Trash or Treasure: Finding a Happy Home for Valuables

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Trash or Treasure: Finding a Happy Home Valuables

If your goal is to clear clutter or prepare for a move, streamlining possessions becomes a necessity. In most cases, older adults and sandwich generation caregivers find it difficult to find the right home for valued items. Parents discover their children are not interested in taking their collections of china sets or paintings and children discover the stress of inheriting their parent’s possessions and deciding what to do with it all.

Despite the challenge of finding a new home for these items, it is still a task that is essential to safely aging in place or rightsizing. An estate sale or online estate sale auction may be a choice to consider for clearing room for whatever comes next.

How do I know if an Estate Sale or Online Estate Sale Auction could work for me?

For people who have a fair amount of valuable inventory but not a lot of time, an Estate Sale can be a very positive experience. Estate Sales are managed by professionals, who, for an administrative fee and/or a percent of total sales, manage everything for you, including a home inventory, heavy lifting, pricing, advertising, and marketing, set up, clean up, donations, and transport or shipping.


How do I know what’s valuable?

You can spot items that are quality made and may retain greater value by looking at the materials used to make the item. Some things to look for include:

  • Hardwood
  • Item's made of natural materials or natural fibers
  • Woven tags in clothing
  • 100%-leather shoes or shoes marked “leather upper”
  • Steel or solid wood furniture frames

If you are unsure of an item’s value, here are a few ways to tell if it may be worth a look from an expert, like our Caring Transitions Estate Sale and Online Auction specialists:

  • Check for distinctive markings
  • Research items similarly made online
  • Research the artist or designer who created the item

Jewelry is a common item that is passed from estate to estate. If you have fine or costume estate jewelry you are thinking of liquidating, here are four important things to look for:

  • Thoroughly examine the back of jewelry for a stamp that tells you what the jewelry is made of and hints at the value of the jewelry.
  • Check clasps, prongs, chain links, and ring walls to make sure they are in good condition with great quality and potential longevity.
  • Examine jewelry for signs of wear like dents, scratches in the metal, small chips in the gemstones, or cracks in the enamel.
  • Retain information that should be readily available concerning the quality of jewelry like authenticity certificates, carat weights, dates of manufacture, condition, and materials if the item is high end.

I believe I have unique valuables and collectibles. Would an Estate Sale or Online Estate Sale Auction help me find the right home for my items?

Estate sales draw collectors and serious shoppers. We’ve all heard the saying “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” and it is true. Therefore, before you donate or throw things away consider hiring an estate sale company like Caring Transitions. Estate Sale industry specialists will sort through all the proposed sale items and will help you decide what should be included in the sale.

Some of the most recent top selling items on CTBIDS.com come from estates ready to clear clutter for what’s next. This includes high-end cars, classic cars, vintage and costume jewelry, farm equipment, rare furnishings, rare art, rugs sculptures and a plethora of other items.

Learn more about hosting an online auction with Caring Transitions by filling out the free consultation form on this page.

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