Last Updated on May 31, 2020 by Diane Hoffmaster
This post about estate sale tips for sellers has been sponsored. All opinions expressed here are my own.
Last month, my son and about 20 other neighborhood kids all graduated from high school. One of the families in the neighborhood decided that since all their kids were now out of the house, that they were going to move. And they were downsizing considerably! Since they had so much stuff that they didn’t want to keep, they chose to have an estate sale.
Having an estate sale sounds like a great way to downsize and I may just try the same thing when my youngest flies from the nest. Since my empty nest years will get here before you know it, I decided to research a few estate sale tips for sellers to understand the estate sale process a little bit better.
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Estate Sale Tips for Sellers
While you can definitely downsize and make some money at the same time by having an estate sale, don’t go into it unprepared. Look into hiring a professional like Peachtree & Bennett and keep in mind these estate sale tips to make the experience a bit less stressful.
Clearly Mark Your Prices
While you may have to haggle a bit on some prices, customers need to know where your starting price point really is. Make sure items are clearly marked not only with price but details of the piece itself if it is an antique.
Do Your Research
Make sure you do advanced research on items that you feel have significant value. If you have antiques you are going to want to know what the going price is for similar items. Check online action sites for prices. If possible, advertise your antiques or highly sought after items in online forums. Many peopel visit estate sales to find key pieces for their collections.
Make Sure You Have Help
You cannot be in more than one place at a time. Make sure the entire house is properly staffed so that there are people to answer questions in every section of the house as well as someone to be in charge of the money.
Set Up a Purchase Table
You need to have a table set up for purchases rather than just wander aimlessly with a money pouch. You don’t want anyone to back out of a purchase because they couldn’t find the right person to pay. Have one person on staff who’s sole job is to man the purchase table.
Clearly Mark Parking Areas
If you live in a subdivision, you may just have people park on the street. However, if you have a large amount of land, you don’t want people parking haphazardly and creating chaos.
Be Prepared for Early Bird Shoppers
If your sale starts at 8 AM, people will arrive by 7 or even earlier. Make sure you are organized early and ready to greet your over eager shoppers.
Consider a Beverage Stand
Shopping is hard work. You can make a little extra money selling water, soda and lemonade to thirsty customer. This is a great way to keep your kids entertained and let them earn a bit of pocket money at the same time.
Hire an Estate Sale Professional
One of the best estate sale tips I found was to hire a professional to help make your workload lighter. Yes, you will have to share some of the profit from the sale. However, with professional estate sale staff helping, you may very well make more money than if you tried doing it alone.
In the southeast where I leave, Peachtree & Bennett is one of the leading estate sale and auction houses. They offer complimentary estate sale appraisals and auction consignment if you are considering having an estate sale and are unsure where to start
They can help you with the sale of a single item, a collection, or even the entire estate. If you are considering a significant downsize when your kids leave the nest, it definitely helps to get advice from professionals before you get started.
You can follow Peachtree & Bennet on Facebook for more information.
Have any other estate sale tips for sellers to share?
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Perfect timing! We’re looking into selling our townhouse very soon so I needed these tips!
This was so helpful! We are planning on downsizing soon, so I’ve been trying to organize everything. After attempting to keep piles separate, we eventually just rented a dumpster to chuck everything that we didn’t think would sell or was in good enough shape to donate. Thanks for these tips!