Should You Have a Garage Sale Before the Estate Sale?
No. But since that’s a short answer to an important question, here’s exactly why.
The Legal Side First
San Antonio limits how often you can hold a sale on a property. In most of the city, it’s once per quarter; in areas like Castle Hills, it’s twice per year. Run a garage sale first, and you may find yourself waiting months before an estate sale can legally happen. That’s a complication nobody needs when there’s a timeline involved.
The Real Cost of a Garage Sale
Most people who hold a garage sale before an estate sale do it to avoid paying commission on their best items. It’s understandable logic. It’s also consistently one of the most expensive mistakes a client can make.
Here’s what actually happens. The items that sell well in an estate sale with professional pricing, targeted marketing, and a room full of serious buyers don’t perform the same way on a folding table in a driveway. You end up selling premium pieces at garage-sale prices to neighbors and casual browsers, then wonder why the estate sale underperformed.
We’ve seen this play out in real numbers. One sale we evaluated had an estimated potential of $50,000. The client pulled the best items ahead of time, pieces they figured would bring $30,000, and held a garage sale. They made about $1,100. Meanwhile, the estate sale that followed, stripped of its best inventory, produced around $10,000 instead of the $20,000 that might have remained. The garage sale didn’t just underperform on those items. It dragged the entire sale down.
Why the Best Items Matter So Much
Premium pieces are what drive traffic. Serious buyers such as collectors, dealers, and experienced shoppers are scanning listings and deciding which sales are worth their time. When the standout items are gone, there’s less reason to show up. Less traffic means less competition for everything else, and that means lower prices across the board.
There are many estate sales in San Antonio on any given weekend. Buyers make choices. Give them a reason to choose yours.
The Right Move
Take whatever you want to keep before you ever contact an estate sale company. That’s completely reasonable, and nobody will say a word about it. But once you’ve decided to have a sale, let the sale do its job. A garage sale before an estate sale costs far more than any commission it was meant to avoid.