CHATTEL CHANGERS

The owner did a good job of explaining the services that they offer, answered all of my questions and was up front and honest about what they would and would not handle. The process was simple, though, if you get there during a busy time, you may have to wait quite a while. Originally, Chattel Changers managed estate sales, and later on opened the consignment shop, and eventually stopped running estate sales altogether. Instead, the business does what they call "clean out" services, in which they empty a house, taking what they want to sell at their shop, and donating the remainder to charity or discarding it in a dumpster. Their clean out customers come first, so, while you will see upholstered and well worn furniture, slightly damaged porcelain and in their shop, they will not accept such items for consignment unless you have hired their clean out service. We were not interested in risking that some items would end up in a landfill, and so, chose not to use their clean out service. Instead we used an auction company, and donated items that they did not believe would sell to a women's shelter. I did, however, want to discover whether they would be able to sell some of the more interesting antiques, and so offered a couple of items on a trial basis, and was pleased that one item sold relatively quickly.

This is a great store and it's lots of fun. They have high quality items at reasonable prices, and the staff is very low-key. They'll answer questions but don't mind how long you wander around looking at things. I've bought a number of things there over the years, and also sold some things (a tea set, some ceramic items) on consignment, a process that they make very easy. I've never bought jewelry there, but they have a large selection of old jewelry and silver as well as furniture and decorative items.