The passing of a parent or grandparent is never a good experience. In addition to grieving the loss of a loved one, it may be necessary to inventory their belongings and determine what to do with them. If you have opted to have an estate sale, you want to get as much as possible for your loved one’s possessions. How can an estate sale company help you achieve that goal?

Get Appraisals For Anything You Think May Be Valuable

If you find that grandpa has an extensive coin collection or grandma had a collection of custom purses, it may be a good idea to have them appraised. An estate sale company will either be able to appraise it on their own or bring in outside experts who can do an appraisal. A professional appraisal could prevent you from accidentally selling a $10,000 item for $5 just to get rid of it quickly.

Find Out If Items Are Fake or Reproductions

It isn’t uncommon for paintings or other pieces of art to be reproductions as opposed to originals. This doesn’t mean that your loved one didn’t know what to look for or that the seller intentionally sold a fraudulent item. Instead, it means that it can be extremely challenging at times to tell the difference between a real Van Gogh and a mass replica. However, a professional appraiser armed with the right tools can determine conclusively whether an object is genuine, or if it is a reproduction, which helps you price it accordingly during the estate sale.

Learn More About How the Market Impacts the Price of an Item

At one time, Ty Cobb was one of the most celebrated figures in baseball. Today, he is thought to be a blatant racist. While his baseball cards are still valuable, the perception of the man himself has influenced how much people are willing to pay for a card. Depending on who attends your sale, an item could ultimately go for less if buyers don’t like the person portrayed on a piece of memorabilia or the person who created a particular piece of art. On the other hand, an item may go for more than market value if a buyer likes the fact that an individual is or was controversial while he or she was alive.
If you are going through with an estate sale, make sure that you know how much everything is worth and why. An estate sale company will have an array of tools and resources to help you get market value for everything that you own, which may help clear inventory while contributing to a loved one’s final expenses.