Back in January, I did a post listing some of my gripes about some estate sale companies. This morning, I went to an estate sale that had me saying (like Seth and Amy) "Really? Really? You think a box of pine cones is worth $10?"
Honestly, in a big house, full to overflowing, there wasn't really anything I wanted to buy, but the prices just made me laugh and I wondered if any of my estate sale shopping blog readers would feel the same way.
(Sorry for the low quality of my pictures, I was trying to be discrete in my undercover estate sale expose.)
A box of three paper bows pulled from floral arrangements for $5.00- really? Really?
I know- that's about the price that you'd pay for a bow at Micheals. But at Michaels you get to pick the ribbon, and the bow isn't creased, smelly and frayed from being in an attic for 20 years.
Keep in mind these estate sale bows are PAPER ribbon- not nice silk or satin fabric ribbon.
If you want pink instead, the price goes up to $6.00
Individually priced rocks. I know, some rocks demand high prices, but then we usually call them diamonds, or rubies or at least geodes.
But I do have to give them credit- I'm guessing they sold some rocks, which is more than I can say for my last rock sale- which was when I was eight years old.
(How do you tell the difference between a $3 rock and a $7 rock?)
These are just a few examples of pricing that I don't understand. The prices are so much higher than most of the sales I go to.
I have to admit, there could be factors at play in the estate sale pricing that I am not privy to. Maybe these pine cones and rocks have some provenance I don't know about.
My assumption about estate sales is that their purpose is to liquidate personal property, making it easier for owners or heirs to move on. The success of a sale is measured by a combination of how much cash was taken in and how much stuff is left to dispose of at the end of sale.
I'm guessing there will still be rocks, pinecones, bows and rooms full of other miscellany left at the end of this sale. I hope the client isn't overwhelmed when they walk into the house they hoped to clear out and find books, records, office supplies, glassware and Christmas decorations all over the floor (because the estate sale company has taken their tables on to their next sale).
Maybe there are other business models for estate sale companies based on elements such as individually priced rocks and that I'm not aware of. I hope that model results in satisfied clients.
