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Sunday, July 4, 2010

Prior to the Sale...


It’s an early morning and your standing in front of a door waiting for an estate sale to open to show you the treasures of someones life. But have you ever wondered what it took to get that sale ready.

I have conducted over 100 sales and I can say no two sales are alike. Yet there are similarities. Sales are not limited to just estates but also include divorces, people moving, downsizing, court orders, etc. So believe me I’ve faced all types of situations. From a police escort to something similar to a family reunion.

Initially, I meet with the family/executor/owner. We discuss what they want and I assess the situation. This first meeting I try to plan a sale date, set reserves, discuss our policies, trash disposal, pick up keys, etc. A typical sale I like to have two weeks from start to finish. Hoarders are not considered typical.
Once we begin working in a house, we do what we call trashing the house. We try to go through and collect all of the noticeable trash first. There is trash found throughout the entire sale but as much as we can get out of way prior to the sale makes it so much easier for the setup.


Preparation requires extreme organization. Usually for my sales to become organized I make the biggest mess you’ve ever seen. For example, everything in the kitchen is pulled out in the floor then sorted, cleaned, priced, and very neatly placed on a table, cabinet, or drawer. The entire house follows this procedure.

Next there is the advertising. That is tricky because every town has its own paper with different deadlines. Sometimes a spread has to be done for nationally followed antique publications such as Antique Week. Photographs of most estates is a must. We now advertise our sales on facebook under Reggie’s Attic Estate Sales. As well as designing a flyer to hand out at sales prior to a sale and in our antique mall.

Once all of that is completed, I have to check if a permit is required. I travel to do sales and some communities require yard sale permits. I did find this out the hard way and will share this in next week's blog.

The last step is to schedule an organization that receives donations for the final clean out of the house. Questions such as who will pick up or delivered the remaining items etc are covered. We also offer an option of consigning some items in our mall for the estate that are to good for donation. We can also make arrangements with local consignment stores to consign for some estate.



If you stand close enough to the door just before we open, you may hear us shuffling around doing last minute chores, including setting up check out, pricing last minute pieces the estate has decided to sell and posting signs. Sometimes I almost forget our sales will have an added challenges, and her name is Courtney, our unrelentless toddler who has her own following. With her thrown in there we are really running around crazy at times.

Once that door opens...Oh! There you are stepping into the picture. And you know how it goes from here.....Happy Buying!!!!!

Hopefully we'll see, talk, and joke with you there!!

1 comment:

  1. Love it! Can't wait to read about the permit fiasco next week! What a fun, cold day THAT was!
    And I love little Miss Diva's picture! What a good sport and little stinker!

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