Estate Sales – How Do They Work?
An estate salesperson helps you to empty a home of all the contents; the good, bad, valuable and every day items. The evaluate, arrange for display, advertise and run a professional garage sale. When everything is done the home is empty and the new buyers can move in.
Who Are Estate Sales People?
They are typically entrepreneurs who have found a niche and there is a wide range of skill sets and expertise.
Some Estates Salespeople have expertise in antiques or jewelry. Others might understand art or collectibles. If you have a lot of special “stuff” you’ll want to hire the appropriate specialist.
I once had a client with a significant collection of Mid Century Danish Modern furniture and home furnishings. We found a Mid Century Specialist who hauled everything away in a truck because he could command higher prices for the pieces in Palm Springs. Bonus: See thier Mid Century Modern home!!
The most versatile ones, though, are generalists who have a large following of estate sales fans.
How Does The Estate Sale Work?
As estate sale is a professional garage sale – and it typically takes place in your garage or house. A few days before the sale they do all the sorting, pricing, and setting up. They bring tables and “merchandise” everything, right down to the half-used boxes of Tide.
The estate salesperson has been marketing your sale to their fanbase as well as the public. On the sale day people are usually lined up well before the “opening”. There are usually several employees assisting shoppers and supervising the sale.
When everything is done they break everything down, haul away or donate what didn’t sell and, if enough money was made, they give you a slice of the profits.
How Much Does An Estate Salesperson Cost?
You might ask, how MUCH of the profit from the sale does the estate salesperson take?
It is expensive to mount a well run and well-attended sale. There are dozens of man-hours involved in the setup, break down and staffing of the sale. Each business person will vary, but a sale needs to net at least $3,000 in total sales to meet the costs and generate a small profit for the estate salesperson.
The homeowner gets a percentage of the proceeds over the minimum- the more the net sale proceeds, the higher the homeowner’s percentage.
If the homeowner sells “normal” stuff, an estates salesperson will need to sell a full 3 bedroom home in order to make a reasonable profit. This is because it takes a lot of Tide to sell enough for a profit. Large items like furniture and appliances are very difficult to sell.
What If I Don’t Have A Ton Of Stuff To Sell?
We work with one estate salesperson who will remove everything in the home. She will sort and decide what can be sold at her partner thrift stores and what needs to be donated to charity. Her fees for this service vary based on what she can net from selling items at thrift stores.
We had one family home, recently, that seemed full of salable items until the 6 siblings came with all of their children and grandchildren. Once the family took the items they wanted our estate salesperson asked for $1800 to haul everything else away. A junk company had asked for $2200. Bonus: Trusts and Estates are the most frequent Estate Sales candidates. READ: Guide To Selling The Family Home In A Trust
Where Can I Find An Estate Sales Person?
This is an exploding field with players coming and going at an astonishing rate. We are happy to tell you who we think the best people are at the time you need them. Just give us a call.
Kendyl Young
Call: 818.482.1885
Text: 818.946.0106
Email: [email protected]
