Ellyn’s Guide to a Successful Sale!
How we begin…
We will first make an appointment that would conveniently fit the potential client’s schedule. At the initial in-home meeting, we will assess the time that would be needed to prepare and stage the house. I will discuss available dates that are convenient for the client. Once dates are agreed upon by both parties for the estate sale, I will then go over in detail my simple contract with our new client. The agreement is signed, and the details are hashed out.
I will then photograph Estate and Liquidation items and send the information and photos to my marketing department to start the advertising process right away for maximum exposure and potential sales. My company works on a percentage basis and receives no upfront fees or any monies from its clients. We do not get paid if our clients do not get paid. We are in this together so that I can make your Estate or Liquidation Sale the best it can be!
The Setup-Staging…
At estate sales by Ellyn, we are here to make the process as seamless as possible. With just a few days to hold your sale and liquidate your estate, I want to ensure that we get our clients the maximum exposure for their items.
We will schedule a convenient time before the estate sale dates to come into the home and set up and stage all items for sale. This will include Light moving, dusting, whipping clean, and or broom sweeping, appraising, and pricing of certain items.
Estate Sales by Ellyn provides the staff and necessary tables as a part of our investment in your estate sales success. The setup process can be as little as one day, or, if necessary, to make your estate sale as much of a success as we can.
The Sales…
In-Home Public Sales
We typically run 2 and 3-day estate sales that are open to the public. In-home estate sales are the best way to run a sale for a client.
They tend to yield the client the most revenue from their estate sale. When doing an in-home estate sale, usually most or all items that are being kept out of the estate sale will be removed from the house by the owner before the estate sale begins. If Items cannot be removed from the house before the estate sale begins, then we will either do our best to put all items that aren’t for sale into a separate and “off-limits” part of the property or mark those items “not for sale”.
If the items in the estate are too big to be moved or there isn’t a place that can be sectioned off, then those items will be distinctly marked “not for sale”. At Estate Sales by Ellyn, we understand that some Estate Liquidation sales have a time-sensitive situation that is driving them, and I have dealt with all types of situations. Not to worry, Estate Sales by Ellyn knows just how to handle all those situations!
The in-home public estate sale is a sale that anyone can attend during our selected sale hours, which typically run sales on Fridays and Saturdays from 8 am-4 pm and Sundays from 10 am-3 pm, depending on the individual client’s needs. Estate Sales by Ellyn understands that clients and their situations can be very different, and I’m here to conform to the needs of each of them to create the most successful estate sale we possibly can. My marketing team is behind the scenes 24 hours a day/7 day a week, making sure we do our best in marketing all clients’ sales.
Without sharing our advertising secrets, an example of what we do to advertise for our client’s sales is: Internet/website advertising, we have an extensive list of followers comprised of dealers and buyers that are always watching my website to stay updated on all my sales.
We also advertise through other websites such as the estate sale websites, Craigslist, local garage sale sites, and apps. I put an abundance of street signs to help draw in new buyers and help direct my already existing buyers to me. For security reasons, we don’t announce the actual address until the night before. Each night after the sale closes, I update the ad to show the items that will still be available the following day.
Typically, in a public sale, I have been contracted to sell everything in the house. All remarkable estate sale items in the sale are marked with a price, usually on a colored sticker. When you see a sticker that has prices, this means that they are firm on the opening day. If by the last day there is anything left, discounts may not apply to all items, such as very expensive paintings, artifacts, antiques, gold, silver, and other precious gems and metals. If part of the scope of the work is to leave the house empty, I will develop a plan with the seller to make sure their property is broom-swept and clean.
For Payments, we accept cash, Zelle, and credit cards at all sales.
My estate sales are not auctions, and everything in the sale is for sale when the doors open unless marked otherwise. I do not pre-sell items unless prior agreement is made with our client. All items on our listing and in our pictures will be in my sale when it opens.
APPOINTMENT SALES
Sometimes we get estate sales where there is very limited parking or gated communities where homeowner association rules prohibit public estate sales. I advertise these as ‘Appointment Sales’ and I require customers to book an appointment in advance.
BLOWOUT/Liquidation SALES
Our Blowout estate sales (Liquidation sales) are usually one-day estate sales when we have a partial estate or a moving sale. This type of estate sale typically needs to be done in a one or two-day time frame, and “everything must go!” Typically, a sale of this fashion would warrant lower prices to help make liquidating the estate in that short time frame easier. There is a possibility for a 50% sale for the last few hours or even the day of those types of sales as well.
