Estate sales can be a great way to make some extra money, perhaps to over inheritance tax, and clear out the possessions of a loved one who has passed away. They can also be complicated and hard to run if you don’t have the right understanding of how estate sales work and what makes them run well. Try these tips for a successful estate sale and as many sales as you can manage.

Do Research on Your Items

You don’t want to list something for sale for too low a price based on a guess, and then find out later it was worth a lot more than you thought. Before you open your estate sale, go through any items that you aren’t familiar with and do some research on their potential value. You could use the advanced filter of eBay to find some similar items that have already been sold. Look at the highest-priced items first.

Mark Prices Clearly

Bargaining on price is usually a big part of estate sales. You still have to make things as easy as possible for your customers to decide about the items. If you don’t mark anything with a price, you are forcing potential buyers to look for you or another family member to ask for the price. The crowds might mean they give up and don’t bother looking, and will decide not to bother buying the item.

Properly Staff the House

It won’t be enough to have just one person on hand to answer questions and take money from buyers. You should have some other family members or friends staffed in each room of the house so that potential buyers can ask questions. Having someone there will also cut down on theft.

Set Up a Table for Purchases

You will need a decent space near the entrance of the home, so that buyers have plenty of room to put down the items that they’re buying, and you have enough space to take their money and complete each sale. You can also use this table to keep any smaller, valuable items close to hand, so people have less opportunity to steal them.

Get a Cash Box

Make sure you have plenty of change available too. If you don’t have enough cash to give people change, you might lose out on sales. People come to estate sales ready to buy, so you can expect them to be carrying large bills that you will need to be able to make change for. Get a proper, secure cash box so you can keep all of your money from any sales safe and organized.

Hire a Professional

There are professional and companies that are set up entirely to help people prepare and run estate sales. If you feel overwhelmed or as though you’re out of your element or don’t have the time to run a successful estate sale, think about getting in touch with one of these companies to get some help with the sale.