Tips on Conducting an Estate Sale

After much tiptoeing, beating around the bush and "what if" scenarios by family members, my grandfather boldly stated, "Well, I guess I better sell the house."

My spry 85-year-old grandfather had suffered a second mild stroke that had affected his mobility on one side and taken his peripheral vision and therefore his car keys. This incredibly resilient man had decided to go from the hospital to a residential care center and begin the next phase of his social life.

We called it his "bachelor pad" on a floor of many women and few bachelors. We knew he would be happy with friendly nurses to gab with; a nice, homey dining room; and many residents whom he knew, one being his sister-in-law.

Grandpa's neat-as-a-pin, two-bedroom ranch sold in six days and after bringing everything to his new home that he could ever want, we went forward with the estate sale plans. Now, I love to attend estate sales and auctions, but putting one of these on is another story. Thankfully, Grandpa was not a pack rat. My mother and I remember my grandma complaining about having to read the St. Louis newspaper in one sitting because if she laid it down he would throw it away.

So this is my family's neophyte experience in planning and implementing an estate sale which happened to be a huge success. In case you have the same concern as I did, "estate sale" does not necessarily mean that the owner is deceased. My cousin's wife and I had a friendly debate over this with me suggesting "tag sale" instead. She was adamant that "tag sale" would denote a sale of lesser goods and his small town furnishings and belongings were every bit as desirable as any estate sale stock from a swanky city address. She won, of course.

My mom, his daughter-in-law, and I are the only local family members so we went about setting the sale day and the prior work day. Thank goodness for e-mail.

So on the Saturday before the Saturday sale my mom, my cousin's wife and myself priced Grandpa's belongings with two fingers crossed that we were choosing the right amount. The most important thing to keep in mind when doing this (and everything else for that matter) is that the main objective is to sell everything!

I believe it is also important to involve as many family members in the pricing and organization of the sale so as to avoid armchair quarterbacks' second guessing on how much Grandpa could have made. For my mom, my cousin and his wife, my aunt, my husband and me the sale was a uniting experience with all of us feeling a sense of real accomplishment.

We also made signs on that work day that said, "cash only." I would rather hold something for someone while they went to the ATM rather than take a check that later bounces.

There was a sign that read, "All purchased items must be picked up by today at 4 p.m." This way one of us wasn't running back over to the house to meet someone the next day for a pickup.

We made yard signs for Grandpa's house stating the date and time. Remember, you will want neighbors there. Neighbors mean easy pickup and they can go home, regret not buying something and then come back and get it. This happened more than once.

I also made big poster board signs for nearby busy intersections and put them up on Thursday before the sale. We also ran an ad in the local newspaper listing a few of the more interesting items.

One unexpected happening was that Grandpa's friends would call him and ask if they could purchase items early and he would tell them to go over and buy it. We felt uneasy about selling items before the advertised sale but then we would remember our mantra, "the main objective is to sell everything."

On the work day I brought a laptop computer and typed a master list of all the items and their prices. We expected this to be useful on sale day but what it was really handy for was showing to friends and hearing them say, "Buy me that." I have a friend who now finally owns a ladle, thanks to Grandpa.

Before the sale day we designated that the back door would be the one way in and out and therefore the checkout lane. We also chose who would be the money person to conduct all checkouts. Our supplies for sale day included: markers for markdowns, grocery bags, newspaper for wrapping glassware, shopping bags, a money box with change, a calculator with a tape to act as a receipt and food. Don't assume that you will have someone freed up to go get lunch.

Everyone who has ever put on a yard sale knows that if the sale is advertised to begin at 8 a.m. there will be people there at 6 a.m. We made sure we were fully staffed at the house at 6:30 a.m. and there were people waiting for us. Don't make the mistake of starting with a skeleton crew with reinforcements coming at a later time. There were 15 to 30 people in that house from 6:30 to 10 a.m. Another trap that is easy to fall into is negotiating the price of an item too early in the sale. My husband stood guard at the tools and outside equipment that was displayed on the carport and laughed when people tried to negotiate something for half price at 7:30 a.m. We started marking items down and negotiating more after 10 a.m. because we had so few things left by this early hour.

We had items such as couches, a washer and dryer, dressers, etc. and having my husband and cousin there equipped with brute strength and trucks allowed us to better make the sale. If it was a local delivery, they threw it in the back of their truck and followed the buyer home.

By noon, yes 12 p.m., we had made a decent amount of money and only had a perfectly good refrigerator, a phone and a lamp left. The neighbor, who had already bought a bedroom set, came back down to collect his boys who had been playing with my sons. He took one look at the refrigerator and said, "I'll give you $100 for it." Sold! He went home and got a dolly, came back, loaded it up and wheeled that refrigerator right down the middle of the street to his garage.

We all had a family lunch in relative peace, cleaned up and said goodbye to the house by 2 p.m.

There are many factors that could adversely affect the success of an estate sale such as bad weather and a poor location. I suggest being prepared to invite local used furniture store representatives to your sale. Also be armed with the phone numbers for local St. Vincent De Paul Societies who may come and pickup leftover household items and clothing. For leftover clothing know where the local Goodwill drop sites are located.