Estate Sales 101
Thinking about holding an estate sale?
An estate sale is a practical way to fully or partially liquidate a home’s contents in just one weekend. At The Estate Sale House, we understand that this process often comes during a time of transition and can feel overwhelming. Our team takes the time to understand your needs, set clear expectations, and provide expert guidance. With our experience, professional network, and full-service approach, we handle every detail of the estate liquidation, allowing you to focus on what matters most.
Steps of an Estate Sale
Step 1: Free Consultation
We want you to be fully informed and comfortable with the process of holding an estate sale, so we are happy to meet with you in the home to answer any questions you might have. While we are together, we will also conduct a preliminary evaluation of the contents of the home so that we can make the best plan, together, for maximizing the opportunity.
Step 2: Schedule the sale
Based on our preliminary evaluation, we will discuss options for the date(s) of the event. There are several variables which could influence this timeline, including (but not limited to) the condition of the home, the quantity of items for sale, rarity or extraordinary features of certain items, whether the home is currently occupied, etc. Don’t worry. We won’t rush you to hold a sale before you’re ready. Most sales are scheduled for 2-6 weeks after our initial consultation. Sometimes we can even host sales with very limited notice. Contact us to discuss your situation.
Step 3: Staging, Research, & Pricing
In the days and weeks prior to the sale, we will work to professionally stage and reorganize the contents of your home to enhance the retail experience for our buyers and to encourage multiple purchases. As we organize and stage the home, we will price items according to their current fair market value. If there are any unique or extraordinary items (almost every sale has some!), we will do careful research to ensure we have the items priced appropriately and fairly in order to maximize the likelihood of those items being sold.
Step 4: Marketing & promotion
After we’ve staged the home appropriately, we take dozens of photos (and sometimes a video-walkthrough) to highlight the various items for sale. We market the sale to an extensive list of repeat sale attendees, collectors, buyers, enthusisasts, hobbyists, and weekend warriors. We don’t stop there, though. We post photos, descriptions, and sale dates to multiple hugely popular third-party websites dedicated to helping buyers find estate sales by location and date.
Step 5: Sale day(s)!
Most events take place over the course of a couple days, usually Friday and Saturday, though some sales can be conducted in a day, while others might take place over a longer period or be divided between weekends. On sale days we will staff the sale, manage access to the home, interact with guests, collect payments, continuously reorganize, and clean up after ourselves. Occassionally, depending on the contents for sale, we might invite members of our trusted buyer network to inspect and/or purchase certain items on a “pre-sale” basis. This is only done when we believe we can obtain a premium on certain items by providing priority access.
Step 6: You get paid
Following the sale, we will provide an accounting of all sales revenue collected, state and local sales tax paid, any associated fees, our commission (remember, there is never a charge up front!), and your total disbursement. You will receive this, along with your payment, within 5-7 business days following the close of the sale.
Address
2512 Chambers Rd. Tustin, CA 92780
Contact
949-239-9636
theestatesalehouse@gmail.com
