I need help/advice on where to start on selling items I have been storing for years that I inherited from my great grandparents,grandparents and both parents all deceased. Furniture,books,glassware,toys,some things I dont even know what they are…any one have time to clue me in on where to begin??? Have an estate auction,sell outright…any ideas?? Much appreciated for your time. My son is moving out on his own and I have no ties/family left, I would love to move cross country but have so much stuff. It is a huge weight.
Make sure to check an auctioneer’s reputation before you engage them. I was at an estate auction and saw the auctioneer wait until a serious buyer drifted away and then he called the auction for expensive stone working machines. In minutes his preferred buyer grabbed up the machines for $100 when they were worth thousands. The machines were in the basement and the auctioneer threw in that auction outside in the midst of auctioning boxes of kitchen gadgets. It was clear he ripped off the estate and really just gave the expensive equipment away. There was no fair bidding on that lot.
You will make the most from an estate sale — especially if it’s well advertised. If you do the estate sale yourself and know the value of things, people will probably buy you out the first morning…however, it might be easier to have an estate auction if it’s a lot of stuff. Auctioneers charge anywhere from 25% up. If you do something like eBay you will get about 50% of the value of your items and have to pay 12% on the final sale (includes shipping). If you want to get an idea of how much your stuff is work, I like to surf TIAS.com, cyberattic.com, rubylane.com and of course eBay.