This post is about how to find estate sale bargains.
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Whether you’re shopping at an estate sale to add to your own vintage home decor, or you are in a thrifting and flipping business like us, there are ways to make your good buy a real steal. (We aren’t going to help you actually steal, just metaphorically!) we have some tips and tricks for how to level up your estate sale shopping. We have a five-figure business flipping thrift home decor and vintage furniture. Being able to find estate sale bargains is an important part of our business strategy.
Find the best estate sales so you can save time and make more money.
You can always find estate sales in places like Next Door or Facebook Marketplace. But, you do have to do a bit of digging. We subscribe to estatesales.net (it’s free!) to find most of our estate sales. They send weekly updates. You can search by zip code to limit results to how far you’re willing to travel (gas money is a real cost, my friend). Also, they often have multiple good photos: one recent sale had 69 photos! Plus they listed the brands of the high-value items. This helps you decide if the sale is worth it. You can even Google lens a few of the items that look interesting. Most importantly, if there’s more than one sale, you can figure out which is your highest priority That will determine which one we go to first. Which leads to the next tip to find estate sale bargains–getting there early.
Day one at the estate sale: go early and get the great stuff first.
We have a thrift flipping business, so we treat estate sales as part of our job. But even if you’re just looking for a few personal home decor ideas, a little extra effort can really pay off (literally). First, go early. Get there on time, or even a little before. If we know the neighborhood and it’s a really good sale (good for us, depending on what we’re looking for), we show up even fifteen minutes early. Some estate sales will have lines: long ones. We’ve seen lines that go halfway down a block!
If you arrive early at an estate sale it not only cuts down on the time you’re waiting, you’ll get a chance to start quickly checking out what is available. For us, some items are no-brainers: pairs of nightstands and brass lamps are great thrift items that you can flip. But guess what–these estate sale bargains do well because they are popular! So, if the price is within our budget, we grab them immediately. We don’t haggle, because someone will step in and offer full price. We pay for them and take them to the car immediately. (Yeah, we’re not playing around.)
Quick tip: most estate sales have hold tables (you can claim items without having to hold them while you keep looking). However, hold tables are usually not large enough for furniture, so things do walk away.
Day two: maybe give it a miss. Probably won’t find estate sale bargains that day.
If you missed day one, just treat day two like it’s the first day: get there early and scoop up anything that you’re confident you want. But if you made it to day one, you could skip day two. Most estate sales are full price on day one. On day two it’s 25% off, and 50% off on day three. Usually 25% off is not a big enough discount to change our minds. If a lamp we like is $20, then it’s not worth the gas money and time to come back the next day to save $5 (and it might be gone). Similarly, if a chair we like is $50, but our budget is $30, then it’s still going to be $38.50 on day two. So we’d still skip day two.
Go back at the very end to scoop up estate sale bargains you’re not sure about.
Depending on our strategy, we might go back late on day three. If the sale closes at 2 pm, we’ll show up around 12:30. (Don’t show up like, 20 minutes before closing. You want to become their friend and get good deals, not be the annoying haggler who is keeping them there late.) You’ve probably missed out on those items that were really good at this point. But, the people running the estate sale are highly motivated by late on day three. At that point, 50% off has become “make me an offer.” At that point, you can negotiate bundles. Even better, you’re probably their new best friend because you are moving out stuff they’d have to pay someone to haul away. We’ve paid $50 for a dozen items–including furniture!– just by showing up at the end. You won’t always find estate sale bargains like that! But even a few bundled deals can then be broken back apart and sold at a good profit.
That doesn’t mean everything is going to be a great deal. Even if it costs $2, if we can’t resell it for enough money to make it worth our time then it becomes a Goodwill donation. Everything, regardless of price, has to be cleaned, measured, photographed, priced and listed! But, usually we can take chances on a lot of things we’re unsure about. And sometimes we get something that seemed cheap and low quality but turned out to be a fabulous find. These deals are also a great way to start your flipping business. Buying low risk items that make you even a few dollars is a good way to learn your market.
Don’t be afraid to get dirty. Literally: you will find estate sale bargains in the corners.
One thing to note: while a lot of professionally run estate sales are very clean and organized, we’ve seen some that were…a little unpleasant. Run toward the mess! We have found amazing treasures among the chaos. Sometimes the estate sale company didn’t have a lot of time to get ready. Other times, they just weren’t as savvy an organization. This can mean two things for you, the estate sale bargain hunter. One, you will almost certainly find things on the floor, tucked under other stuff, stacked inside of unrelated items. People who are squeamish or impatient will miss these great finds. But not you (at least not anymore).
The other reason to lean into the less than perfectly organized estate sales is price negotiation. You will be much more likely to get a good deal when you’re working within a slightly frenzied sale. The professional team wants to move as much inventory as possible. Don’t hesitate to bundle several items and ask for a deal. (Pro tip: even on day one, we set aside all of our favorite items on the hold table. Don’t buy individual items, bring your whole pile to the checkout at once. You can then try to get a bundle bargain.)
It literally pays to be nice.
This ought to go without saying, but to find estate sale bargains, you need to be nice to the people running it. And your fellow shoppers. We were in the backyard at one sale (we love vintage planters and garden decor), when another customer began chatting with us. She was looking at the patio furniture but spotted a great planter that we almost missed. And of course, when it comes to the estate sale professionals, it pays to be patient and friendly. There will ALWAYS be that annoying customer who wants help carrying things out, getting a better deal, and all while being kind of rude. All you have to do is be the friendly, patient one.
The desk shown in this blog cost us only $15! The sale was super busy and frankly, kind of a mess. There weren’t prices on most items. But we took our time, were super patient and friendly. This desk was tucked away in a room upstairs, and we instantly fell in love. They gave it to us for $15. So yeah, it actually pays to be nice.
Go slow, and let go. You can find the best estate sale bargains again and again.
If you are buying for yourself, you might need to use self-discipline. Was it cracked and you didn’t notice? Did it seem cute but now it just looks dated and icky? Upcycle, recycle or donate as appropriate. Your future self will be thrilled it doesn’t have to clear out a lot of junk later. And you won’t feel guilty when you go to the next estate sale. Cuz, c’mon, you know that you’re going back. You’re one trip away from your next great estate sale find.
This post is about how to find estate sale bargains.
To find vintage Christmas decor at estate sales, read this.
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