Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Estate Sales Companies Can Help In A Time Of Need

By Leslie Mitchell


Estate sales companies can turn headaches into profit. While many people turn to garage sales and charity donation when it comes time to relocate or during a major life event, they have other options as well.

Usually the most common events which will present a person with the urge to hire outside help to sell off personal belongings, items, products or value can include: downsizing, getting divorced, having to pay off debt or when filing bankruptcy. An estate sale company are available to fix a potentially large problem with swift actions.

Events such as these are also sometimes known as "tag sales". Companies help to create a professional setting and organized events which involves tremendous preparation. Preventing theft is essential throughout the process. Taking inventory and figuring out values ahead of time are also very important factors to complete ahead of time.

Negotiations and haggling are not uncommon practices during these opportunities. It can be expected an agent will have to be well-versed on an estate in order to work out prices with a customer. Items from an estate can be all different depending on the walk of life leaving these items behind. Furniture, linens and appliances are most commonly found and in the most quantity but it is not out of the question for boats, cars, or other equally large and expensive items to be available as well.

Collectibles are tougher to place a value on due to the nature of the items. They tend to have value outside of dollars (nostalgic or sentimental). Professionals can not only accurately help to assign a value where a family member may not, but they can also network or find collectors who can properly assign a value or even buy the items from the collection.

Once preparatory work is complete, tag sales usually follow a common format. Visitors will usually act in terms of preference based upon arrival. A guest with invested interest in a product would benefit from showing up early to try to get the best possible position for making purchases. Silent bids are also acceptable, most of the time on items on the more expensive side. This means a customer can declare a price with an agent or company and will receive an item at that price unless they are silently outbid by another visitor at a higher undisclosed price.

Making sure the company is the right fit can also be tricky. Like any professional organization, there are tips towards determining this. Making sure the company has third party insurance for the items or are "bonded" is necessary. Making sure the company is licensed to participate in these types of events and has legal authorization is mandatory as well. A company right for you will also be able to supply references upon request and will not charge someone for fees based on preliminary home inspection.

Of course, even this help, every item may not disappear by the end of the event. Generally, after an estate sale, remaining items will then be donated to charity or disposed of by alternate means such as a smaller garage sale or another form of donation. This is not generally something estate sales companies will help with, but these items are likely to be minimized by utilizing a professional company in the first place to help with the item sales.




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