The estate sale industry is booming as the most affluent, acquisitive and mobile generation in human history ages, but the industry may need a name change since the sales are now as likely to be associated with retirement and downsizing as with death and estate settlement.
People like Pat and Bill Carlton of Little Rock, who recently moved into a 7,800-square foot house from one on Overlook Drive that was bigger, are ready for what they call "purging."
The couple, both in their early 60s, contracted with Anna Harper, proprietor of Anna's Estate Sales, to conduct one of the largest estate sales in central Arkansas in recent memory, a five-day extravaganza in January during which hundreds of people swarmed the Overlook house.
At high points, scores of shoppers waited in a queue that snaked from the foyer through the dining room and even into the kitchen to buy items ranging from an enormous round dining table to half-used cleaning supplies.
Per Harper's instructions, the Carltons spent several weeks deciding which items they wanted to use in their new house, then left everything else for Harper to spend three weeks pricing and 45 hours selling in exchange for a 30 percent commission.
A lifelong friend added her late parents' excess worldly goods to the Carltons' belongings -- things she had been paying to store for two years -- and Harper brought in additional pieces that she had accepted for sale on consignment.
To read all about how people with too much stuff are exchanging it for cash (minus commission) read Gwen Moritz' story in Arkansas Business by clicking here.
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