Tag Archives: advertising

Understanding The Estate Sale Process
Understanding the estate sale process is very important as the liquidation business continues to grow.
Estate sale companies cannot commit until they have seen everything you are selling. The company needs to decide if there is enough in the sale to make it profitable for them.
Estate liquidators have many expenses such as insurance, staff, supplies, security and the time needed to prepare the sale. Liquidators have to include their advertising costs to compete with the growing number of estate sales.
Sellers hiring an estate sale company should recognize that they have a multitude of expenses. Working to create a successful sale for you to the best of their ability requires knowledge and marketing experience.
Estate liquidators also need empathy in many cases for clients.
A strong estate sale contract that protects and explains the estate sale company obligations and the sellers obligations is very important in the process. Many estate sale companies have their contracts prepared by attorneys.
The estate sale company may have a membership in associations such as the NAOEL. These associations and societies charge a fee to join and a yearly fee for membership. They also provide education that they charge the estate liquidator for.
The estate sale company incurs the cost of excepting charge cards. Fees are accessed and each company decides whether to charge them to a seller or absorb them. This may be part of their commission. Each estate sale company is different.
Sellers should understand what is required to prepare and conduct a sale. Reviewing the estate sale process with any estate sale company you are interviewing is important to avoid future misunderstandings.

Estate Sales Costs Evolve Over Time
One of the largest generations in our history, the baby boomer generation, has helped to create a boom in the estate sale industry, changed the way estate sales work, and the costs associated with estate sales.
Ten years ago holding an estate sale you payed a commission to an estate liquidation company or a flat fee and possibly paying an outside source to provide a clean out after the sale. The commission or fee was set by the estate sale company and was the same for almost every sale they conducted.
Not so today. The majority of estate sale companies now carry liability insurance, important for them and sellers. Workman’s compensation is also an expense for hundreds of estate sale companies. Estate sale companies that hold more than one estate sale per week or handle large content sales have had to add staff to handle the volume of sales they are working, advertising has gone from placing an ad in the local paper and hand made signs to marketing with estate sale advertising websites such as EstateSale.com (including featuring large or unusual sales an extra cost. Each estate sale adverting website is different and has varying costs), Facebook (and boosting the post for the sale) professional signage, brochures, memberships in associations, email targeting lists, and clean out costs either by the liquidation company or a company that specializes in clean outs of property.