The line was already waiting when the doors were about to open. Over a recent weekend in the Atlanta area, shoppers stood outside a house ready to hand over $20 each just for the privilege of walking inside, and the woman collecting the money says it was a hit. At 10 A.M., the doors opened on what she calls her first venture into hosting an admission-fee cleanout sale.
The host behind @zannafinds says she has always loved shopping admission-entry and cleanout estate sales, so she decided to host one of her own. “Why not host one!?” she wrote in her post. Her answer, after the weekend, was that it was a success, and that the crowd managed to clear a large portion of the home.
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“Okay, it’s time to open up for our $20 admission estate sale,” she says at the start of the day. She steps outside, sees the line, and decides to collect the money herself so everything stays organized. People are allowed to come in at 10 A.M. “Yeah, we got a line this morning. Awesome,” she says.
How The Day Worked
The setup was simple. Each shopper paid the $20 fee at the door and got a stamp. Inside, they could browse and fill up as much as they wanted, because in the host’s words, the $20 was a small price to pay for “unlimited fun.”
A big part of the plan was a hold room, a space where shoppers could leave what they had picked until they were ready to take it out. She says the room was filling up quickly with everyone “hard at work shopping and shopping.” Buyers carried their finds out to their cars, and the stamp on their hand was their ticket back inside. When they showed it, she let them back in to keep shopping.
The goal, she says, was to move as much out of the house as possible. At one point she checked the hold room and described what she saw as hikers, shoppers hiking out to their vehicles with armloads, grabbing some snacks and then coming back for more. “So much stuff that’s already gone out of this house,” she says. She adds that the hold room was packed with “tons of stuff.”
Microwaves, Elmo And A Missing Case Of Wine
As the hours went by, the host narrated the items going out the door. She waved goodbye to a microwave and to an Elmo. A shopper carried out a Samsung item, and she joked that she missed it as it left. She called the sale “going” and kept moving through the house, including a trip to the basement, which she had not yet explored that morning.
The funniest moment came when she realized a shopper had found the wine. “This lady found the wine. How did I miss the wine?” she says, adding that she was disappointed in herself.
She also points to one group as the best value of the day. A shopper arrived with what she believes were three people, so they paid $60 at the door and carried out a large pile of finds. She calls it the best value, since each person paid the same flat $20 regardless of how much they hauled out.
Why Admission Estate Sales Are Catching On
A flat entry fee for an estate sale may sound odd the first time you hear it, but the idea is simple. Instead of pricing every single item, the host brings in money upfront and lets shoppers decide how much to take. For the person clearing out a home, it can speed things up and keep the crowd serious. For shoppers, it can be a fun way to dig through a whole house without bargaining over each tag.
The host says she plans to do it again. “I’ll be hosting similar things in the near future,” she wrote, and she thanked everyone who came out and made the day successful and fun.
Tips If You Plan To Shop One
- Arrive early. As this sale showed, a line formed before the 10 A.M. opening, and the early crowd gets the first pick.
- Bring cash for the entry fee if the host asks for it, and a few sturdy bags or a box for your finds.
- Dress for work. The host mentions shoppers hiking back and forth to their cars and visiting the basement, so comfortable shoes are a smart choice.
- Keep your stamp or wristband. In this sale it was the way back in after trips to the car.
- Look in every room, including the basement. In this sale the wine turned up where one shopper searched and the host did not.
Tips If You Want To Host One
If you are clearing out a family home, the host’s approach offers a few ideas. A hold room keeps floors clear and lets buyers keep shopping while their pile waits. A hand stamp or similar system makes it easy to let people back in without paying twice. A clear entry fee set before opening day tells everyone what to expect.
Most of all, the host’s own summary of the weekend captures it: she cleared a large portion of a house, welcomed a crowd that stood in line to get in, and had fun doing it. For anyone sitting on a houseful of belongings, an admission sale may be one more way to turn a big cleanout into a lively event.
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