Pricing is the difference between an emptied house and a rented storage unit in two weeks.
The pricing frame
- Check sold comps for anything above ~$50. eBay's Sold/Completed filter is level one; 130Point and WorthPoint close that gap.
- Shop the pattern number, not the surface for Pyrex, carnival glass, pottery, and silver — with this approach, you won't underprice niche patterns.
- Round to .99 — price psychology at estate sales is real. Items priced $9 means "pricedFord"; $8.99 means "someone thought about this."
Category benchmarks (flexible)
| Category | Rule of thumb |
|---|---|
| Clothing | $5–$10/piece; brand-driven up to $25–$40 |
| Books (not collectible) | $1–$3 |
| Common furniture | $40–$150 |
| Signed/collectible art | Comps only |
| Tools | 30-50% of new |
The day-by-day markdown ladder
- Day 1 (Fri): full price. Serious buyers will come; don't discount what a motivated collector would grab.
- Day 2 (Sat): 10–20% on furniture; discount cards on hand-tagged items.
- Day 3 (Sun): 30–50% off, essentials-only on a dying cart, "fill-a-bag" mode near closing to clear the stragglers.
The one mistake
Pricing "on feel" without a sold-comp check for the one item where the family might understand is the biggest miss. You can tell someone why a signed plate is $85 after checking eBay, or you can decide at noon and lose.
Solo operator reality
You can't price everything precisely. Price the top 30 things carefully, round-guess everything else, and structure your markdowns to dump volume by Sunday PM. Crowd control tools (like a QR-linked digital line and auto-backfill) buy you more time inside the house, which scores back as pricing accuracy on the things that matter.