Please, for your own sake, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!!!!!…read more
In case they change company names, the owner is Laura (Allen) Woods.
I am putting this review on here because I really hate to see this person rip off elderly people. Here is the "detailed" breakdown which she sent me about my sale:
Retro & Antique Estate Sale
Net Sales
5733.13
X 30%
1,719.94 (commission)
5,692.43
-1,719.94
3972.49
Payroll, Advertising, extra shed labor
3972.49
-532.40
-3021.00
= 419.09
The sale made $5733.13 and I was told my portion was $419.09. I repeatedly asked for details on the payroll, advertising, and labor costs but got none.
My email to the owner:
Laura,
I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction with how my estate sale was handled.
From the beginning, I entrusted your company with significant responsibility. I provided my parents' items to be sold, prepared the house for use, and invested a great deal of my own time organizing and sorting belongings, both from the house and the outbuilding, so your team could efficiently process them. Given that level of preparation, I was surprised to hear repeated concerns about disorganization.
What is most troubling, however, is the lack of transparency in the final report. The breakdown you provided does not meet even basic expectations for financial accountability. It does not include hours worked, itemized sales, or clear documentation of how proceeds were calculated. In my professional role handling accounting, HR, and payroll for a nonprofit organization, I am accustomed to detailed reporting standards, and this report falls far short of those expectations.
Additionally, I personally invested money into preparing certain items for sale, such as purchasing parts for the lawnmower, without any clear return of that effort. I also have concerns about pricing strategy and advertising, as many items appeared significantly overpriced and the turnout did not reflect what I would consider adequate promotion.
There are also liability concerns that were never clearly addressed. An incident involving your dog resulted in my cousin being knocked down, and it appears I could have been exposed to legal risk despite the circumstances being outside my control.
Overall, this experience has been extremely disappointing. I feel the process lacked transparency, fairness, and professionalism. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend your estate sale services.
I am requesting a more detailed accounting of the sale, including itemized transactions, labor hours, and a clear explanation of how proceeds were distributed. Please provide this information within a reasonable timeframe.
Her response:
I am sorry you're dissatisfied with your sale, but my team worked hard to sort, stage, price and hold your sale. We came a huge distance to do it for you. The garage was a lot of it, and no disrespect but it was a mess. I can send you a transaction report again, that shows each day of sales. Friday was awful, really hurt the sale despite my advertising. I also have a payroll report for your sale and could have charged $125 an hour.
I do not have control of the market, or what people want to buy as it ebbs and flows to different items.
But, I do see why others didn't want to do the sale because of the rural location. It was the worst sale I have ever hosted and that is neither your fault, nor mine. I am not happy how it turned out for you, but it was out of my control.
I told you I would try my best, and I did. On the bright side, you didn't have to write us a check as you would have with everyone else. A clean out would have cost you 8,000 to 12,000.
As far as the break down, you should have received a daily sales report, it tells how many items sold each day. Even though you had sorted some things, there was still a lot that had to be done.
After the sale, I would have cleaned and organized more if you had wanted me to.
Sincerely,
Laura
Like I said at the beginning of this review, please DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY for your estate sale!!!!!!!!!!
