Questions To Ask When Interviewing An Estate Sale Company When the need arises to do an estate sale for yourself or for a loved one, the first thing I suggest you do is to go to estatesales.net and follow the prompts: ‘hire a company’, click on the state, and click on the city or area. Once you compile a list of companies, visit each website. Then choose two or three companies to call and schedule appointments with each one. Before a company owner arrives, have a list of questions ready. Questions that I recommend and subjects I usually discuss are: 1. How did you get into the estate sale business? 2. How long have you been in this business? 3. What are your credentials and experience? 4. How do you charge? (Most companies work on a commission of projected total sales. National average is 35%-40%.) 5. What does your commission include? And exclude? (Commissions normally include all labor costs, advertising and complete estate sale cleanout.) 6. What forms of payment do you to take? (Most of your higher end companies take cash, checks, debit & credit cards. Important note: all estate sale companies should assume full liability for insufficient funds checks or cancelled credit/debit card transactions.) 7. Is your company licensed, insured and bonded? (Each is very important!) Ask for proof of each via paper document or via email! (A licensed estate sale company is proof that the owner pays IRS taxes as well as state/local taxes. All estate sale companies should have at least a $1,000,000 liability policy in the event a customer or employee is injured during an estate sale project. Proof of bonding assures that the company owner has had no felonies in his past.) 8. What are the little things you do that separate you from your competition? (I love to get asked this one!) 9. Ask for 1 or 2 past client referrals as well as professional referral resources. (i.e. realtors, lawyers, etc. that provide you leads) 10. Balance the interviewees with their strongest answers and points; go with your gut! With whom did you feel most comfortable in your meeting and their follow-up for requests for information? This should help you in your search for the right company. Visit copelandestatesales for more information on my website as well as the ‘blog’ folder for other FYI. Thanks for reading. Jerry Copeland ISA AM P.S. This is a good share as the popularity for estate sales continues to grow nationally.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Jan 2015 02:00:19 +0000