Estate Sale Tips – How to Shop
Estate Sale shopping is a wonderful way to find items to decorate your home especially if you have a farmhouse or rustic style. In Estate Sales – Where to Shop Buffy shared ways to find the best estate sales. Now she shares how to find the best deals once you begin shopping.
Know who is hosting the sale
Knowing the estate sale company can help you too. Professional companies tend to get high-end clients who have a lot to sell but have higher prices. Groups like senior centers and YMCAs tend to get large sales too and have great prices. Family sales tend to have less stuff and lower prices. Some places you can haggle over prices and at others there is no haggling until the last afternoon when most things are ½ price.
The reason for having an estate sale is to get rid of everything and make some money doing it. Some places you can haggle over prices and at others there is no haggling until the last afternoon when most things are ½ price. If you’re looking at 3 items that are $10 each, perhaps offer $25 for all 3. If you truly feel they are asking too much offer what you feel you can pay, consider waiting until half-time, or just walk away.
A few things to figure out before you go: do they take cash, checks or credit cards? Are children allowed? Do they help load heavy items? Take $60 to $100 in small bills with you plus your checkbook and credit card just in case you find something you just can’t pass up.
Bring your decorating board along with measurements of various places in your house. In addition, bring fabric samples, paint swatches, etc.
Arrive early on the first day
You know the saying: “The early bird gets the worm” well that’s so true when it comes to Estate Sales. Be early by looking for Estate Sales on Wednesday. Most Estate Sales start on Friday but some will begin on Thursday. So you need to arrive on the first day of the sale plus you need to arrive early in the morning. How early? That’s hard to know but if you are looking for specific items that are listed in the sales description you better get there long before it starts anywhere from 1 to 3 hours early. The sales I’ve been to lately have allowed all shoppers to roam the house, yard, and garage, but some will let 10 to 15 people roam at a time. You want to be one of the first waiting in line.
The flip side of going early is going late – usually, by Saturday afternoon an estate sale company will lower the price of all items to ½ off. They want to get rid of everything by the end of the day. Part of their service is hauling away unsold items and they don’t want to move heavy items. So if there is something you really love and just gotta have better get it early but if you’re willing to chance it you might get it at a great price at the end of the sale.
Go with a friend
It’s always more fun to shop with a good friend and a friend can be a benefit while shopping estate sales. A good friend knows what you are looking for and you know what she’s looking for so when you hit a large sale you can divide and conquer. A friend or parent can help you “hold” things especially if you have to wait for items to be written up before you leave a room.
When we shop together Buffy always leans towards old fabric, unique art, and dishes. Patti tends towards garden tools and decorations, kitchen tools, and galvanized anything. A friend can help you see potential in an item and see the flaws. Friends can talk you through how and where to use an item … is it the right size and color? When Buffy and I first saw the chicken nester we loved it … but where and how to use it was the question. I don’t know who came up with the idea but we planned to make a picket fence to cover Buffy’s trash cans but when we saw this we knew it was perfect.
DISCLAIMER: This post may contain affiliate links. This means that Buffy and Patti may earn a small commission should you make a purchase using our links. We love the companies we shop and will only suggest products we love and know you will love too!
Take a basket or a large shopping bag
Buffy carries a large woven basket when she shops to lug around the smaller stuff. The bag is solid enough to hold breakables and has plenty of room for lots of items. In Patti’s bag, she has a measuring tape and a small notepad. Don’t mess around with a phone while shopping unless you need to access E-bay to check out the prices of items when in doubt. Buffy carries this Large African Market Basket because it holds glassware upright and doesn’t collapse.
If you see something you might want pick it up and hold on to it until you have roamed the entire sale or have made a definite decision not to get it. You can always put at item back but it may be gone if you go back to get it.
Scope out the workers
Know who and where the workers are … usually, they wear an Estate Company logo shirt or apron. They are the men and women who organized and set up the sale. Ask them where specific items are located. Tell them what you intend to buy so they can mark it sold. Many estate sales have an outside roped off area with baskets for buyers. Many workers are willing to take an armful of goodies to a “saving” area for you. Some estate sale companies will help you move larger items but many will not. Be nice to the workers!
Roam the backyard and the basement
Everyone will head to the living room where all the tables are. You head to the basement, garage, or backyard. Sometimes there are boxes of items that have been overlooked or forgotten in the sale organizing process. Look under tables, in corners, in boxes. If you find something not marked with a price suggest a price.
If you want fabric and textiles it’s usually in the back bedrooms. If you want gardening, galvanized, tools try the backyard. If you want glassware, kitchen items, pottery it’s usually in the living room. Buffy has found the most interesting things and best deals in the basement. Items that have been stored for years such as 1800s glass negatives, collectible Christmas ornaments, canning jars and zinc lids, old shelving and trunks full of things. Be patient you might get caught in the basement because of people moving on narrow stairs.
Look for things that people aren’t collecting yet
Buffy started collecting deer antlers, blue jars, shutters, windows, Jadite, and restaurant ware long before it became popular. Collect what you love even if it’s not “popular”. Patti has collected old cookie cutters for years and wishes she had collected rolling pins years ago, ugh
Our sister-in-law, Lou, started collecting Pyrex when it was pennies on the dollar. Now it’s hard to find full sets of Pyrex and it’s very expensive. Years ago she bought an entire set of matching dishware for $20. Now a bowl and lid are $20 each.
Trade up and have vision
Once Patti commented to Buffy about how much she loved her family room full of antiques and Buffy replied: “there is always nicer stuff”. So as you shop look to trade up the items you already have for nicer items or items that fit your style better now than when you purchased an item. Think about selling items you currently own in order to purchase nicer or more expensive items. Have vision for what you could do with a piece you find at a sale. Could it be repurposed? Could it be painted? Could it be used on a porch or outdoors? Could it be part of a collection?
Take a piece of it with you
If you purchase something to pick-up later take a piece of it with you. If you purchase a dresser take a drawer with you. If you purchase a couch take a cushion. That way when you return the piece your purchased hasn’t “disappeared”.
Be nice and have fun!
There are some serious shoppers out there who might be aggressive and snap up the perfect item you are dying to get. Rooms and halls get crowded and sometimes you feel stuck. Sometimes you just know you’ve wasted your time. Parking may be inadequate. Just be patient. Be respectful. The items you are looking at are things that we owned and loved by someone’s parents or grandparents.
Last Friday I (Patti) went to an Estate Sale just a couple miles from my house. As I’ve driven by this house a few times a day for over a decade I’ve been intrigued by this large, old white house with the immaculate yard and woods. I’ve watched the couple that lives there get old (well, older). Mrs. Cathey passed away at age 93 four years ago leaving Mr. Cathey to roam in and care for his family home. At the Estate Sale, I talked to their daughter who moved into the house when she was a 5-year-old which must be over 65 years ago. She told me her father recently moved to an assisted-living facility.
As a roamed the house I caught a wonderful glimpse into the Cathey Family. They were people who entertained family, who raised a garden, who tinkered in the garage, who sewed clothes, who enjoyed cooking, and who loved.
I drove by the house again today and it looks empty and sad, and has future apartment complex written all over it.
