74 CHARLOTTEMAGAZINE.COM // JUNE 2019
(Clockwise from
above left) Nichols
and Settle thumb
through some
children’s books;
an old fire escape
ladder goes for
$10; Settle shows
Bonk’s son how
a model catapult
works before he
buys it.The “brothers
and sisters of
the hunt” dig
for treasures at
a yard sale in
South Charlotte.Garage Sale vs.
Estate Sale: What’s
the Dierence?
GARAGE SALE:
Also called a yard sale, rummage sale,
or tag sale, it’s an informal sale in the
homeowner’s yard or garage with used
clothes, toys, books, furniture, and
other household items. Sellers post
signs around the neighborhood with
the time and location of the event, and
some advertise in the newspaper or
online.ESTATE SALE:
Sometimes called a liquidation,
an estate sale typically happens
inside a home over the course of a
weekend—most commonly when a
homeowner dies but sometimes when
a homeowner prepares to move to an
assisted living facility or in the event of
a divorce or foreclosure. A professional
firm or a liquidator with experience
pricing big-ticket items like furniture,
art, and jewelry generally handles this
type of sale, which limits the number
of people who come through. Some
estate sales have a sign-up sheet and
only allow a few customers in at a time.