Holding an Estate Sale
Estate sales can happen for a variety of reasons, including downsizing, moving to a retirement home, divorce, or the passing of a loved one. While similar to a yard or garage sale, they are typically much larger and can be more difficult to plan.
While there are companies to do estate sales, some sellers host sales on their own. We know hosting an estate sale can be difficult if you have never had to do it before, especially if you need to do so suddenly, so we leaned on the experts at annuity.org to provide some tips on hosting an estate sale. Here is what they recommend:
- Create and sort your inventory. Not everything in the home will be for sale – some items will be donated, trashed, or recycled. Take the time to review all of your items and determine which category they fit into, and if possible, take the items that will not be for sale to a separate area.
- Prepare your inventory. Inspect everything, and do some light cleaning or repairs as needed. For items that need more extensive repairs, or are broken, set those aside to be trashed.
- Price your items. If you have the time, you can research similar items to ensure you are getting the best price – not asking too much, but not asking too little. Everything needs to be labeled, including items that are not for sale.
- Display your items for sale. One strategy is to group similar items together, including placing items that are not for sale in a separate room or floor of the home.
- Set yourself up for purchases. On the day of the sale, you will need a way for customers to pay you – if using cash, do you have enough change? If using credit cards, do you have a Venmo or CashApp account set up?
- Take security measures. Ensure that you have extra people to help you keep an eye on customers and ensure that no one is stealing items without paying.
- Check local restrictions. Some cities or homeowners associations require you to have a permit or complete an application.
- Advertise. Take advantage of social media and online postings, and look into posting flyers in your neighborhood.
- Make a plan for items that do not sell. The best-case scenario is that all of your items are sold, but it is important to have a plan in place in case that does not happen. A junk hauling business like Good Haul is a perfect option!
Hosting an estate sale can be a lot of work, but we are here to help ensure that it goes as smoothly as possible. When items do not sell, Good Haul will handle sorting everything, determining what can be donated and facilitating the donation, verifying what can be recycled and making the appropriate arrangements, and only trashing what cannot be repurposed.
Want to learn more? One of our first customers, Joanne, hired Good Haul following a family member's move into assisted living. You can read about her experience here.
