The rise of online sales has changed the secondary market, offering many benefits for both sellers and shoppers. For sellers, online platforms make it easier to reach a wider audience beyond local shoppers, across the country and even internationally. Shoppers appreciate the convenience of browsing and bidding from their device, without the need to attend a physical sale.
Online selling enables sellers to attract buyers when they want to shop – as not all shoppers can get to a physical location at the weekend to browse, but just about everyone can find 15-20 minutes on their smartphone! Essentially, clearing the estate can happen 24/7, while you’re in control of gaining maximum value for clients within an acceptable timeframe. However, in-person sales have merit in their own right. Being able to see, touch, even smell, items before purchasing can be important to some shoppers. Equally, street presence can attract traffic from passersby that otherwise wouldn’t have known about the sale. That’s why a combination of online and in-person selling can be highly valuable to sellers to improve item values and clearance rates.
Hybrid Sales: The Best of Both Worlds
The concept of a ‘hybrid sale’ is the combination of multiple selling formats to harness both in-person and online methods. With the hybrid approach, you curate an optimized sale based on the buyers you need to reach to get maximum value for the client.
For example, you’re clearing a typical home with personal property covering all rooms, from kitchen appliances and furniture, to kids’ toys and tools. It also has a few interesting pieces – a comic book collection, some beautiful watercolors, branded clothing and jewelry – which you know will be swept up locally, but also have mass appeal and are reasonably easy to ship. Create the sale that suits!
- Part 1: Start with an online sale to market to a wide audience and clear this potentially higher value inventory and items that can be shipped. Run this online for at least seven days.
- Part 2: Then host an in-person sale on the pickup day (when your online shoppers are physically on site along with the local crowd) to clear the furniture, box lots and anything that didn’t sell online.
Leveraging the hybrid model maximizes the sales window in a timeframe that’s still feasibly possible for most clients’ needs. Example of a hybrid sale over three-week timeframe:
By offering your client multiple sales channels, you’re ensuring no stone is unturned in finding the right buyer to pay the right price for their belongings.
Success Stories from Estate Sale Professionals
Companies using EstateSales.NET have found great success by adopting hybrid models, combining both the tactile experience of in-person sales with extended audience reach through online selling format.
Katrina Ranieri, Silver Service LLC, Columbus, GA:
Katrina experimented with online sales to clear smaller estates while keeping operating costs low. The estates with fewer items didn’t warrant the headaches of security and parking issues, the risks of theft and damage, not to mention the physical labor in staging for such few items. She tested different approaches to reduce overheads and experimented with online buying formats; traditional estate sales where prices lower each day, or auction bidding where prices increase based on competition. In the state of Georgia an auctioneer license was required for online auctions, but given the potential increase in sale values, Katrina felt it was worth the effort and obtained the license. She now has all the practices and tools in place to run online auctions and has developed an efficient system for coordinating item pick-ups and communicating with shoppers post sale. The online approach allowed her to hold more sales each month and provide greater value to her clients.
Annamarie Voss, Estates Unlimited, Greenbank, WA:
Annamarie adopted online sales during the pandemic and helped her regular local shoppers onboard to the marketplace and adjust to the new format. She stresses the importance of detailed item descriptions, including measurements and condition notes, to build trust with shoppers who can’t inspect items in person. While it was a new way of working with more time invested up front (to take additional details and more images), this extra effort has been key to her success and well worth the return.
Luby Kelley, MoMo Estate Sales, St. Louis, MO:
Luby also started running online sales during the pandemic and found that hybrid sales worked well for his business. MoMo Estate Sales host in-person previews to enable local shoppers to inspect items for condition and quality. All inventory is listed online where the selling takes place, to enable a national audience to find, bid and buy the items. This approach gives sellers the flexibility to use both traditional estate sale advertising techniques with auction as the selling method. Luby emphasized the importance of setting realistic prices that match market value, helping transactions go more smoothly. By garnering competition with online bidders near and far, the true market value of the item is realized.
Tips for Hybrid Success
If you’re considering a hybrid approach, here are some tips to help:
Stay Organized: A successful hybrid sale requires a clear system for managing both online and in-person parts of the process. Provide clear instructions for item pick-ups, online bidding, and communication with shoppers.
Diligence Upfront: Provide detailed descriptions, photos, and instructions to your your customers’ experience clear, smooth and enjoyable.
Help Shoppers Adjust: Not all shoppers are familiar with online platforms, especially if they’re used to in-person sales. Leverage the marketplace support team and let us get your local buyers signed up and familiar with the platform.
Nurture Your Customers: Hybrid sales give you the benefits of in-person interaction and the wide reach of online platforms. You can connect with local shoppers while attracting new audiences from further away. Treat online shoppers as you would people you meet face to face – they are net new to your business and deserve the time, care and customer service that they’d expect if they entered a home.
The estate sale industry is evolving and hybrid sales are becoming a popular way to dabble in new methods without abandoning established processes that have served you well. By blending traditional methods with online tools, you can reach more shoppers, improve efficiency, and offer flexibility for your clients. At EstateSales.NET, we’re here to support you with tools and resources to help you succeed in this evolving landscape. Whether you're hosting your first hybrid sale or refining your approach, combining online and in-person methods can help you grow your business and meet the needs of today’s shoppers.