Your great aunt has passed away, and you’ve discovered you were left in charge of everything in her house. As you stand there in her living room full of antique furniture and figurines, you may be contemplating doing a big garage sale next weekend, just to have it done with. But before you do that, let’s talk a little bit about whether or not that’s the best way to go in this situation, because a garage sale may not be your best choice. Quite often an estate sale will bring you better buyers and higher prices for your Aunt’s prized possessions, some of which you may not even know the value of.
Let’s look at the difference between these two types of selling practices. We will start by looking at the common practices of a garage sale. A garage sale typically involves someone selling miscellaneous household and yard items. It is usually held in the garage, or driveway or out in the yard, and typically will last one or two days over a weekend. A garage sale is typically run by the owners, who set up the sale, and price the items. People running a garage sale will usually be willing to haggle with buyers about the prices of items as well. The items being sold are usually low in value, with prices created by the owners, who may or may not know the actual value of an item being sold. On a side note: In case the terms are confusing, there is no real difference between a garage sale and a yard sale, or a tag sale or a rummage sale. Each of these is merely another name for a homeowner selling items they no longer want. Ultimately, if you are looking to unload some of your belongings, but not really selling most of what’s in the home, then a garage sale is your best option.
In the example we created above about your great aunt’s passing, an estate sale may well be a better option for you. So let’s look at what it takes to have an estate sale. People typically end up having an estate sale after a monumental life change like death, a divorce, downsizing or debt. These are all situations that cause people to find themselves in a situation where they need to sell pretty much all of their stuff and sell it quickly. They are also often situation where the entire contents of the house must be sold. Because it is often an emotionally and logistically challenging time, and because, as in the case we mentioned above about losing your great aunt, you may not be familiar with the house’s contents, it’s a good idea to look into hiring an estate sale company to come in to help you with pricing and with running the sale.
As professionals who’ve helped run a large number of estate sales, Judy’s Jewelry Antique and Estate Jewelry will help you go through your dearly departed’s possessions, appraise each valuable item and help you arrange and display each one that will go into the sale. Then we will help you manage the sale on the days it takes place. Proper appraising and pricing the items is one of the main differences in having an estate sale instead of a garage sale. Put simply, you’ll make more money because things will have been appraised at the proper pricing. We have experience with appraising jewelry and antique items, and price them so that buyers understand the value of these items.
Antique buyers and serious estate sale buyers get excited by estate sales because of the fact that moderately priced items like tools and kitchen stuff are sold alongside high-end items like jewelry and fine art. The most successful estate sale will have all kinds of price points represented and as much variety as possible.
The most important thing we can tell you if you call us to have us help appraise and stage your estate sale, is don’t throw anything out! Once you’ve contacted us, we will come out to look at and appraise what you’ve got. You may think there are items that are not valuable, but in truth, collectors may find those same items to be incredibly valuable whether they are historically important or perhaps you just don’t know the importance of that item to a collector. We know, and will tell you once we’ve been able to go through the items you are looking to sell. So, don’t throw any of your great aunt’s items away, give us a call and we will be happy to appraise everything and help you to sell them in an estate sale! Call Judy’s Jewelry Antique and Estate Jewelry at 239-481-9600.
