Episode three, p. Forty one, Why you Shouldn't sleep on estate sales.
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life here your hosts Jen and Jill.
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jell, and today we are talking about estate sales, and we were supposed to be talking about them with a guest, but they did not show up, and we just decided, you know what, we have to record this because it comes out next week, and we would rather break our five and a half year streak of a guest every third episode than to risk not being able to get a episode to you on a Friday, because that streak is more.
Important, and we have just prioritized the show must go on. And my imagination is that every single one of you listening had no idea that we do a guest every third episode.
Now you do know.
Now we've highlighted the problem to you. But we're here and we're doing We're doing the most and the best we can, and it's going to be a great episode.
You are underestimating. I am more distraught about the broken pattern than Jill.
Let me know if you've noticed, Yeah, patterns in the types of episodes we put out.
Just this pattern. Yeah, this pattern. I carefully curate the schedule, and there are definitely things in orders and patterns that nobody does realize for sure, but I think this is the most obvious one, so we had to point it out.
The good news is we know a ton about estate sales, so we absolutely can talk to you about this without an expert.
It would have been really fun with an expert.
But here we are. I just host it in a state sale. I go to estate sales. This is I'm the expert. You can talk to me.
If somebody was gonna stand us up, it's good that it's this one and not like an episode on taxes or lefe insurance or medical debt negotiations.
Yeah.
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We won't. It may take us six weeks to mail the stickers out because we do it by hand, but you will get them. There is a form you have to fill out with your address before we send them to you. That is the only barrier to getting the stickers. So there you go. And let's talk about estate sales, and we talk about buying secondhand, but when we talk about it, we talk a lot about thrifting. Buying on Facebook, Marketplace, even pawnshops. We love pawnshops, especially for bigger items, items
that are harder to fabricate or fake. We love pawn shops. We don't talk a lot about a state sales. So this is our episode on a state sales.
It is wild.
There's so many different ways to buy secondhand, and we are talking about this very specific one of a state sales and we'll get into defining it more. But yeah, this isn't pawn shops, consignment stores, thrift stores, even Facebook marketplace. It's not garage sales, yard sales. It's specifically a state sales and they bring their own flavor of goodness and we want to highlight for you how to find them, how to engage in them, how they run, and what
to look for. So this first article, as all of you know, we go through two articles on the topic that we're talking about, some of what a search on Google's going to bring up for you, and we give you our feedback on it. Usually it's good stuff. Sometimes we disagree. You're going to hear it all. So the first article we've chosen, if you were to google a state sales, how to find them, how to use them. One of the articles that comes up is from Better Homes and Gardens and it is titled how do a
state sales work? Experts revealed top treasure hunting tactics and I did think that this was a good article. I think worth reading through the whole thing. We're going to give you a gloss over of it. And first of all, just defining what an estate sale is. So it is a public sale, something that anybody in the public could go to. It's often held on site, meaning at the estate, at the home, where items inside the house and outside the house hand in the garage are available for purchase.
I think a lot of people will associate in a state sale with a homeowner passing, and that can be the case, but there's other various reasons that in a state sale might be happening, downsizing, sometimes really awful situations like bankruptcy, foreclosure, maybe a divorce of a couple, And so any time that the majority of the contents in the house need to be sold, it would qualify then
as an estate sale. One other thing that typically sets the state sales apart from just your yard sale or garage sale is that oftentimes you actually go into the house and everything that you see in the house is for sale, so they are much larger. There's usually a lot more for sale than at a yard sale, garage sale, even a moving sale. Sometimes people will use those terms interchangeably a state sale and moving sale because they want to give the impression that there is a lot for
sale here. But typically and a state sale will have even more available for purchase than even a moving sale because often people are taking a lot with them, and a state sales like, no, all of the contents of this house.
You could purchase.
And I've even been to a state sales where sometimes that includes fixtures, like you could remove doors and closets and mirrors, And there was in a state sale I went to where they were actually going to be demolishing the house, so people were coming in removing windows and taking out cabinets. And sometimes that does happen, or even if the new owner of the home knows that they're going to be renovating, there can be a ton of stuff for sale. But that's getting a little bit more
into the weeds. Just know that an estate sale is much larger scale than yard sale, garage sale, that kind of thing, So think bigger items you're going to be able to find.
Yeah.
I love that it's inside too, because you can do a year round. You're not beholden to the summer if you're up north, or the winter if you're down south. Estate sales happen year round. Sure, there are times that maybe there are more because it's when people choose to move, but especially with people passing divorces, bankruptcy, those things are not as predictable, so you can get them year round. They're inside, so this is a really good way to
get secondhand stuff of good quality too. This isn't stuff that has been held inside a garage for years until somebody's ready to get rid of it. This is stuff that is, as the articles say, usually more personal, and it is the swath of categories that are included is much more broad. You can find a variety more of things than a yard or garage sale. I've actually stopped shopping yard sales. I just don't have very good luck
with them. I personally don't love the hunt. That's me, and I know Jill loves yard sales, but I don't love the hunt. But in a state sale I can really get behind. There's usually something at an estate sale for me. But how do you find these estates sales, So there are several places. Facebook Marketplace for sure. Most estate sales will start on a Friday and they'll go
Friday to Sunday. So you can either strategize and look up on Thursday and hit get all the best stuff go on Friday mornings if you have that option, or you can look and go Sunday afternoon to get any last minute deals. Knowing that your options might be more limited. You can choose the strategy that is right for you if you are in a little bit more of a time crunch. If you're like, ugh, I really need to buy the stuff. I really want to just buy it
on Amazon, but let me try some estate sales. You're a Friday morning person. If you are casually looking, be like I don't really need anything, but like I got some money set aside, let me see if I can find a deal. You're a Sunday afternoon person, So Facebook Marketplace and then also estatesales dot Net. You can plug in your zip code and find estate sales in your area. And I know, Jill, you just hosted one for your mom and you posted it to a statesales dot net.
Is there anything else people should know about that site.
Right, So we're we're primarily talking to you, the listener, as someone who might go and shop at an estate sale, but if you ever were to host one, this is also a place that you can post it too.
I think it was.
It's just a really helpful platform because, as you said, Jen, you can type in your zip code find what's in your area, but you can also see what's coming up, so you can even search a month out because oftentimes people, since it's such a large sale, they're advertising it weeks, if not a month in advance. Now, one of the things to know about how specifically a statesales dot net runs is that they're not going to give you the exact address of a sale until usually about twenty four
to forty eight hours in advance. So you can know the general location of where the sale is going to be, put it on your calendar, but you are going to need to either check back in or sign up for emails from the site to then be able to receive the exact directions of where the sale will be as it gets closer. That's really just a protective security measure for the homeowners and the people who are running the sale.
There are also some other rules that a statesale dot net puts on people who advertise their sale about different disclosures, things that they can or cannot sell. All of it is very reasonable, but there may be certain things you might not be able to buy and in the state sale listed on this website because of some of the rules that they want to adhere to and not be involved in the exchange of certain types of goods that may not be for general public sale. But it's an
excellent search function. I did not know about it until we ran our estate sale and now it's part of my regular search engine. You know, I love yard sales, but estate sales are even better. So knowing that everything listed on this site is an estate sale is amazing, and I was pleased to find that a lot of people do advertise on there. A lot of times estate sales are run by professional companies and so they want people to show up. They don't want to put in
all this work and effort and no one's there. So there's also usually a lot more marketing efforts for estate sales. They want to be found, and so to know that everything on this site is going to be in a state sale is really awesome. It's not the only one out there. You can also utilize websites like estatesales dot org, a statesalefinder dot com, or even just look up in Google estate sales in your area using your zip code.
So there's plenty of ways to find them. You just need to know that this is what you're looking for.
Yeah.
One, So I just looked up one real quick, and it looks like a lot of them are Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So I didn't realize that that would be such a popular day to start too, but so I guess check wednesdays maybe on when things start. Maybe your Thursday morning shopper or Saturday afternoon shopper, it may be either.
Well, And I think that's a great thing about estate sales is that they often happen for multiple days. So sometimes that is during the week, so if you've got flexibility, that's great. But yeah, they go for multiple days.
Yeah, and you can see a lot of pictures on here of what is included in the estate sale. Facebook can have some pictures, but it's definitely not as many that you can post on this site. So definitely check out these estate sale specific sites when you're checking out. You can also subscribe to their email lists, so you can get estate sales in your area. You can get notified of them for free.
Yeah, So then how do they work? And if you've been to yard sales or garage sales, it's not going to feel that much different other than the fact that there will be a lot more stuff for sale, and again you might be walking through the home. One thing to note though, in how they typically function. Again, many times it's professionals who are running the estate sale. Sometimes you will go to estate sales that are run by the homeowner, or if it is happening because the homeowner
is deceased. Many times maybe the family is running it. But more often than not, you're going to be encountering a company who has been hired to run the estate sale for the homeowner or previous homeowner. And so for that reason, there may be other parameters rules, a structure in place that is different from a yard sale or
garage sale. They're all pretty self explanatory. They're going to tell you the rules as you go, but for instant they may only allow a certain amount of people in the house at a time, So it could be that there's a bit of a line you might be able to shop the things outside of the house before you're
able to go in once enough people have left. Usually there's a bit more of a system for purchasing, maybe just one table that you go to to purchase your thing, rather than a lot of people walking around and exchanging money as you go. So there's these professionals who are going to be there, and they may not be as lenient in negotiating pricing as you might find at a garage sale or a yard sale. So that's just something
to keep in mind. Another reason for, like you said, Jen, considering going on maybe one of the final days of the sale, like a Sunday, that's usually when things will be discounted quite a bit. But if there's pricing on things, I'm not saying don't negotiate. Anything can be negotiated, but you just might find that more thought and curation has been put into pricing and they might be a little
bit more stringent on the price. Is the price on the first day, The second day it might be reduced by twenty to thirty percent, and then the final day maybe half off to seventy five percent off. So these are just some things to be aware of in setting expectations.
Yeah, So how do you distinguish between trash and treasure? And the next article we're going to talk a little bit about what don't pass up on these particular things. But you can find anything at an estate sale. So how do you distinguish between trash and treasure? I think the first thing is if you like it a lot, it's treasure. You know, it doesn't matter the quality or the condition or whatever. If you look at something and you're like, oh my goodness, this is everything I am
in love. Live in that feeling, and it is a treasure for you. If you're actually looking for particular quality, particular brands, authenticity, then some things you can do is first have your phone on you and look a stuff up. So if you're going to an estate sale looking for like real authentic stuff that you can resell, you have to have a trained eye for this stuff. I don't want you to go as a reseller and get duped because something looks really close to authentic but ends up
not being authentic. So we mostly recommend doing this for personal buying stuff because then it doesn't matter. But if you're going to resell and you're going to I would say pick a niche really study it so that you can go in there with at least fifty or seventy five percent of the knowledge you need and then have your phone or some kind of resource to back that up, just to double check. And part of that would be like look for manufacturing labels, names, brands. Quality. Really quality
stuff is going to last. So if you're seeing phrase like it's a you know, a cheap purse, then you know it's probably not a chanel or a coach, you know. So I would say be wary if you're really looking for authenticity, like as a reseller or to even have
his quality. I think you're safer going to an estate sale to get quality because you know those things, those items have been owned and worn, and if the quality is still holding up, you can again be more confident in that and knowing that this stuff hasn't been stored in a garage. Most likely if you're buying it in the living room or the bedroom, that's probably where it's been stored. So that would be my biggest recommendation in distinguishing between trash and treasure.
Yeah, I think some really amazing things can be found at estate sales, and yeah, if you just like it, then get it. But if you want to know it's authentic, you can be looking at labels turn turn furniture over look for manufacturing labels, and just overall quality of the fabrics or whatever type of item that it is.
Yeah, but that's a Thursday or Friday morning type of sale purchase. If you're looking to be a reseller or just to get the top of the line. All the resellers are going the first day, the first hour, so just be wary. If it's there on the last day, it's probably not authentic or another reseller has passed it up.
So let's get into our second article. This one comes from Building Bluebird and where you want to look at this specifically for what to buy at estate sales. What's going to be the best things to be looking for or to even plan for or wait for an estate sale to purchase these items. And the title of this article is fifteen items to absolutely buy at a state sales. And I'll just kick it off with the first one, which is vintage furniture, although I'll just say furniture.
Yes, at a state sales there.
Can often be vintage antique just gems of pieces of furniture, but not necessarily everyone who is having an estate sale is necessarily older or a collector of antiques and vintage items. Sometimes they're just selling furniture and whatever types you're looking for. This is the place to go. I would even say, first before you're going to go buy new. We always
say by yous before buying new. But as state sales are your spot for some amazing gems, from couches and sofas to chairs and tables, stools, beds, bed frames, bedding, and you can get furniture at a steep, steep discount. Of course, many times it's going to be a lot of moving, so you're gonna have to have the ability to transport whatever item you purchased to not only out of the house you purchase it in, but into your house,
which can be cumbersome. So that's something to keep in mind, but it's part of the reason you're going to get such a good deal on some of this furniture.
Yeah, I would say, I mean we could add we could bundle appliances in there too. Is another big thing. I know when we did my mom's estate sale, it was a foreclosure, so we sold everything. We sold the appliances too, So if the house does not need a resale value, then go for it. So there's a little addition there.
Yeah, we sold some freezers at the estate sale we just had, so maybe not all the appliances, but you just never know, so everything's gotta go.
Yeah.
So my first pick on the list is picture frames. So I love looking for cool picture frames, and I don't always find good ones at the thrift store. Again, I'm not a hunter. I mean, I love a good vintage picture frame, but I'm also like very picky, don't I think the line between TACKI and vintage is so thin for me. Yeah yeah, And so it's just a fine line. And I have a better track record at estate sales for finding the vintage than I do at
thrift stores. So I love just finding any old picture, any old art, and then if I can remove the art and replace it with my own or a picture, then I am all over that. Or even something that has a cool shape that can be spray painted gold or black, I'm in for it.
I was shocked at how quickly the picture frames went at the estate sale we just hosted. Really, I was shocked by a lot of things, the questions I got about what people thought we would have for sale the things people were interested in. I mean, I guess similar to selling things just on Facebook marketplace.
Sometimes they go quick.
The things that you don't think are gonna go sometimes it takes forever. The things you think are gonna be hot, hot button items. All that to say, picture frames, I wouldn't have even thought that they were nice or good. I think sometimes people even bought some of the artwork just for the frame to put something else into. They went like hot cakes, and then people were still coming asking do you have any more picture frames?
It was it was wild to me.
Dang okay, well, okay, so that's a good point. What things went first. Picture I would have never guess picture frames, even though I do love them.
Yeah, Exercise equipment the amount of people interested in exercise equipment, which I was shocked at the number of people interested, but I guess as I thought about it, I was like, that is a great thing, and that's actually not on this list, So there you go. Exercise equipment is very expensive, as I've in the last three years gotten into at home exercising weights are expensive, but you can get them for a song at estate sales and yard sales and
especially at a state sales. Sometimes you've got even more quality or larger at home workout equipment like treadmills, bikes, benches, not just your bands and lands and dumbbells.
We had all of.
That, and there was a bidding war happening over some of the exercise equipment.
It was wow. That was surprising to me too.
Tools that is no, that wasn't on the list either, and we're gonna get there.
We both added it at the same time.
The tools.
You would have thought that there was honey, a massive honey pot in the garage and bees were everywhere. These people were buzzing all over that garage, and I kid you not. I think that the garage was pretty much cleared out in about the first half of the first.
Day just with tools.
Now granted it was a detached two car garage full of power tools and lawn equipment, but these are the types of things you can get at a state sales that as people are downsizing and they don't have need for this. It was a lifetime accumulation of the things that a person would need to maintain a home now all being sold. So if you are a homeowner or maintaining your own home. Chances are you're going to find something that is maybe not sexy decor item, but really going to solve a problem for.
You at a steep, steep discount.
Yeah, we've gotten really obscure tools power and not power that you don't really find in the store or are over what we consider overpriced for what they are. Found them at a state sales for a song, And now we have this really obscure tool that makes life a lot easier for like one particular thing.
I know, you just know whatever is in a garage that you might have to buy, even down to different oils for maintaining cars and lubricints and liquid wrench and WD forty and cleaning materials, anything that you might need to go out and spend eight dollars for brand new could be fifty cents to a dollar half used because you buy these things once and then you just are able to kind of keep using it. So just go
to an estate sale. I mean, sky's the limit. I can't name for you everything that's going to be there. But the next thing on my list that is on this list is lamps and mirrors. That's another thing that did go decent. Definitely the mirrors and some lamps. Lamps are another thing that are a sneaky, sneakily expensive thing to purchase. If you've recently had to buy a brand new lamp, chances are your jaw dropped. How in the world could a floor lamp possibly be one hundred and fifty dollars on sale?
But they are.
It's wild, So go to an estate sale look for lamps. They're going to be plentiful. Something I also like looking for at a state sales is even new lamp shades. So let's say you have a lamp but the lamp shades getting really grungy. You could maybe even just buy a lamp or just find lamp shades for them. So it's just kind of a nice way to be able to even update at a low cost the things you
might already have in your house. And mirrors, we also know that those are another super expensive item that you can often find large mirrors at a good price at a state sales.
The next one on here for for me is holiday decur.
Yes, I underscore that.
There is so much of it and typically like some of it is vintage and they just don't make that stuff anymore, and it's so beautiful. But you can even find like really good quality faux Christmas trees beautiful ornaments, like if you're still using your cheap ornaments from college, head to an estate sale and get some old ladies' real fancy ornaments. Like I mean, these things are good.
We don't call them old ladies just so sorry mature wise women when they have made intentional, beautiful purchasing decisions.
Yes, with their holiday decor.
Yeah, I am not a mature woman. I am basically an old lady.
That was another surprise for me in the other direction. I really thought that the holiday decor was gonna go, and you know what, I think it would have if people were to be a little bit more future thinking. That's another one of my sidebar encouragements is future think. You might be at an estate sale in the dead of summer. It might be so stinking sweaty and so winter is not on your mind, but know that it's coming. Would there be something for winter that you're gonna want? Now?
We had really quality space heaters and holiday decor that I was shocked didn't go. But I told my mom and like, hold on to these, sell them on Facebook marketplace because people right now aren't future thinking. But in a month from now, they're gonna drop fifty bucks on these space heaters. They're gonna want the holiday decor. There were Christmas trees and garland and all kinds of stuff. So be smarter than the people who were at this
estate sale. I wish I could have taken a ton of stuff with me, but the estate sale happened in Pennsylvania and I live in Florida. I don't need the space heater, but I would love the garland. But it's a really, really great thing to be look I also will add to this wrapping paper. Always always buy your wrapping paper your gift bag. Sometimes even greeting cards. At these estate sales. Don't buy it full price when you're just two weeks out from Christmas. Think ahead, go to a state sales.
Make me beautiful vintage cards and wrapping paper.
Vintage wrapping paper. Oh, it's my favorite. I could talk about this all day long. But the final thing I'm going to choose on here is gardening supplies. So we are talking of course your shovels, your yard tools, but also plants and pots. We also know pots are very expensive, especially the larger you get, and again, you can get these for a song at an estate sale, oftentimes very mature plants well taken care of, Oh the gardener's dream as an estate sale. Yes.
And then the last one for me is area rugs. So look at the rugs on the floor. They're usually for sale. Area rugs are so expensive and you can typically get them for a really good price at an estate sale. It's been kept inside, take it, get it cleaned before you bring it home, and you have this, you know, beautiful rug and for a fraction of the price, and you know it's clean. So area rugs for sure.
The article says, wool rugs. I don't know the difference between rugs, but I just know big rugs are expensive and I like getting them secondhand.
Yes. Do you know what we love?
Love love getting second hand, And by second hand we mean from you all weekly, multiple times a week.
I love it.
The bill of the week.
That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is Williams. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Duck bills, Buffalo bills Bill Clinton, this is.
The bill of the week.
Hey guys, mine's April.
I'm from SoCal and this is my bill of a week. A couple of months ago, I crashed my truck due to faulty breaks, and luckily my dad Bill offered to do all the labor for free. I bought all the car parts, and when everything arrived, the hood came super dented.
We are really mad.
We emailed the company and it costs them too much money to ship.
Us in new hoods.
So they offered we get it appraised and they would credit my card back the money, which was about one hundred and fifty dollars. So I actually don't care about the dents. It's an old truck and I just love my truck and I just want it back. So my dad said screw it, and he took a hammer to it. The hood looks fine and my truck is almost back together,
and I'm so excited. I saved money on labor, I almost got the hood for free, and my dad and I have actually been having fun putting the truck back together and I just cannot wait to drive it again.
And that's my bill of the week.
You guys are awesome.
Thanks Yes, April. Ooh, and your dad's name is Bill.
Oh.
I love everything about this. I love dy in.
The car, April. You're awesome. You're the one who's awesome. Just even the energy you're bringing to this phone call and the Bill of the week is making me smile. And the way that you have diy this truck repair. I mean, first of all, I'm so glad you're safe. That's a really scary experience. And then to deal with financial hassle and not being able to have your truck to drive is just that's a lot. It's really overwhelming, but you are making the most of it having fun
with your dad whose name is Bill. And that's my biggest takeaway. Thanks Bill, Thanks April's dad Bill. Bless thinks Bill for saving your daughter on expensive bills. If you all listening have learned how to make lemonade out of lemons, you're safe. But your dad's name is Bill, or your name is Bill, or you.
Know a Bill.
Visit Frugal friendspodcast dot com, slash Bill tell us about it, and now it's time for the learning round.
All right, So for this week's lightning around your best estate sale score.
Jill this is so hard to narrow down, Jen, I don't think it's possible, and I just don't think it's possible.
So I'm gonna rattle it off.
Some of the key highlights for me filing, cabinet, closet storage solutions, plants, some of those vintage ornaments you were talking about, Jen, like things I could never afford for myself and are one in a million. I've never seen anything else like some of these beautiful holiday decorations. I've gotten,
vintage clothing, jewelry. Some of my best finds lately are some of these mature older women who are selling off their wardrobe and Man, of these dime pieces have good taste, they have bought the quality fabrics, they have great trial, they took care of it, they last, They have lasted so long. Hopefully I make them last longer still. But I have some real amazing pieces added to my wardrobe that I never would have been able to find for myself.
And they're also unique. So that's fun. Estate salesman plants, so many plants, trees like the big kind at a fraction, like a fraction, yeah. And then a lot of times when you make friends with these people at the estate sale, they'll even more steeply discount it. They'll talk to you about how to maintain it so that it lasts so much longer. The amount of plants I've gotten from these dime pieces out here just run in the state sales is it's pretty wild.
I love that.
So our best I don't know, I won't say it's the best. But the most unique is actually the house that we live in. We saw our house for the first time at its estate sale, and we buy did not know this.
Yeah, yeah, so they were having an estate sale before they had sold the house.
Correct. Interesting, Yes, well it was on the market, but they were having the estate sale and yeah, and then we put in an offer and purchased it. So yes, that is our biggest most unique estate sale purchase.
Amazing was buying the estate.
Yeah, and Trav's also bought a few tools at the estate sale. But they were selling this couch, this vintage tropical looking couch. I think it had either ritan or like bamboo or something. Ah, it was goreus. I didn't need a couch, but it was gorgeous.
Yeah.
Tablewear, flatwear, linens, I'll get vintage table cloths, cloth, napkins, sewing supplies.
It's who man.
This is a long episode because I just I love it. I love it so much. Thank you all for listening. We hope you love it. We're gonna stop talking to you so you can go find an estate sale. But also one of the things that you can do as you're looking up a state sales is leave us a review because we love reading them, like this one from Elizabeth P who says love Jill and Jen love this female driven podcast on frugality and simplicity. It is refreshing in a world of bloggers that tell us what to
buy next and what we need. This podcast offers a contemplative way to consume, and what better contemplative way consumer just going to estate sales?
I love Elizabeth. Thanks for your kind words.
Yes, thank you, Elizabeth. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please take a minute to leave a rating and review. It helps potential new listeners know what the show is all about, knowing that we're not pushing a bunch of deals on you and telling you what to buy next to save fifteen dollars, but how to be a conscious consumer.
Yes see you next time.
Gorugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni.
All right, John, how are you feeling?
How are you feeling now that you've let it sink in that the pattern is broken, it's a new pattern. Yeah.
We both know a lot about estate sales, so I was confident that we could do this, especially since you just host one, so you kind of have the seller's perspective of like I want to know, like when was when were there the most buyers? What did the landscape look like?
Like?
What are the insider tips that you saw from the selling side that buyers could find helpful.
The first day and especially the first hours really were gangbusters. So we ran the sale Saturday and Sunday, and I would say Saturday, the sales started at nine am. Of course we had early birds, even though we said no early birds, but we let them in at eight forty five. Fine, a forty five till about twelve one o'clock. Gangbusters.
It was wild.
The money was flying, people were swarming, it was crazy. There was then a lull in the afternoon, and then the second day was not nearly as busy.
And I even know this.
I would say similar to even yard sale weekends as well, where you're going to do your most sale the first day and you can expect about half the next day.
But one of the.
Things I even take away from it is it is still worth going to an estate sale on the second or even third day. There was so much stuff. I do think that there might have been a bit of a lull on the second day just because people were assuming it was picked over. And while that was true in part, there was still so much stuff and you never know if what someone else passed up is what you are potentially interested in. So there was still a lot of holiday decor. There were still mirrors and rugs
and furniture. There was still lawn and garden supplies. The tools were gone, the exercise equipment was for the most part go on. But what can also happen, and what happened for us was there was more stuff we pulled out. So especially if there's not an organization running the estate sale, like for us, it's the family who ran the estate sale, and so it's just a lot of work, and so we did our best to get ready for it on
day one. But then we were able to take the lull on day one and into the evening of day one to pull out just more stuff. That we didn't have time to get to. So there were new things day two that I also think people may not be aware of. So that's just my encouragement that if you can't make it to the first day because of work or schedule or whatever it's and even if you're like I'm not the person who's like trying to get the fifty percent off junk that's left over, there still is
good stuff. I think at most estate sales, even if you weren't able to get there the first day.
And what were you willing to discount, Like by the end of it, oh.
By day two it was fifty percent off just across the board because we had stickered a lot of things, And by twelve o'clock day two it was take it. It was practically take it, because that's the beautiful thing about a state sales too.
It has to go.
Sometimes yard sales might be yeah, we'll bring it back into the house, but even there across the board, people's plan is to take it to the thrift store. So negotiate, negotiate, negotiate, maybe pick some things you want, ask for a price, and then if you find more things, most likely they're going to just throw it in for the price that they already quoted you on the things you asked for a price quote on. So I'm not going to encourage hoarding.
Only take what you need. Don't keep it from a thrift store because it could be good for somebody else. But yeah, I mean, if you're interested in those things, bundle pricing is absolutely a thing.
And were you cash only or did you take like Venmo or zel?
We took Venmo typically too.
At these estate sales, yes, you can take They're going to take a wide variety of payment forms because they're selling larger items. We had large furniture, We even had small trailers, tractors, things that were worth upwards of one thousand dollars, and so yeah, we kind of had to have other options. So definitely Venmo or cash app or zell could be ways of making payment as well.
Yeah, it's much easier to do that when you're in person too. I know some of these estate sales that are run by a company are still cash only just because they can't, you know, venmo money to themselves, so bring cash. But yeah, if it's family run for sure, like ze.
Depending on the company, they may even take credit card. There are some who will just have points touch rail systems.
Yeah, that's so true. Well this wasn't even more educational after show? We don't should we say something silacious to make it worth it?
Oh?
Yeah, what do you have that's salacious?
My banana tree broke. It's not salacious, But here we go. Did I tell you this?
No?
In the last storm that we had, we thankfully didn't sustain hardly any damage, but our banana tree broke.
Good news and bad news.
That the banana tree broke in an irreparable way. But I wasn't certain if the banana trees we have would produce or could produce fruit, because they were babies when it got them. And in its breaking, we realized it had a bundle of bananas growing on it. I don't know how I missed it previous to that. It was I guess some how hidden by bigger leafs in front of it. But a huge bunch of bananas was growing
on this tree. Now, when it broke, the bananas were still way too tiny to be able to consume, which is sad, but at least I know these are the banana producing banana trees.
Right, you're down one. I'm excited about that, Yeah, you're down one.
There's others growing in its place. The most mature one saw an early death, which is sad, but I'm going to take the wind in that. We got bananas. We got bananas on our property.
Okay, my alarm just went off. I have to pick up Kai. Okay, but this was great. Bye bye