Sale of a Lifetime

Once an inventory has been created and you know what will happen with everything in the home, you’ll be asked to sign an agreement not to take anything else out of the house after a certain date. If the content of the home changes, then the estate sale company will have a hard time delivering on its advertising promise to potential buyers.

Ask the company how and where it will advertise your sale. Estate sales are often advertised on the Internet, in the classified section of a newspaper, and on signs in high-traffic areas. Internet and classified postings may include pictures and a detailed list of what’s for sale.

The Price is Right

Now does the actual sales process work? Once you’ve decided on a company and signed the agreement, a swarm of people come into the home, sort through the belongings, clean silverware, glassware, china, and then organize and price everything. Most estate sale companies will designate various rooms for similar groups of objects—for instance, there’ll be a china and silverware room, a clothing room, and a bedroom furniture room. They may bring in their own tables and linens for the purpose of displaying sale items. Lockable display cases should be provided for small valuable objects. Once the pricing and preparation are complete, take one final walk-through of the house if you feel it’s necessary.

Estate sales are typically scheduled toward the end of the week. The estate sale staff helps buyers and records all purchases.

“We also generally ask the family not to be there,” Davis says, because “it can be a very difficult time” for them. The vast majority of sales are two days only, with a handful of the larger sales running three days, says Nucera. After the first day, the items that are left are marked down for the second day.

So what does the estate sale company get for all its work? Ebenezer’s fee includes everything: set-up, pricing, and an end-of-sale “pack-up,” which involves either donating to charity or disposing of items that don’t sell, then cleaning up the home once that’s finished. Some estate sale companies may charge extra for packing and cleaning. Ask about add-on charges and understand exactly what’s included in the organization’s fee before signing a contract.

Estate sale companies have a minimum amount of money for which they’ll work. For Piccadilly, it’s $7,000. For Ebenezer’s Hands and Hearts, it’s 30 percent of the gross proceeds, or a minimum donation of $1,500. If your sale only nets $1,200, Ebenezer still gets $1,000. Estate sale fees generally hover in the 25 to 30 percent range. If a person has a disproportionate number of small items to be priced, the fee could creep up due to the amount of time it takes to price each item.

When it’s all said and done, ask for a copy of all the accounting and a tax-deduction receipt if items were donated. And remember, you get to decide how involved or uninvolved you want to be in the process. But it will go more smoothly with the experts in your corner.