How much do I need for a sale?
You should have a significant amount of furniture and personal property for a successful estate sale. It is costly to run a large sale. It takes 7 to 10 sale employees working for the 2 or 3 days of the sale. A large staff is needed to protect from theft and to assist customers. In addition, it takes an average of two weeks to set up a sale, which is also labor-intensive. Chrisalin offers a confidential, no-obligation home visit to determine the approximate value of what you have to sell.
Chrisalin will sometimes conduct multiple client sales. What this means is the client who owns the home or condo agrees to include other sale participants. If you do not meet the minimum for your own sale, you may be invited to participate in an estate sale at another site. This can enhance the sale for everyone. Please ask us about this option.
What should I do first?
The family needs to remove the items not to be included in the sale. If they can’t be removed before the site visit, they should be labeled. Chrisalin bases the sale agreement on items for sale in the home at the time of the initial visit. Once a contract is signed, family members must not continue to remove items from the house. If items are removed that were previously identified for sale, Chrisalin will charge its standard commission on those items.
Should I clean before the Estate Sale?
Absolutely not. Do not throw anything away. Often, there are items that may not seem valuable, but are in fact collectibles and can be sold in the sale. Chrisalin also has a wealth of resources for fabric and leather recycling, metal recycling and other places to dispose of hazardous or electronic waste. Save everything and we will help you!
I have some very valuable jewelry and antiques. Should I sell these to a dealer beforehand?
No. Be very careful with jewelry. Sometimes old vintage jewelry looks like costume jewelry, but is really gold! Chrisalin has an excellent source for gold, silver, diamonds, sterling and platinum re-sale. This source will pay higher rates than those companies you see advertised on TV.
Dealers?
Do not sell to dealers before your sale. Chrisalin can generally get a higher price at the estate sale than what a dealer will pay. A dealer will have to mark-up your item for his/her shop. Collectors frequent estate sales and will pay more if the item is something they really want.
The house is in the Twin Cities but I live out of state? Can you still help?
Yes. Chrisalin would like a site visit to the property, but this can be conducted by a realtor or someone else you designate. After that, all arrangements and communications can be handled by phone and e-mail. Chrisalin can work “long-distance” with the personal representative and has done a number of successful sales this way.
What are numbers?
When you have antiques, expensive collectibles and other sought-after items in sale, people will come early and stand outside. To keep the sale opening time fair and orderly, numbers are given out one hour before the sale begins. A numbered card is given to each person to determine the order they will be admitted into the house when the sale begins. This enables Chrisalin to control how many customers are shopping in the house at one time. This reduces the chance of breakage and enables staff to help customers in an orderly fashion.
What happens after the sale?
There are always some items that don’t sell. If the family wants to pull them before making a charitable donation, that is their choice. Chrisalin will discuss charitable options for donation and tax deduction. If the client requests it, Chrisalin will do a written appraisal of remaining items and photograph them. Staff will wrap and box items and coordinate the charity pick up. There is a modest fee for this service. If the client prefers, he/she may dispose of the remaining items him/herself.