How to have an estate sale.
See also:
If you need to liquidate the contents of a large estate, perhaps because of a move or the passing of a loved one, the most efficient method of doing so is via an estate sale. Because the process of conducting a successful estate sale is overwhelmingly burdensome for most individuals, it is common for estate owners to partner with a professional estate seller known as an estate liquidator to manage every aspect of their estate sale (read: how do estate sales work?). This is particularly true when the impetus behind the estate sale is a stressful life transition, which is usually the case.
Not only will working with a professional estate liquidator ease the overwhelming burden of the process but the estate seller will likely realize significantly greater revenue from the estate sale than the estate owner would achieve on their own. If you’re wondering how to have an estate sale, partnering with a professional estate liquidator will likely be a lot less work for a much greater return.
To appreciate the true value of working with an estate liquidator it’s helpful to understand the process, that is what they will do that you won’t have to.
Scale is one of the key success factors for an estate sale. When the goal is to liquidate a large number of items quickly, you need a large number of shoppers to visit the estate over a short period of time. Professional estate liquidators attract a lot of shopper traffic because they typically have an extensive following of enthusiastic estate sale shoppers, which they can leverage via their email database, social media channels and presence on the nation’s largest estate sales listings websites.
A professional estate liquidator will photograph every sale item, which could be many hundreds or even thousands, and include these images with descriptions in their advertising. Each of these items then needs to be priced accurately at fair market value to sell with additional pricing research conducted where necessary for the more unique or specialist items. Every item must then be price tagged. Read: how does estate sale pricing work?
During the lead up to the estate sale, the home must be staged and the sale inventory merchandised so that every item is well presented to shoppers. A good estate liquidator will merchandise estate sale inventory strategically to highlight popular and high value items. This may entail moving heavy furniture and reorganizing smaller items in the home. The sale space must be made accessible, safe and secure, with unused rooms sealed off and potential hazards clearly signed.
A popular estate sale can attract many hundreds of buyers on sale days. The estate liquidator will implement a system of entry to the home so they can ensure the safety and security of shoppers and their client’s property. This may differ from situation to situation but could include the formation of an orderly line and limits on the number of shoppers in the home at any one time, as well as entry policies such as the prohibition of large bags, food and pets. This means that careful and strict management of the sale entrance is crucial to risk mitigation and the success of the estate sale. The estate liquidator’s team will supervise every part of the home where shoppers are present and manage all enquiries and negotiations. They will also manage the checkout and payments. Where items are too large to be removed during the sale hours, the liquidator will coordinate picks up after the sale closes. When the sale is over the estate liquidator can coordinate the removal of unsold items via charitable donation or the disposal of waste. Read: what happens to estate sale leftovers?
From beginning to end the process could take a team of trained professionals around 2-3 weeks, a time burden that is well beyond the bandwidth of most estate owners.
How to have an estate sale.
Partnering with a professional estate liquidator will likely be a lot less work for a much greater return.
How to find a professional liquidator
You will be working closely with your estate liquidation partner, potentially on very personal aspects of your family’s life, so it is important that you find a reputable partner that you can build a productive working relationship with based on trust.
Some good ways to find a reputable estate liquidator include:
Google search - look for local businesses with good ratings and reviews.
Members of professional bodies such as the American Society of Estate Liquidators.
Use estate sales listings websites to see who is active in your area by entering your zip code to conduct a local estate sale search. Estatesales.net is a good place to start.
Check the website and social media profiles of the companies you shortlist to get a feel for who they are and how they do things.
Ask your realtor for recommendations.
Ask friends and neighbors in your local community for recommendations.
Once you have shortlisted your options, some good questions to consider asking them include:
How will you advertise my estate sale?
What is your fee structure?
How quickly will I receive my portion of the sale proceeds after the estate sale?
Will you provide a written contract?
Do you carry business insurance?
Can you provide past client references or testimonials?
Do you collect sales tax? This is required by law.
Can you remove unsold leftover items after the estate sale?
Some potential red flags to watch out for:
If the estate liquidator conducts estate buyouts, that is that they will offer to buy all the estate sale items from you themselves, this could present a couple of concerns. Firstly their offer is likely to be well below what the items could be sold for at an estate sale. Secondly there may be a conflict of interest if they plan to conduct an estate for you first and then offer to buy out any unsold items because they will no longer be incentivized to get you the best price during the estate sale if they think they can buy them cheaper afterwards.
Ask the liquidator if they sell their own inventory at your estate sale. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially in situations where you may not otherwise have a sufficient volume of inventory to make an estate sale viable. However if they are prioritizing selling their own inventory over yours then you could end up doing nothing more than providing them with rent free retail space to conduct their business and not yours.
Flat fees - if the estate liquidator is charging a flat fee instead of working on a commission basis (at least in part) then they have no incentive to maximize your estate sale revenue. For this reason it may be advisable to avoid an estate liquidator who quotes only a flat fee.
Lastly, when selecting an estate liquidation partner it is rarely advisable to choose the one who offers the lowest commission rate. The most successful estate liquidators in the country are not the cheapest but they are the most successful for a reason. They will make you more money, carry more of the burden and reduce your risk by running a more professional estate sale for you. They may charge a slightly higher commission rate because it costs them more to provide you with a higher level of professional service, but the additional investment almost always pays for itself and then some. Estate liquidators charging lower commissions are likely a red flag.
Additional reading: