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Past Sales | Next Estate Sales: Feb. 19 & 20; Feb. 26 & 27; March 5 & 6; March 19 & 20; April 16 & 17
Six Tips: How to Shop Our Sales | Contact Us
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• Check the standards of the estate sale service you are considering hiring by visiting one of their current sales. Did the local classified advertising provide enough details about the inventory, the location & the hours? Were the directional signs plentiful & easy-to-read? Were you greeted when you entered? Were there enough helpers to answer your questions? Were step-downs & stairs marked with reflective tape? Were the items organized & clean? Were price tags legible & securely affixed? Was the pay-out area organized & secure? Were bags, boxes & wrapping paper provided? Was the sale conducted in a professional manner? • Pricing & buying by the same person is not ethical: it’s a serious conflict of interest. Many of those who run estate sales are antique dealers or former dealers. If there is an item of yours that they want to own, a trustworthy estate sale planner should show on-line research that establishes the item’s value, independently. However, other long-time dealers who have become estate sale liquidators have no interest in buying for re-sale & they find that selling others’ goods is a great way to stay involved in the field. • Be sure to ask for & contact references. • Make sure that all items you & your family wish to keep are removed from the house or, if that is impossible, placed in a separate area such as a bedroom which can be sealed off during the sale. Should you overlook any personal documents, photographs or other private items, the estate sale service should be willing to put them aside for you. • If an item(s) has national or international sales potential, the company you are considering hiring should be willing to place the item with an online auction, such as eBay, or a global auction house such as Christie’s or Sotheby’s. • Realize that state sales tax will be deducted directly from the total amount received. In Austin, for example, 8.25% must be collected from estate sales. The estate sale service has a choice of adding the sales tax to the total cost of an item at check-out or subtracting the tax from the gross amount at the end of the sale. Because of the chaotic nature of estate sales, most choose to back it out which means that your check will be reduced by that amount. • Your home should be left broom-clean. All trash generated by preparing for the sale & by the sale itself should be removed by the company you hire to liquidate your family’s estate. This includes unsalable food & liquor, opened toiletries & cosmetics, mattresses, as well as all unsold goods. • Realize that not every item will sell; some items may be overpriced, others may not find the right buyer. The leftovers can be donated to local charities or re-claimed by the estate. • You should receive your check, along with an itemized list of items sold & the return of your house key, within 48 hours of the end of the sale. • If you are pleased with the results of the sale, be willing to recommend the company to others by offering to be a reference or by writing a short testimonial for the company’s website. |
