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Let Us Help You

If you have had a family member pass away, you are moving or you simply are downsizing, our team at Echo Cottage Antique Mall and Estate Liquidators in Odem, TX can assist you.


We will provide a free consultation to determine whether an estate sale meets your needs. The decision to hold an estate sale can be emotional, but we do our best to make the experience as pleasant and professional as possible. We treat every home and your belongings with the utmost respect.


If you are thinking about holding an estate sale, don’t have a garage sale. You may end up throwing away something of value. When we visit your property, we will assess the value of your items. Also, the larger the number of items you have for a sale, the larger the crowd you will draw.


We have more than 10 years of experience conducting estate sales, and it always is our goal to liquidate items in the most professional and profitable manner.

How the Estate Process Works

First, we schedule a meeting. When we meet at your property, we walk through your home to determine what is for sale, provide you with a copy of our contract and ask you to review the document. Once the contract is signed, we work with you to determine the best time for the sale, what action to take regarding any items leftover from the sale and we get a key to your home.


Any items that are not for sale, as well as personal papers and pictures should be removed from the home or at least secured in one space. If this is not possible, we will work with you to come up with an alternate plan. Also, we will need to access the home prior to the sale so we can organize items. We bring in our own supplies, tables, cash register and pricing equipment.

What we do

Our services:

  • Advertise the sales by placing signs in the area
  • Make arrangements – donate to charity or sell on consignment at our mall – for any unsold items
  • Move furniture to create a better flow for the sale
  • Negotiate all prices during sale
  • Post sale details and images on our site 2 to 3 days before a scheduled sale
  • Price all items for sale
  • Provide additional merchandise to fill space, if needed
  • Provide adequate personnel during sale to oversee merchandise
  • Provide all materials required for sale, such as paper, bags, labels, etc.
  • Provide an accounting of each day’s sales and the commission amount for our services
  • Provide tables and shelves
  • Publish sale on our email list, Craig’s List and Facebook
  • Remove saleable items from cabinets, closets and garages and stage them on tables and shelves
  • Research major items to ensure you receive the most money for them
  • Sort items for the sale and toss out trash
  • Write and publish classified ads – the cost is deducted from estate sale earnings

All jewelry is removed from the property before a sale. We sort it and tag it at home and we return it on the morning of the sale. Fine jewelry is secured in closed cases. Most sales are held for 1 to 3 days.

What Owners Needs to Do

Owners are encouraged NOT to attend sales because it can be painful to part with a loved one’s possessions. However, the final decision is up to the owner.

Owners are required to:

  • Give us permission to throw away items, such as trash, soiled or torn linens, etc.
  • Notify neighbors that our personnel will be entering and exiting your property
  • Provide us with a key and ensure the electricity, air conditioning and plumbing systems are working
  • Remove all personal pictures, documents and everyday clothing and shoes from home prior to us setting up tables and shelves. Once sale preparation begins, owners cannot remove any items from the property without paying the commission on the item. 

Where We Place Ads

Depending on the sale location and type of merchandise we advertise sales in any or all of the below listed publications.

  • Estatesales.net
  • Estatesale.com
  • Garagesales.com
  • Company Email List (Free)
  • Beeville Publishing Co (Includes 8 Papers
  • Victoria Advocate
  • Corpus Christi Caller Times

The average cost for advertisements is between $200 and $450. If the estate has many high-dollar items, such as jewelry, art, Texas books, we also will advertise in the San Antonio Express and the Houston Chronicle. Advertising in these newspapers increase the cost to approximately $300 to $600. Echo Cottage pays for the advertising up front; it is deducted from the final estate sale total at the end of the sale.

After the Sale

Once a sale is over, we clear the home and vacuum all floors. There is no charge for this. If the owner tells us to donate any items left to charity, we will ensure the items are picked up and a tax receipt is provided to the owner. If the owner chooses to have everything left in the home, we will remove our items, clean and place leftovers on the counters, etc.


We go out of our way to make every sale safe, professional, fun and successful!

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