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What is a liquidation sale?

Also called: estate liquidation, clearance sale, going-out-of-business sale · Used in United States and Canada

A liquidation sale is a sale that clears everything from a home or business quickly, often run by a professional liquidation company that charges a fee or takes a commission on what sells. Prices start firm and drop as the sale goes on, because the goal is an empty space.

What it actually means in practice

A home liquidation and an estate sale are often the same thing, but liquidation is the wider word: it also covers downsizing, a move into care, or a store or business closing down, while an estate sale usually follows a death.

Buyers get the best prices on the last day, when many companies cut prices by half or more. Anything left at the end may be donated or hauled away, so a late offer on a big item is often accepted.

Estate saleAn estate sale liquidates an entire household at once — the furniture, the contents of every drawer, the garden and often the house itself — typically after a death, a move to smaller accommodation or a downsizing. It usually runs three to five days and is often handled by a professional company.Moving saleA moving sale is a garage sale with a deadline attached. The household is relocating, the removal van is booked, and anything that has not sold by a fixed morning is either carried, stored, given away or put out on the curb.Garage saleA garage sale is a household selling its own used belongings directly to walk-up buyers, usually from a driveway or garage, for a day or a weekend. Items are priced by the seller, cash is normal, and there is no shop, staff or warranty involved.

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