F.A.Q.

Before your Estate Tag Sale or Auction

Most Frequently Asked Questions About Estate Tag Sales

Decisions of what is to be sold should be decided before the sale consultation. Items not for sale should be marked “not for sale” and/ or removed from the home before the consultation. The person conducting the sale will need to determine if there is enough to conduct the sale.
I believe the house is your best showplace to sell items that are for sale.

Moving items out is such an expensive unnecessary expense. A professional estate sale company will protect the home by limiting the amount of people in the sale at one time. Also your estate sale conductor should have liability insurance.

I have found that sales do 40% better when held in the home!

If you need value/s of items before distribution based fair market value, request a personal property appraisal of selected items and or items of importance in an estate. My fee of $45.00 to $75.00 is charged for appraisals. At the consultation a rough estimate of what I feel the sale will bring is given but not prices on indivual items.

Diamonds, pearls, semi precious stones, vintage jewelry, coins if gold or antique should be professionally appraised. Take the jewelry to a certified gemologist .Tell them you need the appraisal for fair market and NOT insurance replacement. You don’t need a typed appraisal; hand written is fine. Don’t get a verbal appraisal. Keep a copy for you and one for the sale conductor.

Items you can donate before the sale are clothing with the exception of vintage or antique, coats and better sweaters, designer clothing or new with tags. Vintage hats, gloves and purses are a big seller. Donate food and medical supplies.

Don’t throw the vintage spice tins and or any early advertising tins or paper items, these are collectible. Any home made canned goods can be tossed.

Gather up personal papers and photos. The frames can be sold if you need easy storage for family photos. Make sure you pull out desk and dresser drawers as this is where money and papers can fall. Look underneath and in the backs of drawers for “lost “papers and money.

Rid of old paints and chemicals take to clean sweep. Tires, wood and metals can be recycled.. Please be aware that most areas now have “two trash” can pick up. We usually have to get a dumpster for home clean ups. The dumpsters range from $165.00 to $240.00. If there is excess trash, these dumpsters are time savers and convenient. We do clean the houses of non saleable items but do have an extra fee to rid of the items that are not saleable. If you want to save money, sort as you go then you can do the clean up. People may not have time and we are happy to do it for you.

Before you have someone start working on the sale, take photos of items of importance. This is for everyone’s reassurance to compare inventory notes. When you hire someone to do your sale my suggestion is to make sure they do an inventory of some sort. I do an inventory of all items $50.00 and above. The client gets a copy of everything sold.

Your inventory should include jewelry, sterling, antiques, art etc. I always suggest photos because it is easier. Group photos are fine. Inside china cabinets, tool rooms and room by room. This is a good to keep track so later you feel comfortable of what was sold.

It’s not a matter of trust but protection from error.

If you are thinking of having an antique dealer or someone come in and buy items from your sale before your estate sale, you could be making a mistake.

Don’t sell out the “draws “before your sale. An estate sale has to have a certain selection to make it successful. People will come to buy antiques and collectibles but usually also will buy the kitchen items, books etc.

I have learned that the sales that have been “picked “over don’t generate enough income for me to conduct. There is a tendency for the turn out to be limited when these draw items are removed.

If you want a good turn out and better prices I suggest you keep the antiques and collectibles in the sale. If you don’t feel you have enough to have a sale and have antiques to sell you may want to have them appraised first. Don’t have them appraised by the person buying, conflict of interest.

Auction vs. Estate sale.

Price protection with estate sales. We do all the work from start to finish.

Auctions do sell most of the items. There will also be items that don’t sell in both auctions and estate sales .At the consultation I can tell you what maybe left after the estate sale. We donate what is left to the charity of your choice , after you have viewed what is left. ( Even the charities are becoming very selective) If there are items of importance the family has the option of consignment, or I can sell the items on Ebay for the client.

Presentation along with dignity, not to mention better monetary return AND less work for the client makes the estate sale a better approach.

Vintage Harvest is a business Registered with the State of Wisconsin Since 1986