Estate sale?

[MarieAnne]

I've heard a lot about estate sales while on this forum and you ladies are always finding great things there. What's an estate sale and how can I find one?

 

[BegintheBeguine]

It's usually where a person dies and her heirs don't want her belongings so they hire a company to price and sell her items in her house. Look in your newspaper's classified ads for estate sales. Bring cash, preferably in small bills. Know you won't be able to try anything on. If you see something you might want, grab it anyway as it won't be there after you finish wandering around the house, you can always put it back. Dealers like to get there early and can be pushy, but there still might be good items for the rest of us. Some things are priced so cheaply it's depressing. Some things are just items you couldn't find anywhere else and so might not be as cheap as in a thrift store. You may have to visit several estate sales before you find something, just like thrift shopping, or retail shopping come to think of it. Hope this helps.

 

[Josephine]

There is a company in my area called FourSales that does estates sales. They are listed in the online yellow pages under Auctions, Resale Shops, and Second Hand Dealers. Many of these companies have email lists you can join (This particular company also takes checks). You can try your local online yellow pages and see if there are any in your area.

I look on the online version of my newspaper for estate sale notices too, that way I can cull them by area.

 

[Viviene]

There's a site here: http://gsalr.com/

where you can look for estate and garage sales in your area. It's not the entire 50 states by any means but it could be of help.

 

[carter]

There's a site here: http://gsalr.com/

where you can look for estate and garage sales in your area. It's not the entire 50 states by any means but it could be of help.

Viviene, Thanks for posting this link! I had no idea so many opportunities existed so close to home.

 

[Viviene]

You're very welcome!

 

[BegintheBeguine]

MarieAnne is in Canada, so I suggested the newspaper.

 

[Viviene]

I did not see that MarieAnne was from Canada. There is this other site for garage sales (where you might sometimes find estate items) that also covers Canada:

http://myhomegaragesale.com/

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Am I correct that estate sales can be called household sales, that is everything in the house is for sale by a company including the bag of twist ties under the sink ? Or am I getting myself hopelessly confused as usual?

 

[Viviene]

I know here in Pennsylvania people call what I would consider a garage sale (i.e. a moving sale where everything has to go) an estate sale. That's why if there is a phone number published or an email address I contact them first to see if there is anything I'm looking for. Most of the time there isn't anything I am looking for. But of course as I'm a vendor what I'm looking for would be different than if you are looking for just yourself.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Thanks! Here it's called a garage or yard sale if someone puts out baby stuff they don't want to give away. I used to go to professionally run sales with my mom, who deals in vintage costume jewelry, and more lately my best friend, who deals in records, but I haven't been to an estate or household sale in a few years as the best Salvation Army I've ever been to is around the corner from my house.

 

[Viviene]

I'm not one for going to estate sales myself. I don't like the idea of pawing through someone's things. I've been to two in my life and people were just ripping through things and it left a very bad taste in my mouth. I have a couple of consignment clients right now and they call the shots on what their items sell for, etc. I'm more comfortable assisting them while they are alive to make their own decisions about how they want to dispose of their things.

 

[MarieAnne]

Thank you so much everyone!
That would be wierd - going through someone's house. I think it would take me a long time to get used to the idea that everything is up for grabs. I would feel like a looter.
Thank you for the links. I haven't found anything in my area yet but I am keeping my eyes open. I'll be checking the websites and the paper. Until then, I'll be doing the rounds - of thrift stores that is.

 

[Foofoogal]

I consider estate sale when someone dies.
I find your last comment interesting MarieAnne. I had an inside sale at my home this past week and hardly noone came. I am moving so thought it would be easier.
I have had them outside before and done much better. Maybe people are timid about going into homes. Never thought of it before as I love going into estate sales. I find my best stuff everywhere and I mean everywhere.

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Thank you so much everyone!
That would be wierd - going through someone's house. I think it would take me a long time to get used to the idea that everything is up for grabs. I would feel like a looter.

I guess it is a little weird at that. I love estate sales, but maybe that's because I feel like I'm "rescuing" the things I buy from some potentially horrible fate. Ultimately it's the heirs' choice as to what goes into the sale and what doesn't. Sometimes it's sad to see so many personal things in sale, but I try to remember that sometimes a person just has so much stuff once they die that their heirs may not be able to keep it all. They've probably (hopefully) gone through already and picked out the things that they want to keep. At least, instead of dumping it (not unheard of ) they're giving people like us a chance to give it life again. I think that's a good thing.

Not that it doesn't feel weird, too...

 

[Miss 1929]

And sometimes they don't even have heirs (not close family ones anyway), and the estate is being cleared so the house can be sold.

I did an estate sale for a friend who is a real estate agent. The heirs had been trying to clear out the house for a year. There was still so much stuff left it took a solid week of 3 people organizing to make it sale ready.

But when I asked them questions like "any old shoes/hats/clothes" they said, "oh we threw all that away"!!!

As it was, we made thousands of dollars for them on the stuff they had considered junk. So don't feel bad about buying at an estate sale, you are doing them and the stuff a favor! And believe me, if you don't buy it there, it usually goes to the Goodwill or the landfill.

I can't imagine being squeamish about it - like those people who look down on vintage clothing as being "dead people's clothes"!

 

[carter]

I've made some of my best buys at estate sales. Particularly those where there are no heirs interested in the deceased person's personal property. I've found an old pipe table, a complete eight place setting of Churchill Blue Willow china, entire stereo systems, kitchen items with bakelite handles, a 1st edition of A Movable Feast by Hemingway, a projector and screen, boxes of slides from the 40's and 50's, old photographs, original oil paintings, and many other items. I have never, however, found a vintage fedora. But I'm still hopeful.

As has been noted, what isn't sold usually goes to a thrift store or a landfill. It's better if someone wants these items and has a use for them. And it's environmentally friendly!

 

[Viviene]

I'm not squeemish about the actual items. It's about the nastiness it brings out in the people at the sale. It's bad enough when you see actual family members acting like this. To have strangers shoving and grabbing over someone's personal effects really bothers me. Perhaps people have forgotten how to use their manners.

 

[Paisley]

Thank you so much everyone!
That would be wierd - going through someone's house. I think it would take me a long time to get used to the idea that everything is up for grabs. I would feel like a looter.

Looters don't pay and they don't bother to knock. Most of my house is furnished with goods bought at estate sales.

Now, "friends" and family rummaging through someone's things unasked, or before the sale, is in the WORST possible taste.

 

[MarieAnne]

Now, "friends" and family rummaging through someone's things unasked, or before the sale, is in the WORST possible taste.

Oooo that is horrible. I know from experience; I won't go into details.

Bargains/bargaining can bring out the worst in people. I love Boxing Day but sometimes I feel like I should be wearing hockey pads. I remember a big sale once, it was for T-Fal; people were actually trampled.

Back to estate sales, I found a great website FULL of auction listings in Ontario. From the descriptions, I get the impression these are like 'Estate Auctions' which I like because no amount of pushing/shoving/rummaging will increase anyone's odds. Hopefully this will eliminate the 'finding frenzy' which has been described on this thread.
The majority of them are 3+ hrs away but some aren't TOO far away. And I found an auction for this Saturday, just 1 hr away.

I'm going to call and ask if they have the stuff I'm interested in, because it's still a long drive! Has anyone been to an auction before? Is there anything I should know before going?