How Second Season Estate Sales Works
When a potential client contacts Second Season Estate Sales, we:
1. Schedule a time to meet with you at the home,
2. Tour the home with you to look at the personal property that is being sold,
3. Discuss your goals for the sale,
4. Establish sale dates,
5. Review the pre-sale, sale, and post-sale processes,
6. Offer a flat fee for conducting the sale,
Can't wait to see you at our sale. Setup was 3196.
7. If deemed necessary, recommend that a dumpster be placed on the property for a seven-day period,
8. Leave a contract with you if you express an interest in considering us to do your sale.
Once you have decided to work with Second Season, we return to the home to pick up the contract and take pictures of the personal property for marketing purposes. At that time, we also establish a timeline for preparing for the sale and a way to access the home during this pre-sale period.
Pre-Sale Period
The pre-sale period takes between one and two weeks, depending on the size of the home and the amount of personal property to organize, display, and price. Before the pre-sale period begins, we ask family members to remove personal property from the home that they want to keep. (Please know that as we are going through the home, we will put aside for the client any personal property that may have inadvertently been overlooked, such as family photos.) Our company cannot sell firearms or liquor, so these items must also be removed before the sale.
During the pre-sale period, everything in the home is cleaned, as necessary, displayed on tables that we bring into the house, and priced. Most personal pro Property is divided into two categories: furniture and smalls. People tend to collect an enormous number of smalls over a lifetime, and smalls bring a considerable amount of income to a sale. Second Season takes pride in displaying merchandise that is easy to see and safely accessible by our customers. Occasionally, clients ask us to include cars, golf carts, boats, etc. in the sale, and we gladly do this, as long as proper documentation is provided.
Sale Period
Sales generally run for two days and are advertised on estatesales.net, other social media, road signs, and on occasion, in local papers. If there are special requirements about parking, they are included in our advertising. On sale days, Second Season has staff members to monitor the shoppers in your home, as well as a cashier at the cash-out table. We provide packing materials and bags for our customers and accept cash and credit cards as payment for the merchandise they buy. At the end of the sale, our client receives copies of all sales receipts, as well as a spread sheet listing all sales.
On the first day of the sale, Second Season does not negotiate prices put on your personal property. We will, however, accept lower than asking price bids on furniture, and those bids will be presented to you at the end of the first day, if the furniture has not sold at full price. You have the option of accepting or rejecting a bid, and your decision will be conveyed to the bidder. On the second day of the sale, prices are reduced by a percentage agreed upon by the client. A discount percentage on the final day of the sale is normal in this industry, and it helps to move merchandise that might not otherwise sell.
Post-Sale Period
Second Seasons’ post-sale responsibilities are discussed during the initial interview and can include anything from consolidating the items that did not sell and leaving them for the client to turning over a broom-ready home to the client. (Broom-ready means the house is empty and ready for cleaning.) If it is decided that Second Season will leave the home broom-ready, this means that we will box left over smalls and donate those, along with furniture, to local charitable organizations. The client may request receipts from these organizations.
Second Season cannot be responsible for the removal of pianos, large appliances, or unsold electronics after the sale.
After Second Season has met its responsibilities, the client will receive a check for the proceeds of the sale, minus the contracted fee, and the receipts and spread sheet from the sale. Generally, this takes place within two days after the end of the sale to allow for accounting to take place.