{"id":717,"date":"2016-06-15T12:10:37","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T18:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estatesales.org\/university\/?p=717"},"modified":"2017-04-28T15:49:54","modified_gmt":"2017-04-28T21:49:54","slug":"estate-sales-holiday-weekends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estatesales.org\/university\/estate-sales-holiday-weekends\/","title":{"rendered":"Estate Sales on Holiday Weekends"},"content":{"rendered":"

While holidays come just once a year, estate sales are year-round. Should business stop just because it\u2019s a designated holiday or long weekend?<\/span><\/p>\n

Only you can really decide, and learning via trial and error, talking to estate sale companies<\/a>, especially those near you, and scoping out the activity in your area are all smart ways to help you make a decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

We talked to estate sale companies to find out what they did during holiday weekends. Let us know in the comments if you have any different advice!<\/span><\/p>\n

Halloween<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

When Halloween falls on a weekend, you may be wondering if you should go ahead and hold your sale, or risk it being a ghost town. Most estate sale companies say go for it! Halloween festivities, like trick-or-treating or Halloween parties usually take place at night, anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Have fun with it and have your employees dress up in costume! It could be a great way to find more regulars who love your festive spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Halloween
Graph* shows traffic on and around Halloween, Saturday October 31, 2015, indicated by the arrow. The consistent spikes occur on Thursdays and Fridays when most shoppers are searching for estate sales to attend that weekend. As you can see, Halloween had no real effect on estate sale web traffic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Black Friday<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

This one can be tricky. Sure, Black Friday was created in order to get people to spend money. Plus, you can be certain many families are itching for a break to relieve their cabin fever. <\/span><\/p>\n

That said, you may be competing with the Super Wal Mart selling the latest Apple product. It might be better to hold your sale on Small Business Saturday instead, when shoppers will be looking to buy local.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Black
Graph shows the dip in traffic around Black Friday, November 27, 2015, indicated by the arrow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November – February (aka Slow Season)<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Perhaps counter-intuitive, but the months between Thanksgiving and Spring Break can be ideal times to hold your estate sale. Why? Because this is when there\u2019s a lull from garage and yard sale season \u2014 so there are fewer sales to compete with. There are also fewer shoppers who are used to getting lower prices and want to know why your prices aren\u2019t as low as garage sales or flea markets. <\/span><\/p>\n

Between Christmas & New Year\u2019s<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Pros: <\/span>Most say go for it. Especially if you live in a warm weather area, it\u2019s likely people are ready to get out and about. After being cooped up with family for days on end, several estate salers are itching to get out of the house. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cons:\u00a0<\/span>If you\u2019re in a larger company and have regular estate sale employees<\/a>, it might be a good time to give your help time off during the holiday season \u2014 so they can rest and recoup and be ready for business when the season starts back up again. <\/span><\/p>\n

You may need some down time, too. The lull between the holidays and the new year may be the best time to catch your breath.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Estate
Graph shows the dip in traffic between Christmas (Friday) and New Years Day (Friday), 2015.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mother\u2019s Day and Father\u2019s Day<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

The consensus here is don\u2019t risk it! While you could end up having a lucrative sale, and many estate sale companies do, the truth is a lot of people spend those days with their parents and families. Interestingly, Father’s Day doesn’t seem to make as much of a difference as Mother’s Day did, as shown in the graphs below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The solution? See if you can have a two day sale on Friday and Saturday, or consider pushing it up to a three day sale that begins on Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mothers
This graph shows\u00a0a slight dip in\u00a0traffic preceding\u00a0Mother’s Day, compared to later weekends.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fathers
This graph shows the traffic on and around Father’s Day. No real significant change.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3 Day Holiday Weekends<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Some estate sale companies find holiday weekend sales can be quite lucrative, while others say, No way! Here\u2019s how to weigh your options:<\/span><\/p>\n

Pros:<\/span><\/p>\n