Why advertising decides the gross
Two companies can price the same house identically and end up thousands of dollars apart, because one of them put four hundred buyers through the door on Friday morning and the other put sixty. Pricing sets the ceiling; advertising decides how close the sale gets to it. Every unsold piece on Sunday afternoon is discounted, given away or hauled off at your expense, so a sale that draws a crowd is not only a sale that sells for more, it is a sale that leaves you less to deal with.
That is why a company's reach belongs on the same sheet of paper as its commission. A company with a large, active buyer list can charge a higher rate and still leave you with more, and our guide to what companies charge says so at some length. This guide is about what that reach consists of, so that when a company says "we advertise everywhere," you know what to ask next.
The company's own email list
The most valuable thing an established company owns is its list: the email addresses of every buyer who has signed up at its sales over the years, and who now hears about each new one directly. These are the dealers, the collectors and the regulars who come to every sale the company runs, arrive before the doors open, and buy in volume. A company that has been running sales in one area for a decade may have thousands of them, and they are the reason its first morning is busy whatever the house holds.
A list is also the thing a new company does not have, which is worth knowing when you compare a newer company's lower rate against an established one's. The new company may make it up with energy and a good listing, and it may not. Ask to see the last email a company sent to its list, and ask how many people it went to. The honest answer is a number, and a company that will not give one is usually guessing. Shoppers can also follow individual companies on this site and be emailed when they list a sale, which is a small list beside a company's own but one the company does not have to build.
Listing sites
Almost every buyer who is not already on a company's list finds sales through a listing site: a website where companies post upcoming sales by area, with photographs, dates, a description and, on the day, the address. Regular shoppers check them weekly and plan a Saturday route from what they find. There are national sites, regional ones, and general classified sites where some companies post as well. Which ones matter depends on your area, because buyers in one metro may all use one site and buyers two states over may use another.
This site's browse page is one of them: shoppers search by ZIP, city or their current location, see what is coming up, and can subscribe to email alerts for their area so that every new sale near them arrives in their inbox. Companies list sales here free, with no listing fee. Sale pages show the street address on a schedule, typically 24 hours before the sale, rather than immediately, which keeps a house from being visited early, and can carry a "Bid now" link when the sale is an online auction.
Ask a company which sites it posts on and whether it pays for featured placement on any of them. Paid placement is ordinary and often worth it; what you want to know is whether it is included in the commission or charged to you as an advertising extra, which our guide to estate sale fees covers.
The photographs are the advertisement
Every channel above delivers a buyer to the same place: a listing with photographs. That listing is where the decision is made. A regular shopper looks at three or four sales on a Thursday night and picks the two worth the drive, and the pictures decide it. A listing with two hundred clear, well-lit photographs, room by room and then item by item, with the best pieces near the front, will beat a listing from a better house with twelve dim ones taken from the doorway. The photographs are, in a real sense, the advertisement; everything else is delivery.
A good company photographs after staging and before the sale, in daylight, with every table and case in shot and the tags legible where it can manage it. It leads with the categories that draw the crowd in your area, which might be tools and outdoor equipment, mid-century furniture, jewelry, or vintage kitchenware, and it writes a description that names the categories and the notable pieces rather than saying "something for everyone." Look at a company's past listings before you hire it, because that is exactly what you will get. A company photographing a family's own sale is the subject of our guide to estate sale photos that sell, and the same rules apply to a professional.
Judge a company by its last listing, not its pitch
Open the company's most recent sale on any listing site and count the photographs, then look at whether the good pieces are visible and priced. That listing is what a buyer saw, and a company's habits do not change for your house.
Signs
Signs at the nearest main road and at each turn from it are the oldest channel and still one that works, though for a different buyer. The regulars arrive by address; signs bring in the neighbor, the person driving to the hardware store, and the household that has never been to an estate sale and stops because the sign said so. Those buyers spend less per head and more on the second and third day, and they are where a good deal of the everyday household goods go. A company that puts out a dozen well-placed signs on Friday morning and takes them down on Sunday night is doing part of its job; a company that puts out none is leaving the walk-in trade to chance.
Signs are also where local rules bite. Some cities and many homeowners' associations restrict or forbid them, and a company that works your area knows which. Our guide to permits, signs and local rules covers how to check your own city.
Social accounts, local groups and everything else
Most companies post each sale on their own social accounts and in local buy-and-sell groups, and the better ones use those channels to show pieces rather than just announce dates: a short video walking the house, a post about the tool collection, a photograph of the jewelry case. It reaches a younger buyer who does not check listing sites, and it works best in areas where the company has built a following over years. A newer company's social following is often small, which again is worth knowing when comparing rates.
Beyond that, a few things are used less than families expect. Newspaper classifieds still run in some smaller markets and are nearly gone in large ones. Direct mail is rare. Paid online advertising is used by some larger companies and is usually an extra. What matters is not that a company uses every channel but that it can tell you which ones it uses, why, and what each cost, and that the mix fits the house: a sale with good tools wants a company that knows where the tool buyers are, and a sale with fine jewelry wants a company with the dealers on its list.
What to ask a company about its reach
These fit naturally into the walk-through, alongside the other questions to ask an estate sale company. The good answers are specific; the bad ones are "everywhere" and "everyone."
Questions about advertising, and what a good answer sounds like
- How many people are on your email list, and can I see the last email you sent? A number and a screenshot.
- Which listing sites do you post on, and do you pay for placement on any of them? Named sites, and whether the cost is in the commission.
- How many photographs do you take for a house this size, and who takes them? A number in the low hundreds for a full house, taken by someone who does it every week.
- When does the listing go live, and when does the address appear? A week or more before the sale, with the address on the day or the day before.
- What signs do you put out, and are they allowed here? A count, and knowledge of your city's rules.
- Which of these costs are charged to me separately? A list, in writing, or "none."
- Which of your channels do you think will matter most for this house, and why? An answer about your house, not a speech about theirs.
What you can do to help the sale draw a crowd
Not much, and that is the point of hiring a company; the advertising is its job and the contract usually gives it control of the listing. Three things do help. Tell the company about anything in the house that is unusual, because a notable collection is the headline of a listing and the company may not recognize it. Tell your own circle, since a sale often draws family friends and neighbors who have been curious about the house for years. And do not post the sale yourself with the address or with photographs the company has not approved, since an address published early brings visitors to an unstaffed house and a poor photograph of a good piece costs money. If you are running the sale yourself rather than hiring, our guide to advertising an estate sale yourself covers the whole job, and you can list your own sale free here with its own page and up to 200 photographs.
A listing without an address is not a missed opportunity
Families sometimes worry that a listing that withholds the street address until the day before will lose buyers. It will not; regular shoppers expect it, and it stops the house being visited, and occasionally entered, while it is full of tagged valuables and empty of people.
What to do next
Look at the listings of the companies you are considering before you speak to them, then put the questions above to each one at the walk-through. Our guide to getting and comparing estate sale quotes shows how to weigh reach against rate on one page, and choosing an estate sale company covers the rest. When you are ready, describe the estate once and local companies will reach out to you, free.
Frequently asked questions
How do estate sale companies advertise their sales?
Mainly through an email to their own list of past buyers, a listing with photographs on one or more estate sale listing sites, signs on the nearest main roads on the sale days, and posts on their social accounts and in local groups. The photographs in the listing do most of the work, because that is where a buyer decides whether the sale is worth the drive.
Where do estate sale buyers come from?
Regulars, dealers and collectors come from the company's email list and from listing sites they check every week, and they are most of the first morning's crowd and most of the money. Neighbors and passers-by come from signs and tend to arrive later and buy everyday goods. Followers on social accounts fill in the middle. A company's reach is the sum of all three.
Do estate sale companies charge for advertising?
Most include their standard advertising, the listing, the email and the signs, in the commission. Some charge extras separately, such as paid placement on a listing site, a photographer, or printed signage. Ask which costs are charged to you and get the answer in writing before you sign.
How far in advance should an estate sale be advertised?
A listing usually goes up a week or two before the sale, once the house is staged and photographed, and the email to the company's list goes out a few days before. The street address is commonly withheld until the day before or the morning of the sale. Earlier than two weeks and buyers forget; later than a few days and the regulars have already planned their weekend.
Should I share the estate sale on my own social media?
Share the company's listing link, not the address or your own photographs. Friends and neighbors are good buyers and a share helps, but an address posted early brings people to an empty house full of tagged valuables, and a poor photograph of a good piece can cost more than the share gains.