Estate Sale Done and Dusted

Well, our estate sale was an experience! Overall it was good, but in retrospect there were things Beth and I would have done differently.

Noticeably we didn’t get the traffic we expected for our central location on a busy street. There were a couple of reasons for this, but one problem was our wonky handmade outdoor street signage. Lesson learned! And for my area of the house I wish I would have borrowed a folding table to make it easier for folks to browse. Having stuff on the floor wasn’t ideal. I also should have brought more stuff. While I thought I was bringing a lot, it was mostly small and my area looked anemic. I also wondered if I priced a few things too high (most were $5 and $10 with a few higher), but of course I was expecting some negotiation.

Here’s some of my stuff. (Beth had a lot more.)

The day progressed slowly with our first customer, a picker I see all the time, making a cursory glance at our goods and saying “is this it?” and then walking out. Not the best start.

Obviously other folks came. Some were curious neighbors. Some pickers whom I’ve know for years. Some were Beth’s friends. Others saw our ads (Craigslist, Garagesalefinder and Nextdoor) and signs. Sales started happening and there were lots of interesting conversations throughout the day with both friends and strangers.

In the end I sold about a third of my items for $263. Less than I wanted. I was hoping to minimally reach $300 and ideally make closer to $500. That didn’t happen. ($130 of what sold was paid on Venmo by two customers and I’m so glad my eldest encouraged me to set that up for the sale.)

I was glad to see the back of some of these items and really sad that others didn’t sell. Some feel like a milestone around my neck.

So was it worth all the work? Well, if I’m honest, not really. But I did recoup some of my investment in pieces that were slated for charity and it was fun hanging out with Beth and chatting with various people throughout the day. Some buyers were kind and shared that they thought I had really good things. I needed that confidence boost!

Back at home, I left my car still loaded and headed into the house physically and emotionally pooped. I was happy to plop down on our couch with a glass of the last bit of homemade limoncello, a gift from dear neighbors, and relax.

Would I do something like this again? Possibly.

Now it’s the day after and I’m sorting through the remainder. I reactivated a few of the listings in my Etsy store. Set aside some items that are definitely going to charity. And have created a pile of not-so-sure items. Lots of work left to do this upcoming week but I feel like I’m heading in the right direction.

Wishing you happy hunting,

Karen