Perhaps you’ve seen those estate sale signs on a road junction and wonder if they’re worth your time. Well, you’re not alone. Ideally, estate sales are good for making some extra cash and clearing out any items you’re no longer using. Additionally, they can also be challenging and tiresome to run if you don’t have the proper understanding of how estate sales work. You also need to understand what makes them successful. Planning an estate sale may take longer than expected, especially if it’s your first time. We recommend giving yourself a month or so if you have time. But exactly how does it work? We advise following the following steps to help in the planning and get through the sale smoothly.
1.Do Your Research
First things first, you will want to see if the items you have even warrant an estate sale. You don’t want to list items for sale at a low price to find out later the things were worth a big chunk of money.
Real estate moguls from https://www.truelegacyhomes.com/estate-sales/riverside-county-ca/ recommend that you include experts to perform a walk-through and give you an assessment. Working with professionals will help you go through the items you’re not familiar with and put a reasonable price estimate. If you’re doing this on your own, the process can be quite overwhelming. You can enquire from friends and family about a good estate sale company. Additionally, you can also research for one online. Ensure the company you hire is bonded and carries liability insurance.
2.Prepare an Inventory List
This is where you decide what is worth selling and what is not for sale. The easiest way is to prepare an inventory list. In many cases, no one wants to sell their family keepsakes so remove those items from the list. Ideally, shoppers will assume everything they see is for sale. You wouldn’t want to disappoint a shopper who wants to buy an item you wish to keep. If you have items that can’t sell, you may be forced to donate or dispose of them. You should avoid having unnecessary unsellable clutter that will distract people from the more buyable items. If you think something is not worth selling, remove it from your list so you can focus on the valuable things.
3.Divide your Items into Categories
If you want to make selling and pricing easier, we recommend sorting your items together into specific categories. You should note that this is different from making an inventory list since it considers everything you want to sell. Remove all items from their original places and sort them by value, or in some cases, function. Some specific categories may include clothing, appliances, and pieces of art. Also, you may want to have a separate type for expensive items. You can sell such items separately if you want to rake in more profits.
4.Mark the Prices Clearly
You should know that bargaining is a massive part of estate sales. However, you still need to make it easier for customers to make decisions about different items. Ensure you mark everything. Failing to do so means you’re creating room for shoppers to hunt you down to enquire about the price. During such a process, chaos may erupt, forcing people to give up trying and will even walk away from a potential purchase. Additionally, one person is not enough to handle and collect money from buyers. You can have friends or family members covering each room so they can answer questions from shoppers and cut down on theft.
5.Tidy Everything Up
If possible, display the items in rooms where they’re commonly used. Take folded bed sheets, clothes, and blankets out of drawers and display the items on tops of dressers and beds. For the cutlery, display the items in the dining area on top of the sideboard and table. Ensure you empty the kitchen cabinets and place items on counter-tops and the kitchen table. If you have small valuable items such as jewelry, we recommend keeping them at the checkout tables, so they’re not easily stolen.
6.How To Manage Customers
In an estate sale, theft is always a vital issue, especially where items are displayed in multiple rooms. We recommend hiring security guards, or you can enlist some volunteers to help. Ensure you station someone in every room or have them frequently move from room to room. Be careful with this as it may offend honest and potential customers. Instruct your guards to smile and say hello to shoppers as they keep a watchful eye.
Ensure you keep small kids and pets away. It can turn out chaotic having children running around playing and picking things. Additionally, animals never do well with large crowds. They can become fearful and potentially react aggressively or dangerously. Finally, if all this is overwhelming you, consider hiring a professional to work things through.
I helped my friend when her mom died. Its unreal how many people we caught trying to steal shit. Make sure you have friends to assist and limit the ‘shoppers’ so they can be watched.
Maybe it was bc it was in North Haledon close to the shit-hole of paterson.. who knows