“Want to attend the best estate sales around?
Look no further than Ampersand!
The experience begins with a thorough listing of the sale on their website and/or Facebook page where you will get a good idea of what you will be browsing at the actual sale.
At the sale you can expect a nicely staged home where - get this - everything will have a price, on it . A not-so-novel concept, however, seems to be a missing practice for other sales.
If you have questions ask the staff in orange. How nice, to have more than a two-person team so questions can be addressed.
Don’t expect garage sale prices, it’s not a rummage event and it’s certainly not ran like one. Looking forward to the next estate sale with Ampersand!”
“I love estate sales and try to go to at least 2-3 per week. And here in Chicago, there are an awful lot of companies that operate them. If you check out the different listing sites, there are well over a hundred companies. And that means you have a huge range in how the sales are conducted. Some are great and some are terrible. Ampersand is one of the best.
Here’s why:
1) Pictures: they spend a lot of time documenting and photographing the contents of a sale. This is hugely helpful to me because I primarily collect mid-century modern furniture. Having many, detailed photographs helps me figure out whether a sale is worth attending. If a chair is really banged up, I want to know about it in advance.
2) Description: their sale description is also very detailed. This is important because I tend to search for specific words and if those terms aren’t listed in the sale description, then I miss out on what might be a great sale.
3) Sale Advertising: the sales are really well advertised / marked. Those orange signs are never hard to find!
4) Organization: The sales themselves are well organized. I’m always amazed at how estate sale companies can take a house full of stuff and actually turn it into a fairly well organized sale. These guys do a good job. I’ve actually never been to one of their sales that I would characterize as a picker’s sale - where everything is a mess and you have to pick through it to find anything worthwhile.
4) Staff: All the staff wear orange shirts, which makes them super easy to identify if you have questions / need some help. And there’s generally also a lot of workers at a sale, which means if you need something, you can quickly get an answer to your question. I think this lends an air of professionalism that a lot of other companies could learn from.They also seem to be pretty knowledgeable.
5) Sale Location: Ampersand’s sales tend to be on the north side of Chicago. And a lot of them are in very nice neighborhoods. That means that the quality of the merchandise is often higher than in some other areas.
6) Prices: A lot of the negative reviews seem to focus on high prices. And yes, Ampersand sales are sometimes priced higher than other sales by other companies. But they are still lower than eBay / at an auction. And if you wait to the end of sale, they are more flexible on pricing than if it’s on the first day. Generally speaking, the stuff that I really want is gone by that point, so I’m happy to pay the initial asking price.
I think a lot of people think of estate sales as garage/yard sales. They aren’t. These companies are in business to make money for themselves and their clients. So if you are looking for the cheapest estate sale company out there, these guys aren’t it. But if you are looking for good, well-organized sales, staffed by people who know what they are doing, I’d definitely check them out.”
“I have attended quite a few of the estate sales that have been conducted by Ampersand. This is a company which clearly strives to do the best it can to provide extraordinary service to its clients and its customers. Brad, who is in charge of the company, is straightforward and ethical to a fault, if that’s possible. I strongly recommend Ampersand to those who need to secure the services of a company to conduct their estate sale, and I recommend, without reservation, that people shop their sales.”
“The house is 100% empty and cleaned and ready to go! You and your team did a great job! I can’t thank you enough!”
“I hired Ampersand Estate Sales for a sale this past weekend. The sales were disappointing, which made me feel bad for myself but also for Ampersand. They were so professional and dedicated, and they worked too hard for such a result. Hard to know why things didn’t go very well, but I wanted to give kudos to Brad and his crew for their efforts, dedication, and professional manner of handling the whole event. Despite the disappointment in how much sold, I endorse them and hope my feedback supports them as they deserve. I will recommend them to anyone who may need their service.”
“I have nothing but great things to say about Brad and his team of professional, thorough, helpful people!They worked hard, cleaned quickly (I don’t think the house has been so clean in the last 15 years), and made it painless for me to deal with things long distance. Thanks!!!”
“Words cannot adequately express our family’s gratitude with Brad and his team. From the initial call to the final day, they displayed compassion for the family and respect towards the deceased possessions. Brad communicated clearly all information needed in every step of the process resulting in a successful sale. Our family will always be grateful for the service they provided and highly recommend Ampersand.”
“The friendliest staff! Plus, Ampersand somehow always gets the best houses with the coolest stuff. They are nice about making deals, and they have a good system, with a staff member in every room, pricing items & giving you a ticket with your prices. I’ve never had a bad experience at their sales.”
“We wanted to write you a quick thank you for all the work that you and every member of the Ampersand Team did for us before, during, and after our Estate Sale.
We have been going to estate sales for the past two years, never thinking that we would have to have a sale for a member of our own family. When the need arose, we drew upon our experiences at other sales and our clear choice was to go with you. We watched at the way you’ve run sales, and how the members of your team would work to sell someone’s belongings in a dignified manner. What we did not realize was all the time and effort that you and the Ampersand team put in way in advance of the sale. The research that was done to fairly price items was considerable. The organized way of setting up the sale to best show the house’s contents was done with a specific purpose in mind. The quality and quantity of pictures taken for advertising was impressive. Perhaps the thing that was most appreciated was the understanding of the circumstances behind our estate sale. This was a home of our loved ones, and even though all the furnishings and contents of the home did not have great monetary value, we treasured every piece. The Ampersand team obviously understood this, and treated everything in the home as if it was their own. We were so pleased with the professionalism of the team, while managing to give the feeling that your best friends were running the sale for us. And once the sale was over, and very successful, Ampersand continued to help us find the right place to donate the items that did not find new homes. We can’t thank all of you at Ampersand enough for all you’ve done for our family. You’ve helped to make a very difficult time for us a little bit easier. We are eternally grateful.”
“We hired Ampersand Estate Sales to run our sale in Glenview mid-March. The staff came, set up, sorted, priced and sold, sold, sold!! Even our neighbors commented on how professionally the sale was run. And the best thing of all was that we got a big, fat check within 10 days!! Many thanks!”
