First, know which kind of business you're talking to
"Estate liquidator" covers three different businesses, and the right questions differ:
- Dealers and buyers — who evaluate the contents and buy some or all of it outright, and may consign or place at auction what they don't buy. (That's us.)
- Estate-sale companies — who price everything and run a public sale in the house for a percentage.
- Clean-out and hauling services — who empty the house, sometimes claiming to "buy" contents in the process.
Each can be excellent or dreadful. A clean-out crew that tells you they'll "take care of everything" for free is being paid in your silver. The routes compared honestly.
The twelve questions
- How are you paid, exactly? A dealer: by buying at a price you accept. An estate-sale company: a percentage of sales, plus what fees? A clean-out: a flat fee, less any credit for contents? Get the number and get it in writing.
- Will I get a written evaluation before anything leaves? If the answer is no, keep looking. You cannot judge an offer without knowing what's there.
- Do you buy from your own sales? For estate-sale companies, this is the conflict of interest that matters: a company that prices the goods and also buys the best ones has every incentive to price them low. Ask, and ask for the policy in writing.
- What happens to the good pieces? A serious professional will tell you when something belongs at auction rather than in the sale or in their shop, even though it costs them. Ask them to point to a piece in the house and say where it should go.
- What happens to what doesn't sell? Returned to you? Donated with receipts? "Taken care of"? The last one is where value disappears.
- Are you insured? Liability for damage in the house and to the pieces in transit. Ask for the certificate. Condo buildings will ask for it anyway.
- Who will actually be in the house? Employees, subcontractors, day labor? Who has keys, and for how long?
- Can you work within our building's or HOA's rules? In Naples this is not a small question. Many buildings prohibit public sales entirely and restrict moving days and elevators. A company that hasn't asked about the rules hasn't done this here much.
- What's your timeline, and what if we have a closing date? The honest answer includes what gets sacrificed for speed.
- Can we see a contract now? Read it for: the fee, what's included, cancellation terms, who holds the keys, insurance, what happens to unsold items, and any minimums. If there's no contract, there's no protection.
- Can you work with our attorney, and provide documentation for the estate file? Receipts, a written offer, an inventory of what was bought. A personal representative needs them.
- Who has used you recently that we can call? A realtor, an attorney, a family. Then call them.
Red flags
- They came to you. A knock on the door, a card in the mailbox after the obituary, a call "from the neighborhood." Legitimate businesses in this trade are busy with referrals.
- Pressure. "This offer is only good today." "You need to decide before the weekend." No honest offer expires overnight.
- Cash only, no paperwork. A receipt is the minimum. A written offer listing what was bought is the standard.
- A lump sum with no breakdown. "We'll give you $3,000 for everything" tells you nothing about whether the silver alone was worth $5,000.
- Vague answers about the good pieces. If they can't or won't tell you what the best thing in the house is, they either don't know or don't want you to.
- Everything is "not worth much." Occasionally true. Usually a negotiating tactic.
- They want to start tomorrow, before you've seen a contract.
- No physical premises, no track record, no references.
Signs you've found the right one
- They ask about the building's rules, the timeline and the family before they ask about the money.
- They tell you at least one thing in the house is worth more than you thought, and one thing is worth less.
- They put the evaluation, the offer and the terms in writing without being asked.
- They tell you which pieces shouldn't be sold to them.
- They have a shop, a phone that's answered, and people who'll vouch for them.
- You feel less anxious after the first conversation, not more.
How we measure up
Fair to ask. Our answers are on the estate services page and the about page, and we'd rather you compared us against this list than took our word for it. The first call, and the walk-through, cost nothing — which is also the answer to question one.