​This is part four of a multi-part series of questions you should ask before hiring an estate sale company.  Go here for part 3.

When the time comes for you to liquidate an estate, whether because of downsizing, divorce, or a death in the family, holding an estate sale is usually the easiest and most expedient option.

Hiring an estate sale company (sometimes called an estate liquidator) may be your best option if you want to save time and earn more money.  Estate sale companies will do all of the hard work for you; and, because they know the local market, will price your items in a way to get them sold.  A correctly priced, sold item puts more cash in your pocket than a premium priced, unsold item.

But, just like any other professional, you’ll want to talk with them (in person tends to work best) and ask several questions before deciding which company to hire.  Here’s another question you will want an answer for.
 
How do You Handle Security?
 
When you hire a professional estate sale company, you want to be assured that they will not only protect your belongings and profits during the sale, but the property itself as well.  These kinds of sales tell criminals that there is possibly a vacant property with unprotected goods inside.  You will want to find out what precautions the estate sale company takes to protect the property and the merchandise.
Do they have staff to monitor back rooms, outbuildings, and other floors? Do they allow only one entrance and exit to the property?  How do they handle crowd control the morning of the sale? Do they limit the number of shoppers allowed inside at any given time? Do they allow people with backpacks and shopping bags into the sale?  How do they monitor the premises overnight?
 
 
At A2Z Estate Solutions, we take security very seriously.  We make sure we have enough staff on hand to keep an eye on all the merchandise locations.  We carefully set up the “flow” of the sale and allow only one point of entrance and exit to ensure that we only allow a certain number of people into the sale at once and so that everyone leaving must pass an employee on the way out.  On the busiest of mornings, we have a sign in sheet, so not only do we allow a few in at a time, but we have a list of names as well, should we ever need them.  And finally, people with large bags or backpacks are politely asked to leave them in their cars or outside.  Perhaps most importantly, we ensure that the house is locked up, any alarm system is enabled, and we request that the police do patrols of the neighborhood during the evenings between sale days.  This secures the property as well as the belongings inside.  It doesn’t hurt that many neighbors typically come by sales as well.  We’ve been told that many of them keep an eye out for anything suspicious overnight as well.

This is part three of a multi-part series of questions you should ask before hiring an estate sale company.  Go here for part 2.

When the time comes for you to liquidate an estate, whether because of downsizing, divorce, or a death in the family, holding an estate sale is usually the easiest and most expedient option.

Hiring an estate sale company (sometimes called an estate liquidator) may be your best option if you want to save time and earn more money.  Estate sale companies will do all of the hard work for you; and, because they know the local market, will price your items in a way to get them sold.  A correctly priced, sold item puts more cash in your pocket than a premium priced, unsold item.

But, just like any other professional, you’ll want to talk with them (in person tends to work best) and ask several questions before deciding which company to hire.  Here’s another question you will want an answer for.
 
How Do You Determine Prices on the Merchandise?
Pricing the merchandise appropriately is very important to making an estate sale a success.  Both the client and the company have the same goal in mind… Make as much money as possible.  But does that mean that grandma’s vintage, silver spoon collection should be priced as if it were being sold at a Christie’s auction?  NO!
 
Here’s why.  First, large, well known auction houses attract global bidders.  Second, they are bidding against each other for that exact item.  Third, they probably plan on adding that item to their collection.  The buyers for your item will be from your local area, they are trying to get a really good deal, and they are likely buying it in order to resell it.  The vast majority of estate sale buyers are looking to make a profit from reselling the items.  An estate sale company is trying to finely balance selling the items to them and getting as much for the items as possible.
 
Therefore, as a general rule, estate sale companies will price items at (roughly) 40-60% of what it might fetch in a resale store or an online sales venue (eBay, Etsy, etc.).  Remember, stores and online entities have the opportunity to let an item sit for weeks or months waiting for the one buyer who will pay a certain price for the item.  Your estate sale company is trying to sell as much as possible in two or three days to whomever walks through the door.
 
But how do they determine those prices?  Estate sale companies use a variety of means including prior experience, knowledge of the local market, research, and sometimes, calling in a professional who is an expert if there is a really valuable item.  There are even certain items that a company may take to an auction house in order to get the best price for a really rare item.
 
Here at A2Z Estate Solutions, we know the Colorado Springs market.  As an example, we know that certain furniture, while very hot in some parts of the country, maybe in very low demand here.  While that coffee table may fetch $300 at an estate sale in Big Coastal City, we might have to list it at $25 in order for it to sell here.  So when you hire an estate sale company, make sure you understand the way your items will be priced.

This is part two of a multi-part series of questions you should ask before hiring an estate sale company.  Go here for part 1.

When the time comes for you to liquidate an estate, whether because of downsizing, divorce, or a death in the family, holding an estate sale is usually the easiest and most expedient option.

Hiring an estate sale company (sometimes called an estate liquidator) may be your best option if you want to save time and earn more money.  Estate sale companies will do all of the hard work for you; and, because they know the local market, will price your items in a way to get them sold.  A correctly priced, sold item puts more cash in your pocket than a premium priced, unsold item.

But, just like any other professional, you’ll want to talk with them (in person tends to work best) and ask several questions before deciding which company to hire.  Here’s another question you will definitely want an answer for.
 
How Much Will an Estate Sale Cost Me?
Most estate sale companies are paid out of the proceeds from the sale, so it’s not like it is money coming out of your pocket.  However, it is critical to understand what you will be charged because this is money that won’t be going INTO your pocket.
 
And notice what I said… MOST companies… There are some companies that will charge you an up front fee or deposit, and that DOES come out of your pocket.
 
The most common way that estate sale companies are paid is to charge a percentage of the gross sales.  Other methods include charging a flat rate, a flat fee plus a percentage, or the greater of a minimum or a percentage.
 
These are all legitimate ways for an estate sale company to be paid.  You will need to compare them and determine which will work best for you.  But whichever method the company uses, you will also need to find out what that method includes for the price.  Does it cover set up, security. labor, permits, advertising costs, taxes, credit card processing fees, and other required costs that go into a successful sale? Or do they charge extra for these services? 
 
In addition, you will want to find out if they provide any optional services (and how much they charge for them) that you may need such as professional cleaning of the house, clearing out unsold goods after the sale, providing you with donation receipts for tax write offs, selling the house, etc.?
 
And finally, ask if you're required to pay a deposit.  This is where that “out of pocket” expense I mentioned earlier can come back to bite you.
 
At A2Z Estate Solutions, for a basic estate sale, we follow the flat fee (we call it a set up fee) plus a percentage model.  The percentage we charge is on a sliding scale, meaning the more we sell, the smaller the percentage we charge.  We also offer several extras such as the cleaning, clear out, and home sale for reasonable fees as well.  And we never charge you anything “out of pocket.”  We don’t get paid until the sale is over.