Running an Estate Sale can be an overwhelming experience if you don’t plan for the worst and are not prepared. Be it reality TV or personal experiences, Estate Sales are known for drawing a solid turnout, and a mix of people, so ensuring the safety of your clients, staff and shoppers is your number one goal as an Estate Sale Professional. We recently interviewed three Estate Sale Professionals from around the country to get their advice and to learn what measures their companies take to ensure safety and an overall pleasant experience for shoppers. Here’s what they had to say:
Catherine Baron, President of Catherine’s Estates and Appraisals, says, “The location of the estate sale is not given out until the day of the event. An estate sale house is usually an empty house, so for security purposes we only advertise the part of town the event will be in and disclose the address at the latest possible moment.” Catherine says she staffs every room of the home during the sale and even has staff members available to carry the large and heavy items out for shoppers. She says it’s important to clearly label and block off steps or other physical hazards from foot traffic areas. “Organization, cleanliness, and presentation is key to ensuring that our customers have an overall pleasant shopping experience,” says Catherine, “our sales are beautifully presented, clean, and all items are priced.”
“I try to price general merchandise to move on the first day as priced,” says Brenda Devereux, owner of The Real McCoy Estate and House Content Sales LLC. “More valuable items are priced with fairness to the owner in mind and bids are taken for those items on the first day if they don’t want to pay full price.” Brenda says, “I walk a very fine line and try to be fair to buyer and seller. I have a great team of girls who are helpful and fun!”
Robyn Reynolds of Organize2Harmonize says “I always have several staff working with me for any given sale, and I have even gone so far as to hire undercover security.” As for a pleasant atmosphere, Robyn says “we are told many times that people like shopping at our sales because we make them fun and items are priced well.” Sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference and earn a following of customers.