Browsing the internet, you spot something you like at an upcoming estate sale. You have the morning off, so you decide to check it out. But when you arrive, you discover there’s a line, and you have to wait to get in. After an hour and a half of waiting, when you’re finally inside, you find the item you were looking for — but it’s priced higher than you’re willing to pay. While you hesitate, another shopper grabs it. Then, you overhear the person negotiating with the estate liquidator, and the item is sold right under your nose for a lower price.
I hate estate sales. I hate estate liquidators. I’m going to write a bad review and never return.
That’s how I felt when I first started shopping at estate sales. But, despite my frustration, I came back. I analyzed how estate sales work, learned the differences between estate liquidators, and eventually had a blast with it. Now, I want to share what I’ve learned with you, hoping that you, too, will find estate sales interesting and fun.
About the Waiting List
Most estate sales have a waiting list. Contrary to popular belief, the waiting list is not usually managed by the estate liquidator. In fact, it’s often the first person to arrive who starts the list, and others simply follow. Estate liquidators typically honor this list, though they may manage the number of people allowed in at a time. Depending on the size of the home and other factors, estate liquidators may let in between 15 to 25 people initially. This is common practice when the line is longer than 25 people, as most homes can’t accommodate too many people at once, especially when they’re being used to display and sell a large number of items.
Some estate liquidators maintain the waiting list online, but they usually require shoppers to sign up at least a day in advance. Others manage their own waiting list, meaning they don’t recognize street lists. If someone starts a list before the estate liquidator does, only the liquidator’s list will be honored. It’s rare for an estate liquidator to operate without a list or to use a street list, but it can happen. In such cases, shoppers need to form a line and wait their turn until they are called.
Don’t worry — you don’t need to contact each estate liquidator to figure out which system they use. This information is typically published on the estate liquidator’s website (for example, Event Guidelines) or in the terms and conditions for each sale on estate sale listing websites (like estatesales.org, estatesales.net, and estatesale.com).
If you want to be part of the first group to get in, pay attention to when the address of the sale is published. Once you know the address, you can decide how early you want to arrive to sign up for the waiting list. Not all estate liquidators release the address right away — in fact, most of them publish it between 24 and 3 hours before the sale begins. If you get the address a day in advance, check with the liquidator to see if it’s possible to sign up for the waiting list the day before the sale. If not, try to get there early to ensure your place in line.
However, being among the first to enter doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the item you’re looking for. Similarly, not being in the first group doesn’t mean you won’t find what you want. After years of treasure hunting, I’ve come to believe that it’s not so much about finding the treasure, but about the treasure finding you. For example, this particular clock was sold to a collector on the third day of one of our recent sales.
There are still more tips I’d like to share, but this article is getting a bit long for a quick read. I’ll continue next time. In the meantime, feel free to reach out if you have any questions you’d like me to address in my future blogs.
To be continued…
Some Tips on Treasure Hunting
