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Not sure how to price your items? Use our estate sale pricing guide to help you decide what is worth selling, keeping, donating and how you should price your items. When pricing items at an estate sale, you must take multiple factors into consideration.
Things to consider when pricing your personal property for an estate sale include the age and condition of the item, demand in the current marketplace, geographical significance of the item, and price of the item if it were being sold new from a retail store. Due to the nature of estate sales and the fact that they encompass a broad range of items, accurate estate sale pricing may take considerable time and expertise.
What Sells Best At An Estate Sale
Wondering what sells best at an estate sale? Estate sales are typically an entire collection of items that someone may have collected throughout their lifetime, meaning they can include quite a motley assortment of items. While you can find literally everything and anything for sale at an estate sale, there are some things that people typically hone in on. This is key to an estate sale pricing guide. These items include, but are not limited to:
Antique Furniture
There is a strong market for antique furniture at estate sales and people are always on the hunt for unique vintage pieces to grace their homes or to resell. Even when it’s high-quality, traditional brown furniture isn’t in style right now, so these items typically sell for much less than their worth. Mid-Century Modern furniture, however, has been popular for the past couple of decades and continues to have a strong market.
Collectibles
Card collections, coins and stamps, doll collections, sports memorabilia – you name it. Estate sale shoppers love the thrill of the chase and are often looking to score a diamond in the rough. Because of this, it’s important to have these collections (especially if you are not the original owner of the collectibles) appraised by a professional. If not, you could be missing out on a major payday for a rare and valuable collector’s item.
High-End Clothing
Well-cared-for vintage designer clothing, furs and the like are often sold at estate sales and can fetch significant prices.
Vintage Jewelry
Well-made jewelry can last for hundreds of years and many pieces stay within a family, passed down through generations. Equally as many older vintage pieces pass through estate sales on their journey to their new wearer. People love finding beautiful and one-of-a-kind vintage pieces to show off and both real and vintage costume jewelry have value at these sales.
Art
Original artwork, be they photographs, paintings, sculptures, Venetian masks, etc., are popular pieces to both buy and sell at estate sales.
Rugs
Large area rugs or smaller rugs, especially authentic hand-woven ones can fetch good prices at estate sales.
Workout Equipment
Though workout equipment typically loses a lot of its value on the used market, people still come to estate sales looking to score a deal on these items that are rather expensive to buy from retail stores. High-quality treadmills, multi-use workout systems and lead weights can all be sold at an estate sale.
How to Price Household Items For An Estate Sale
Small household items such as kitchenware or tools can be sold individually or as a lot. It depends on the value and size of the items in question. Prices for these items are typically in the $10 to $50 range and depend on the condition and value of the item. Items sold at an estate sale are typically priced much lower than they would be purchased new from a store and a bit lower than what they would cost at an antique store. Keep in mind that the average estate sale shopper is an opportunist, so they are looking for and get excited about finding a good deal on something. If they wanted to pay full price, they would simply buy the item from a store. Using our estate sale pricing guide will help you price your items correctly. A few examples:
- Small appliances from KitchenAid, Cuisinart, etc., should be in the $10 to $20 range. Things like KitchenAid mixers (often found at estate sales) can be sold for around $50 to $100.
- Large appliances such as working washing machines, clothes dryers or ranges can be sold for hundreds of dollars, and it depends on the original purchase price, age and condition of the appliances.
How to Price Furniture For An Estate Sale
Pricing furniture at an estate sale depends on the age of the item, rarity and original maker of the item. Vintage or discontinued furniture from lauded designers can fetch significant prices at estate sales. Pieces from mid-century modern designers such as Eames, Kjærholm, Aalto, Paul Evans, Knoll, and Wegner to name a few, hold their value extremely well and may be worth more today than they were when originally sold. Gothic, Rococo and Chippendale designs are valuable in today’s market. Well-preserved or well-worn Chesterfield couches hold their value, as do sturdy Adirondack chairs and other outdoor furniture in good condition. A knowledgeable appraiser will be a helpful estate sale pricing guide for your furniture collection.
Estate Sale Pricing Guide for Clothes
Pricing clothing at an estate sale depends on multiple factors. Chief among them is the brand, followed by condition, style and size of the item. Inexpensive fast-fashion clothes are typically sold in lots or donated. Higher-quality items like pieces from well-known designers can fetch higher prices. If you have a closet full of furs and designer clothing, you could be looking at significant revenue for your estate sale outcome.
Here are the main considerations for pricing clothes:
Brand
What brand are the clothes? Most clothing from fast fashion brands is virtually valueless on the used market and will typically be priced as a lot. Midrange clothing that is of high quality and a classic style has a decent resale value and can be priced as a lot or individually. High fashion brands like Chanel, Prada, Hermes – you get the drift – will sell for more and are almost always sold individually.
Condition
How have the items been cared for? Items that are free of snags, loose threads or stains will certainly be more valuable than items whose age is reflected in their condition. Certain fabrics naturally discolor with age and how the item is stored will reflect this, as is the case with a properly stored wedding dress or one that was simply tucked away in a box.
Style
Is the clothing currently trendy? Styles change and evolve throughout the years and certain styles come out or back in over the course of a 20- to 30-year cycle. Of course, timeless classics will have a resale value no matter what the current trends are.
When pricing items, you should make an estate sale inventory checklist and have all of your pricing organized well ahead of schedule. Pricing your items is by far the most time-consuming part of preparing for an estate sale, and it’s important that you know the value of things lest a savvy shopper take your lunch! Hiring a professional appraiser is the best way to ensure that you can discern the difference between the valuable and the valueless.
Price Accurately With A Professional Appraiser
The best way to make sure that the items in your estate sale are priced correctly is to hire a professional appraiser or use an estate sale company to conduct the sale for you. Professional appraisers like those at Estate Pros are knowledgeable about a tremendous range of items and the service more than pays for itself at the end of the day when you are able to realize the true value of the items in your collection of personal property.
Contact Estate Pros for a free consultation and let us help you set prices on your items that are both fair to you as the seller and enticing to the buyer.
Estate Pros – The Best In The Business
The Estate Pros team has conducted thousands of estate sales over the course of the past 15+ years in Southeastern Michigan. With the pro’s at Estate Pros handling all of the permitting requirements, you won’t have to worry about a thing! Our professional reputation in Oakland, Macomb, and parts of Livingston, Genesee, Lapeer & Wayne counties is second to none and we pride ourselves on getting our customers top dollar for their personal property. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
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