Are You Buying It?

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We’ve entered a golden age of estate sales. This is the result of a generational mismatch between those who have been able to accrue vast troves of belongings, and those who — due to many factors, but prime among them housing — have not. It’s a pickers paradise. As Caity Weaver writes for The Atlantic this week, “to be a secondhand shopper is to see the riches of the world and be satisfied that they are enough.” If you are in need of China or heavy wood furniture, this world is your oyster.

But as members of the so-called “sandwich generation” currently taking care of both children and aging family members, all our parents’ stuff looks less like a pile of treasure and more like a scary, looming task to be dealt with at our saddest.

Sorting through the physical detritus of a life — whether in the aftermath of a death, a marriage’s dissolution, or a kid’s departure from the nest — can be emotionally and logistically unwieldy. As such, some people are outsourcing this entirely, while others are hanging up a shingle as a stuff-selling franchisee. More on that in our feature, below.

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Marley Barzen, who is 30 and lives in Ottawa, did not set out to enter the estate-sale industry, but the thing about estate sales is that the industry finds you. “My background, professionally, was reselling ethical slow fashion,” she explains over Zoom, “and then I pivoted to doing fashion styling, but my niche was helping people downsize.”

And so, it really wasn’t all that crazy when, in the spring of 2024, a former styling client presented her with an opportunity. The client had inherited a condo from her late father and needed someone to deal with the contents; Barzen had just broken up with her then-partner and needed a place to live. “If I give you this place to stay,” the client asked her. “Can you help me?” And when her massage therapist gave Barzen’s name to an acquaintance who’d just inherited a 200-year-old farmhouse containing six generations’ worth of stuff, she could help them, too. 

You may have heard: The estate-sale business is entering its “golden age.” Boomers are aging, and their parents are aging faster, and they all are leaving behind huge amounts of stuff nobody knows quite what to do with. “People used to keep their stuff,” said John Romani, who runs Sales by Helen on Philadelphia’s Main Line. Stuff was a symbol of stability. People amassed it and kept it and passed it on to their children, who would grow up to have a place to put it. But people don’t live like that anymore. “The baby boomers did a very good job of saying, ‘don’t love stuff, love experiences,” he told me. “Their kids like to be mobile. They don’t like to be burdened by a dining room set.” Even if they’d love a dining room set, where would it possibly go? 

Selling a lifetime’s worth of belongings is daunting. The timeline is often short, and the stuff is infinite. Aaron Siepierski, owner of Aaron’s Estate Sales in metropolitan Detroit, reports that about half the time he meets with prospective clients, the appointment ends in tears. “They’re so relieved they’re not having to do it on their own,” he said. This is when his work begins.

It’s an intimate project. You are selling furniture, but also: clothes, art, linens, knicknacks, collectables, ephemera, books, office supplies, tools, sewing machines, jewelry, and kitchenware. You are selling the food still in the cabinets. You are selling needlepoint supplies and Christmas ornaments and exercise equipment and antiques and souvenirs and half-used bottles of detergent. You are, in a single go, selling all the trappings of a life. It can be an emotional process. Nobody liquidates a house because everything is going great. “There are three reasons why you have an estate sale,” said Romani. “Downsizing, death, and divorce.” Even if a client is realistic about prices, clear-eyed that their great-grandmother's beloved China set is worth basically nothing and the silver flatware will end up melted down for scrap, even if no one’s died yet, there’s still the matter of the sorting. “There are certain items that tie you to your mom or dad or relative in this beautiful and special and singular way,” Barzen tells her clients. Everything else gets a price.

Is this weird? On some level, yes. “I think historically, people have felt like peeping Toms,” she said. “They feel almost bad, buying from someone who has passed.” And so she tries to add a little distance, to make it feel less like breaking-and-entering and more like a curated museum about a stranger. But you only have to glance at EstateSales.net, the main listings hub for the industry, to see that this is not a universal approach. 

Sales last for two or three or four days, in person, or online, or in some combination. Most companies are small and independent — in the Wild West of estate sales, anyone can hang a shingle — but bigger players are moving in. The value of any given sale varies wildly: there are estate sales that gross a few thousand, and sales that bring in half a million. The company generally takes something like 40 percent; the remainder goes to the client, in addition to (ideally) newfound freedom. 

In keeping with the law of supply and demand, the best bargains are for the things nobody wants: most China sets. China cabinets. Grandfather clocks. (“Ten or 15 years ago, I sold clocks for $30, $40, $50,000 dollars,” Romani told me, but now “nobody wants them.”) Formal things. Heavy things. (A 23-year-old customer of Barzen’s snagged an oak secretary desk for $500 because it was 800 pounds; she’d cajoled her roommates.) Dated-but-not-vintage furniture. (Hopeless.) 

Ruggable just launched two collaborations that caught our eye: the new Marimekko collection and the Dan Pelosi collection. Both bring a lot of color and personality to a space and are a fun departure from the usual neutrals. If you're looking for something a little more classic, Ruggable's 20% off sale runs through June 21, and we spotted several great options, including this striped rug, this graphic pattern, and this neutral design. And yes, they're washable, which never gets old. Shop everything here. #partner

TO WATCH A spoof about the world of cooking content creators, Maddie’s Secret is the latest addition to the John Early and Kate Berlant comedic universe, and it looks as delightfully off-kilter as you’d expect. Looking for something a little more sentimental? Girls Like Girls, the directorial debut of singer-songwriter Hayley Kiyoko, tells a sweet story of teenage love. And if you’re in that life stage where you’re required to see every new kids movie, Toy Story 5 is out in theaters today.

TO SHOP J.Crew is running a dress sale, and there are some good ones right now. We like this classic cotton poplin dress for everything from errands to vacation, and this linen A-line dress with adjustable tie back. Most styles are under $100. Shop the sale here. #partner

TO MAKE When summer hits, we think every single meal should look something like this greens pesto salad. The spinach and zucchini keep it fresh, the couscous gives it heft. Test our theory and top it with an egg for breakfast or a steak for dinner.

TO LISTEN The Wobbly Middle podcast speaks to women who are rethinking their careers in midlife. While some of those moves are more mainstream — they’ve featured one woman getting her executive MBA and another returning to work after a career break — this season’s June 22 launch guest is a US postal worker turned…mermaid trainer.

After a spouse dies. • As Americans pursue health, we also find ourselves lonelier (this feels related). • Parents are strapped for time; hobbies, socializing, and relaxing are all on the chopping block. • An exhaustive timeline of the rise and fall of the ‘hipster music’ era. • “The billion-dollar peptides gold rush.”

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