You have things…furniture, jewelry, clothing, linens, household goods, sterling flatware…that you need to sell. But you don’t know what to do. You do know you want to hire a company to handle everything from start to finish leaving you with an empty home.

Finding the right estate sale company can be a daunting task. Especially because, in Texas, the estate sale industry is an unlicensed profession and it is unregulated with little to no oversight from state agencies. Because of this, many companies provide minimum transparency and rarely have any accountability. This is why it is imperative you do adequate research when looking for a company to handle your sale. Below are a few questions you should ask any estate sale company before hiring them to conduct your sale. We also have a list of frequently asked questions that can be found here.

First, start with the basics: are you a professional company lawfully operating in the state of Texas? While anyone can sell things to someone else, creating a legal business entity means that the person you are talking to is operating a professional business and not doing estate sales as a side hobby.

Second, what happens if an accident happens during the sale in my home, do you have insurance to cover this? Hundreds of people will enter your home during the sale. You need a company that carries commercial liability insurance should an accident occur on your property during the sale.

Third, do you collect state sales tax? Estate sale companies are not occasional sellers per the Texas Tax Code and by Texas state law we are required to collect and remit state sales tax to the Texas Comptroller. Handling this bookkeeping function should fall to the estate sale company and not the client.

Fourth, do you have a website and an email list? The presence of both indicates how sophisticated a company is. If they are doing sales as a side hobby or conducting few sales

and have little experience, they will not invest in a website or email list. Both an email list and a website allow companies to target marketing to willing buyers helping to maximize sale proceeds.

Fifth, do you accept credit and debit cards at sales? Companies limit the amount of sales they can make if they do not accept credit and debit cards. Any professional company should have the capabilities to accept forms of tender other than just cash.

Sixth, do you have experience in buying or pricing gold jewelry and sterling silver flatware or do you buy gold? Often, estates contain fine jewelry and/or sterling silver flatware/serving pieces. Any professional company should be able to distinguish between fine jewelry and costume jewelry and confidently provide fair market pricing for jewelry and sterling pieces. Additionally, K Bee will provide you with a competitive offer and write you a check directly for gold and fine jewelry and sterling silver.