An estate sale company stages your home, prices everything, runs the sale (usually over a weekend), and takes a percentage of gross sales. The percentage varies with the size and quality of the estate: companies often quote lower rates for large estates full of valuable items and higher rates for smaller or harder-to-sell households.
What families are often surprised by is everything beyond the headline percentage. Depending on the contract, you may also see:
None of this makes estate sale companies villains — running a sale is real work, and a good company earns its fee on large, complex estates. The problem is the information gap: most families sign the contract without knowing what their items are actually worth, which means they can't evaluate whether the commission is fair, and they can't tell if items are being priced to sell fast rather than to sell well.
What is this estate actually worth? Until you have an independent answer, you're negotiating blind. The company's estimate and your interests aren't perfectly aligned: a company optimizes for a smooth, fully-cleared weekend; you optimize for total dollars on your side of the split.
Knowing your numbers changes everything that follows. It tells you whether the estate justifies a professional sale at all, which items deserve to be sold individually instead of priced for a quick weekend, and whether the commission you're quoted matches the value being handled.
| Option | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Estate sale company | 30–50% of sales | Large estates, no time, out-of-state family |
| Selling items yourself (eBay/Marketplace) | Platform fees ~10–15% | Fewer, higher-value items |
| Consignment shops | Often 40–60% split | Furniture and decor, no rush |
| Estate buyers (lump-sum buyout) | Steep discount to value | Speed over maximum dollars |
| Hybrid: appraise everything first, then choose per item | Cost of appraisal tool | Most families, most of the time |
The hybrid approach is what professionals quietly do: identify the items worth real money, handle those carefully, and let the volume go to whichever channel is fastest. The barrier was always the time it takes to research hundreds of items — which is the part that's changed.
Know what you have before anyone takes a percentage of it.
SellSmart AI appraises any item from a photo in about 15 seconds — realistic value range, condition assessment, and a ready-to-post listing.
A reputable company answers all five without flinching. If you've appraised the estate's key items yourself first, you'll know within minutes whether their answers respect your numbers.