We're big fans of estate sales and typically spend one afternoon a week visiting the estate sales around Tulsa. Only at estate sales can a person find some of these items and the prices are fabulous.
Everything in the photos of my dining room was bought at estate sales - except for the china which was bought at an auction in the Oklahoma panhandle for $30. The dining room table, six chairs, and china hutch cost about $1200. The crystal was collected over about three years from countless estate sales at about $1 per glass (compared to $4-8 per glass on eBay for this design). We've seen the candy dish a few times, typically priced about $6 on day one (the prices are lowered on subsequent sale days), and recently found the same design in an antique store with a whopping price tag of $75. The antique carved cherrywood server was picked up at an estate sale for $65 - half the original asking price and a fraction of the price at an antique furniture store.
Most estate sales are open for about 3-4 days and, over the days, routinely reduce the price by 25% then 50%, then 65% or 75%. Bids are typically accepted (we'll write more about how to bid at estate sales in a later post).
Here are a few of our favorite estate sale companies in the Tulsa area:
