Estate sales are an amazing way of selling all of your belongings. You get rid of everything you might not need anymore and you earn some money. However, organizing a proper estate sale isn’t an easy task. Some decide it’s a good idea to host the sale themselves, but in general, it’s always a good idea to hire someone.
You can decide to sell all kinds of stuff at an estate sale, no matter how ordinary or how valuable. The main beauty of estate sales is the fact that you don’t have to deal with selling at yard sales and similar when you can get rid of everything at once. Yes, the process can be time-consuming and overwhelming, but if you hire a professional, it can be smooth and effortless.
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How does it work?
Estate sales are run by an auctioneer or a professional estate sale agent and they take a fee. They usually take around 25 to 35 percent of the total earnings of the estate sale. They are there, not only to run the estate sale, but also to asses the values of all items, organize and display them for the sale, and generally make sure everything goes well. According to atticstobasements.net, an agent is supposed to stage and display everything in an appealing way that doesn’t make the house look too chaotic.
Rarely people have the necessary knowledge and experience needed to determine the price of a certain object, but prepared estate sale agents have connections and can reach experts in selling art, collectibles, jewelry, and similar that can tell you the value of your possession. Also, since their salary depends on how much money you make of the sale, you can rest assured that they will do everything in their power to get you the best price and help you sell as much stuff as possible.
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How should you prepare for an estate sale?
Before starting the sale, find an estate sale professional that will guide you through the entire process. This is something you don’t want to do by yourself if you don’t own the proper knowledge and experience.
You’ll decide who is best for you by researching and conducting a lot of interviews.
Open your laptop, search for some estate sale companies and read the reviews and recommendations. Talk to someone who has had recent experience with a particular company and ask for their honest opinion. Your family members, friends, or co-workers might also have someone to recommend.
If you’re sure you’ve done your research thoroughly, it’s time for interviews. This is the time for you to ask everything you wanted to. Don’t rush into this, make sure you truly understand the process. Prepare your questions ahead and come to the interview ready. You need to know how high is the agent’s fee and then try to figure out whether or not they are worth it. You can do that by looking at the reviews of their past clients and their reputation.
Once you decided on the company, you should sign a contract. Try to avoid companies that aren’t comfortable with signing a contract, as that is usually not a good sign.
Before organizing your own, try visiting some other estate sales just so you can the general idea of how it works. You want to avoid any surprises once the day of your estate sale comes.
