Hi Junk Nation,

I am recuperating after our huge historically rich estate sale April 21-24th in Youngsville. It was a doozie of a sale that took six weeks to prepare but boy did you all come out and support us! Thanks to all and more importantly a big hug to all of you who waited so patiently and were so kind and complimentary to me and my crew. I want you to know that your kindness does NOT go unappreciated.

I get calls to visit with many who need to host an estate sale and I want to cover a few points that will help if you are deciding to have an estate or downsizing sale.

1. Do your homework before you call an estate sale coordinator to view your property. Make sure that you know exactly what is for sale or what is not for sale. Ask your sister, brother, grandchildren to decide what they want BEFORE you call a coordinator out to visit. We get paid on a commission and we need to know what will be for sale to make an educated decision about hosting your sale.

2. Don't clean the house out before you call us--BUT do remove the trash, open foods, mail, old and broken appliances, and soiled clothing. We are not expecting a clean and orderly house, but it has to be safe for us and our shoppers. We DO need electricity, water, and home owner's insurance to safely host a sale.

3. Check into the estate sale coordinator's background. Our area seasoned coordinator's are happy to provide references, examples of past sales, and provide an idea of how we do business. Please don't judge us just by what we charge because as the old adage goes, "You get what you pay for". Here are some questions to ask

a. Do you have insurance?--we do

b. How many workers will be at our sale?-- up to 15 depending on the size of the sale

c. Where do you advertise?

Facebook-we have close to 2,700 followers, Estate Sales.Net, our area email list that now reaches 5,000, newspaper ads, and our professionally made signs. The ONLY cost to you is if you would like print ads which run around 45 dollars for a basic package. The rest of the costs including internet videos are absorbed by me.

d. What do you charge? I charge a straight commission with no hidden up front fees. The ONLY out of pocket charge to you is if you would like a print ad, but many are opting out of that service.

e. Can I see pictures of your past sales? absolutely!

Finally, I hope that if you are planning an estate or downsizing sale, you know that I will make it as painless as possible and you might even have fun, make some money, clean out the house, and feel a great burden lifted off of you.

All the best and until we meet very soon--

Love, Cheryl