We are a husband and wife estate sale team working in Southern California. While our home base is in Laguna Hills, we have performed estate sales in such various locations as Glendale, Pacific Palisades, San Bernardino, San Clemente, and other Southern California locations. Both Wanda and I have experienced our own estate sales after our respective spouses died so we have some empathy and apprecia
tion for the process. We will do Sunday if there are a large number of items. Generally on Friday the buyers and collectors come. These persons will pay more for goods than the general public and will buy in lots - a dining room or bedroom set for example - rather than piecing out the sets. Currently, the hot items are mid-century furniture, some crystal, jewelry, some electronics, and other rare items. For example, in the last sale this past Friday we sold a 1922 Edison crank phonograph with about 75 old-fashioned 78 rpm records in excellent condition with all the phonograph parts to a collector. Antiques are not moving particularly well but we found a buyer for the phonograph. Some pieces will always move, others will sit for quite a long time. Crystal commands high prices in June and July to be used as wedding gifts. These are just a few examples of the complexities of the market. We have access to a number of buyers and collectors, and know which are more likely to buy a particular item than others. We advertise in a number of venues. Several are websites devoted to estate sales only. We average over 3,500 views for our sales. We also advertise on Craigs’s List, as well as local newspapers, and Pennysaver type advertisements. Most of our clients began with asking what comprises an estate sale below is our response. WHAT IS AN ESTATE SALE? An Estate Sale is a way of liquidating the entire belongings of a family or estate. This is much more than garage or yard sale. (Garage sales generally are held by the individual to sell only unwanted items.) Estate sales are used when someone is in need of a way to sell items due to downsizing, moving, divorce, bankruptcy, or death. The public is invited into the home and given the opportunity to purchase any item that is priced for sale. At times there are items that are not for sale because the family has decided to keep them or new owners of the house have made them part of a contract to buy the house. Estate sales follow a general pattern:
The estimate: an estate sale professional visits the client, talks about the process, examines the house/estate and identifies items that can be sold with the idea of determining if an estate sale is feasible. The contract: If the client and professional determine the sale is advisable and each consents, a contract is signed outlining each party’s duties and responsibilities. The assessment: The professional enters the estate, pulls the goods to be sold, and arranges them into categories. At this point the professional notes any identifying marks, tags, labels, and such. The research and pricing: He/she then researches what the items sold for recently. Most pricing is done at slightly below wholesale. The setup: Immediately prior to the sale, the professional sets up the items to be sold in categories, puts price tags on most items, and works out the traffic pattern and process. The buyers and collectors: Buyers and collectors will frequently pay asking prices without much haggling. Since the process is simpler, most professionals have a list of these persons and contact them offering the items. If the buyer or collector wants to purchase the items, the transaction is completed before the public sale. The advertising: The professional will advertise the sale in a wide variety of media, depending on the local media. On the day(s) of the sale the professional will set out signs in the appropriate areas advertising the sale. The sale: The sale is usually held for 1-3 days, Friday through Saturday or Sunday are usual, determined by the amount of items, the accessibility of the estate, and other factors. The hours are generally from morning to mid-afternoon. There are sales that consume multiple weeks. If the desire is to clear the estate, prices on the last day are reduced. Sales are first-come first-served. The unsold items: In every sale there are items left unsold. Before the sale and as part of the contract, the company and client agree on the disposition of these items and the degree to which the house will be cleared. Usually, they are donated to a charity of the client’s choice with the client retaining the donation slip for their tax purposes. At times the client wishes to retain all unsold items. Any packaging of the remaining items by the company becomes and extraordinary expense and is not shared by the company but paid for by the client. If items are unsold that the company believes can be sold after the sale on the open market, rather than donating, the company can retain these items for a period. If they sell, then the proceeds are distributed in the same manner as the sale proceeds. Clearing the house: Part of the sale process is to effectively remove every item from the house not retained by the client. Usually this also means that the company will tidy the house: remove trash to the outside, sweep the house, and make the house look presentable. It does not mean that the company will clean the house. If the client requests the house cleaned, the costs, including labor, are considered extraordinary, and charged to the client. Trash pickup is the client’s responsibility. There are several other options to clearing the house. One is to engage a company that takes all items remaining, tidies the house at not cost. These companies generally take the salable items for themselves, donate those that are appropriate, with the client retaining the donation slip, and dispose of the rest. This is a win-win for everyone. Other companies will clear the house for a price. The cost: There are a number of ways that estate sale companies charge for their services: Some companies charge a flat fee versus a percentage. For example, they will charge $3,000 as a base or 40% of the total whichever is more. To make the minimum, net receipts from the sale would need to be over $7,500 to make the base charge. Other companies will charge a percentage. 35% to 40% rates are the most common. However almost all companies will charge the costs of the sale – labor, advertising, mileage, food for the workers, and others to the client. Time period: Depending on the company, time factors can vary from a few days to several weeks of preparation for the sale. More to the point, the preparation time is dependent on the amount of goods for sale. A company of our acquaintance needed 6 weeks to stage a sale that spanned 3 weeks. We have conducted a sale that took 3 days of preparation followed by a one day sale. Be aware that average sales consume about 150-200 hours of preparation. Net income: With a percentage split of 35-65, most clients can expect a return of about $2,000 to $3,000. Again dependent on the quality and quantity of the goods, the mood of the consumers, the area of the sale, the intensity of the advertising, and other aspects of the sale, most of which are unpredictable. Some caveats: That Drexel dining room set that cost you $8,000 will not sell for any more than $800 - $1000. Your Amish bedroom set that was built in 1880 will not sell for very much. Hummels, for example, will sell for from $5.00 to $150. Most are in the $5-$15 range. However that crumbling concrete garden art may go for $40.00. Please understand your valuables are only valuable if they are to someone else. Otherwise they are "things". Things aren't very valuable. On the other hand we have sold 75 rolls of toilet paper and 52 boxes of kleenex at a time, used cleaning products, a quarter box of Frosted Flakes, a gross of Campbell's tomato soup, well used fry pans, and other items one would declare are unsalable.
