Young Buyers Change the Flavor of the Old Fashioned Estate Sale

It used to be that buyers at estate sales were seeking out antiques, jewelry with a history and other aged object of desire. These days professional estate sale liquidation companies are seeing younger shoppers coming in to buy things they could just as easily be buying in a store.

“I just rented my first apartment,” says newbie tag sale hunter Rachel Pierson. “I need everything to set up my kitchen like plates, a toaster, mixing bowls and a blender. I’m on a really tight budget and need quite a few things, so buying them retail just isn’t an option for me.” She explains that the previous week a local estate sale yielded four chairs for her kitchen table. “I got all of them for just $25 and just repainted them white.”

Younger shoppers are looking for deeply discounted deals on everyday objects at estate sales and not grandma’s antiques. They are looking to buy gardening tools, cooking utensils, bedding, basic furniture, electronic equipment, and lighting.

“I’m going on a trip to Texas next month,” says Charlie DeBow. “I just picked up this rugged Samsonite suitcase for just $4. I could have never afforded something of this quality if I had to buy it in the store.”

Sellers are finding that funky, retro styles are selling best for the younger generation when it comes to furnishing their homes. Vintage objects from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s are being hunted down the way antique china used to be ten years ago. Young buyers are not finding any real function in owning fancy dinner plates only to be used for a once a year formal family dinner. Instead they are on the hunt for practical and casual items that have every day appeal.

Thrifty younger buyers have grown up in an era where recycling is the norm, so the idea of salvaging a piece of furniture or tool to prevent it from ending up in a landfill has sensible appeal, too. They are crafty and more than happy to repaint or recover a find to give it a fresh, new feel. It’s also not unusual to see hipster shoppers being economical about snapping up half filled bottles of dish detergent or cans of coffee for pennies on the dollar. “Those single serve coffees are expensive in the store,” says 23-year old Martin Freeburg. “I just got these three boxes for a buck. A steal!”

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