How to Hold a Successful Estate Sale

	Time to Part With the Family Heirlooms?

An engraved clothes hanger: $50. An invitation to Jason Priestley's wedding: $100. Think your junk isn't worth anything? Well, actress Tori Spelling fetched these prices from an estate sale held in December 2006, before she moved to a new home.

You don't have to be rich or liquidating a large estate to hold an estate sale. They can be profitable even if you're downsizing into a smaller home or going through a divorce, or when faced with valuable but unwanted inheritances.

It's difficult to put a figure on how much profit a home's contents could generate. One house could be filled with priceless antiques and collectibles, and another filled with items treasured only by a mother.

However, antiques and collectibles in an estate sale should bring prices comparable to what they would bring at a good auction. The advantage of estate sales is getting rid of everything in one fell swoop.

I used an estate sale after my grandparents passed on: Their residence was located in a different state, and my family just didn't have the time or inclination to deal with maintenance. It was a far easier process than making multiple trips with relatives to clean out the home, and the remaining family and I simply divided up the proceeds.

Keep in mind, an estate sale is distinct from a garage sale -- while the latter may be a great way to get rid of some clutter, it isn't a serious moneymaker.

A garage or tag sale usually involves the contents of just a room or two, and the work is often tedious -- running ads; making and putting up signs; pricing, tagging and setting up items; haggling over prices; and collecting money. After the sale, you'll have to clean up, with only possibly 5% to 10% of the items sold and a meager profit.

In an estate sale, however, you pay professionals to manage the event and sell items from the entire house. These companies take a commission of the total sales -- typically 20% to 35% -- or charge a fee for conducting the sale, or both.