This explains the structures, not the numbers
Rates vary by region, by the size of the job and by what is in the house, and any figure quoted on a website is a figure you should check against an actual written quote. What is worth understanding in advance is how these agreements are built, because that is what determines whether the number you are quoted is the number you end up paying.
Understanding a quote and comparing several of them are different problems. How to choose an estate sale company covers the second one, and why the lowest rate is not reliably the most money.
The four common structures
Most agreements are one of these, or a combination:
- Commission on what sells. The company takes an agreed percentage of the sale proceeds. Your interests and theirs are aligned, because both go up together.
- Flat fee. A fixed amount for the work regardless of what the contents make. Predictable, and it means the company carries no risk if the sale disappoints.
- Outright purchase, sometimes called a buyout. The company buys the contents for a lump sum and keeps whatever they make. Fastest, and it almost always pays less than selling, because the buyer is taking on all the risk.
- Hourly or per-load, usually for the removal and disposal part rather than the selling part.
What is normally included
Sorting, research and pricing, photography and listing, staffing the sale or running the auction, and handling buyers and payment.
What normally costs extra
- Disposal and hauling of whatever does not sell, including dumpster rental and tipping fees. How much an estate cleanout costs covers how that side is priced.
- Hazardous household waste. Paint, solvents, propane, pool chemicals and automotive fluids all have to be handled separately and are usually charged at cost.
- Specialist appraisal for jewelry, coins, firearms, or fine art.
- Cleaning at the end, and any repairs to get the property to a condition you were promised.
- Storage, security, and a locksmith if the house needs one.
- Credit card processing, and in some agreements a fee charged to buyers rather than to you.
What moves the number
The same house can be quoted very differently depending on the following, which also drive the schedule. How long estate liquidation takes covers that side of it:
- The ratio of sellable to disposable. A house that is nine tenths disposal is a removal job wearing the costume of a sale. Is there enough value in a house for an estate sale sets out how that is weighed.
- Access. Stairs, a steep or narrow street, no parking for a truck, and a third-floor walk-up all add labor.
- Volume, including the parts people forget. Garages, attics, basements, sheds, and anything under the house.
- Whether anyone is still living there.
- How firm your deadline is.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What exactly is your fee, and what is it a percentage of?
- Who pays for disposal of what does not sell, and is that capped?
- When do I get paid, and what documentation comes with the payment?
- Do I see the catalog or the price list before anything is sold?
- Can I pull an item after it is listed, and does that cost me anything?
- What happens to items that do not sell, and who decides?
- Are you insured, for what, and can I see the certificate?
- Who is actually in my house, your employees or subcontractors?
Signals worth taking seriously
- No written agreement, or an agreement that does not name a fee.
- Pressure to sign on the first visit.
- No itemized statement at the end, just a single net figure.
- Small valuables taken off site without a written inventory signed by both of you.
- An estimate of what the contents will make, stated as a promise rather than an estimate.
Doing it yourself
The costs do not disappear, they change hands. You take on the disposal fees, the platform fees if you sell online, the transport, and the time.
The version that usually works is selective. Sell the ten or twenty items worth real money yourself, donate what a charity will collect, and pay somebody only for the removal of what is left.