Improving My Financial Situation

When a loved one passes away, you have to go through all of their stuff. If a loved one had a house full of things you don't want, you would want to hold an estate sale. With an estate sale, you can take steps to ensure that the estate sale is a success. With a successful estate sale, you will make some good money, and you will get rid of as much stuff as possible.

1. Research the Value of Items

Don't just walk through the house and put prices based on your judgment. Take time to look up the items in the home to determine what they are worth. Some things may not be your style, but you may be surprised to learn that people will pay good money for old-fashioned or vintage items.

Researching the value of items will require you to take a little more time to prepare for the sale; however, you will get more value for the items when you have them priced correctly.

2. Clearly Mark the Price

After you spend the time researching what things are worth, you will want to make sure that the price is clearly marked. You can do this by using pricing stickers that you place on each item, making it easy to identify the price.

For small items or duplicate items, you can put out signs that let people know the item's price. For example, you could sell all old clothing for $2 an item. Having clearly marked prices will save you from having to answer the same questions countless times. Clearly labeled items will make it easier for buyers to determine if they want to purchase something.

3. Get Lots of Help

With an estate sale, people will be walking through the house, picking up items that they want. You are going to want to ensure that the house is properly staffed. Have everyone who is helping with the sale wearing the same shirt or color or nametag so that buyers can identify who to turn to with questions. Having lots of help will help facilitate the answering of questions and reduce theft.

4. Have a Purchase Table

Next, you will want to have space near the entrance where people can purchase the items. This space is going to need to be large enough for people to set down their purchases and for you to add things up and allow them to pay. You are going to want to have a big table for this.

You are going to want to use a cashbox so you can keep things organized. You will want to have lots of change on hand, so you don't lose sales. You may want to accept payment via an app as well to increase people's ability to buy.

You don't have to handle all of the logistics for the estate sale on your own. Some businesses specialize in holding estate sales. They will assist with advertising, setting up, and running your estate sale.