The antiques and collectibles market will never be the same. Some people love it, some people hate it. No matter what your opinion, ebay has changed the way people shop and sell.

The purpose of this guide is to assist you in planning an estate sale. The first and most important rule is...Don't Throw Anything Away. Being a collector of all things "old", it has often brought tears to my eyes to hear that the inheritors of an estate brought a large dumpster to the homeplace and filled it up (often more than once) before setting up for the estate sale (tag sale, yard sale, etc).

There are thousands of books on the market which detail "values", but unless they are current and have taken ebay trading into consideration (using ebay past sales as part of the equation), the values cannot be trusted to give you an accurate value. These books are valuable in giving you descriptions, pictures, and rarity (you can compare a vase worth $1,000 to one worth $100 and you'll know the higher priced one is much more rare or hard to find).

It is much easier to use ebay as a guide.  Collectors as well as experts in specific areas of collecting buy and sell on ebay daily.  I understand that the heirs of an estate will desire to get the most money they can from the sale, but one must be reasonable.  If you don't want to sell an item, please don't put it at the sale with an unreasonably high price (only to tell potential buyers "if I can't get this much, I'll just take it home").  The first and earliest buyers will almost always be re-sellers (people that sell on ebay or have retail antique store - and most people with retail stores also sell on ebay these days).  These buyers will most often have an area of expertise and come in looking for specific items first; they know the current values.

If you use ebay as a guide to establishing prices, be sure to check completed listings - and only use the ones that ended with a winning bidder.  Anyone can place a widget for sale on ebay and ask a million dollars - that does not mean it's worth a million.  Browse through the completed listings and use an average (don't go with the highest).  And please...please...don't print a copy of the highest one and put it with the item at the sale thinking it will help you get a higher price. Most people that sell on ebay won't even look at an item when they see one of those printouts.

If you have a house full of items of every sort, you can do keyword searches to get a general idea of the value of items.  An example would be to go to the kitchen and pull out a bowl. Look at the bottom and get the manufacturer. Use that keyword to search ebay, find your bowl, and get more specific keywords to get a more narrow search of your specific pattern.  Now you can do the completed listings search to see what the worldwide market is willing to pay for your bowl.  Now price it at 25-75% less than the ebay market (depending on condition) which will encourage re-sellers to buy.

There are many items that people think are trash, which to the collector and treasure hunter (such as myself), are very valuable.  So don't empty that desk or "catch all" drawer into a trash box!  There could be many things of value in there!  Boxes of letters, cards, and paper items often get tossed first; and many dealers love to sort through one of those boxes searching for a stamp, early greeting cards and postcards, and maps.  Sometimes time will not permit doing searches for every item in a box, but you can just put a really low price on the entire contents of the box and sell it!  Make sure collectible items are preserved for future generations to enjoy and you make a little money on what you considered trash.

And when you see the cabinet full of old tupperware...don't toss it! Do a search of vintage tupperware and you will likely be surprised that it is worth selling. 

Plan to start your sale early (and be prepared for early-birds if you are set up outside).  Later in the day (or perhaps the next weekend) have a 1/2 price sale. 

The community board is another valuable resource for determining what an item is or how to do a search. You can go to the discussion boards (click on community at the top of your ebay page, then click on discussion boards, then choose the category you think the item would pertain to, post a picture and as much detailed information as possible, and in most cases, the experts will help you refine your search to find a value.

I have been known to assist people in my area (we barter or negotiate a percentage of the sale). I can easily and quickly search items I am unfamiliar with to determine value. I can offer you all the advice needed to conduct the sale with ease.  I have also assisted those persons with loved ones in my area, but they live a great distance away and need someone to handle the entire "cleaning out" of the home.  I am always compassionate and will let someone know if there is an "heirloom" which they should hold onto (if they desire) or personal items (such as a family Bible or early letters) which they definately would want to keep and didn't realize they existed.

So...have fun!  I really enjoy an estate sale (whether attending one or helping set one up).  It's nice knowing all those collectible items will be passed on to people that know the value and will preserve them for generations to come.

Julianne