August 14th, 2015

8/14/2015

First of all we need to say Thank You once again for your tremendous loyalty in coming to our sales. We appreciate each and every one of you.
Now it's time to address what happened at today's sale. We received complaints from customers, we were told that the fire dept. was going to be called, we received complaints from neighbors because of the parking and being spoken to rudely by customers, several customers mentioned being pushed or shoved and one of our staff was told by several customers that they weren't coming back to any of our sales because of the crowds. This is very concerning to us. It's a win/lose situation. We want our customer base to continue to grow, but we don't want to lose any of our customers because of our crowd turnouts. We can't apologize for offering a service that people love and appreciate.
So it is with heavy heart that we will be announcing the following tomorrow morning: When we have the number of people in line that we had this morning, we will be doing crowd control. Our major concern is and always will be liability and safety. Both for you, the customer, and for our staff. We've put this off for over 4 months because we don't feel it's fair. But we will not risk losing our business or jeopardizing anyone's safety. And so we ask that you will understand our reasons for taking this action and will continue to support us in our business.
As I'm sure most will be asking........depending on the size of the house where a sale is held, we will be allowing a maximum of 50 people inside at one time. If our staff feels comfortable with more people then we will do our best to get everyone in as quickly as possible. If the staff says stop at 35 that's where we'll stop.
And last, we need to emphasize that we are an all female staff. We do not load furniture. So if you come to our sales planning to buy furniture, please, please plan ahead and bring help. Furniture bought on Fridays can be picked up as late as 11:30 on Saturday. Thank You!

13 Comments

J. Spivey

8/14/2015 09:29:48 am

Totally understandable.You do what you need to do. Your sales are the BEST!!! You ladies work very hard and it's impossible to please everyone. Those who complain about your new policies are the ones you don't need there anyway You can't apologize for being busy.

DennisJennings

8/14/2015 09:45:17 am

a great deal of your troubles today were generated by poor planning of traffic flow. You need to get one of the shelter roof stands common to flea markets and downtown events and set up your cashier outside. The simple fact that your cashier was a choke point for both shoppers and and those who were waiting to cash out. Having the jewelry display next to the cashier as it was today is a disaster when it comes to creating more congestion. Also, setting up in the driveway allows you to allow entrance and egress via the garage door which was not available today and left you with a vast potential liability if there had been an emergency If i seem harsh, I apologize. I have been a businessman for over fifty years and and have only your best interest and mine at heart.
Sincerely Dennis Jennings

Terri

8/14/2015 11:30:09 am

Unfortunately, I stopped going to your estate sales months ago because I was shoved, elbowed, and rudely spoken to by customers. I am sure the shoving and elbowing by customers was due to the large numbers of people allowed in at one time. I am glad to hear that some type of traffic control will be implemented :) Perhaps I will stop by one of your estate sales again. Best of Luck Ladies.

Lynn K

8/14/2015 09:46:13 am

I totally agree with J. Spivey's comment. Your sales are wonderful. Those who complain, should stay home.. Estate Sales should be fun, not an ordeal.

Lori Lewis

8/14/2015 09:59:21 am

This idea of crowd control is nothing new in East Grand Rapids, Michigan where I come from. Lining up at 4 am was typical. Bakery numbers were given or a legal pad sign up sheet was provided. Once you got your number, you could leave for breakfast and come back when the sale opened. The number of people allowed inside varied by the size of the house. I recently went to an estate sale by another company in The Ranch. It was chaos, understaffed, the jewelry counter and cashier were a disaster, there were many near miss physical disasters, lots of shoving and elbowing. The one thing that was brilliant was on hand loaders in bright t-shirts. Pull up to the curb and they loaded your stuff into your vehicle. Put the jewelry far away from the cash and bagging area with a person to service it and/or even take the cash for it and mark it sold? With success comes headaches and reassessing. You have more staff than anyone else and I still love the holding boxes idea. One riotous estate sale does not tarnish your Best in the Business reputation. You are doing a great service to the community.

David and Allison Horton

8/14/2015 11:27:39 am

First we agree with all of the previous comments posted. We have been attending sales in the area for the last 3 months since relocating on a temporary basis to this area. This sale was the largest line we have seen yet. Crowd control is a must for safety concerns for everyone. As dealers we wish to say thank you for having the best prices around in your estate sales. It's refreshing to see a company price items to move the first time around! Keep up the great work!

Gil Ingraham

8/14/2015 12:06:26 pm

Thought it was a great sale, good quality, whiners are whiners, and some folks just don't understand the Golden Rule. If the mix is too big wait let it pass. If you see something leave you just have to have make an offer. It was a tough sale, trash day and a small street. I concur the placement of small value items. Perhaps a loading zone near the home, and folks wouldn't feel the need to park so close. Thanks and keep it up.

Cheri link

8/14/2015 12:14:29 pm

There are always a few greedy, rude and complaining bad apples. Your sales are the best and always professional. The amount of customers you had today is testimony to that. Hopefully, they will stay home for the next sale.

Monica

8/14/2015 12:48:14 pm

I attended your sale today and was appalled by the behavior of people who attended, they certainly did not act their age. We have to remember that we are all there for the same reason. Pushing, shoving, acting like they are the only people there-if this is what they are going to do they need to stay home. The sale was great, but I agree, too many people at one time. I am from Portland, OR and many of the Estate Sale businesses only let a certain number of people in at a time. For those who don't like this idea, stay home. Your sales are great, clean, well organized. Don't jeopardize your business just because some people don't like the changes you are going to make. It's in your best interest as well as the customers. I agree that the jewelry should not be next to the cashier. Too much congestion and really not fair to the cashier. Again, I may be wrong, but it looked like there was only one way out of the house. Should have had the garage door open for 2nd exit. Keep up the good work, your sales are awesome. Do what is best for you, your business and customers.

Barbara Sioussat

8/14/2015 12:54:29 pm

I agree with customer J. Spiveys' comment What you have to do is what you have to do
We love the Estate Sales, your employees, and the way you do business

Kathi

8/14/2015 01:22:56 pm

We love you guys and agree with most of the posts. Keep up the good work and if someone decides not to come, someone else will
take their place. You have fair prices and work hard. Keeping the garage closed is a good way to keep items from walking away, but maybe a couple of staff could monitor that. If you keep the cashier out of the house as suggested that will also help the traffic flow.
Keep up the good work and Thank You!

Charlotte

8/15/2015 11:05:17 am

Besides the idea of certain number of people, can you also do a few things:
1. I've seen people take things (not theirs) out of the holding boxes. Perhaps placing them in "safer" locations.
2. Get some painters tape. Not much more than the masking tape, yet will save covers on books (especially the older ones like around the cloth/leather of early 1900's) that are usually at your sales.
3. Perhaps some way of keeping a line a line like that of fairs and theme parks (use some sort of tape-between-poles).

Rhoda

8/18/2015 01:41:42 am

First let me say that we enjoy your sales and your staff is always friendly and helpful.

I agree with Mr. Jennings statement. Your sales are a bottle-neck with the garage blocked off and the sales table set up by the exit. This sale even had the holding area in front of the sale table which constricted flow through that area even more. I agree the sales table should be set up outside, which would get the congestion out of the house and leave more room for holding areas. I believe blocking off the garage is definitely a liability in case of emergency.

Prescott loves it's estate sales. Most people are polite and considerate at sales. Don't let a few crabby complainers ruin it for everybody.

August 14th, 2015

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