Where Can I Get Approximate Values For Selling Items In Our SnB

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

We are in the process of selling off many items to put our property on the market early next year.   One of the issues I have is on stuff I've inherited from my mothers wedding and have no idea on pricing these items or where to promote them for sale.    Alas it's a very sad task to undertake but the time has come for sure to offload more than my lifetime of memories but it is just "stuff" I keep telling myself.

Every day stuff we've been putting ads on FB Market Place (Sold hot tub, horse jumps, waterers, small furniture items etc).   Alas I have no idea on establishing a value "if" new or equivalent to price accordingly as second hand.

I have canteens of cutlery from the 1950's with bone handles and stamped/etched on each blade/fork/spoon back the company (awesome quality),  Solid Silver set of mustard boat, Salt Pepper set and spoons still in original velvet lined box.   A collection of 4 plates my grandmother bought for my mother's birthday/Christmas combined gift each year in the late 1970's and a huge array of Singapore Crockery with lidded vegetable dishes, gravy boats etc that my Uncle brought back from RAF Singapore in the 50's as well.

Thanks for sharing what you would do and where you would try to generate the best return on these very old but immaculate condition items.

FTW.

[durangodon]

One way would be to go to an antique mall nearby and approach two or three of the dealers there about them taking your items on consignment.  You might also ask one of them to appraise all your items for you and then you continue to try and sell them yourself.  Unless you're just very lucky to stumble upon an individual collector, you're not going to get near what you think those items are worth. 

Another way of selling such inventory is through an estate sale.  There are folks who do that professionally.  From my experience, they will get good money for a few items, okay prices for some more, but lot's of your property will end up going for a few pennies on the dollar to a flea market vendor, if it sells at all.

Just remember, potential buyers didn't know your grandmother or your uncle, so those items have no sentimental value for them.  Good luck.

 

[Kirk W]

Checking the antique dealers would be my suggestion as well. I refulary watch the TV show, Antiques Roadshow and have been appalled by how much prices for most antiques have fallen. I have also found that our adult grandchildren have very little interest in family heirlooms. I would ask your family about any interest first. 

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Thanks Don and Kirk.    Absolutely the children have no connection or interest to any of the items.   Daughter wants to keep the Horsebox we could sell for what we paid for it many years ago LOL and the same with the tractor and accessories with less than 600 hours on total.   Of course she does so that's an extra $50K we won't be netting for our retirement  LOL.   Of course we are fine with that.

I hear you on things not being worth what we would like to think they are but I'm also cognisant of having let things go in bygone years to learn after the fact they were worth a small fortune more than we realised, so just want to make sure we are putting them out there at the right price.   Easier with stuff accumulated the past 30 years or so but not so much for stuff that's 80ish years old in some instances.

I'll have a look around for some antique malls take some photos and a sample piece with me and see what I'm told.

Thanks I'd not thought of that.   Canada's so young compared to the UK I didn't think we'd get much joy on the antique route.

FTW.

PS:   Like you Kirk I've watched over the years many episodes of antiques road show and it never fails to amaze me what some items fetch or are estimated worth.

 

[2gypsies]

For pricing you might want to look at Ebay.  An antique dealer would be a good choice, especially if you can get a recommendation for one.

So glad we're beyond all that!  One spends years collecting 'stuff'.  Why?  We found things we hadn't seen or used in many years.   It was like a huge weight off our shoulders when we sold it all.  We started off  asking the kids to take what they wanted. It was a piddly amount!  Then selling big items individually through the local paper. Then the whole house sale.  What was left we donated or tossed.

[RV_]

Another option is estate sale people. They set it up and do the advertising and take a percentage. But there has to be enough to make a profit for them too. They will come out and see what you have and decline or make a deal. They usually don't charge to come make an offer or not. 

I to have found that high quality solid wood furniture is out of demand. We could not give away a couple of pieces we had and had a resale place come and haul it away as a donation. 

As well the estate sale people will have a good idea of pricing and whether items will sell at all.

We are moving again and not paying to move all we did last time including a lot of things we thought were keepers. I am selling it all or having it hauled away save maybe three or four things. 

We can buy keeper high quality furniture as nice or better at the other end, sometimes just for the price of hauling it away, which is much cheaper than moving ours. I like Marketplace to see prices as well as eBay because they have how long each item has been advertised.

Good luck!

[sandsys]

We had an estate sale company sell our stuff. We were surprised at how little we got for our mostly Scandinavian-style teak and oak furniture. But, they sold everything and cleaned up before they left so the house was empty but clean for the new owners.

My favorite suggestion here was the couple that had a one day sale and invited friends, neighbors and family. They didn't price anything. They put a box by the door for people to put their money in then stayed away. It was up to everyone to decide what things were worth to them and to negotiate their own deals if more than one person wanted something. I think we would have made more if we had done that.

Linda

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

As always, a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for sharing your experiences/input.   I've treasured escapees folks for many years long before joining as a member.

Well FB Marketplace has really been the most productive for more modern type items.   Ikea 9 Cube shelving x 3 gone for $150 (asked $60 each or $150 all).   Stereo System gone for $100.   several other bits and pieces from $5 each upwards.    What blew our minds was we have two outside water fountains and asked $45 with over 100 enquiries on one that went with a birdbath catch basin.   Lady told us they are like gold dust and we are selling way too cheap, so we increased price on the bear statue one with catch basin and a river like effect = new they are anywhere from $300 to $500+ similar on line.   Alas now at $185 lots of views but zero enquiries since on that one so might have to reduce down which we are fine to do so and no rush.  No bites on some fitness equipment yet but that's OK, every little helps.    Don't mind offering stuff out at a deal but equally don't want to leave monies on the table we shouldn't be.  Hence why this thread I started. 

As we live in the countryside, we are planning on doing a garage/yard sale in Calgary Erinwoods district at our daughter's boyfriends house second Sat & Sun in September, with lots of items like books, baskets, teddies, and various other bits and pieces.

Right now we have time on our side, as not going on the market until New Year, although I'm sure it will fly by quickly and then panic will ensue.

On a comical note or more like frustrating note:   Why is it when you actually put in the ad "For Sale Until Sold will then delete ad or marked SOLD at the time", you get tons of folks that just say "is it still available".   Arrrrrgh.   I couldn't be any clearer if I tried in the ad.

When we sold our Florida house in 2017 it was pure torture dealing with Craigslist enquiries and doing back to back garage sales for a month.   With Kijiji and Marketplace here in Canada it's almost as bad LOL.  

For when we come off the road, whenever that may be.  We are only intending to keep maybe 4 or 5 tote boxes at the place our daughter will be staying "under 7 years tax records that can be burnt eventually", "teeny momentos of my childhood", few irreplaceable ornaments.   Of course she is going to keep some of the furniture for when they build their acreage in about 3 years they are saying!

Something is making me think that somewhere down the road over the next year or several, we will invest in a piece of land or help them out somewhat when we know how our retirement finances are fairing and of course that is where we will hang our final hat eventually.   It makes sense so we have somewhere to stay in the summers as well when coming back locally.   No rush could be within a year or 10 who knows.

 

[Kirk W]

Thanks for the update! It is great to hear that things are going well. 

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Just thought I'd post a quickie update in case any of youse might smile or appreciate my appreciation.     So we did our first huge garage sale today (9 Tables, underneath them and lots outside hanging and on the floors on plastic = have tomorrow and Monday holiday to go so might slow down.    Once the signs went out nobody seemed to read the days or time frames of 10am to 4pm Sat, Sun & Mon.  We had folks on their way home from work coming up our driveway on Friday night right up until we closed the gates and put a sign on at 9.30pm after the last ones!!    This morning they were lined up outside from 9.20am waiting for our opening of 10am to 4pm today and I finally had the last folks out by 5.05pm.

Had about 65 to 70 cars (daughter tried to keep tally how many came to the acreage).    Put out tons of signage off slip roads from main intersections and all the way back leading into our place strategically placed to hit coming home from work traffic was the idea.

So far, between posting on line at FB Marketplace, Kijiji (a little like your craigslist) and posting out the Garage sale info to 3 locally known websites and having a ton of patience reposting over the past few weeks on some individual items, we've made overC$5,000 on stuff we'll not miss at this stage at all.    

Not a lot when you consider the time expended but it'll sure go a long way to some extra gas out on the road eventually  LOL.   Must admit I was quite nervous being out in the country somewhat whether anyone would come and we've all worked so hard to prep for it, so more than happy.

There's a lot of seasonal stuff we'll repost coming up for winter time and again in the Spring for Graduations/weddings etc that really nobody is considering purchasing at this time of year.

Anyway's just wanted to share our update.   We are planning on doing at least one weekend and maybe two in Calgary (huge population by comparison) for the 3rd and 4th weekend of September so hoping maybe a lot of what's left might go there.

PS:   Also had someone locally come through saying their sister tried to view property that sold next door to us early last spring, so gave us a chance to show her the house although nowhere near ready for showing but ......    You just never know is our theory and she can share with her sister we'll be considering selling early next year in a similar ballpark figure.

Happy & Safe Travels everyone.

[sandsys]

Wow! You did well! Congratulations! It would be wonderful if that woman's sister buys your house without ever having to put it on the market.

Linda

[2gypsies]

I'm sure it's a great feeling to get rid of the 'stuff'.  It was for us!

[Kirk W]

Our best garage sale was the second of the three that we had. At a little before 7am on a Saturday morning a large truck stopped out front and the driver told me that he would be happy to help get ready if I'd let him look around as we worked. I said OK and we walked into the garage where he looked around at what we were putting out and he asked what I expected to make on the sale. I told him I thought it should make close to $500. He thought for a moment and asked, how about I give you the $500 and back my truck in and you can help me load everthing and you will be finished? I took him up and by 8am we were finished. That was back in early 2000. 

Edited September 4, 2022 by Kirk W

[Ray,IN]

We're planning to downsize from our present house, RV garage and acreage to a 1 acre lot with a new double-wide house.

I called an auctioneer service last week, they charge 50% of the gross receipts. Whew_ scratched that one off the list..

Edited September 4, 2022 by Ray,IN

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Good for you Kirk, that's my kind of garage sale  LOL.   Seriously though he probably saw a lot of stuff he had an outlet for that he could easily 10 fold that money but hey, saved you the hassle.

Ray, I agree with you, we only got $400 for a beautiful leather sofa, love seat, end tables matching coffee tables and full set of spare bedroom furniture combined.   It was heart breaking.   It was 2017 when we sold our Florida home and I managed to sell the other 3 bedrooms for $2000, $1600 and MB $4500 on my own prior.   We were just up against it time wise on being in the USA .   Quality was the same but we got 10cents on the dollar or worse, that if we'd had more time to sell ourselves.

Today was a real slow day as I suspected.   We only took a little under $300 but a ton of jigsaws and cookery books went so that's a lot of table space alleviated for packing up at the end of tomorrow to move everything into the city for the last two garage sales at the end of the month.

One of the biggest lessons this has taught me is that, on account when we hang up the keys and move into a SnB again will we every accumulate stuff we don't need just to fill spaces as we've done the past 30 years and more importantly we will be looking for second hand in excellent condition furniture (but always a new mattress, soft furnishings we can't launder though!).    It's heartbreaking to see what you pay for things new versus what you can get on the second hand market, and even worse if you go the auctioneers/estate sale route.

Safe travels everyone, will update this thread after our last and final "we're done and done" garage sale towards end Sept time.