Pricing
What an estate sale costs
Almost no estate sale company in Hawaii publishes a rate. Here is ours, and exactly which factors move it.
An estimate, not a quote. It is deducted from the proceeds at settlement rather than billed to you upfront, and your rate is confirmed in writing after a walkthrough, before you commit to anything.
- Sorting and inventory
- Research and pricing
- Staging and marketing
- Staffed sale and written settlement
Why we publish it
You are going to ask anyway
Every Hawaii estate sale company we surveyed while building this site declines to publish a rate. A company that will not answer the question until you are sitting at your kitchen table is telling you something.
We would rather you arrive already knowing, and already able to compare us against anyone else on the same terms.
Context
What the rest of the industry charges
Reported by national estate-sale directories and cost guides, not by us, and describing the US market broadly rather than Hawaii specifically.
| Situation | Commonly reported range |
|---|---|
| Overall US range | Roughly 30–50% of gross sales |
| Most common band | 35–40% |
| Larger, higher-value estates | Toward 30–35% |
| Typical household estates | 35–45% |
| Small estates, or those needing heavy preparation | 45–50% |
| HiEstateSales estimated range | 25–35% |
A lower percentage is not automatically the better deal. A rate quoted before anyone has seen the property, or one that excludes preparation you are later billed for, can cost more than a higher all-in number.
The variables
What moves the number
Two things: what the sale is likely to earn, and how much work it takes to get there. The labor is close to fixed while the revenue is not, which is why a smaller estate carries a higher percentage.
| Factor | Toward the lower end | Toward the higher end |
|---|---|---|
| Expected gross | A full household with substantial furniture, collections or jewelry | A partly cleared home, or one where the contents are mostly low-value |
| Volume & preparation | Contents largely intact, organized, and ready to sort | Heavy accumulation, deep cleaning, or years of stored material |
| Research load | Mostly ordinary household goods with clear comparables | Collections, art, Hawaiiana or Asian antiques needing individual research |
| Access | Driveway or close parking, ground floor, easy loading | High-rise elevator reservations, restricted loading zones, long carries |
| Building rules | Single-family home, no association restrictions | AOAO limits on public access, or a sale that has to move off site |
| Location | Central and East Honolulu, urban core | North Shore or far leeward, where travel adds hours to every day of the job |
| Timeline | Several weeks between walkthrough and sale | A compressed schedule driven by a closing, pack-out or move-out date |
| Post-sale volume | Little expected to remain | Large volumes to donate, remove or dispose of after the sale closes |
Included
What the commission covers
- Room-by-room sorting and inventory of the contents in scope
- Research and pricing against completed sales, not asking prices
- Individual research on items outside ordinary household range
- Staging the property so it can be shopped properly
- Photography and listing the sale where estate sale buyers look
- A staffed, controlled sale across the agreed days
- Checkout, payment handling and transaction records
- An itemized settlement: gross sales, fee, agreed costs, your balance
Not automatically included
What can carry a separate cost
None of it is included by default and none of it is assumed. Whether any is needed, whether we are the right people to do it, and what it would cost are settled at the walkthrough and written into the scope before work starts.
- Large-scale disposal of whatever the sale does not clear
- Formal written appraisal by an outside specialist, where warranted
- Additional staffing beyond what the sale itself requires
- Storage, or moving contents to an off-site sale
- Deep cleaning or repairs undertaken at your request
Ask any company for this list in writing, including us. A written scope that names the exclusions is worth more than a lower headline percentage.
Worked example
What the arithmetic looks like
Not a quote, not an average, and not a projection of what any estate will earn. It exists purely to show how the fee is calculated.
| At 25% | At 30% | At 35% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sale proceeds | $40,000 | $40,000 | $40,000 |
| Commission | $10,000 | $12,000 | $14,000 |
| Paid to the estate | $30,000 | $28,000 | $26,000 |
A note on Hawaii general excise tax
Hawaii levies general excise tax on business activity: 4% statewide plus the City & County of Honolulu surcharge of 0.5%, giving 4.5% on Oʻahu, with a visible pass-on rate of 4.712%. How tax is handled on sale receipts and on the commission belongs in your written agreement rather than in a website paragraph. Ask us, and ask anyone else you are considering, to state it there.
Honest limits
When we will tell you not to do this
A percentage-based fee means our result tracks yours. It also means a small estate can cost more to run than it returns, and no reputable company should take that work without saying so first.
Not enough to sell
If the contents will not support a staffed, multi-day on-site sale, we will say so, and talk through the routes that remain: consignment, a bulk buyer, or documented donation.
The building will not allow it
Some Oʻahu condominiums prohibit opening a unit to the public. Where that is the case, an on-site sale is off the table regardless of what is inside.
The timeline does not work
Preparation is where value is found. If your date does not leave room to research and price properly, we will tell you what it will cost you rather than rush it.
Getting a number
How the estimate works
-
Tell us the basics
Where the property is, roughly what is in it, who has authority, and the date you are working toward.
-
We walk the property
Contents, volume, access, and for a condominium, the house rules. Nobody can quote an estate sight-unseen and mean it.
-
You get it in writing
The rate, the scope, the schedule, the settlement terms and the unsold-item plan. Read it, compare it, take it elsewhere if you want to.
Questions worth asking any estate sale company
- What is your commission, and what does it cover?
- What is not covered, and what would I be billed for separately?
- When do I get paid after the sale closes, and in what form?
- Will I get an itemized accounting of gross sales?
- What happens to what does not sell, and who decides?
- Are you insured, and for what?
- Have you run a sale in a building with house rules like mine?
- Who is actually on site during the sale?
If a company gets uncomfortable at question two or three, you have learned something useful for free.
Pricing questions
More on cost
How much do estate sale companies charge?
Estate sale companies are almost always paid as a percentage of what the sale earns, deducted from the proceeds rather than billed upfront. National directories and industry cost guides commonly report a range of roughly 30–50% of gross sales, with 35–40% typical. Our estimated range is 25–35%, and where a specific estate lands inside it depends on volume, value, the amount of preparation and labor required, access, and timeline. The rate for your estate is confirmed in writing after a walkthrough, before you commit to anything.
What decides where in the 25–35% range my estate falls?
Broadly: how much revenue the sale is likely to produce, and how much work it takes to produce it. A large, well-kept, high-value household that is ready to stage sits at the lower end. A smaller estate, or one needing heavy sorting, cleaning, disposal, repeated trips, restricted building access, extra staffing or security, or a compressed timeline, sits higher, because the labor is close to fixed while the revenue is not. The pricing page breaks each of these factors out individually.
Are there any upfront costs?
The commission model exists specifically so that families do not have to fund the process out of pocket: the fee comes out of the sale proceeds at settlement. Some estates do involve costs beyond the commission, such as large-scale disposal, specialty appraisal, or additional security. Anything of that kind should be identified and agreed in writing before work starts, not discovered afterwards. Ask any company you talk to for that list in writing, including us.
What happens if the sale doesn't earn much?
A percentage-based fee means our outcome tracks yours, which is the point of the model. But it also means a very small estate can cost more to run than it returns, and no reputable company should take that work on without saying so. If the walkthrough suggests the numbers do not support a staffed on-site sale, we will tell you, and talk through the routes that remain: consignment, a bulk buyer for some or all of the contents, donation with proper documentation, or simply a different scope.
Industry comparison figures on this page are drawn from published national estate-sale cost guides, including EstateSales.org and EstateSaleFinder. Hawaii general excise tax rates are published by the Hawaii Department of Taxation. Nothing on this page is tax or legal advice.
Start with a walkthrough
Tell us where the property is, roughly what's in it, and the date you're working toward. We'll come look, tell you what the estate is realistically likely to do, and put the scope and the rate in writing before you commit to anything.
No cost for the consultation. No obligation to book a sale.