If you're working with an estate sale company or planning on doing it yourself these simple tips will guide you to have the best estate sale you can have. That means that you'll feel good with the results and so will the shoppers at your estate sale. Having an estate sale is the best way to declutter your home, downsize or unload inherited items quickly while making real money. You'll recoup much more value through an estate sale versus using Offer Up, eBay or Facebook Marketplace. But to ensure you're getting the most bang for your effort, and it's a lot of effort, here's what we advise.
1. Plan Ahead for Success - What to Sell, What to Keep
Before contacting an estate sale company, it's crucial that you know exactly what you want to be sold and what you don't. Surprisingly, most people haven't figured this part out yet, which prolongs the hours spent getting ready for the sale. This may be a long process and it may take months. And that's ok! There are people in North County San Diego we trust and recommend, like decluttering expert Ashlee that can help you with the emotional side of letting go. At Coastal Estate Sales, we will help you box and sort once you decide what can go. If you have items' original receipts, dig those out. If you have any valuations or appraisals, definitely find those as well.
2. Pricing Right is the Key to Sales
When we host an estate sale, you can be as involved as you'd like to be. If you want to be hands off and just receive the proceeds and documentation, that's your prerogative. For homeowners who want to be involved in the pricing, we welcome the input. If being involved in pricing and other decisions is important to you, make sure you discuss this with estate sale companies at the interview stage, before you hire them!
Pricing estate sale items is an art. You have to be aware of local prices, national prices and trends. Some items hold their value, some increase in value and unfortunately, many more items decrease in value.
3. Estate Sale Home Staging
Home staging for an estate sale is where we really have fun. Our staff includes home stagers and artists who love to create a beautiful, inviting atmosphere that draws shoppers in. Think about a home for sale and the difference that great staging makes. Similarly, walking into a rundown, outdated mall doesn't encourage shopping, while walking into a boutique with interesting things may draw you in for hours.
One secret I'll share is to group similar items together. You may be tempted to create little vignettes, which you can do here and there to showcase something, but don't go overboard. Picture that beautiful boutique and how it's color coordinated. As you group them, neatly arrange them and make sure they are accessible. As we take note of all of the items we'll be selling, we're also thinking about how we can arrange everything. That means tables, shelving and hanging racks.
4. Estate Sale Discount Days
Ah, discount days! A shopper's favorite day of an estate sale. All estate sale companies handle this differently, but generally, the first day of an estate sale, all items are the prices listed on the price tags. The second day of an estate sale means a discount of anywhere from 20-30%, while the third and/or final day of an estate sale usually means 50% off. Sometimes, an estate sale runs longer than three days and sometimes there are so many items unsold that the discount increases to 75%!
5. Provide Stellar Customer Service
We like to think that this is where we outshine other estate sale companies. We genuinely love what we do, from the client relationship to the home staging to the sale process. There are several different roles at an estate sale and we try to put the best people in each job. If you're hosting your own estate sale, think about who you will have answering questions about prices and items and who will be manning the payments. Bad attitudes make for poor customer service. I've seen many people put down items they were planning on purchasing if they've been turned off by a homeowner or someone unused to customer service.
You will have many questions about pricing. Sometimes, prices fall off and it's almost impossible to remember the prices on a thousand items (that's a literal number). Many times, a customer wants to negotiate. Decide ahead of time what days you'll negotiate and how much you'll negotiate if you have high ticket items. That will save you a lot of stress and time when it happens!
6. What To Do with Unsold Estate Sale Items
This is actually up to the homeowner. In some cases, a house is being cleared out and needs to be cleaned to be put on the market. In other cases, the client is downsizing and planning to keep some of what doesn't sell. We work with local non-profits to donate what's left or alternatively, we can help you to sell larger and/or more expensive items after the sale. This may mean online, at a consignment store like Consignment Classics or even at an auction house.
With these savvy tips in mind, you're well on your way to maximizing your estate sale profits and having a successful sale. Give us a call, we'll roll up our sleeves, help you to get organized, and turn your unwanted items back into money.
Happy selling!
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