3:22 PM
Lanee' Blunt
By
Lanee’ Blunt
An
estate sale business is a business you can work from home and the start-up cost is
low. You will be using your skills to
market and sell other people’s property. Sometimes you will even be a comfort to
grieving relatives that don’t feel up to organizing and selling their loved
ones valuables. People may hire you to hold an estate sale for them in which
you will do the work of organizing, tagging, and marketing.
Benefits
Most
people are looking for a deal and these types of sales are hugely popular in
every community. One advantage of this business is there are millions of people
that go to estate and garage sales annually. If you have a knack for organizing
and marketing this is an advantage for this business.
Responsibilities and Duties
After
you meet with your client to go over the inventory, you will organize, price,
and tag items. Your service provides clients the benefit of not having to worry
about having to hold their own sale and worrying about how to organize it. You
will hold the sell and clean up after it is over. You must provide the client
with a list of inventory, what it sold for, and any appraisals that you may
have gotten on valuable assets.
Business License
Decide
whether you want to operate your business, as a sole proprietor, a partnership,
a LLC or a corporation. Even if you are planning to run your business as a home
based business you are going to need a business license. Obtain a business
licensed from the county clerk office if you are going to run your business as
a sole proprietorship or a DBA this allows you to conduct business in your
business name. You are going to need a seller’s permit from your local
government agency because this will allow you to collect sales taxes. Hiring
employees requires that you have a tax ID number EIN. You will need to have
your business bonded because your clients will fill more comfortable with you
if you are, because if you are handling items that were once their loved ones
and it is best that you and your employees are bonded.
Business contract
Before
you conduct any business it is going to be necessary for you to have a contract
signed before you begin working. You will need to write down exactly what your
client can expect from you. You will need to document what you will be selling,
what hours you will be working and how long it is going to take you to organize
the items, what you will be cleaning, and the price you will charge and any
materials that you will be furnishing. Type the contract up and sign and date it
and have the client sign before you begin working.
Marketing
You
will be responsible for advertising the estate sale. Put an ad in the local
paper at least a week before the event. Make sure that you have a catchy
headline and list some of the items that you will be selling. You will need to
advertise online also for example put an ad on Craigslist, Oodle, and eBay
Classifieds. Use social media to post news about your upcoming sale. Have
flyers printed up and pass them out or put them on bulletin boards around the
community.
See also
- Starting a Sole Proprietorship
- Documents Required Opening a Sole Proprietorship
- Starting a LLC
- Creating a Small Business Website
Posted in: Start Up
