Shopping at thrift stores may be the easiest way to shop for secondhand home decor, but if you want to score the best vintage home decor finds, you need to start shopping estate sales and make estate sale shopping part of your routine this year.
And listen, I get it. Thrift stores are convenient with their fixed locations and predictable hours, while estate sales are never in the same place twice and seem to run on wildly inconsistent schedules. Some take cards, some are cash only, there are no returns, and half the time it feels like you need a secret decoder ring just to figure out where and when they’re happening.
It took me years to finally start shopping estate sales, but trust me when I say they are worth the extra effort.
Estate Sales vs. Thrift Stores – What’s the Difference?
In general, thrift stores and charity shops are fixed, brick-and-mortar locations where individuals donate items they no longer want. The items are then priced and displayed in a storefront for sale, with most purchases benefiting a charitable organization.
Estate sales, on the other hand, are private sales held in people’s homes, often after someone has passed away or when they choose to downsize and liquidate their belongings for cash.
Now that’s we’ve quickly clarified the difference between estate sales and thrift stores, let’s dive into why estate sales are often the better choice for scoring home decor that’s not only affordable but also high-quality, unique and full of character.
1. Cherished Possessions Vs Unwanted Clutter
When you get right down to it, thrift stores are where people drop things off that they no longer want. It’s like the island of misfit toys for home decor. (Luckily for us one person’s junk is another person’s treasure! So that doesn’t mean you won’t still score some amazing finds at the thrift store!)
Estate sales on the other hand are typically filled with a person’s favorite possessions, items they cherished for an entire lifetime and never parted with. So the odds of your consistently finding those real gems here is significantly higher!
2. Complete & Matching Sets
Need a pair of matching lamps, full set of china that can serve 12 people, 24 punch cups or 8 of the exact same linen napkins? What about an entire collection of vintage leather-bound books or an entire suite of coordinating vintage bedroom furniture?
Estate sales are far more likely to have multiples from the same collection instead of the sad single mismatched lonely pieces you’ll often find sitting on the shelves at the thrift shop.
Pro Tip
If you see a large collection of something you want at an estate sale, but don’t want to carry it around with you for the rest of the time you shop, there is almost always a “holds” table near the checkout area. Simply grab your items and place them there until you are ready to purchase so no one else one snags them while you shop.
3. Good Deals & Predictable Sales
Can you score an AMAZING deal at the thrift store? 1000% yes. Thrift stores often have no idea of the value of an item that has been dropped off and can wildly underprice it.
However, you can also overpay at the thrift store as well, especially these days as the cost of rent for these brick and mortar shops goes up and more and more people are starting to shop at secondhand shops and the demand gets higher.
Estate sale pricing on the other hand tends to start more middle of the road but then follow a predictable sale schedule. Each sale typically lasting for three days, opening day being full price, day two being 25% off and day three being 50% off and sometimes going up to 75% off in the last hour of the sale.
Pro Tip
Most estate sales are run by professional companies (with only a handful being run by the estate itself), and I have found each company to have wildly different (but predictable) pricing. After visiting a couple you’ll learn which companies have the most affordable prices and can then prioritize visiting those sales.
4. More Antique & Vintage Items
When you visit a thrift shop these days, it is becoming more and more rare to find truly antique or vintage items. Instead we’re seeing more and more ’90s and early 2000s castoffs. Which is amazing if you’re into that but can feel like a waste of time if you’re not.
If you’re looking for items made prior to the ’90s, estate sales are going to be your best bet for more predictably finding actual antique and vintage items for less than you’ll pay for them at the antique shop or vintage store.
Pro Tip
Websites like estatesales.net always list a gallery of images along with every sale. I always recommend browsing these to get a sense of what sorts of items you are likely to find at any given sale before you drive all the way there.
5. Higher Quality Better Condition Finds
In general, I find that since you are dealing with a person’s dearest possessions, you tend to discover a much higher percentage of high quality items when shopping estate sales than I do when thrifting home decor.
Items at estate sales tend to not only be made out of high quality materials with better quality workmanship, but also are much better cared for and in better overall condition requiring less repair work or refinishing.
Pro Tip
Always be sure to handle items, open drawers, flip pieces over, and look underneath to determine the quality of a piece before you purchase it. For furniture you want solid wood, dovetail joints and solid metal hardware. You want real glass in your picture frames instead of plastic and makers marks on the bottom of metal. In general if it feels heavier than it looks, that’s usually a good sign! (Unless it’s china or glassware, then you want it as light and thin as possible….)
6. Bonus Reason: They Let You Snoop Around Other People’s Houses
If I’m 100% honest with you this may be my favorite reason that I prefer shopping estate sales these days over thrift shops. Especially when you find an estate sale happening in an old historic home!
These are the best since you get to freely wander around and inspect little details like mouldings and paint colors and old home features to your heart’s content. I’ve gotten so much inspiration for my own home just wandering around estate sales looking at the homes themselves and not even looking at the items being sold!
Pro Tip
Know where the historic areas of town are and keep an eye out for any sales happening in those neighborhoods! Even if you don’t like the items being sold, or the sale is hosted by a company that prices things outside your budget, it’s often still worth going to walk around and look at the home itself!
Have I convinced you to try shopping estate sales this year now? If you want to get started but still just feel very overwhelmed, be sure and read this beginner’s guide to shopping estate sales that I wrote! It has everything you need to know regarding how to find estate sales happening near you, what to bring, and even what areas of the house to shop!
And if estate sales still feel like a bit more work than you’re willing to put in right now, I totally understand. You can still make the most of shopping at thrift stores this year with my ultimate guide to thrifting, by using my favorite thrifting hack, and get ideas for what to look for at thrift stores here!
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