Considering getting started with an estate sales business? Asking questions and having someone to talk to who has experience is an important step.
Whether you’re considering a career change or looking to open up your 50th franchise business, getting the answers from a pro can help!
Here is a collection of some frequently asked questions by people looking to become franchisees as well as some of our favorite estate sale shoppers.
What do you love about the estate sales business?
Helping families out and exploring our local neighborhoods.
Our clients are sometimes in a bind looking to downsize on short notice or trying to liquidate assets so they can move on with life. It’s nice to be able to provide them some level of relief and take some stress off their shoulders.
Some of the homes we see and items we help sell have some great stories and history behind them. Being able to explore them and find out more about our communities in Georgia can be a ton of fun.
What do you hate?
Estate sales customers can sometimes be a challenge. Dealing with customers in any retail business can be. Patience is a virtue when you’re working estate sales!
How did you get into the estate sales business?
Ever have a yard sale growing up and think it was a ton of fun? We made it into our careers!
Not that they’re exactly the same, but yard sales and estate sales carry quite a bit in common. Both of them involve helping to clean up the space and make a little bit of money in the process.
Is it possible to make a living doing estate sales or is it more of a side-hustle
Estate sale company management can really be wither one. We’ve made great careers for ourselves doing it full time, but there is money to be made run-in an estate sales company part time, too.
Your approach is up to you as an owner. We recommend to our franchisees that at least one person be around to manage the company full time. Many franchise business owners choose to pass the torch onto someone else once they get things up and running.
What do you wish you knew when starting out?
How to deal with customers. You get a lot of the same customers coming every week for sales. Being able to tell them apart can help you maximize the money that comes in from every item.
You get to know this over time. being able to pick out the “pickers” teaches you to handle them.
Some of the people coming in are professional restoration specialists, for example. These people are going to restore furniture make money on a re-sale. Don’t be afraid to stick to your pricing. You can end up getting a bit more money out of people like this.
You learn alot about people as well as items when working in this business!
Is it better to franchise or start a private company?
The way you decide to start your business is totally up to you. There are no right and wrong answers.
We think the benefit of franchising is that we offer our franchisees an established brand. This means brand recognition and an active web presence for your company before you ever manage your first sale or home liquidation. That’s the kind of business ownership experience we try to offer our franchisees so they can hit the ground running.
Have questions of your own? Get in touch with us today if you have more questions about estate sale management or business ownership. We’re happy to steer our prospective new owners in the right direction.
