“My goal is to get it out of the house and make money for our clients.” “If I have a $100 offer for a piano and it’s going to cost me $250 to have it moved after the sale, I’m going to take that offer,” said Carol Walser who, with business partner Lyn Witt, runs the estate sale company Market House in Rockville, Md. (Some companies will lower prices by 25 percent on the second day.) The last day of a sale is also a great time to negotiate for larger pieces of furniture. Its value, she thinks, is more than $1,000.Īnother strategy is to hit a sale on its final day, when most things are 50 percent off. She declined to say what she paid for the items (or what she plans to do with them) but shares that she recently spent some time scrounging through the attic of a house where, for $5, she bought a 48-star American Flag. Cohen instead wandered down to the basement and, in a closet filled with crumpled newspapers, unearthed Glenn’s flight bag along with his personalized Senate attache case. “Go to the basement, check in the closets, check in the pockets of all the jackets.” Cohen did just that at the March estate sale of the late astronaut and senator John Glenn where hundreds of shoppers waited in line to enter a room designated for memorabilia. “Don’t be afraid to get down and dirty,” said Carrie Cohen, a 40-something estate sale veteran.

You’ve shown up at the correct address, got your number and stood around trading stories with the other people in line. It’s also a good idea to bring cash and a tape measure, and fabric samples and paint chips if you’re looking for home decor and furnishings. The bedrooms at many sales look like the backroom at Loehmann’s, with heaps of dresses off hangers, piles of sweaters on the carpet and women in various stages of undress. If you’re into vintage and designer clothing, and the least bit modest, wear something fitted for trying on clothes (I go with leggings and a tank). I’ve seen a husband and wife set up camp in front of a bookcase, laptops open, shamelessly checking used-book prices on Amazon. It’s also a good idea to charge your phone in case you want to look up, say, how much Royal Doulton figurines are selling for on eBay. Now there are a number of ways to gain entry.īe prepared. It might seem obvious but make sure you “go” before you go. Just because a house has a bathroom, doesn’t mean it’s open to the public. It used to be the classified section was the place to find sales. If you’re not a regular, the process - including finding one and navigating it once inside - can be confounding.īut with a bit of preparation and a few simple tricks of the trade, you can elbow it out with the best of them.īe in the right place at the right time. No matter what you’re into, chances are you’ll be able to find it at an estate sale. And they offer an even wider assortment of prizes - first-edition books, costume jewelry, patio furniture, antique Persian rugs, and yes, even tanning beds. They attract a wide assortment of shoppers: dealers hoping to turn a profit, couples looking to furnish starter homes, amateur collectors, looky-loos who just want to explore mansions in wealthy enclaves or homes of the rich and/or famous. I still mourn.Įstate sales are held to dispose of the bulk of a person’s belongings, usually but not always after death. Before I could get the attention of the woman in charge of the jewelry case, another shopper elbowed me out of the way and netted the bug. So could all the other treasure hunters at the estate sale, mashed shoulder to shoulder like strap hangers at rush hour. The art nouveau-era brooch shaped like a dragonfly had landed gracefully atop a mound of jewelry inside a display case.

Timeless treasures estate sale