3 Tips for Planning an Estate Sale

1. Advertise: The key to running a successful estate sale is advertising. Invest your attention in advertising your sale to attract swarms of customers and boost sales.
2. Monitor Theft: Oftentimes, estate sales reside in hard-to-monitor locations, which can spawn unwanted thefts. Make sure you enlist enough helpers to monitor your estate sale and prevent possible thefts.
3. Set Prices Prior: To avoid any confusion, be sure to appraise items and set item prices accordingly before opening your sale doors to the public to ensure you receive top dollar for your merchandise.

Would you like help planning your estate sale? Full of Surprizes offers free estate sale consultations to help you organize a successful estate sale. 

The Best Places to Find Hidden Deals

1.       Thrift Stores – When most people think of thrift stores, they think of hand me downs. That’s a myth! Thrift stores have hidden gems waiting to found. You can find vintage fashions unable to be found anywhere else, and at a much lower price.

2.       Estate Sales – This is another place where you can find hidden treasures, and not just of the vintage variety. Estate sales liquidate excess goods from the dearly departed (or recently moved), but don’t let that stop you. You can find new electronics and rare artwork, at prices you’ll never see again.

3.       Yard Sales – Yard sales can be a little harder to find gems, since if it’s really worth a lot the family will hike the price up. You can, however, find collector’s items that are harder to value to the untrained eye.

Need to liquidate an estate? http://www.fullofsurprizes.com/ can take care of you. Free consultations! 

Estate Sales In Gated Communities

Can Gated Communities be a good spot for a Tag or Estate Sale?

I have found some of the nicest items to sell in gated communities. Typically a gated community is an upscale, quality setting with residents having the ability to afford higher priced items. Their decor reflects input from interior designers and the furnishings are often newer and more stylish then many of the homes found on much of Long Island.

I just had two "by appointment only" sales in the past week. They are a lot of work since you can't print addresses nor directions and must field sometimes hundreds of phone calls. Each person requires that you provide the time and address and many are foreign language speaker so it can be difficult. I have started texting the address/time and that works much better!

This week we had a sale and only invited 25 people to attend over a 2 hour period.  The expenditure of each customer averaged spending $150.  That's pretty good for a two hour sale, don't you think?
These kinds of sales require much less staffing and the homeowners are sometimes a little more flexible about prices as they know that they have a limited audience.

My homeowner told the gate that she was having a party and we advised each client to ask for her by name and not, I repeat, NOT to mention the word Estate or Tag Sale.  It went really well. We didn't bother any neighbors, we kept traffic down to a reasonable flow and the homeowner was able to sell many of the things she no longer wanted. It was good for all!!

Happy Summer everyone.

Madeline

Preparing for Spring Estate Sales Treasures in New York by Full of Surprizes Estate & Tag Sales

After this long, cold Winter in New York, it's great to head outside with just a light jacket for company. And of course, hit the tag sale trail!

Estate Sale and Garage Sale signs seem to be popping up everywhere! It's back to a world full of surprises and possibilities!

I am always amazed when I walk into a potential customers home. What do I look for? What will make a great tag sale?

1.  I look for abundance. Abundance isn't always evident when you first walk in. Lots of times the homeowner has carefully packed it all away so that they can sell their home. Cluttered homes tend to look smaller.

2.  The size really matters. Bigger homes have more stuff! More places to hide their possessions. So, it's more likely that they will have more then enough for a successful sale.

3. Location, location, location: Nicer neighborhoods often = nicer stuff. Better quality. Enough said.

4. Age of home: Older homes often have older items which are often more collectible. But, well maintained homes often have quality furnishings which are also very desirable!

5. Estates tend to have more items for sale. The family tends to take less as they often live a distance from the home.

6. Dirty, poorly maintained homes often sell for less money. ... and the contents also sell for less. But sometimes, they have amazing treasures inside, packed up from days past. So, leave gloves and a flash light in your car and don't wear heels or fancy clothes when you go out tag sailing.

7. Have fun. Try not to sweat the small stuff. Remember, there's always another great sale, just around the corner!

I was out and about this freezing day, going to people's homes who are looking for an estate sale or tag sale. I've developed a relationship with a 93+ year old woman who is such an amazing person. She lives independently with her two dogs…(their howling keeps away intruders and lets her know when someone's at the door). She's perfect! Totally independent, getting on the train into NYC to see show's and just enjoying living. I enjoy what has developed into monthly visits, helping her to begin to sell some of the huge collection of quality antiques and collectibles. Each time I visit she shows me something else that is a treasure of sorts.

One day it was a sterling silver tray, another day an antique mother of pearl large basket and today, A leather hand painted room divider with studs, probably from the 1920's.

Today, I was introduced to a two sided Springerie Wooden Cookie Mold, either Dutch or German, circa 1850's or earlier. Isn't it great?

Look at this magazine rack with the carved harp designs, $150.00

...and this leather, three panel hand painted screen, circa 1920's with studding, 

about 5'8l" tall and in great condition, front and back. $500.00

Framed antique glass sign

A reinvented collage

Much more to come!

All of these items can be for sale. Please inquire if interested 

Estate Sale & Tag Sale Talk on Long Island: Welcome to Full of Surprizes Tag Sales

Happy New Year Everyone!..from Madeline and www.FullOfSurpriZes.com

I'm home today, after the first winter storm of 2014, sitting in front of my mac, pondering the enormous world of art and decor. I can sit in my office for hours surfing the web, moving from one style of furniture to another, wowing at the beauty and creativity that went into their design. It's truly a great day to be at home.

There is nothing like attending a Winter Estate or Tag Sale on Long Island. Yes, the weather can be iffy and homeowners and tag sale goers are often concerned about the weather and figure that no one will attend. Well, that's not necessarily true. Some of my very best sales have been in January and February, with sidewalks hastily cleared from a storm the night before. I suppose that cabin fever and the possibility of purchasing a diamond in the rough treasure surpasses the trepidation about cold hands and feet and slick sidewalks.
                                                                                                                                                             Fewer homes are sell in the colder months and there are less tag sales taking place… so there is less competition and the more serious tag sale goers will attend. Tag Sale goers come from all walks of like. They are high end dealers with deep pockets and large customer bases, they are pickers who sell to others and make a small middle-man profit, they are selling on ebay.com, etsy.com, amazon.com and other resale websites. Tag Sale goers are homeowners looking to buy below retail. They look for snowblowers, drapery and sofa's. They look for kitchenware, costume jewelry and clothing. Anything can sell at a tag sale.

You can go to one of the local estate sale sites and see this for yourself. www.EstateSales.net, LISaler.com, EstateSales.com and EstateSales.org are just a few of my favorite local companies that advertise these events.

Full of Surprizes Estate and Tag Sales has many events coming up in January 2014. We will be all over Long Island including Old Westbury, Lake Success, Hewlett, Syosset and Northport. Each home is different and unique with many quality items available. Check out our website and check back soon.

Here is my favorite links of the day: http://www.1stdibs.com/introspective/spotlight_on_design/claudette_didul/
An interesting piece about Claudette Didul, Set decorator of the television show, "Mad Men".