Estate Sales
Pricing
Complete Guide
How Estate Sale Fees Actually Work in Alberta
- By White Lily Estate Liquidations
- July 30, 2026
- 8:32 pm
- 13 min read
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Section 01
Why Pricing Structures Look Different Here
Most of what’s written online about estate sale pricing comes from the United States, where companies typically quote a single commission percentage, say 35%, taken off the top of whatever the sale grosses. If you’ve searched for guidance on what to expect closer to home, you’ve probably noticed the numbers don’t quite line up.
Estate sale companies in Alberta generally use pricing structures that differ from those commonly used in the U.S.
While this guide focuses on estate sale fees across Alberta, the examples and pricing structures are based primarily on Calgary, where many professional estate sale companies use similar pricing models.
Both approaches accomplish the same thing financially, but the version used here is a client-share figure rather than a company-cut figure, and it’s frequently combined with a separate flat fee rather than commission alone. Understanding both halves (the split and the fixed fee) is essential before comparing quotes from different companies.
Section 02
The Three Common Structures
Estate liquidators serving Calgary homes generally offer one of a few pricing arrangements. Each pairs a revenue split, expressed as the percentage you, the client, keep, with a flat fee that covers the company’s baseline costs of running the sale. The examples below reflect the quotes families commonly receive.
| Structure | Client Keeps | Company Keeps | Fixed Fee* | Best Suited For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
High-value estates |
90% |
10% |
Highest overall |
Homes with substantial contents (antiques, art, quality furniture, jewellery) where gross sales are expected to be high |
Standard estates |
70% |
30% |
Medium |
The typical family household: a broad mix of furniture, décor, and everyday goods |
Small estates and rural areas |
50% |
50% |
Lowest |
Typical for smaller estates, rural areas, or estates requiring significant prep work |
HIGH-VALUE ESTATES
Revenue Split
90%
Client Keeps
10%
Company Keeps
Fixed Fee
Highest
Best Suited For
Homes with substantial contents (antiques, art, quality furniture, jewellery) where gross sales are expected to be high
STANDARD ESTATES
Revenue Split
70%
Client Keeps
30%
Company Keeps
Fixed Fee
Medium
Best Suited For
The typical family household: a broad mix of furniture, décor, and everyday goods
SMALL ESTATES & RURAL AREAS
Revenue Split
50%
Client Keeps
50%
Company Keeps
Fixed Fee
Lowest
Best Suited For
Typical for smaller estates, rural areas, or estates requiring significant prep work
*The actual figure is set after an initial walkthrough and depends on the volume and condition of the home’s contents – a larger, fuller home naturally costs more to inventory, price, and staff than a smaller one.
The flat fee and the revenue split are two separate components of the total cost – they are not netted against one another. The flat fee is paid upfront, before the sale begins, and it covers the company’s baseline costs of running the sale: staffing, marketing, cataloguing, insurance, and the overall labor required to prepare the home. Separately, once the sale concludes, the company also keeps its agreed percentage of the total sale proceeds (10%, 30%, or 50%, depending on the tier).
The size of the flat fee isn’t a flat number across all estates – it’s set individually for each home, based on factors like:
- The volume of items that need to be inventoried and priced
- The overall condition and complexity of the estate’s contents
- The number of staff required to properly staff and supervise the sale
- The size of the home itself
This is why the flat fee is only determined after the initial walkthrough – a smaller condo with modest contents requires far less staffing and cataloguing work than a large home full of antiques and high-value pieces, and the fee reflects that difference.
Our fee structure reflects real differences in what each sale requires. Every sale gets the same foundation of professional staging, cataloguing, advertising, and staffing, but larger homes with higher-value contents naturally require more of it: more staff to properly supervise valuable items room by room, and more specialized marketing to reach the collectors and dealers who buy antiques and fine pieces, rather than the general public.
Why Working With a Professional Company Delivers More Than DIY Ever Can
Beyond the time and expertise involved, there are two other critical factors families often overlook when weighing whether to handle a sale themselves: liability and net return.
Insurance and Liability – Inviting strangers into a home to view and purchase items creates real legal and financial exposure. A buyer injury on the property, a dispute over a damaged item, a claim of theft, or a disagreement over a transaction can leave a family personally liable in ways they never anticipated. A professional company carries proper insurance coverage, follows structured protocols, and closely supervises everyone who enters the home – protecting the family from risks they may not even realize exist.
Net Proceeds – Even after paying a company’s fee, the amount a family walks away with is typically higher than if they sold everything themselves. Why? Because a professional team knows how to identify items of real value, price them accurately, and reach the right buyers – collectors, dealers, and serious enthusiasts willing to pay fair market prices. Families selling on their own often undersell valuable pieces simply out of unfamiliarity or a desire to “just get it done.” When you account for that gap in pricing and buyer reach, the service fee is more than offset – often several times over.
Avoiding Costly Mistakes – A self-managed sale exposes a family to a range of risks: mispricing items, ineffective negotiation, payment complications, or simply lacking the experience to manage a full sale process from start to finish. Any one of these mistakes can end up costing far more than a professional company’s fee ever would.
Peace of Mind During a Difficult Time – Liquidating an estate is often an emotionally complex process to begin with. Handing the logistics to professionals allows the family to focus on what truly matters, rather than juggling strangers in the home, pricing decisions, and payment collection while also processing loss.
At the end of the day, professional service isn’t an added expense – it’s what ensures a family captures the full value of their loved one’s belongings, safely, efficiently, and with minimal risk.
Section 03
What the Flat Fee Covers
A professional estate sale company’s fee covers a significant amount of work:
Initial walkthrough and consultation
In some cases, free. This first visit lets us assess the home (distance, stairs, rooms, parking) and scope out the sale.
Item Research & Pricing
Every item in the home is researched and priced individually, from furniture down to kitchen utensils.
Home Staging
The home is staged to maximize buyer interest and create smooth traffic flow throughout the sale.
Marketing
Your sale is promoted through EstateSales.net listings, social media, buyer email lists, and neighborhood signage.
Staffing
Trained employees staff the sale for 2–3 days to assist buyers and oversee the home.
Payment Processing
Cash and credit card payments are handled securely throughout the sale.
Post-Sale Cleanup & Accounting
After the sale, we handle cleanup along with full accounting of proceeds.
Insurance & Bonding
Coverage is in place for the full duration of the sale to protect the home and its contents.
Section 04
What Determines Your Payout
The split you agree to matters, but it isn’t the only, or even always the most important, variable in how much money ends up in your hands. A few factors tend to move the needle more than the percentage on the contract:
What's actually in the home
Estates with antiques, quality furniture, jewelry, and collectibles generate significantly more than average household goods.
Marketing effort
Companies with large buyer email lists, and a strong connections in the industry attract more buyers and drive higher competition among them.
Pricing expertise
Companies with large buyer email lists, and a strong connections in the industry attract more buyers and drive higher competition among them.
Location and season
Sales held during peak seasons (spring and fall) typically outperform those in rural areas or during the winter months.
Section 05
Questions Worth Asking Before You Sign
Because pricing structures are fairly similar between companies, the real way to compare fairly is to ask the same questions of every liquidator you interview.
Are you insured, and are you bonded?
Confirm the company carries appropriate liability insurance before anyone sets foot in the home, and ask whether it is bonded - not every legitimate local company is, so it's worth clarifying rather than assuming.
What's the split, and what's the flat fee - in writing? Are there any additional fees?
Ask for all the numbers, not just the flat fee. Request how the flat fee was calculated for your specific home.
Which pricing model will you use on sale day?
The two-day markdown or the strict 60-cent floor - find out which applies, and why.
What happens to items that don't sell?
Donation, consignment, or removal, and whether removal carries an additional charge.
How is payment reconciled and when?
Ask for a typical timeline from the final day of the sale to your payout, and how the accounting is documented.
Who Handles Your Sale, and What's Their Screening Process?
Ask whether sale staff are trained employees or last-minute hires, and what kind of background checks or vetting process they go through. The people walking through your home for two or three days should be trustworthy and experienced.
Should I get my items appraised before an estate sale?
Yes, particularly when the estate includes art, jewelry, antiques, or collectibles. Bringing in a professional appraiser helps catch pieces that could otherwise be underpriced in a general estate sale setting. Many estate sale companies offer appraisal services themselves or work with outside specialists when high-value items are involved.It's also worth knowing that not everything ends up sold on-site during the estate sale itself. Items like vehicles, high-value artwork, and fine jewelry are often routed elsewhere (sent to an auction house, sold through a specialist dealer, or handled on a separate timeline entirely) rather than being priced and sold alongside the rest of the household's contents during the sale weekend. This is usually done because these categories require specialized buyers and can fetch significantly more through the right channel than they would in a general estate sale setting.
Section 06
Red Flags That Signal an Overpriced or Unprofessional Company
Based on our experience, a few warning signs come up more than others.
Offering to buy items before the sale
A liquidator offering to purchase pieces directly from you, ahead of the public sale, may have a built-in incentive to undervalue them. In our experience, sellers are better served by liquidators who source buyers for their items rather than becoming a buyer themselves.
Nothing is put in writing
The split, the flat fee, the markdown schedule, and the unsold-item policy should all appear in a signed contract - not a verbal understanding.
An unusually generous split with no flat fee explained
If a company offers 90% with a suspiciously low or undisclosed flat fee, ask how they intend to cover staffing and marketing costs. Corners are usually cut somewhere.
Pressure to sign the same day
A liquidator confident in their pricing and service won't need to rush you into a decision. Take time to compare at least two or three quotes.
No insurance
This is a dealbreaker - walk away immediately. If a worker or a customer is injured during the sale, they can sue the homeowner directly. Insurance protects you from that liability, which is why it's essential that the company carries both general liability insurance and WCB (Workers' Compensation Board) coverage.
Section 07
Why Families Still Choose a Professional
One Contract, Full Coverage
Insurance, bonding, and liability during the sale period are handled entirely by the company – a real concern once strangers are walking through the home.
Pricing Expertise
Knowing what a piece is genuinely worth, rather than guessing, is consistently where the biggest gains in total proceeds come from.
Speed
A home that might take a family two or three months to clear on their own is typically emptied within a few weeks under professional management.
A Buyer Network You Can't Build Overnight
Regulars who show up for every sale a company runs are worth more than any amount of neighbourhood signage.
A Cleared, Market-Ready Home
From the initial walkthrough to the final broom-clean sweep, a full-service liquidator handles the entire home – not just the pieces that happen to sell.
Section 08
What This Looks Like in Practice
Pricing structure is only half the picture. Just as important is how items are priced across the days of the sale. Estate sale companies use a range of markdown strategies – publicly documented examples include fixed-price days, negotiated pricing, silent bids, and auctions. Two examples we frequently see locally are outlined below.
The Two-Day Markdown Model
On day one, items are sold at roughly 70 cents on the marked dollar. On day two, everything remaining is discounted to 50% off the original tag price. In practice, the second day is often where a large share of the volume moves - bargain hunters and later arrivals show up specifically for the markdown, which helps clear the home more completely.
The Flat-Rate Model
Prices hold at a firm 60 cents on the dollar throughout day one. From that point forward, prices remain negotiableץ This model rewards early buyers with consistency and gives the seller more price control over the course of the sale.
Neither approach is objectively better – the right choice depends on the type of contents, how quickly the home needs to be cleared, and buyer traffic in the area. A good liquidator will walk you through which model suits your estate before the contract is signed, rather than defaulting to whichever is easiest for them.
Numbers on a contract are useful, but they only tell part of the story. Here’s how Calgary-area family described the process after their sale wrapped up.
Every estate is different, and the right structure – 90/10, 70/30, or 50/50 – depends entirely on what’s in the home and how quickly it needs to be cleared. In our experience working with Calgary families, the most useful step you can take is an honest, no-obligation walkthrough, where a liquidator can tell you which model actually fits your situation rather than which one is easiest to sell you on.