land you in the ‘do not invite’ list of my company names. We actually have a healthy list of names of dealers who are not allowed to participate in ANY of our sales. Since we have over 80 houses to empty a year, more than likely you don’t want your name added to that list.
12) Watch how and where you park your vehicles; parking in a no parking zone or area will leave you with a healthy fine at least and a towed vehicle at worst…in between stands dents, scratches and nasty notes from neighbors whose driveways you have blocked….so beware and following signs and warnings of colors and hydrants. Use your head and act accordingly.
13) Don’t bother the neighbors. This means stay off their property; don’t sit around in front of their homes and by all means, leave them alone and give them their privacy. Put the shoe on the other foot and imagine how you would feel if you had your neighborhood inundated with strangers and cars, noise traffic and over-stimulation of crowds.
14) Upon check out of your choices, be quiet. Hold your tongue and allow us to add your prices in peace and quiet receiving a better discount and making the job for the cashier or pricing person easier. The more you yack, the less chance there is of your getting a healthy discount as the pricing person will need to go back to the beginning of their job and add all the items again. Also if you picked up a priced item that is tagged 50 or 100 dollars, don’t act surprised that it does not cost 2. Thanks in advance for being intelligent and not making our jobs any more difficult than they already are.
15) Dress accordingly. If we invite you to a digger sale and tell you that the place is crawling with spiders, rodents, bugs and is full of dirt and dangerous conditions, don’t wear a dress and sandals. Instead bring gloves, dust mask, closed toed shoes, flashlight and the like. Think of what you can do to make your visit easier on both yourself and the host and come prepared.
16) Try not to argue with the host or company that is giving the sale, let alone the family who is going through this ordeal. Be amicable. Try to put yourself in their shoes and reverse the roles. Treat folks and their property with respect and honor. Remember that in order for you to shop amongst this content or property, someone had to die or be removed to a rest home. Chances are that the loss is still fresh. Think of how you might feel if your own parents had passed and you were forced to sell all of your childhood belongings and family heirlooms to get the family home ready to sell or lease. Imagine the loss and pain you might be feeling and how much worse that would be with some nincompoop coming in and being spiteful or mouthy in the midst of your loss. This is the number one way to get me to ask you to leave, by being disrespectful of the family and their ordeal.
17) Wait your turn. Whether you are in line to view jewelry, see weapons, get checked out or to pay the cashier, wait your turn patiently. The quickest way to annoy a cashier or crew member is to act like your personal problem or desire is far more important than the guy in front of you or worse yet, all 50 folks in front of you. Be an adult and wait until you are called and then you will get your question answered in the order people lined up or grabbed numbers. You would not want someone taking cuts in front of you and likewise, others don’t want you being helped before them when they came first.
18) Remove your purchases promptly. Don’t leave furniture or large items on the property longer than the sale takes place. We are not in charge of the home or property after the sale is finished. If you leave your purchases on the property for longer than the days of the sale, you risk losing your items altogether and having them go back to the family ownership or donated when we clean up the house.
19) Do not take food and or drink into the home. While we try to provide you with snacks and beverages at every sale, we would appreciate your eating these outside of the home so that we don’t cause any more damage to the carpets than necessary.
20) Use the port-a-potty outside instead of using the family toilets. We try to furnish you with outside toilets and hand- washing stations at every home. If we do not, you are normally welcome to use the home’s bathrooms but we would prefer if we do have a bathroom outside, that you use it instead.
By playing along with the rules of our estate sales and making an effort to follow the guidelines listed above, you will be sure to enjoy the sales, get along with others and still be welcomed back time and time again. Thanks so much for reading and remember, we will be back in town from North Carolina the end of the month and will host another 8 sales in the coming two months. We hope you will join us…
From our family to yours, good luck in your searches and best wishes with all the challenges life throws your way.
Thanks for the read.
Jennie