Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is an Estate Sale?
An Estate Sale is a public or private sale of all the contents of a house,
held inside the house itself.
2. How does an estate sale work?
After your family has removed from the house all the things you will keep,
Unexpected Treasures staff prepare everything else for an Estate Sale. Items
are organized, cleaned, appraised, priced, and displayed attractively. The
Estate Sale, which looks a bit like an in-home store, is held for 1-3 days,
depending upon the quality and scope of the property to be sold.
3. What do we need to do to prepare for our Estate Sale?
Your only job—albeit a challenging one—is to decide what you
want to keep and to move it from the house before the sale. Leave everything
else behind. We will handle it all for you, including the trash.
4. What is considered valuable for an Estate Sale?
Values of items constantly change depending on what local buyers are willing
to pay for something at any given time. In addition to fine art and antiques,
collectors and buyers are looking for almost everything that is in good
condition. Some of the popular purchases are sterling silver, costume jewelry,
tools, kitchen items, linens, books, military and scouting things, fishing
and golf gear, clothing, garden pots and furniture, postcards and other
paper items, mid-century décor from the 1930’s to 1970’s,
dolls and old toys.
5. Who attends Estate Sales?
Buyers at Estate Sales include local collectors, antique dealers, residents
of the area, and people who enjoy looking for treasures
.
6. How do you decide what price to place on each item in the Estate
Sale?
Our Unexpected Treasures team includes independent specialists and appraisers.
In their individual areas of expertise, they know the current local market
values of a broad array of categories including books, pianos, automobiles,
fine jewelry, carpets, Asian art, fine art, antiques, silver, dolls, and
much more.
7. How and where do you advertise the Estate Sales?
We advertise online, in newspapers, and with street signs in your neighborhood.
We also send e-mail notices to over 1000 potential buyers in our private
database.
8. Can people bid on items at an Estate Sale? If so, how?
Yes, potential buyers who do not want to pay the tagged price may make offers
on items by giving us a written card with their name, phone number, the
item they want to buy, and their highest offer for that item. If, at the
end of the sale, the item has not sold, we contact the highest bidder for
it who then purchases it at their proffered bid.
9. What happens to the things that remain unsold at the end of the
Estate Sale?
After all sales are completed, we arrange for one or more charities to take
away useful donations. We provide you with an itemized receipt, for your
tax records. After the charity has removed the donations, our haulers take
away all that remains.
10. What are your fees?
For most sales, our fee is a percentage of sales.
