Everyone knows of the concept of a garage sale, but few are able to make one be truly successful. There are several reasons for this: The need to appraise every item, the need to mark everything, and finally, the tendency of garage sale customers to want to negotiate the price of everything. For some, all of these things come easy. Most, however, are better off hiring a liquidations firm to come in and take care of it all.

A liquidator doesn't just come in and price-mark everything like a crew of low-level employees. Its crew will professionally appraise things to determine their local market value. Then, they'll take excellent pictures to list them online. Most importantly, a liquidator will put your items up for sale at a special auction event that is advertised to all of their usual customers. This will bring hundreds or even thousands of sets of eyes to your items.

These events are often called tag sales because everything is "tagged" with a price. They tend to be advertised as such, too. This lets would-be buyers know that it is a professionally-run event. Buyers often prefer this because they, too, can be put off with the usual negotiation process at garage sales. They know that if they go to tag sales, the price is what it says it is. Then, they don't have to wonder if they could have gotten a better deal somehow.

Many companies that do tag sales also do auctions. You may find that the best way to liquidate your unwanted items is to use a combination of the two methods. Lower-value items can go via the tag sale, while those likely to bring bidding interest should go to auction. Good liquidation firms will make sure to let you know which method is best for each of your items.