How to Sell the Contents of a Home in St. Louis
Not Sure Where to Begin?
Selling the contents of a home can be surprisingly complicated—especially when the home contains a mix of quality furniture, original art, antiques, jewelry, special collections and collectibles, and everyday household items.
Whether you're downsizing, preparing for a move, settling an estate, or helping a family member transition, one of the first questions is often the hardest:
What should we do with everything?
The answer may not be a single estate sale, auction, or consignment store. Different types of property often achieve their best results in different marketplaces.
Start With an Evaluation, Not a Selling Method
Before deciding how to sell, it helps to understand what you have.
A home may contain designer furniture that is well suited for consignment, fine art or jewelry that should be evaluated for auction, collections requiring specialized research, and household contents that are best handled through an estate sale.
Identifying those differences before items are sold or removed from the home can help preserve value and make the entire process more manageable.
Estate Sale, Consignment or Auction?
Furniture Consignment
Well-made designer, antique, mid-century and contemporary furniture may achieve better results through a curated consignment showroom where buyers are specifically shopping for quality furnishings.
Estate Sales
Estate sales can be an efficient way to sell a large volume of household contents, particularly when a home contains a broad mix of furniture, décor and everyday household goods.
Fine Art & Auctions
Original art, jewelry, antiques, important objects and significant collections may require additional research and may be better suited to a national and international audience via auction, private sale or another specialized marketplace.
Sometimes the Best Solution Is a Combination
The contents of a home don't all have to be sold the same way.
At The Refind Room and Woodard Lipe Fine Art & Auction, we can evaluate the property as a whole and recommend the most appropriate selling strategy for different items. That may include a combination of retail store consignment, estate sale, fine art or specialty auction, online sale, private sale, donation, and other solutions.
Because we have access to multiple marketplaces, the goal isn't to make your property fit one selling method. It's to determine which selling method best fits your property.
What Should You Do First?
If you're considering selling the contents of a home, avoid making quick decisions. Photographs, signatures, labels, maker's marks, provenance and seemingly small details can sometimes affect where—and how—an item should be sold. It's also important to know the local, national and international markets and how they may affect the value of your items.
Begin by getting an overview of the property and identifying anything that may require additional evaluation. From there, a selling strategy can be developed around the contents of the home, your timeline and your goals.
Start With a Complimentary Estate Consultation
You don't need to know whether you need an estate sale, consignment, auction or a combination of services before contacting us.
We work with individuals, families, executors and trustees throughout the St. Louis area to evaluate home contents and develop a personalized selling strategy.
Call 314-962-7666 to schedule a complimentary estate consultation.
Learn more about our Estate Transition Services →
