Updated August 2026
Category pricing
Estate sale pricing guides, by category
Pricing a whole house is a speed problem with a handful of expensive exceptions buried in it. These guides are about finding the exceptions fast: what actually drives value in a category, the marks and tells that separate the good from the ordinary, how to move the volume without losing a morning, and the point where the honest answer is to call a specialist.
Every figure on these pages is sourced and attributed where it appears, and where we could not source a number we left it out and said so. None of this is an appraisal. How we research and date this material is on our editorial standards page.
- How to price jewelry at an estate saleA working method for pricing a house full of jewelry: sort by metal before you price, read the karat and maker marks, treat metal content as a floor that moves with spot, move the costume volume fast, and know the four cases that need a specialist before the doors open.Read the guide →
- How to price coins at an estate saleCoins split into three piles that are priced three different ways: bullion off today spot, common silver off melt, and collector coins off grade. How to sort them fast, why cleaning destroys value, and the one habit that keeps a jar of change from being sold as a jar of change.Read the guide →
- How to price china and porcelain at an estate saleFormal dinnerware is the category families most overvalue and operators most often misprice. How to read a backstamp, which makers still carry a market, why complete sets are worth less per piece than you would think, and how to clear a china cabinet without wasting a morning on it.Read the guide →
- How to price glassware at an estate saleDepression glass, elegant glass, carnival and art glass all look like "the glass shelf" until you know the three tells that separate them. How to sort a cabinet by tier in one pass, date a Fenton piece from its mark, and price the volume without missing the one shelf that matters.Read the guide →
- How to price mid-century modern furniture at an estate saleThe one category where a label changes the price by an order of magnitude. Where every manufacturer put its mark, how to read a Lane date code, why refinishing a teak sideboard destroys value, and how to tell designer production from the era-styled furniture that surrounds it.Read the guide →
- How to price vintage tools at an estate saleA basement workshop is one of the few categories where a serious buyer will drive two hours. How to read a Stanley plane by its number, which sizes are common and which are scarce, why cleaning rust off a machinist tool can cost you, and how to clear the ordinary volume fast.Read the guide →
- How much do estate sale companies charge?What estate sale companies actually charge a family: the commission ranges the industry publishes, why they disagree, minimums and flat fees, what the percentage covers, what gets billed on top, when you get paid, and what a fair settlement statement looks like.Read the guide →
- Estate sale vs auction vs consignment vs cleanoutThe four ways to clear a house, compared on the dimensions that decide it: speed, effort, what each channel is good at, what it costs, and what happens to whatever does not sell. Including when each one is the wrong answer.Read the guide →
Working out the business behind the sales rather than the pricing inside one? The free playbook on how to start an estate sale business covers commissions, contracts, insurance, sale days and scaling, and the two free calculators handle the startup and settlement arithmetic.
Price the house once, and keep the record
TagLot is the back office for estate-sale and senior-move companies. Photograph a whole house offline, review the drafted catalog, print QR labels, and hand the family a settlement they can read. What sold, and for how much, becomes your comps for the next house. Free is one full sale, no card and no countdown, and your money lands in your own accounts.