Post #52313 by houseinprogress on Tue, Sep 23, 2003 9:47 PM

I'll be honest. The thought of an estate sale makes me more nervous than you can ever imagine. And shipping these through eBay would be impossible. There are thousands of things in here...it is nuts! Meanwhile, we have found two critical historical pieces that, tagged in an estate sale, would have been tossed around. Museum donation level. And, because of their world travels, one estate appraiser couldn't cover it. The variety of stuff is boggling. It could be worth something or nothing. And we don't expect to get 100% of its value. What I find, I've been tagging down to 1/3 of the price for a friend or family member who is interested.

Though for these stranger, travel-related items, you're right. I actually don't care what we get for them...they are going to a friend. I think my sense of extreme fairness and not wanting to be in a confrontation makes me a horrible seller anyway :) I offered to give him some things and we had this little back and forth "No, I couldn't!","Well, why not?","Oh no! I insist on paying you saomething!" that made me feel weird and uncomfortable. It's been a relief to point to something, say "Okay then, give me a third of that." Everyone is happy. (I think because everyone knows the amount of work this house will take to renew, they are extra sensitive to the situation we're in. Which makes them lovely friends...and not estate sale customers :)