We recently asked some of our followers what their most outrageous Estate Sale Find was. We also asked Estate Sale Professionals what their most outrageous item they’ve ever sold at an Estate Sale. Here are some of the peculiar responses we received:
“The most unusual item that I have purchased at an estate sale is a pice of Victorian “Mourning” jewelry. It is a brooch. And encased in the brooch is human hair (probably of a loved one), woven in a tight “basket” weave. One side has chestnut colored hair, the other, a lighter brown. It was a steal at $55, as they usually go for $100 and up. I am going to convert it into a choker, as I rarely wear brooches.”
-Jenny M.
“I found a deceased owner’s hip bone (from surgery) in a jar on the top shelf of a kitchen cabinet. Gross!”
“Perhaps the most outrageous thing I’ve ever sold would probably be a set of WORKING 1950s Mexican handpainted light bulbs. It may not seem outrageous at first but my client, now in her sixties, went with her family in the 1950s (as a child) and they bought these decorative light bulbs. For 11 of the 12 found in the estate to be intact and working (we got them to work on a purchased C-9 string of Christmas lights from Walmart) is pretty incredible.”
-Rusty Carlson, Owner of Rusty’s Real Deal Estate Liquidation in California
“I’m an avid estate sale shopper and have several outrageous items I’ve found. One was a set of 14 Andrew Wyeth prints in the original box, marked down to $20. The sale was in an old farmhouse in Portland, Maine. My father, who was Andy’s best friend, estimated its value at several hundred dollars.”
“A couple of years ago, I was on the hunt for an upright piano for my children to play on. I didn’t want to pay much and kept running into sales where the piano was priced at more than $500. Finally, I found a nice one for $150 and promptly bought it. The name wasn’t one I recognized, but I was happy with the price and had it delivered to our home. The delivery person saw the price tag and asked if that was really what I had paid. When I told him it was, he told me the unit I had just bought was a Baldwin worth more than $1100.”
“My husband went to an estate sale and saw a wooden sofa on the enclosed porch of a home priced at $25. Recognizing the wood as cherry, he turned over some of the seat cushions and discovered the piece was by Stickley. He bought it and THEN told the estate sale manager what she had just sold.”
-Marcia Layton Turner, Author & Freelancer
“False Teeth”
-Vena H.
“Used eye shadow applicators…and I’m not kidding either!”
-Alexandra D.
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