Frequently asked questions

The term "Estate Sale" generally refers to the sale or liquidation of personal property, i.e. furniture, appliances, fine art, collections, books, linens, etc. It differs from a garage sale because it generally involves the entire contents of a household and is normally held inside the home. This process is also called a "Tag Sale."

Such a sale may be needed after a loved one's passing or move to a long-term care facility, even if you are downsizing and moving from your current home or any other lifestyle change. We know how difficult it can be to sort out the entire contents of a home, which is often accumulated over the course of a lifetime. It can be overwhelming to decide what to do with the rest of your items after you've moved or after those items of sentimental value of your loved one have been removed. We are here to help you during such times. 

Estate sale professionals always try to keep preparation time to a minimum without sacrificing quality. It typically takes our small family owned business approximately 1 1/2-2 weeks for an average sized sale. Keep in mind that time is required for careful sorting, research and appraisals (if necessary), pricing, displaying, taking and uploading photos of your treasures and advertisement updates. Our goal is for a beautifully set up sale that resembles a boutique feel, which our customers' feedback tells us that's one of the reasons they enjoy coming to our sales. 

The best time to inquire of our services is as soon as possible since an estate sale liquidators' schedule can be booked, sometimes months in advance. It is ideal to contact us before contracting a realtor in the case that your home will be immediately put on the market. However, do not worry if one has been obtained, we make every attempt to communicate with the realtors. We always consider this so both, ours and the realty company's, businesses do not interfere with each other's goals to serve your family. Having a sale after the home has been put on the market may not allow us to schedule a sale, especially if the home has already been sold, but it's not impossible with a certain amount of flexibility.

The entire sale process is fully disclosed up front before a contract is signed. Any items that do not sell may be kept by the owner, family members or donated to a charity of your choice. It is quite typical for some items to not sell, we average about 90-95% of the items are sold. Disposal of unsold items is the sole responsibility of the owner or spouse, or estate executor.

Buy-outs or clean-outs are an option. While we do not do provide these services, we can make referrals or connect your family with someone who can.

We do not allow our families or their friends/representatives to occupy the sale or be present when we are preparing the home. This can be an extremely emotional time and from our experiences, it is much less difficult to not see what is involved during the set-up and during the actual estate sale. Another reason to not attend is because our customers can somehow sense that you or your representatives are present and this discourages sales (we've seen it happen).

We don't mind if someone wants to make a short visit and purchase something during the sale. Most liquidators will agree that it is best for the family to not attend the sale or make visits while we are preparing for the sale.

We do not have additional fees. Our commission includes everything for every typical aspect of your sale. When we arrange a walk-through with your family, we will discuss all details concerning our set fees at that time. 

We are unable to do pre-sales for both family and dealers. When we advertise our sales, the advertisement shows our customers/dealers what to expect. If those things are gone before the sale, we will most likely lose business, credibility and customers; this does not benefit our families. Everyone has an equal and fair chance to purchase items as seen in the advertisement.