An estate sale is any situation where you have a large volume of items to get rid of; often hosted in a home, a sale can be a product of the death of a loved one, a downsizing, or just because you’re redecorating and want to get shed of a high volume of items!

First, we come out and talk to you about your story, your timeline, and your wishes for how things will proceed. Once a date is established, we will then need roughly 10 days lead time to set the sale up. We bring in our tables, and tablecloths, reorganize the home to set it up for success. We will clear attics and crawl spaces out of sellable items. Once every drawer and cabinet and closet is empty and the items properly displayed- we take a photo of everything. Hundreds and hundreds. The more we have for the ad, the better! And then we price. Roughly 80% of items will be individually priced, and the rest will be on signs, such as books or clothes or everyday linens. Then we host the sale! Typically two days, Saturday and Sunday, from 8am-5pm (or until the last customer leaves!), and we do everything we can to get that house empty for you while honoring your story and treasures.

Your one and only job is getting the items you want to keep out of the house or very well marked. Any small items need to be removed completely or behind a door that locks- we cannot be responsible for items not meant to be sold that were left behind in a room that does not lock. All of the signs and blue tape in the world can’t stop a customers curiosity and we cant have someone standing there just to bat curious hands away from the door knob. Get it out. We can protect large pieces of furniture you may not have found a home for yet- but overall it is better for the sale to just have it all removed. That is your only job, get out what you want to keep and we will do the rest. Oh, and don’t throw anything away! Let us be the judge of what is junk and what is not- We have dumpster dived in many well meaning client’s driveways pulling out sellable items that shouldn’t have been dumped.

Because we bring the knowledge of what your items can be sold for, how to best set up the house for flow and store quality display- and mostly, unparalleled customer loyalty, with an email following over 10,000 people deep and growing every week, the folks that come back to see us time and time again- no matter how far from ‘home’ we are, keep the party going all weekend long!

Honestly, we have rarely turned anyone down for ‘not having enough.’ We have several creative solutions for less packed sales, such as middle of the week pop up sales (which are just as busy as a weekend!) or perhaps even bringing the items to another house to be consigned. Don’t let lack of volume scare you, we have resources to help!

We love a packed house! Visit our about us page and you’ll see we have quite the large, and motley crew, willing to handle any amount or state of stuff. We can coordinate dumpsters, determine the best course of action in case a multiphase sale is needed, and absolutely maximize the space no matter how many treasures are within!!

We operate for a 40% flat fee of the sale. No upfront cost, no consultation fee, we only make money after we make the sale a success.  We don’t make any money unless YOU make money!

We typically do not - partly because it would be very time consuming as during the sale we are often quite slammed and trying to keep track of every single coffee mug and wash cloth would be close to impossible. In 13 years of sales, we have never figured out a way to do it that didn’t upset the customers for the time consuming nature of it all—That being said, If there are some items in the house you re particularly curious about, we can keep track of some things, such as your grandmas prized China hutch, or grandpa’s gun safe- we strive to be as transparent as possible in this regard. We are here to help you make as much money as possible and clear out your home- a 42 page list at the end that says your coffee mugs sold for $1 is not helpful.

In terms of inventory, as stated every item is photographed and loaded on to the internet for you or any family members to see; and it remains on the hosted websites after the sale ends as well.

We have several options and can work with you on your terms and your wishes- most of our clients go with one of our ‘clear out’ people, an independent from us company that we refer you to at the end of the sale- we do our darndest to sell as much as we possibly can for as much as we can, and then they come in and ‘sweep it all away’ at the end. Reseller themselves, they are ‘paid’ in the items they receive. There is a rare occasion that they charge a nominal fee, if there is a high amount of less than desirable items left- but again, it is a rare occurrence.

In short, no. We often joke that ‘feel free to stop by and bring us coffee and donuts and get to know us a little, but please do not stay.’ Not only is it an industry standard, it is for good reason. During set up, we are going through cabinets and drawers and rearranging a home you’ve been in and loved- it’s going to look and feel different, you’re going to want to stop us and tell us where your grandma got that cedar chest or that THAT is the card table where you learned to play uno. And while we love those stories, we are there to set up a sale. There are also often 5-6 of us in the house and only one of you, it can be difficult to see it all happen and so quickly. You are more than welcome to stop by, you’re welcome to come after we’ve left and check on progress.

During the sale, again, it’s just hard to see people walking around, picking up, and criticizing your things. Also, when customers find out ‘the owner’ is there, it can be uncomfortable for them - it is hard to describe the dynamic. Transparency being our goal, you are welcome to stop by- but you cannot stay. No matter how ‘removed’ you finally feel you are from the items, it is just… hard.

We welcome any knowledge you may have about the value and provenance of any items in your home- we do caution against reserves as it is more often the case that you get caught up in your dining room table not ‘brining what you want’ but you don’t consider the cupboard full of tupperwear that will make up the difference in the bottom line at the end of the day. What we can often do, if there is an item you set a reserve on- is take offers on the item, then if it doesn’t sell for your ‘bottom line’ we can call with an offer that you may be willing to entertain after all. We don’t like to let money walk out the door if we can help it, and again, at the end of the day we are trying to help you get rid of things and clear your house- but we ain’t trying to give your stuff away for nothing.

Yes! And all weekend long! We price for collectors, and people who ‘really want that thing’ we use ebay sold prices for comps as well as a base knowledge of what things sell for every weekend- the first day brings out collectors and we hold to our starting price as long as possible. We slowly drop our prices as sales dwindle during the first day, usually 30% or so later in the afternoon. Then the second day of the sale, we open at 50% off (and often a little extra for loyal email customers) and that brings a whole new wave of people and buyers- many resellers, hoping to score deals for their booths and shops. The difference is that they often have longer to ‘sit’ on an item than we do- we hope to get $30 out of a candy dish, but we only have two days to sell it. It may sit it in their antique booth for two months before someone seeking it is willing to pay that $30. The discounts are an expected part of any estate sale. 

We do not haul trash, but we can coordinate trash removal in the event the home generates a decent amount for a nominal fee.

We have several! One being moving everything off site, either to another home that has space to accommodate more treasures, a ‘by appointment only’ where the comings and goings in the neighborhood is very limited, or hosting an online auction and selling everything online and hosting one pick up day with timed pick ups, again, limited extra cars in the neighborhood. We have had success with all three situations!