Estate Sale Services

Due to declining health, my mom is going to move to senior community that will be much smaller than her current house. She has extra furniture and stuff she won't need there. Us kids don't need or want much of her stuff which leaves us with to do with it. I had considered having an estate sale to sell most of it and hiring a service to conduct the sale. I had a friend who used an estate sale service when she moved & downsized. She told me she got hardly any money from the sale of a houseful of things because of the fees, & the service sold most of her stuff at fire sale prices which she wasn't told before the sale. Her house was around 2200 sq ft, so she had a lot. I was wondering if anyone on the forum had experience with an estate sale service and what it was like please? :confused:

won't go into too much detail but our's was a nightmare. this was 12 years ago and mom had passed away and had a lot of stuff. they took 30% of the sale. and they steal too!! this is from a "reputable" grosse pte company.

if your mom doesn't have too much stuff and you have time, have a moving sale for a couple of days. i will say, i went to one this weekend and it was well run and everything was set up nicely and clean, i mean really clean. AOM estate sales ran it.

Review, REVIEW all estate sales companies! Some are cranks and some great. Who ever they are, where ever they're from, whatever they say, review and ask for a reference or two! And yes stealing is a problem on all ends - people coming to the sales steal too.

Verify also the true value of what you're selling! One way to approximate is to check final sell values on eBay [[often inflated but you still get an idea). Check your costume jewelry lots carefully insuring there's no real gold there. Sell any coins, gold or sterling silver separately, unless you are very versed in that kind of thing. I've been to sales where gold and 925 silver was not recognized/ priced pennies on a dollar [[due to unusual hallmarks, tarnish etc) along with the costume jewelry [[buyers joy). Seller sorrow.

See if you can be present during the sale if possible. Or do it yourself. We did one with and for a friend. It went well. Best to you, during this difficult time.

i agree about the jewelry and coins. sentimental family pieces weren't even a consideration, but my mom loved picking up costume jewelry at her regular haunts and she knew her stuff too. and absolutely check for any markings on pieces. that was an absolute off limits with the sale. we took all that out before that bitch could even get her hands on it.

and if your mom has any mid-century/danish modern furniture, that is highly sought after right now. i passed up a deal on a desk and chair set and i can kick myself for it.

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Originally Posted by Maof

and if your mom has any mid-century/danish modern furniture, that is highly sought after right now. i passed up a deal on a desk and chair set and i can kick myself for it.

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Thanks Maof, I know how you feel. All of her furniture is current with the exception of an antique dresser/mirror combo from the 1920s that belonged to her parents. I had just bought a similar one for my kid a few weeks before this move decision was going to be made. I wish I'd known before buying that one. I could've just taken hers. Oh well, I'll probably end up with it anyway.

Lots of Catholic families [[you can tell by what was sold off)-especially in Dearborn-utilize estate sales. Many of them are run well.

I've seen others that you can tell that they hire nothing but callous jerks who will rob you, talk down to others, don't know the value of half the stuff they sell off for you, and hold little to no respect for the community. Sometimes they are just short-handed and the guys they hire to lift and carry things are just wiped out tired from setting up shop there [[plus they probably got more than one location going on at the time). They want to get your stuff sold, but they don't feel they have to carry anything out for anyone. I [[on more than one occasion) have been able to volunteer the assistance to carry out furniture, strap mattresses on top of mini-vans, and follow folks to their homes [[even if it's in Melvindale) to unload for them.

I went to one last weekend where a woman had fallen on a curb at the garage sale across the way. This red shirted guy just sat in a garage with a sour look on his face as he watched folks huddle over this fallen middle aged Middle Eastern woman. I felt a racist hostility come off of him. When I commented on the tragedy of her falling, he just smarmily snapped, "yeah, well folks just gotta watch where their walking."

Pfft.