Among Friends

[Shanus]

DH and I have been working like beavers for months piling up everything for a garage sale, BUT some things are way too expensive for a garage sale. 

A friend said to have an estate sale instead. I have sets of expensive dishes, some silver trays left from my Mom, Tiffany glass bowls and some (8) lamps that were not inexpensive...also many asst. mirrors that lined the staircase wall and never hung back up after we painted the entire interior. 

I'm thinking yard sales are not for these more costly items even though they take a percentage.

Has anyone has an estate firm come and deal with these things we're not taking to downsize?

[FLtricia]

We investigated having an estate sale for my mothers furnishings.  She had a 1500 sq. ft. home with possessions of varying value.  The estate company wanted a minimum fee of over a thousand dollars, or a percentage of sales, whichever was greater.  Knowing people these days are not interested in purchasing pricey items in sales, we did the garage sale.  

[Eileen in Virginia]

You mentioned some of your Mom's silver trays. In researching potential buyers for my late Aunt's sterling silver flatware service, I found that buyers won't pay much for silver plated items. Trays and other similar items are frequently silver plate. One way to determine a piece's silver content (if it isn't marked) is silver plate is rigid and doesn't have very much "play" when you try to flex it, whereas sterling silver is much more flexible. So, if your trays are silver plate, it might be better to sell them in a yard sale to avoid the fee an estate sale company would charge. Good luck!

[Shanus]

Since we can't take a check or credit card at a garge sale and we're not sure if people will pay for expensive items. What's been your experience? We've never done a garage sale or estate sale.

[skatting44]

   I'd have a cash only garage sale  and many communities have  online Facebook   yard sales where you can post pictures & negotiate  via messaging . Advertise well  and have alot of family & friends to help . You'd be surprised , some people love to steal at yard sales .

I would not do Estate sale because , you will be paying alot of money out of pocket .

[River Song]

My advice, save yourself a whole lot of time and effort and just donate everything.  Yes, even the items you feel are too expensive to donate.  People will offer pennies on the dollar at a yard sale or estate sale.  By the end of the day, you'll be giving stuff away for free just to get rid of it.  Yard sales are a tremendous amount of work for not much return.  

I donated all my mother's silver plate trays and tea service years ago to a charity with a resale shop.  I'm about ready to donate my Lenox fine china dinnerware service for twelve, nobody wants this stuff.  Same with collectibles like Hummel figurines.  Look at it this way, the money spent on the items is gone, you'll never get it back, just let it go and move on. 

[Mom2Dogs]

@Shanus   Have you tried Marketplace on facebook?

As I am sure you are aware you can hire a company to come in, market, set up your estate sale, at a price of course.

A few years ago I helped a  friend clean out excess inventory he that no longer wanted to display in his the store.

The serving plates, dinnerware, etc he sold to a company that did large parties/wedding, etc.  You might take a look around in your area for a company that has a large venue that hosts events.

[Mom2Dogs]

@Shanus you mentioned credit cards - another friend had a huge garage sale, lots of antiques and she had a small card reader that she used to take credit cards....just a thought.   I have no idea what the fee would be or cost of the card reader.

[Janey2]

@Shanus  You stated you have Tiffany glass bowls. True tiffany or what looks like tiffany glass?  If it is authentic tiffany take them to someone who specializes in tiffany, they are worth a lot of money.

[stevieb]

Don't expect to make a great deal more with an estate sale unless you land a top notch firm to manage it, in which case their take will be significant. Even then, results are not guaranteed. No matter the value of what one has to unload, the expectation of making big bucks for what amounts to a clean-out is probably going to lead to disappointment