Estate Sale Pricing: A Guide on How to Price Things Right
So you’ve decided to have an estate sale. You’ve gathered all the items you’re planning to sell, and now comes the hard part – pricing. How can you figure out how much you should charge for your beloved possessions?
While there aren’t any specific rules for estate sale pricing, you can follow some best practices. Read our estate pricing guide below to learn more.
Do Your Research
The first step in estate sale pricing is to conduct thorough research. Google and eBay are great starting points for research. If you’re unable to find what you’re looking for on these sites, there are several other resources available, including:
Antique Roadshow Archives
Everything But The House
Invaluable
Prices4Antiques
If you need more assistance, you might be able to find a free appraisal day at a local museum or auction house. You might also want to bring in professionals to help with estate sale pricing for furniture and other valuable items.
Don’t Price Too High
One top estate sale pricing guideline is to ensure you’re not pricing your items too high. High prices will likely lead to fewer customers since most people go to estate sales expecting a good deal.
Don’t price items at retail value or at the current online sales price. You should price your items at liquidation value. There are two types of liquidation values – forced liquidation and orderly liquidation.
Forced liquidation is the price you will get if the sale occurs in a short period of time. Orderly liquidation is the price you will get if you have ample time to advertise your sale. Forced liquidation often results in lower prices than orderly liquidation.
Factors That Affect Estate Sale Pricing
The value of your items is not the only thing that will determine the pricing. Below are some other factors that will affect the final sale price.
Time of the Year
Depending on what type of items you’re selling, the time of year you hold the sale may affect the pricing. If you have a lot of Christmas decorations, you should hold your sale right before the holiday season begins.
Condition
Damaged or dirty items will sell for a lower price. Even if an item is very valuable and in poor condition, you may have to offer a heavy discount.
Desirability
If everyone wants a specific item, it will drive the price up. Collectibles and other rare items often sell for higher prices.
Staging
It’s important to place items for sale in their natural environment within your home. If you place a beautiful China set in a dirty basement, that will lower its value. Instead, you should stage it in your dining room with the place settings displayed.
Working with a Professional Estate Sale Team
Estate sales are a lot of work. There’s so much to do, from research to pricing to staging, before the sale starts. And after all that work, you could end up with lots of unsold items.
That’s where we come in. We’ll do all the preparation for you, including estate sale pricing, and make sure to get customers in the door. If you’re considering an estate sale, contact us today and let us know how we can help.