We’ve all heard the saying “Life is like a box of chocolates: You never know what you’re going to get.” Estate sales are similar to boxes of chocolate, as you can’t always tell from their descriptions if they are good or not. I’ve been grappling with whether I should stick with listing only estate sales by professionals or if I should continue to occasionally list estate sales by individuals.
If you’ve been junking for very long, you’ve probably stopped at an estate sale just because you drove by a sign that said “estate sale.” There’s a certain bit of adventure in doing so. You don’t know if you’re going to enter a home full of goodies or junk, or whether items will be over-priced or under-priced. On one hand, I’ve stopped by some incredibly frustrating “estate sales” that were actually nothing more than garage sales selling baby clothes and toys. Definitely been there and bought the t-shirt. On the other hand,one of my favorite estate sale adventures began while I was driving down Highway 64 on my way to work my booth at Do Drop In in Beebe, Arkansas. When working my booth in Beebe, I always need every second I can get because I don’t have the chance to get there as often as I’d like. Of course when I saw an estate sale sign outside a super old house, I immediately threw on my brakes, turned around, and forgot all about working my booth. Needless to say, the estate sale was amazing and I walked away with a truck-load of incredible (and priced-to-sell) old stuff. Sales like that are few and far between, but it’s those sales which keep me stopping and turning around for unexpected estate sale signs. Surely I’m not the only one?
My general policy here at Ashley’s Finds has been to focus on professional estate sales and welcome the occassional estate sale by individual. Recently I posted an estate sale by an individual because I thought it might be worth a visit. However, one of my readers let me know that the sale wasn’t all that great and recommended that I screen estate sales by individuals. Being that I have a full-time job and run my own Antique Show in Conway, Arkansas (www.AntiqueAlleyArkansas.com), I unfortunately don’t have time to pre-visit a sale before I share it. I hate that someone ended up at a less-than-excellent sale on my accord and I’m tempted not to post such listings, but I can’t help remembering those random estate sales that make up some of my more memorable estate sale experiences. So I’d like to open up this topic to everyone. Should I list the estate sales by professionals only or should I continue to list estate sales by individuals when I receive the information?