Vpen Door

I AOMestatesales.com

Frest

Consider having an estate sale before you move.

Jackie Headapohl { Editor

M oving is

there's a but
lot
more to it than just
throwing your stuff in
some boxes a day or
two before the moving
company is scheduled
to arrive. You have to
inform your bank, your
insurance company, your
HR department, arrange
for your utilities, change
your address at the post
office, schedule your
estate sale ...
An estate sale? Yes!
Estate sales aren't just
for settling the estate of
a passed love one. Many
people moving to a new
home are downsizing
and have too much stuff
to take with them or
want to make a fresh
start at their new home,
including new furniture,
decorations, etc. Moving
is the perfect time to
take inventory of what you own and decide
what you want to toss, what you want to
keep and what you want to sell or give away.
An estate sale is especially ideal if you're
looking to sell mid-20th-century furniture,
better-quality furniture from companies like
Baker, Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel,
and higher-end designer clothing. Jewelry is
always a big draw as well, according to Robin
Cohen, owner of AOMestatesales.com , which
held close to 60 highly profitable estate sales
last year, primarily in Oakland County.

Why An Estate Sale?

There are a group of buyers out there who
love to frequent estate sales: book collectors,
those looking for vintage jewelry and clothes,
and those looking to furnish and accessorize
their own homes. Some people, according
to Cohen, just enjoy the thrill of the hunt or
purchase items for resale.
"People also feel confident that the
items available at an estate sale have been
authenticated," she adds. "Because of my 20-

6 OPEN DOOR Magazine •

May 2013

plus years of experience,
AOMestatesales.com
I'm able to answer
inventories, packs up
AOMestatesales
and supervises any
shoppers' questions on
Visit AOMestatesales.com
the age, origin and value
charitable donations
for more information.
of an item, based on
as well as cleans to
Robin Cohen can be reached
prior auction sales, and
ensure the home is in
establish a fair price."
top shape for its next
at AOMestatesales@aol.com
AOMestatesales.com
owners.
or (248) 705-9665.
advertises its sales on
"This was the
its website and www.
best way to handle
estatesales.net . The
our move and you
company also has a mailing list of 4,000
made it easy for us," wrote one happy
names, so its estate sales always draw a
AOMestatesales.com customer.
crowd. Prospective customers see items
"I'm grateful to your company for
listed online prior to the sale and call Cohen
providing me with the support I needed to
for further information and pricing, although
make my moving transition a smooth one,"
no items are pre-sold. "That's only fair to the
wrote another satisfied customer. "Leaving
people who arrive early and wait in line,"
my home in the condition I wanted to would
Cohen says.
have been impossible without your help."
Cohen's team, many managers or
Cohen says she's never had an unhappy
dealers from her former antique store in
customer, either with the condition of their
Royal Oak, prepare and stage the home to
home after the sale — or the size of their
appeal to customers. They spend about a
check. "We are pretty successful in selling
week organizing and cleaning until every
most everything by the end of the sale," she
item for sale sparkles. After the sale,
says. ❑