Location:<\/strong> Typically homes across the Fort Worth area<\/p>\n Phone:<\/strong> 817-729-6849<\/p>\n Email:<\/strong> georgann@cottageclassicsestatesales.com<\/a><\/p>\n Website:<\/strong> cottageclassicsestatesales.com<\/a><\/p>\n Facebook:<\/strong> Cottage Classics Estate Sales LLC<\/a><\/p>\n Instagram:<\/strong> Cottage Classics Estate Sales<\/a><\/p>\n This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n Eric Garcia:<\/strong> How do you get the word out about your estate sales?<\/p>\n Georgann Muckleroy: <\/strong>We heavily advertise (on social media), and then we have a sale for three to four days. We have lots and lots of followers on Facebook. We\u2019re almost at 20,000 (followers). On Instagram, we\u2019re at about 19,000. We started TikTok this year, and we\u2019re at 3,000 or 4,000. Our email list is almost 9,000. We use all those platforms, and most everyone uses estatesales.net<\/a> as the most common platform. With the addition of all our other platforms, it makes us have really long lines, and people shop like crazy.<\/p>\n Garcia: <\/strong>How do you determine pricing for estate sale items?<\/p>\n Muckleroy: <\/strong>We don\u2019t price retail. We price what I would say \u2018fairly.\u2019 We\u2019re not cheap. We don\u2019t give things away. It\u2019s not a garage sale, so we can ask a lot more than that. But we want to be fair. We want people to feel like \u2018I did well today. I didn\u2019t pay bottom-of-the-basement pricing, but I feel like I got a really good quality item. I\u2019m recycling, I\u2019m being sustainable, I\u2019m using or enjoying something that someone else enjoyed, and it\u2019s not going into a landfill.\u2019 To me, those are all wins.<\/p>\n Garcia: <\/strong>How well do estate sales do these days?<\/p>\n Muckleroy:<\/strong> The money greatly benefits the homeowner or the heirs, depending on the situation. It can be a great lump sum to help the families move on to the next stage in their life. The average estate sale in the nation is $18,000. Ours are much higher than that. The smaller sales are going to be $8K to $20K. Again, ours are much, much higher than that. \u2026 It\u2019s really a benefit to the family because it helps clear out the property, and it\u2019s a little nest egg for them.<\/p>\n Garcia:<\/strong> Do people understand that their items can be worth money?<\/p>\n Muckleroy: <\/strong>A lot of people don\u2019t realize it. They think, \u2018I\u2019m just going to make $3,000.\u2019 It\u2019s like no, no, no. You\u2019re going to make way more than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n Garcia:<\/strong> How does your company make money from the sales?<\/p>\n Muckleroy: <\/strong>We charge a percentage of the sale proceeds. It depends on the situation. I charge 40% to 50%, but I\u2019m usually 40% to 45%. It just depends on how many man-hours I think are going to be involved. \u2026 We spend tons of hours on advertising and all those things. It\u2019s not a garage sale where maybe 100 people will stop by. Usually, we have between 80 to 150 people in line when we open the door. Our transaction numbers are usually very, very high depending on the sale.<\/p>\n Garcia:<\/strong> Who are your customers?<\/p>\n Muckleroy:<\/strong> A lot of women and interior designers love our sales. A lot of people that resell even shop with us. We\u2019re selling on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.\u00a0<\/p>\n Garcia:<\/strong> How do you judge the value of items?<\/p>\n Muckleroy: <\/strong>With the advent of the internet, it\u2019s made such a big difference. It\u2019s made our lives much easier. Ebay has really helped. Sometimes it\u2019s helped bring prices down. We use all of that research; we use appraisers; we use whatever we think; and we try to price it not at retail but what we think a buyer will be willing to pay. We want to be known as fair and reasonable, but we\u2019re trying to make as much as we possibly can for the family. It\u2019s a balancing act.\u00a0<\/p>\n Garcia: <\/strong>What are people looking for when they go to your sales?<\/p>\n Muckleroy: <\/strong>Sales really differ. We do a lot of silver and crystal. \u2026 Sometimes we\u2019ll do true dealer sales, where there\u2019s tons of vintage items. Or we\u2019ll do an antique sale with lots of primitives or true antiques. Sometimes we\u2019ll do a lot of modern pieces or contemporary ones.<\/p>\n Garcia:<\/strong> How do you decide which homes are worth your time for estate sales?<\/p>\n Muckleroy:<\/strong> I have a large team, and we\u2019ve been doing this for about six years now. I can\u2019t take a $20,000 or $30,000 sale anymore. I have a lot of smaller companies that are referred to that are a perfect fit for those sales. I am looking for quality. I am looking for points of interest, what I think buyers will buy and what I think will attract people. I use a combination.<\/p>\n Garcia: <\/strong>Do you sell a lot of collectibles?<\/p>\n Muckleroy: <\/strong>It really runs the gamut. Out of experience, I know what sells well. I did do a house with over 2,000 Hummel figures, and it did well. We had people come all the way from Massachusetts to the sale. It\u2019s a judgement call, and it\u2019s what I think our shoppers will want.<\/p>\n Eric E. Garcia is a senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.\u00a0<\/p>\n News decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative<\/a> for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.<\/p>\n Republish This Story<\/p>\n
![\"Creative](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758084579_646_cc-by-nd-4.0.png\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n