Libra63
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posted on September 4, 2002 09:58:51 AM new
Do you think the ones in your area buy any of the merchandise to sell on eBay before they open the doors of their sales? I have doubts about one in our area. You know when you go into a sale and see the merchandise and know what era it is from, you almost expect something to be there and it is not. Well I asked questions got no for an answer so I let it ride. Didn't purchase much, nothing resaleable. This is just speculation, but I have doubts. Gotta go to work will check in tonight.
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alwaysfun
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posted on September 4, 2002 10:17:42 AM new
I know a couple ladies who own estate sales and Yes, they offer to sell certain items on eBay instead of putting it in the sale. It is smart for them, as they charge a higher percentage and make a bit more money for themselves and the estate owner.
I personally can't stand estate sales as they are always extremely overpriced in our area. I feel sorry for the estate owners a lot of the time because they are usually not getting near as much as they would if they had an auction here. I am sure it is different in other areas. Here they mark things down 25% the 2nd day and 50% off the 3rd day.
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sanmar
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posted on September 4, 2002 11:24:14 AM new
We have 3 major players in the Estate Sales in this area of central coast of CA. As far as I know, none of them work on Ebay. Granted the prices are high on the first day, but are usually half price the 2nd. I know all of them on a first name basis & can negotiate a better price. Sometimes I don't buy anything as the early birds snap up the good things, which are too high for me anyway.
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gc2
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posted on September 4, 2002 11:45:34 AM new
Generally speaking, No.
The trick that annoys me most is their making a deal in advance with the heirs to buy whatever "leftovers" they want at a very small percentage of the 'asking' price - then grossly over-inflating the price to discourage anyone else from buying, but leaves them with a 'steal'.
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rarriffle
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posted on September 4, 2002 12:47:41 PM new
I know of a couple of estate handlers in my area that do the whole sale for a % plus whatever is "left over". This makes for overpricing and also for some items never being put out in the first place. They just materialize as a left over at the end of the sale.
It is not ethical for anyone contracting to do the sale to buy anything from the sale before it starts.
That would be the same as an appraisor trying to buy the items they appraise.
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toolhound
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posted on September 4, 2002 02:41:20 PM new
One in my area got caught recently. He was doing Estate sales for a % of what was taken in. He was taking the good items for himself to sell on eBay. A relative of the decesed decided at the last minute to attend the Estate sale and found a bunch of the nice old stuff was not there. They went to the police and the bank that hired the guy to run the Estate sale.
The relative did a search on eBay and found most of the items for sale by the guy running the sale. When the guy doing the estate sale turned in the money to the bank for the sale he showed the items he had for sale on eBay as sold at the sale for next to nothing. He was busted and I understand being investigated for 100s of other sales he has done in the past few years.
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dacreson
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posted on September 4, 2002 03:08:07 PM new
Shhiiiiiish He only wanted to "Share"
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Libra63
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posted on September 4, 2002 04:43:51 PM new
Thanks for all the response. It's good to see that this isn't the only place that has outrageous prices the 1st day. I think they price their items so that the second day when they are half price, that is if they sell anything the first day then they will be half price, it brings the price closer to what it should have gone for the day before. We have on estate sale lady who is great. Started out with high prices but now her prices are really good and within reason to resale.
I know that there are people out there that probably buy from their own estate sale, but I don't know of anyone that will take the time to list it on ebay and share the profits. Why would someone put their time to list on eBay and then share.
The item in question I would have paid a good fair price for it because I knew it was something I wanted. In fact I asked if they had any of these. Not the price that it is going for on eBay but then again I wasn't going to resell it. It is something I collect.
Again thanks for all your responses.
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meridenmor
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posted on September 4, 2002 06:49:44 PM new
We have one here that actually runs 'absolute' sales. They promise that everything will be out of the house by the end of the sale, and they clear the house. First day features reasonable prices on almost everything, second day prices come down, third is make offer. If you can find estate sale people whose sole business is clearing out the house, not getting top dollar for every widget and knick knack, you can buy from them. Some seem to be running a traveling antique show: bring in loads of their own merchandise priced at or above retail. This is a business that really varies enormously from company to company. And even from estate to estate.
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rgrem
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posted on September 5, 2002 02:44:16 AM new
Estate sales around my area are pretty much a crooked operation. You can get to a sale and be 3rd or 4th in line at 7am and get number 25. Where the heck did 1-22 go? We all know where they went. and at 8 or 8:30 they start showing up. And the good stuff is priced low for those fortunate? buyers- some who are later found to be friends of the crooks. I really hate to use a broad brush, but that's the way they all are here.
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yeager
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posted on September 5, 2002 02:52:56 AM new
I rarely go to estate sales. One of the last one that I went to was soooooo over priced it made my head spin.
The ad was in the local paper and it said ESTATE SALE, and gave the address, the times and a short rundown of the type of merchandise. It failed to give information of whose estate this was. The house was a middle 1960's style ranch in a neighborhood from the early 60's. The things inside were from the early part of the century and up to the 1930's. It just didn't seem to match to me. The person holding the "sale" didn't list the name of his company in the ad. Most estate sale companys do this as a regular practice.
As I spent about 5 minutes going throught the 3 bedroom house, browsing at the exrtremely overpriced items, I thought that I recoginized the person holding the "sale" but I couldn't place him. After I left, I finally figured out who this person was. He was the owner of a larger antique shop downtown. I later learned the he owned rental real estate.
What a perfect combination. 1 empty rental house and 1 store full of antiques, equals an estate sale!
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objectsfound
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posted on September 5, 2002 05:47:30 AM new
I've been to many in the past and trusted one particular sale organizer's written word that she doesn't do any presales or personal buying of the items. Her ads always have at least one or two things I'd love to have a chance at. Time and time again I'd be up before the birds, get a low number and be one of the first 10 in the door. Every time the items I was interested in would already have Sold on them by one of the people in that first 10. After quite awhile I found out that she has her favorites and although she doesn't do presales she does let them know in advance exactly where in the house the item is located so they can rush right to it with no delay or searching.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on September 5, 2002 06:19:19 AM new
There are many games run by "estate sale" managers and they're all unethical. Some of them are illegal.
1) There is a local man whose family runs estate sales. They charge sales tax on items, which is patently illegal. I would love to turn them in to the Board of Equalization, if only I knew their names. They only do this once or twice a year. You better believe they're not remitting the collected "tax" to the state. That's a nice 8% bonus on each item sold.
2) This is commonly done in Hillsborough, a wealthy residential (no business) community. An antique dealer works with a real estate agent to set up an empty house for sale. The dealer fills it with the contents of his store, or of his buddies' inventories, and lo and behold, instant estate sale. The agent is happy (she's getting lots of foot traffic at no cost), anything the dealer sells is gravy, the only losers are those who wasted their time believing it was a genuine sale.
3) The "We don't have to sell that" estate sale, run by relatives of the deceased. The way this one works is that nothing is priced in advance and nothing is laid out neatly on tables or such. You root through boxes and closets and when you find something you want, you take it to the lady with the cash box, who then decides if it's a) worthless crap she'd be happy to charge you an exorbitant price for, or b) a "family heirloom" they couldn't possibly part with, so no sale. It's a cute way to use complete strangers to do the house clean-out for you. Meanwhile, the lady with the cash box amasses a nice pile of oh-we-couldn't-possibly-sell-that stuff that probably goes on eBay the following day. The last time this I fell for this I left the sale and drove around, taking down all their signs. Take that, you jerks.
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rgrem
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posted on September 5, 2002 06:25:56 AM new
On the sales tax issue, anyone charging sales tax should display their tax certificate and write a receipt for the item and the tax collected. In some states this is the law. When I do shows that require the dealers to collect tax, I always display my certificate. When I buy from a dealer at any show that wants tax, I ask to see his/her certificate. Guess what? Some say, "oh I forgot it, just skip the tax." geeze, how obvious can you get?
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Libra63
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posted on September 5, 2002 08:49:22 AM new
Well I guess it seems like the norm. Most people who run "honest" estate sales are really not honest. We have prenumbers at our sales but nobody can leave after getting the prenumber and that is really followed. If someone leaves and comes back the person handing out the prenumbers goes to the estate sale people and reports them and they have to go to the back of the line. That is infored at our sales, but I guess that is about the only thing honest. The rest is about the same as most of the country. It is interesting to read about other areas of the USA and how things are done. It's probably back to combing the flea markets and do some haggleing with the sellers, but for now I have to clean out my eBay room, Garage and little nooks and crannys before I can buy more. Thanks all for your input it is really interesting.
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toolhound
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posted on September 5, 2002 08:52:42 AM new
Every Estate sale ran by a person whe regularly does Estates must collect sales tax. At least in Florida. Also sales tax must be collected on every item sold at the flea market or anything sold on the internet to another person in Florida.
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gc2
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posted on September 5, 2002 09:33:27 AM new
Libra:"...but for now I have to clean out my eBay room...."
...maybe you could have an estate sale...?
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fishfry
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posted on September 5, 2002 10:32:32 AM new
In Milwaukee, several estate sale people sell first in line to all their sales rights as tickets, they donate this to public television auctions! I suppose it might be a worthy cause, but it never seemed very fair to me... they don't put anything in their ads to indicate that all sales are always picked over by these people first.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on September 5, 2002 10:46:33 AM new
Every Estate sale ran by a person whe regularly does Estates must collect sales tax.
Not in California. The law is quite clear on this. Items from the deceased's household are classified as used personal goods, and are NOT subject to sales tax.
If the "estate sale manager" purchased those goods from the estate, took them to the flea market, and sold them there, yes, they would have to charge sales tax.
Hope this helps.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on September 5, 2002 10:51:34 AM new
Oh, just in case anyone thinks that my taking down the signs was too harsh:
We have a local ordinance that states that garage sale, lost pet and other signs may NOT be put on utility poles in our city. It is widely ignored by the rules-don't-apply-to-me crowd.
I have even seen police going around removing these signs. The city is cracking down. Woe betide anyone stupid enough to put their home address on one.
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suewagner
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posted on September 5, 2002 03:40:26 PM new
I've seen just about every type of estate sale business under the sun in our part of the country: some charges sales tax and some don't, some are outrageously high priced and some are dirt cheap, some obviously pre-sell the days before but at others you can find the greatest stuff imaginable (at least to me). I had one estate seller tell me she'd list on eBay but she doesn't have enough time to do it - she makes more money letting other people buy from her and sell.
My pet peeve is checking the classifieds for estate sales, then when you take the time and waste the gas to drive across town to get there it's either a yard sale with a few dozen items or obviously an antique dealer trying to unload some junk they couldn't sell in their store. That irritates me to no end - what a wasted effort on my part. There oughta be a law that ONLY true estate sales can be listed under that category and nothing else. Of course, who could enforce that? Ha.
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micmic66
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posted on September 5, 2002 03:56:08 PM new
Estae sales SUCK!! All of my wonderful finds (so many!) have all come from the great outdoors (driveway or yard)
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Libra63
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posted on September 5, 2002 06:25:12 PM new
gc2--My husband wishes I could have an estate sale but I guess I could since I bought most of these items from other estates.
When I have a sale my is considered garage because no matter what I have it is never over $1.00. Most goes for 25 cents some 50 cents. I keep my items that I can't sell on ebay and stick them in my garage sale and with a good ad in the paper everything is gone before I know it. If someone buys it and makes money on it more power to them it's gone from my house.
Fluffy you are brave and you do what others think about doing. What I hate is people that leave their signs up after the sales. it is against the law in our city but it is never inforced.
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ohmslucy
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posted on September 5, 2002 10:09:01 PM new
A few weeks ago I decided it was time to clear out my eBay room. Time for a yard sale. Gawd...I hate those!
Anyhow, come 7:30 am on a lovely Saturday (I put 9:00 in the ad...) there were several peeps waiting to see my swell stuff. Everything was a quarter. A real two-bit yard sale.
Upshot: By noon 300 things were GONE! Of course none of it was eBayable. But I'm not sure the buyers knew that.
I was more than pleased... Packed up what didn't sell and it's going to the church rummage sale.
Ahhhh... My eBay room is now more-or-less organized.
Lucy
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