Today’s Estate Sale Profiles features Carson Baxter, one of the owners of Bogard’s in St. Louis. Estate Sales are a sensitive business and required the utmost professionalism when conducting them. We are excited to be able to present some of the best, have them share their background and a day in the life of an Estate Sale Professional. Check out Carson’s story:
Bogard’s provides professional estate sale management services to the entire St. Louis metropolitan area. We also conduct downsizing and moving sales, but we primarily specialize in estate sale management and liquidation.
We have been conducting estate sales since 2003. I have a strong sales and marketing background which helps tremendously in our marketing efforts for each sale. I have a partner, Norman, who is instrumental in helping me keep the business moving forward! We work as a well oiled machine and I think it’s important to have more than one person in charge! Incidentally, the name “Bogard’s” is taken from my great, great, great grandmother, Mary Bogard who lived in New Orleans before and during the civil war era. I use her photo with our logo in all of our marketing material and people tell me that they see a resemblance.
How I got the Estate Sale Bug?
My Mother was an Interior Decorator and loved collecting and buying antiques. Owning an estate sale business seemed like such a natural thing for me (just like walking). When I was a young boy, I used to go with her to estate sales. I would spend most of my allowance on some of the most eclectic things you could possibly imagine! I loved the excitement of the sales and how each sale was so incredibly different. I was totally mesmerized by all the interesting people that were in attendance and I loved seeing what types of items everyone bought! It was, and still is so fascinating to me!
I guess the reason why I love conducting estate sales so much is that it’s not just about the selling of the merchandise and the liquidation process, but it’s more about helping families who are working through difficult transitions, usually the death of a loved one. Just the relief I see on someone’s face when I tell them that we are going to take care of the complete process for them and they don’t have to worry about a thing, is really priceless.