Come visit us at the Treasure Island Flea Market this weekend January 26 and 27.

We will be in booth 112.

This will be a mixed market with vintage and new items available, artwork, lace and trim, interesting and unique smalls and other items to peak your interest... Come and see, enjoy the weekend, food, music and other activities that Treasure Island has to offer!!

Discover the Real Customer References for Estate Sale Liquidators

 

 

 

Discover the Real Customer References for Estate Sale Liquidators

 

Checking estate sale liquidators’ customer references is important because you want to be confident that past customers have had positive experiences. It goes without saying that you should ask them for references which you’ll want to call, but ask yourself – would you give a potential customer a bad customer reference? The answer is inevitably no. Liquidators will only give you the contact information of customers that had positive experiences, which is still helpful to hear but you want to discover the real customer references. You want to find out what the bad experiences were as well, and how bad they really were.
 

Here are a couple ways to do your own research on estate sale liquidators customers to hopefully paint a fuller picture of the customer satisfaction.
 

1. Check Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/
 

Yelp is a recommendation website, allowing customers to review and rate services providers. If you do a local search with the name of the liquidator in question, it’s very possible you may read some not so rosy reviews.
 

2. Check Better Business Bureau: http://www.bbb.org/us/Find-Business-Reviews/
 

The BBB is a US nationwide organization that uses established criteria to rate the ethical and community standing of a firm and provides this information as a means to maintain a high level of trust between the businesses and the public. By checking their profile on the BBB website, you can find out if any customers have filed complaints and whether those complaints have been adequately resolved.
 

3. Check Google: http://www.google.com/

 

 

This may be intuitive for some, but others often overlook the simplicity of a general search on customer complaints. By entering the liquidator’s company name followed by “complaints”, you may be surprised by some of the results. Your search would look like this “[company name] complaints”. Hopefully nothing shows up, but take a second to look at the top search results incase there have been materials customer complaints.
 

4. Check Personal Contacts
 

Don’t forget to ask around in your personal network to hear if they’ve done work with any local liquidators.These simple resources can help uncover any skeletons that may be hiding in the closet. If you take the time now, shouldn’t take longer than 15 minutes, you’ll greatly benefit in the end.

7 Ways To Offer Superior Customer Service


www.estates-LLC.com


In a perfect world, our customers would always be happy. They would always share their positive experiences with friends and family. They would only buy services and items from us. But we know that that’s not always a reality.

In his book, High Tech, High Touch Customer Service, Micah Solomon talks about using social media to provide stellar customer experience. He also outlines the profile of a “masterful company,” those that go above and beyond in the area of customer service.

Using a few of his 12 characteristics of a masterful company, I want to show you how you can recognize such a company and evolve towards these ideals.

Make Customers Feel Welcome…Before They Arrive

It’s one thing for your staff to greet customers when they walk in your door, but what are they doing to welcome them before that? Your website, social media channels, blogs, telephone and email all provide you with opportunity to connect with future customers and make them feel welcome before they ever step foot in your store.

Remove Barriers that Might Mar a Customer’s Experience

If you have a physical store, this means making sure you’re in an easily accessible location, that it’s easy to find parking and that people don’t have to hunt to find you. If you’re based online, that means having a simple-to-navigate website and minimizing the steps to complete a sale.
Anything that might make a customer abandon his shopping cart (physical or virtual) should be removed.

Your Employees Should Show Genuine Interest in Customers

This can be a challenge when you’re hiring disgruntled teens at minimum wage, but having a staff that honestly loves working at your company is key to drawing in customers. People can tell when employees don’t like where they work, and it affects their experience.

Create Processes to Anticipate Your Customers’ Needs and Desires

This requires thinking like a customer and determining what they really want and need. Then creating processes around those needs.You can do this by empowering all of your staff to observe customers and take the necessary steps to amending negative situations.
If those occur again, you have a process in place to make the customer happier faster.

Know that Each Customer has Unique Needs

While your customers may share certain characteristics (just take a look at your demographics), it’s important to keep in mind that no two are alike. While you may be tired of giving the same speech about your current sale every time a customer walks in the door, realize that this is the first time this customer has heard it.

So say it with renewed vigor every time.

Make “Something Extra” Standard

I always say that setting expectations lower gives you the opportunity to surprise and delight a customer when you over deliver. Solomon says that giving a little something extra should be a part of your customer service culture.

That little additional boost may be all that separates you from your competition – and customers know that.

Never Stop Improving Customer Service

Even if you’re known for having stellar customer service, you can never, ever rest on your laurels and decide there’s no room for improvement. A masterful company continues to innovate how it addresses customer service solutions (i.e. adding Twitter support).

If we continue to strive to be better – everybody wins!

Piedmont Estate and Moving Sale

Please visit us at 123 Sunnyside in Piedmont, CA 94611

Friday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Saturday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Sunday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

 

 

This is an exciting sale with a heavy emphasis on Asian furnishings and collectibles. There is a variety of lithographic art including Toko Shinoda, a wide variety of Haitian folk art featuring Jean Claude Severe and others, watercolors, posters, originals and more. Contemporary paintings such as Mahoney and Earla Alexander. There is a nice variety of pottery along with 2 Bizen ceramics, other pottery and vases, and tea ceremonial items. Furniture, including a Kent Coffey dresser, leather top desk, 4 leaf oak extendable dining table, occasional tables, Asian style coffee table, 2 sided Asian display stand, vintage Kiri and Keyaki style Tansus and  an old Japanese trunk with brass fittings and dragon lock. Kashmiri wool (with providence) carpet and a Chinese silk carpet. Kenyan carving signed by Richard Kyengo, Weber basket and others. Asian textiles and fine linens, tablecloths, everyday linens, antique Asian robes and kimonos, long embroidered silk panel, quilting scraps, some vintage clothing. Vintage handmade bedding (once carried by high end shops in S.F.) and Yukata rolls. Of course, there are other great items such as an abundance of fun costume jewelry (some sterling). There is even a Yamaha G-85-A Nippon Gakki for all of you guitar enthusiasts. A variety of books; novels, studies, travels, art etc., including a collection of Japanese anime videos. Kitchen/dining glass and nice crystal. Collections of minerals and rock specimens… general household goodies and more!

We ask that you are considerate in parking as the parking is aggressively “patrolled and towed” by city parking enforcement. Please do not disturb tenants. Visit our website www.estates-llc.com for pictures of some of the items and other information. We will accept cash, Visa, Mastercard and AMX.

Estate Liquidators Finding New Channels of Distribution

 

In addition to the rise in the number of estate liquidators, developments in technology have enabled new channels of distribution for the sale of personal property. Estate sales are no longer confined to on-site locations, some are now being held online.

Estate liquidation is about finding buyers to purchase what is usually a broad range of personal property. An age-old problem for estate liquidators has been advertising a sale to attract enough buyers or foot traffic to ensure all items are sold. But not just sold, it’s also about selling them at the greatest value for the benefit of the executor or seller of the estate. With the advancements in technology and online resources, liquidators are able to sell items both on-site and online, opening sales up to a much broader pool of buyers.

Estate Liquidators Online

Online sites such as eBay, Craigslist, and Etsy allow sellers to post items online for sale. These online channels provide broader distribution to a greater audience of buyers, circumnavigating the challenges of local buyers needing to be within driving proximity.

Consider an example. Let’s assume items at estate sales on average are sold at $0.10 – $0.30 on the dollar (this of course varies greatly on the item). If a camera was once purchased for $200, then it would likely be sold at an estate sale for $20 – $60, depending on condition, model and make etc. But more importantly the price is determined by the price set by the estate liquidator and whether there are any interested buyers. Ultimately, the local market of buyers determines the value. As the estate sale progresses and items go unsold, estate liquidators are forced to reduce prices. So many sales are constrained by the small pool of local buyers.

If sold online though, that same camera could fetch a higher price because there are likely more buyers present. Distance becomes less of an issue. On the flip side though, as online sales channels continue to gain in popularity, items will become more accessible therefore driving down prices with added supply. It should be noted that a reduction in prices is primarily expected for less unique products. More unique, harder to find collectibles and antiques will continue to command premiums for their scarcity.

Estate sellers or estate liquidators should always consider different options for selling personal property. Depending on the item, some channels may be better suited than others.

Different Estate Sale Options, Which is Right for You?

 

There are a few different estate sale options when liquidating an estate. Before hiring an estate liquidator, consider your different estate sale options and consult with them to determine which is the best fit for you. Educating yourself on the different options will provide for a more thoughtful discussion between you and the estate liquidators.

An estate sale is about selling all remaining personal property in the home. This of course is after removing any items you want to keep. The value and quantity of personal property, as well as the location of the estate will dictate which option is most suitable. An experienced estate liquidator will gladly provide the proper guidance to ensure all items are sold at the best prices.

Estate Sale Options to Help Achieve Your Estate Sale Goals

On-Site Estate Sale

What: An on-site estate sale is exactly as it sounds. The sale occurs on location in the estate. All contents in the home will be sold, excluding any items the family has removed from the home. A professional liquidator will typically appraise, clean, organize, stage, price, advertise and then sell all the items.

When: This type of sale is most suitable for those with estates, either homes or condos, full of stuff. In order for an on-site estate sale to occur there must be enough personal property to sell. Following the appraisal, estate liquidators will determine whether there is enough stuff to sell to attract an adequate amount of buyers. The location in this case is also considered. If the home is in a low-traffic, hard to get to area then alternatives will be considered.

Off-Site Estate Sale

What: An off-site estate sale is also exactly as it sounds. The estate sale occurs at an off-site location. Some liquidators own stores or warehouses suitable to stage the personal property off-site.

When: Off-site estate sales are often utilized if the estate is not located in a prime location. By moving the contents of the sale to a more favorable location, the personal property becomes more easily accessible to a larger group of buyers. Off-site sales usually occur when there is a manageable amount of stuff that can be reasonably transported. Homes packed with stuff makes moving costs off-site prohibitively expensive.

Paired Estate Sale

What: Paired estate sales can be either on-site or off-site. This type of sale is a hybrid, where items from one estate are paired with another to increase the size of the sale. It can make the estate sale process more efficient for all parties, the sellers, estate liquidators and the buyers. Some estate liquidators run multiple estate sales week to week, so by pairing estate sales together they can sell more in a shorter period of time. Also, by including items from another estate, buyers are more likely to find something that piques their interest. Sellers benefit by having their items sold sooner and to potentially more buyers.

When: Paired estate sales sometimes occur when two or more local estates have a modest amount of contents with value, but not sufficient enough to run a stand-alone sale. Or a if a large estate sale is occurring, a smaller estate could be paired with it to benefit from its popularity. A note of caution, tracking personal property sold at paired estate sales can be challenging and therefore discouraged by some liquidators.

Complete Estate Sale Buyouts

What: A complete estate sale buyout is when an estate liquidator purchases the entire contents of an estate outright. The liquidator quotes the estate seller a price for the full purchase. The contents are then removed in their entirety to an off-site location.

When: This type of estate sale typically occurs when an on-site sale is not preferred by the estate seller. Reasons to not want on-site sales range from urgency to move or just a desire to quickly sell and be done with it. Complete buyouts are similar to off-site sales, in the sense of location, but following a buyout the estate liquidator is free to sell the items however they please.

Partial Estate Sale Buyouts

What: A partial estate sale buyout is very similar to a complete buyout, but for only a select few items.

When: This type of sale occurs if the estate does not have a sufficient amount of stuff to run a full on-site sale. More specifically, there may be lots of stuff in the estate but with little to no value, so only a few items are cherry picked to sell. A note of caution, before participating in a partial buyout do your research on what your personal property is worth. You may discover you sold a few pieces to get them off your hands when it turns out they were worth exponentially more.
We hope this gives you a better idea of the different estate sale options. We did not address auctions, which could serve as a better alternative to an estate sale. It’s worth taking the time to understand the difference between an estate sale and an auction. Be sure to consult with your estate liquidator to determine which is right for you.

Building a Business on Trust, the Job of Estate Liquidators

By Jessica Haynes On April 2, 2012

 

The foundation of an estate liquidators business is built on trust. Trust is paramount for homeowners or estate heirs to feel comfortable throughout the estate sale process. It goes without saying that doing business with trustworthy individuals should always be a top priority, but it’s even more important when dealing with estate liquidators. The estate sale process is more intimate than most businesses because people are dealing in the sale of personal property, which often have sentimental value.

Getting Intimate with Estate Liquidators

Professional estate liquidators are in people’s homes everyday, either prepping for a sale or conducting a sale. Once you visit other estate sales, you quickly realize a lot can be learned about somebody’s life. Indications of personal interests, personality, quality of life, and economic status are revealed throughout a home. This often makes for a very intimate experience for the survivors of the estate. When hiring an estate sale liquidator, people want to feel confident the personal property will be handled with care, appraised appropriately, and sold honestly and transparently. Estate liquidators operating under the highest standards of practice and service will always prevail in the long run.

Trust Your Instincts

When estate liquidators enter your home during the initial consultation, take careful note of your instinctual reaction to them. It takes courage to listen to your instincts. Many people ignore their inner voice for fear of offending others. Even if you have a bad feeling about them at the door, don’t hesitate to turn them away even before entering your home. In the interest of your personal safety, security, and well-being – trust your instincts! There are many wonderful, honest, and cordial estate liquidators building a business on trust that there is no need to even consider those that engage in unethical behavior. Based on our experience, you’ll know when it’s a good fit.
Take your time in finding the right estate liquidator for you. Poor decisions can be made in haste. Do your research and trust your instincts, you’ll do great!