Estate sale shopping can sound like an interesting prospect until you end up in someone’s home filled to the brim with an unsortable amount of stuff that might need a second home but doesn’t need to come home with you.
“The difference between an estate sale and second-hand shopping is that it’s all the contents of the home being liquidated. It’s a whole house of items that needs to be sold off, with a range of items from artwork and jewelry to computer items to kitchenware and furniture,” says Janeen Silvester of Fairfax Estate Sales, a company that helps families downsize.
To prepare for an estate sale, Silvester says to check online for estate sales in your area. The big ones are estatesales.net and estatesales.org. All the sales will be posted there and will show you what’s available at particular homes.
“You can go on site or online. If you’re on site, typically the company will post what’s available where you can see the pictures of each item, the condition, and any trademarks or stamps so you know exactly what you’re getting the day you go onsite,” she says.
When you’re looking online, it helps to know what exactly you’re getting before you get there.
“You’ll have about a week or so to look at the items and pay for them in advance. The day-of, you’d go to the home to pick the items up. That’s an efficient way to do it,” Silvester says.
Bring your phone and check out worthpoint.com, where you can type in a description of an item and it will give you an average range of what the item is worth.
Silvester describes it as something similar to Kelley Blue Book for cars. “It’s for furniture, painting, and you can look up what an item is worth right there.”
You can also use eBay to gauge where price points are for items people want.
Remember, if it’s a true estate sale, it should have a full house of merchandise.
“There are different levels to estate sales — there are high end estate sales down to complete liquidations,” says Silvester. “Is the house full of high-end antiques, clothing, and artwork? Or is it a complete home liquidation with toys from the ‘70s and odd shoes. It’s amazing what people need to downsize and what customers will buy. We’ve had boats and cars for sale, as well as pens and paper.”
Sometimes you can walk into a sale, you might find either an antique or a random knick-knack that’s worth a lot, and maybe the owners aren’t aware of it.
“I look for Hummel figurines or Lladró figurines, and sometimes folks don’t know how expensive those are,” she says.
Keep an eye out for unopened boxes. “Items from the ‘70s or ‘80s, Cabbage Patch dolls, My Little Ponies all have resale value. When you’re looking for high-end items, make sure you’re looking for the marks on jewelry, make sure the diamond marks are there. If you’re looking for paintings make sure you ask for the certificate of authenticity for those items when you buy them,” she says.
As with all things, says Silvester, there’s a lot more to look for, but as you become more seasoned estate shopping, you’ll be able to judge between a score and a waste of money quickly.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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