Michael Welsh

I contacted Michael Welsh who owns this company after seeing one of his Estate Sales online. I met with him and felt that he would be perfect for helping my mother with an Estate Sale. Michael came to my mother's home on 9/21/11 to conduct an appraisal and told us he would give is a ballpark estimate within a couple of days. Then I didn't hear from him for several days so I emailed him. We confirmed through email that the sale would be conducted on 10/22 and 10/23 - he confirmed the dates and sent me a contract to sign. I asked on numerous occasions to see the declarations page from his insurance company, and he told me he was waiting for it to arrive. I never saw it and he never told me how much coverage he had. Then I received an email today 10/5/11 telling me he was going to "pass" on the sale because they didn't have he staffing and that basically they wouldn't make enough money. Now I only have a couple of weekends left to have the sale conducted and have to scramble to do this. Below is the email I received from him and below that is from his website. He told me directly it didn't matter how much money the sale would generate. And not once did he offer to refer us to someone else. I was at another Estate Sale of his in September and it was in a MUCH smaller home than my mother with MUCH less valuable merchandize, so I don't believe Michael when he says the sale won't generate enough money for him. From Michale Welsh 10/5/11: I am sorry to say that we are going to pass on doing a sale for your mother. I am having staffing issues that will prevent me from having efficient coverage for this sale. And I think there may not be enough items to be sold to make it worth your time and our time to do a big production sale. While we do not charge a minimum fee or any other kinds of fees outside of our 30%, we have to evaluate each sale for profitability. It is quite possible that your mother's sale would generate between $2000 and $5000 in gross sales (before we calculate our fee). That falls below our threshold for potential profit given the marketing and staffing expenses we will incur for the sale. From his website: We assist with selling the estate of a loved one, or of your own personal possessions, with a personalized plan tailored to your individual needs. We offer a free, no-cost consultation to evaluate your needs. We handle the appraisal, pricing, photography, display, advertising, the sale itself, cleanup and accounting after the sale. Our fee is a percentage commission based on the revenue generated from the sale, and is determined in advance after looking at location, amount of labor involved, the amount and quality of the possessions to be disposed, and current market conditions. We have immediate access to experts in jewelry, antiques, Americana, and home furnishings should we need them. There are several very fine estate sale companies in Chicago and on the North Shore with decades of experience in high-end antiques and large estates, and if after our consultation with you we determine that one of our colleagues is better suited for your needs, we will refer you without hesitation. Our goal is to provide you with the best options for disposing of your possessions.