Four Sales LTD

Less than an hour after submitting my online request for a vintage breakfront appraisal I received a phone call from Daniel Sanders, Four Sales Ltd and Inventory Inspector LLC. We had a lengthy discussion during which he provided a great deal of information and history on the changes in valuation for this particular type of furniture over the past 20 years. I have a 10-piece Union National French Provincial dining room set and a matching bedroom dresser my parents bought in the 1970s. Whether or not I submitted the other pieces for appraisal would depend on the result I received for the breakfront. Daniel is very knowledgeable about this particular manufacturer, the history of the company, the types and styles of furniture they manufactured and sold, and how each style has been valued by the market over the years. A very informative and helpful discussion. He also told me this particular style was not in great demand at this time and that it would have been valued much higher some years ago. My own research on Google did find the same breakfront in excellent condition was listed for sale some years ago at a fairly high price, but over the next few years, the price dropped considerably before it sold more than 8 years ago. We will be donating the furniture, so whoever eventually buys it may find that in 10-15 years or so French Provincial is again in demand and the value may increase (my own thoughts). Daniel gave me his estimated valuation for the breakfront and told me he did not think it would be worth it for me to pay for appraisals on the other pieces. The report I received included his valuation of the breakfront, and included a site-unseen estimated value for the type of dining room set this piece would be part of. I very much appreciated Daniel's honesty, and the time he took to discuss all aspects of this furniture with me, without trying to sell me additional services. He also offered a few things we should consider when claiming a charitable deduction. The time spent on the phone and the following report were worth so much more than the $100 I paid.

Did a good job of finding appropriate sales venues and prepping the items to bring in a good price.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for such a wonderful sales experience and the quick turnaround of all paperwork and payments. Your team was so very professional and great to work with on such short notice in such a difficult situation.

Excellent ... Daniel Sanders was very knowledgable and candid about each piece as he assessed value. The relationship with 123 Junks made the removal easy. They, too, were great.

Went according to plan, with a delightful group of workers. The eventual auction of some of our items yielded more than we had anticipated, so we were very pleased.

Four Sales accepted the items and quickly paid me a more-than-fair price with a lower commission that I actually expected -- and made the liquidation process for me easy during this difficult time of my life. Thank you so much, Four Sales!

Expensive, but the work was excellent. Process went well.

I spoke with Daniel at Four Sales in Alexandria, VA. Because I had so few items to sell, he told me that it would not be profitable for me to have them sell them. Then he generously gave me ballpark estimates for value of my antique furniture and suggested where I could try to sell them. Thank you Daniel!!

Daniel Sanders came highly recommended to me as I had to oversee the disposal of the contents of a home for an estate for which I am co-executor. He was easy to get in touch with, gave me great advice for what should be done, and followed through on everything he promised quickly, thoroughly and efficiently. The crews that handled both removing items that could be donated to charity, and emptying the rest of the contents of the house, were highly professional, friendly, polite, efficient, careful, and thorough. They treated the home with respect -- even wiping their feet on the doormat (this was on the day the hurricane was dumping inches of rain on the DC area) every time they entered the home after carting things to the truck. I told them that wasn't necessary, since we were going to replace all the carpet in the home, but they continued to wipe their feet anyway. I recommend Four Sale with enthusiasm and confidence. They exceeded my expectations and made what could have been a very trying experience a very easy one.

Daniel. Sanders contacted me shortly after I posted my request for appraisal services. He was a real pro and within a short period of time using some initial data and photos had accurately identified my specific desk, provided me the history of this specific article and what the current market value for this item. I would certainly contact him again for additional work. Daniel Sanders Four Sales Ltd

We consigned an unusually large estate collection of quality costume and other fine jewelry to be liquidated. Four sales came in, reviewed the collection, later picked it up, and within a few weeks had arranged for liquidation of the entire collection for a fair price. Their handling of the transaction was considerate, professional and highly beneficial to the estate, and we would recommend them highly.

I cannot thank Four Sales Team enough as every single of the team was so professional, approachable, hardworking, friendly and amazing. I will highly recommend Four Sales to anyone who wants the best experience with their state sales. Daniel, please convey my thanks for the team especially Mark. It has been an absolute pleasure knowing you all.

Four Sales was an answer to prayer in a time of need! We would not have been able to so efficiently empty my parent's house without Daniel's help. Daniel and Four Sales provides such a valuable service to the children of ailing parents like me and my sisters. Daniel's customer service was excellent. And we really appreciated his direct and honest style. I would highly recommend Four Sales!

Overall great experience, just a little over 1 month from first contact with Four Sales to the final settlement. Very professional, courteous, and informative. I absolutely recommend them to anyone needing to downsize.

The process was smooth, painless and professional from start to finish,

Meeting and exceeding our family’s expectations, Four Sales lived up to its reputation as the DC metro area’s leading estate sales agent and the top recommendation of our realtor. Four Sales president Daniel Sanders and his team were great to work with. With his easy-going nature and good sense of humor, Mr. Sanders put us at ease and quickly gained our trust and confidence. He and his team took all the stress out of what would have otherwise seemed like a daunting and overwhelming task, and definitely a very emotional one for our family – to clear 5 generations’ worth of accumulated family possessions, furnishings, valuables, and artwork out of our 4-story, 7-bedroom, 50-year family home in Bethesda. Mr. Sanders was compassionate and sensitive in explaining the entire process to our 90-year-old mother. We found him to be a candid, honest straight-shooter, who set realistic expectations and then came through for us and over-delivered on the flawless execution. Mr. Sanders went the extra mile and pulled out all the stops in accommodating us on very short notice and an accelerated timetable, at the busiest time of the year. Four Sales found a home for over 95% of our possessions; less than 5% was discarded. Everything, all items, all transactions, were thoroughly, meticulously documented and accounted for on a detailed line-item basis. Four Sales’ crews were courteous, careful, respectful, very professional and highly experienced. The entire operation was very smooth and efficient. We didn’t have to lift a finger. Four Sales organized and took care of everything for us. Our family was very happy with the results and highly recommends Four Sales. Charles Whalen Bethesda, MD

This company could not have been more accommodating. We had turnaround on questions in 24 hours or less and everyone was punctual courteous and efficient.

After coming into my late mother's house and gushing with enthusiasm about all her mid-century modern furniture, and numerous oriental items, collections of dolls and teddy bears, jewellery, china and crystal, framed artwork, and numerous other items, I was told that it was likely that 'everything would sell'. Now I recognise hyperbole when I hear it, but I was enthusiastic and at least sure that a large portion of the contents of her house would be sold. Unfortunately, when I did the pre-sale walk-through, I noticed that some of the prices the Four Sales pricer had put on items seemed either radically high or bizarrely low. I was told this would be the case--and would not mention it now except that the results of the sale were so disappointing after all the hype that led me to believe that much more would sell than did. Also, in the case of jewellery, they had split up what were obvious sets (necklaces and earrings), and tossed the earrings into a big box pricing everything at $5 or $1 -- including some sterling silver hand-crafted art pieces that I had paid several hundred dollars for new in the 1980s. I had to call and have the jewellery person reprice things more appropriately. On the other hand, the prices put on some of the midcentury pieces seemed outrageously high -- and, in fact, the three Danish teak tables, and the ca. 1960 bedroom furniture, and walnut ca. 1960 buffet all did not sell because they were priced at least twice as high as they should have been. Ditto the midcentury lamps. And, in spite of my telling them multiple times that I wanted to sell the midcentury chandelier, they forgot to put a price on it, so it didn't even go into the sale. I later spoke to friends who attended the sale, and they all complained that much of the pricing for furniture and housewares was far too high -- and when I looked at price tags both before and after the sale, I had to agree. Also, admittedly, the lower level of Mom's house was dark inside -- so it was odd that nothing was done to improve the lighting (move ALL the lamps down there and turn them on, for example), especially as some of the 'definitely will sell' midcentury pieces (that didn't sell) were down there. There was also an oriental carpet down there that did not sell, and I suspect it was entirely due to the poor lighting, as both the orientals in upper floors sold, even though the prices seemed (to me) very high. Very little of the china and crystal sold, which ultimately did not surprise me because when I went back and looked at the advertising, very little emphasis was placed on these items, even though they made up a large part of the contents of the kitchen and dining room. Most disappointing was that I got stuck with quite a bit of the furniture -- including several of the 'sure to sell' midcentury pieces. I also got left with pretty much ALL of the non-mid-century furniture (again, none of this was even mentioned in the advertising), and virtually all of the collectible toys and framed art. Overall, rather than selling 75% of the contents, they sold about 25%, and I was left with the rest. Insult to injury, I used their 'haul away' service after being told that the items would be donated to charity. Only after paying and having the stuff hauled did the haulers explain that, no, they did not take the things to the charities I repeatedly told them I wanted the stuff given to -- they took it all to their warehouse, and expected the charities to come to them and take things. It is now five months since the stuff was hauled, and I have received only one receipt from a charity for about 12 items out of what amounted to almost an entire household of goods. I wish Four Square had made it clear that I was essentially letting the rest of the house contents be hauled away to, ultimately, be sent to the dump -- with no charities benefiting (and no tax benefit to me). Finally, it was RIDICULOUS that they closed the Sunday of the estate sale at 1:00 p.m. instead of running it for a third full day. An extra day for a sale sale of that magnitude, along with better advertising that was more representative of what was actually on offer, may have made a big difference. My real estate agents had recommended a different company for my estate sale (also highly rated on Angie's List), and how I wish I had listened to them! But I believed the great reviews here about Four Sales. I have to write it off to a VERY EXPENSIVE bad decision on my part. Sigh.

Four Sales personnel really know their business. From initial visit through site clean up and settlement, they communicate what's going on and answer all questions. Work from setup though actual execution of sale is spot on. We suffered a power outage which caused our first sale to have to be shut down early. Daniel contacted me immediately and suggested we restart the sale the following weekend which went very well. Mark kept me apprised of what was going on and strove to correct a couple of glitches which, I suspect, tend to happen in big estate sales. A note to the wise: Listen to what Daniel and Mark tell you or suggest. Be aware that even though you mark things NFS (not for sale) mistakes can happen. Mark fixed one, couldn't retrieve some barstools from the other one but did offer a reimbursement which, in light of the whole sale, was fine. Best advice I would have would be to actually physically remove items you don't want sold or disposed of or be there during clean up to make sure something doesn't get trucked off. Don't go during the sale - Daniel will tell you that this can be emotionally distressing and I believe him. So, yes I would hire again. Four Sales made a tremendous amount of stuff "go away" and did generate some really great sales figures for me.

Based on my single conversation with Daniel (owner), he steered me in the right direction for the specific service I was looking for. Based on the parameters I provided, he said that while he would like to have my business, I would be better served using other resources. I hope I have the opportunity in the future to do business with Four Sales LTD because they appear to be one of the select few companies still out there that put customer service ahead of an easy buck.

Three guys did the work, they arrived on time, worked hard and efficiently and were polite and professional. I appreciated the work. They aren't making much money and the service is needed and appreciated.

Four Sales came today to empty my mother's apartment. The team was professional and sweet. It was a very emotional experience. The team made it as painless as possible. Daniel was able to schedule the appointment very quickly saving me from paying another months rent. He described the entire process clearly and completely - there were no surprises. In addition, the apartment was emptied completely and quickly. Thank you for a job well done.

Daniel Sanders and the people he hires are the absolute best in the business. You would be foolish to hire anyone else. He and his people are efficient and knowledgeable. They can properly clear out a house - donation, sell, trash - in no time at all. When we've tried to do this ourselves it can take months and months. Now that we work with Four Sales it takes a day or two. He gives prompt attention to problems and successfully provides solutions. He truly is the best.

My husband and I have been using Four Sales to help us downsize. So far, we've sent three batches of items to Pete's Auction Service in Madison, VA. Four Sales' Daniel Sanders, Pete, and Pete's auction staff have been a tremendous help to us. We'll always be appreciative and will actually miss these folks when our downsizing is complete!

Perfectly. Very professional and courteous. I also appreciated the sensitivity shown in clearing out the house.