Lately I have been obsessed with estate sales. Garage sales are the best, but they are few and far between in the winter here and my local thrift stores just don’t seem to appeal to my current tastes. I am still buying items to replace inventory that was sold during the Cotton Pickin’ Fair and one particular estate sale I visited this summer, fueled my fire. I spent a little more than usual, but I got some of the coolest stuff! Everything is on sale at Pickers Paradise and will be available at my next festival. Come see what I’ve found!
Step One to a successful estate sale trip is to research your sale. Estatesales.net and many of the estate sale companies post dates, times, maps and more importantly pictures of future sales. You will run across the same companies running these sales and there is a learning curve to figuring out which companies run sales with the type of things you are looking for and also how they price their items. I search estate sales within a 50 mile radius of my home. I generally stay within 20 but will travel further if the sale looks good. I go through all the pictures and pick the ones that have the items that look the most interesting. My obsession is vintage-mostly mid century. If I come across a sale with modern decor or all antiques, I generally skip them.
Step Two, get there early on the first day and have a plan. I’ve been third in line at opening and missed out on some items I had my eye on, because I wasn’t the first in the door and I stopped at the entryway instead of going directly to the room I needed to be in. If you’re looking for vintage Pyrex, go straight to the kitchen. Don’t get sidetracked by the pretty silver mid century lamps in the foyer. FOCUS people! Sorry, I still want to kick myself.
Step Three, know your estate sale company and stick to your budget. Know before hand if you are going to pay the marked price or get a better price by haggling- I mean bargaining. This comes from experience of going to multiple sales by the same company. Some will not budge on prices the first day. Some will take whatever they can get. Some have their stuff priced so high, that you want to turn around and walk back out without seeing everything. Most sales are 3 days, which are generally Thursday, Friday and Saturday. If you go the first day you will get the best stuff first. You may pay more for it, but its first come, first serve. Usually the last day is marked 50% off or more, but most of the good stuff is gone by that point. I went to a sale by one of my favorite companies and had my eye on 3 vintage photography light stands. Two were $30 and one was $45. I bought several things on the first day but passed on the light stands. I thought about those lights every minute until I went back on the last day. They were still there and I got all three of them for $45. I use them to spotlight my booths when lighting is low and I love that I got them for a great price!
Step Four, never go alone. Especially if you deal in larger items (like me). If it’s a good sale and the house is large, bring at least 2 people. I’ve gone to an estate sale alone and found myself in a basement with no one to help me carry out a credenza, a chair and a picture frame. I ended up paying someone to help me, because I was unwilling to leave my purchases there and come back. I have had my purchases resold after I left and came back to pick them up. So, try to take everything with you.
Step Five, try to bring cash. Cash talks when hounding- I mean bargaining and most companies will charge a fee to use a credit card. Always get a receipt and take your items with you. Some estate sales are run by the family and will only take cash. These are my favorite types of sales. They aren’t run by a company and aren’t out to get the highest price. The family just needs to get everything moved and aren’t as concerned about price as much as getting it all out.
My final tip is on harassing- I mean bargaining. Make a pile. The more you have, the better the deal. The first one to name a price usually loses. Be the first to ask what is the lowest price they will accept and don’t be the first to say what you are willing to pay. I didn’t follow this advice at my last estate sale and gave a price of $75 for my pile of goodies, while the man was adding it all up. Thank goodness he didn’t hear me and asked if I would do $50 for everything. Hmmmm, ummmmm, well, OK!
Those are my basics and just my opinions. I would love to hear your ideas, tips and tricks too. Thanks for following me and look for my next post. I have some exciting things coming up and will keep you updated!
Jayme