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The Sally Harper estate sale in Starkville last week had all the typical things: McCarty pottery, hardwood furniture, rugs – essentially all of Harper’s belongings, organized neatly and put up for sale in her home over the course of three days.
However, for some, there was one surprise: a line of more than 250 people stood outside the door on the first day of the sale. Benny Shelton, owner and operator of Stewart’s Antiques and estate liquidator of the Sally Harper estate sale, said it was his largest line ever.
“We give out numbers to determine who gets to go in the home first,” Shelton said. “(I arrive) about two hours before the sale starts and lately, we’ll have people already waiting when I get there.”
So, what sets an estate sale apart from a typical yard sale, and why are they drawing such large crowds? What are the experts’ best tips for attending? And if you need to have your own, how does the process work?
The ‘golden age’ of estate sales
Estate sales are public, one-to-three-day events held to sell the entire contents of a home, often due to a death, downsizing, relocation or divorce. Unlike yard sales, these are professionally managed by an estate liquidator, like Stewart’s Antiques. The goal, according to Shelton, is to clear the home while maximizing value.
Jennifer Longmire, with Jennifer’s Treasures and Estate Sales, said there are several reasons people seek out estate sales over yard sales, including potential to purchase special collections, top-tier product organization, atmosphere and other.
“We clean, we polish, if we have to clean linens we do all that, we iron everything,” she said. “It’s like shopping in a home that looks like a store … everything is presented beautifully.”
And, of course, fair prices are a large draw.
“We always want to be fair on our prices,” Shelton said. “We know that nobody wants to go to an estate sale and pay retail, right?”
Longmire added you can typically find fine hardwood furniture at estate sales for better prices than big-box stores offer, and oftentimes, she said the quality of the furniture is much better. With antiquers on social media saying we’re in a “golden age” of estate sales, Longmire said there’s never been a better time to start attending.
“This is the collector age, the baby boomers,” Longmire added. “They have a lot of collections that a lot of younger people are loving right now … fine-quality furniture that people want to put in their home for heirlooms.”
Finding and attending a sale
Shelton and Longmire both mentioned estatesales.net as being the best place to find upcoming sales, and Shelton, through his business Stewart’s Antiques, has created a Facebook group called Mississippi Estate Sales, where he and several other liquidators regularly keep the group up to date on upcoming sales.
As for tips, Longmire emphasized viewing photos online, and then if you see something you want, come to the sale early with a plan. Bring a bag, though some sellers, like Shelton, offer boxes.
Shelton agreed that getting to the sales early is key as lines keep growing. That being said, liquidators often offer a discount model as the weekend goes on in order to move items quickly for the estate owners. The emptier the house is at the end of a sale, the better, Longmire said.
“It really differs from each estate sale liquidator,” Longmire said. “But what I normally do is full price on the first day. On the second day, it’s 25%, third day 50%, and sometimes, at least 75% the last hour.”
Setting up an estate sale
If the time comes for you to have an estate sale, whether for an older relative or for yourself due to downsizing, both liquidators said their goal is to make the process as smooth as possible.
Shelton and Longmire work on a commission basis, and neither charges an upfront fee. Both offer free consultations, coming to the home to see the items and the size of the collection before drawing up a contract on what commission will be collected after the sale.
According to websites for several companies that provide liquidation services, the commission ranges anywhere from 30%-50%.
While Shelton wouldn’t share specifics, his commission rate differs based on the size of the estate, and he tells clients to never donate or throw away anything before their sale but personal documents because “you just never know what people will buy.”
Longmire said after the contracts are signed and clients have taken what they want from the home, her team comes in and double-checks every cabinet, drawer and closet. From there, they organize, research, clean and price every item. She even weighs the silver to ensure the owner gets the best return possible.
If a client has items left over, both Shelton and Longmire work with Habitat for Humanity to pick up what remains, giving the homeowner a nearly empty house to return to – something many appreciate, Longmire said.
“Though, at my estate sales, there’s very little leftover,” she said. “Because we try to sell it all.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
