When to call a Professional

Okay, last I wrote I was working on Ebay Mortuary items from an estate sale. Well, I also had some items from the same estate listed on Ebay and they ended last night. They did awesome! They far exceeded my expectations. Some of the items I had for sale were: an old fire dept or ambulance siren ($560.00), Santa Fe Army book from 1935 ($100+), Napcoware lady head vase ($100+). These were the very top sellers. I made my money back from the book and the rest was profit. I really needed that. There are many times when you make about 25% profit on your investment and that doesn't take into account your time driving and finding the stuff.
A few weeks earlier, I was talking to another friend who does antiques and he told me he was at the sale 2 weeks before it started and about all the good stuff I missed out on. I noticed there was a dumpster outside the home and asked him about it . He said there is no telling what they threw away,he got there after they started cleaning the house out. I guess it never occured to them that someone would want this "junk". I told my hubby about this conversation and I guess it piqued his interest. Being that this was close to his shop, he decided to go investigate. He called me from inside the dumpster. He found some silver coins and silver certificates. He also said there was bags and boxes of vintage clothes and shoes and lots of other things. McCoys planters, Fire dept patches,lighting. This family could of made ALOT more money if they would of just called someone in the business to handle this estate or just for advice. My advice to you if you ever have an estate to handle- 1. Call someone. Most everyone I know would give you pointers for free. 2.Don't throw ANYTHING away. 3. Hire someone to handle it for you. The cost will be minimal if you have any kind of collectibles and antiques and don't have the know how or resources to look the items up to get the value.