Vivian's Blog

Bargains, bargains.  Don't we all love bargains?  Isn't that why estate sales are so popular?  Of course it is.  For most hardcore Estate "Salers" getting a bargain is the most important reason for getting up at the crack of dawn to stand in line so they can be among the first to get through the door.

But how can you get even a better bargain?  How can you save even more money?

Actually it is very easy.  I am going to tell you how to get the best bang for your buck at my sales.  The same techniques will work at most of the estate sales you may find.  Of course, there are a few people who handle estate sales whose prices are so high and whose policies are so restrictive that any kind of a bargain is hard to find.  These techniques may cause them to find something else to growl at you about.  (Aren't estate sales supposed to be fun?)

TIP #1: Buy on half price day.  This is the most obvious, of course, but the last day of the sale is usually 50% off.  Most savy shoppers are there early on Saturday to grab the bargains.

TIP #2: You can place bids on items.  Your bid can be for the end of the full price day, in which case, it must be significantly above 50% of the full price.  You can also bid for the end of the sale.  Your odds are not good that the item will still be there at the end of the sale, but it does happen.

To make a bid, write down the item description and your bid.  Give the bid to one of the estate sales team.  That's all there is to it.

TIP #3: Come late in the day on half-price day.  Shortly before the sale ends, items that are left are often offered at very low prices.

TIP #4: Buy in bulk.  On the full price days, we do not normally discount at all.  However, if you are buying large quantities, there is a chance of getting a small discount.  Now with this, I am talking about buying merchandise worth several hundred dollars or more.

On half price days, we are much more apt to discount when buying in bulk.

TIP #5: Make an offer.  It never hurts to make an offer on higher priced items.  We are not likely to accept an offer on full price days but have done so if it was a very good offer on higher priced items.  We normally will not accept offers on full price day on merchandise of lower value (under $300 or so).

On half price days, we are more likely to take offers, but only after the sale has been open for at least a couple of hours.

TIP #6: Be the first one in line.  Even at full price, we have some great bargains.  That is why so many people show up so early to be one of the first ones in line.

There are plenty of bargains at estate sales - especially at mine.  We want our customers to find lots of bargains and fill their arms with their new treasures.  The more bargains we have for you, the more you will buy, and the more money is generated for our clients.  It is definitely a win - win situation.

See you at a sale soon.

Hi, Everyone,

I was asked how we are able to handle so many sales especially doing more than one at a time.

Thankfully, we have a terrific team of professionals who help us.  Unless we had this volume of business, I could not afford to have them.  That is what makes us our sales so successful.

While we are thankful for our many years of experience as antique dealers, that is a very small part of what makes a successful estate sales service.  Merely being an antique dealer for years does not come close to preparing someone to handle estate sales. Most estate sales have few if any antiques and there is a lot more to it than having knowledge of antiques.

Our team is very experienced in many areas of business, sales, marketing, liquidation, appraising, etc. Being knowldegable about antiques is a plus but not near as important as other aspects of the business.  That is the difference between an amateur and a professional.

Of course, many antique dealers who talk about their twenty or thirty years of experience don't mention that the experience is from renting a space in an antique mall where they were antique dealers as a side line just as they now try to handle estate sales as a side line.

We don't handle estate sales as a side line.  It is our fulltime occupation.

For more information about our team and how we handle multiple sales read this article.

As it says in the article, "Every sale is given my devoted personal attention.  Our proven success is the proof of that.  Whether we are handling one sale or many, our efforts and results are second to none.  We prove that with each sale and that is the reason that family after family turn to us to handle their estate sale needs."

See you at a sale soon.

Vivian

Hi, Everyone,

Since I want this blog to be informative and educational, I would like to tell you about another recent request.  Actually, it is a rather common one that I receive fairly often.

Someone called and said they had some items for sale but not enough to have an estate sale.  They wanted to know if I could take their items, which they described as "fine antiques" and add them in one of my estate sales.

I told them that we do not do that and referred her to some antique shops which might purchase them or place them on consignment for her.

I realize that "stuffing" items into estate sales is a very common practice.  As a matter of fact, some estate sales services use that as a method to sell items that they purchased just for that purpose.  While it might make for a house that is more full for the sale, I believe it is deceptive and unethical.  Nor is it fair to the client.  We are there to sell the client's items and we should not be competing with them to sell items we brought in.

Our estate sales contain only the items that were in the home when we began preparing the estate for sale.  When the sale begins, all of the items that were in the home when we began (that were suitable for sale) are still there and nothing is ever added.

We like to operate only in a straight forward and open manner.

See you at a sale soon.

I thought I would include an interesting email that I received. Actually it is rather typical and it deserves publishing here. I do want everyone to know what our policy is about pre-sales. We do have it elsewhere on the web site and we mention it quite often at our sales. I just want to state it again.

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From: Bonnie This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 12:05 PM
To: Vivian Duplant
Subject: Re: Estate Sale by Vivian - GREAT ONE!

I am a decorator/dealer. Do yall ever let us shop before you open to the public? Bonnie

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Hi, Bonnie,

Thanks for the email.

Unlike most estate sale services we do not allow anyone to shop early. We have a mailing list of nearly 2,000 customers, many of whom are dealers. We have to be fair to everyone – which is a big reason that our sales are so popular. All of our customers know if an item was in the sale when we got the key to the estate, it will be there for sale when we open the door the day of the sale.

We do give out numbers one hour before the sale starts so it is a good idea to come early.

Have fun.

Vivian