The things families throw away most often before an estate sale are the ones that look worthless: costume jewelry, old stereo gear, rusty hand tools, tarnished silver, dated furniture, old sewing machines and boxes of paper. Every one of those has buyers, and the right piece can bring hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The safest move is to stop clearing the house until someone who knows values has walked through it. Here’s why each of these gets misjudged and what to look for before you toss it.
Why Families Throw Away Valuable Items Before an Estate Sale
Families throw away valuable things because they judge by looks, and everything on this list looks like clutter. When you’re clearing a house on a deadline, anything dusty, broken or old-fashioned goes in the trash pile first.
Darren Hahnfeld has seen plenty of surprises the other way. At one Kensington estate, research and teaching items the family figured nobody would want drew a line of collectors and educators before the doors opened.
Once these categories are set aside, our guide to what to do with inherited items can help you sort the rest of the house.
1. Signed Costume Jewelry
Designer costume jewelry by Trifari, Miriam Haskell, Weiss or Eisenberg has serious collectors, even though the stones are glass. Families tend to sort jewelry into real and junk, and these pieces land in the wrong pile.
Look for a name stamped on the back or the clasp. On Antiques Roadshow, appraiser Rosalie Sayyah valued Miriam Haskell sets at $1,500 to $2,000 each in 2006, and Antique Trader lists 1940s Coro and Trifari pin clips at about $225 to $4,500, depending on the design.
Prices shift with fashion, so think of any figure as a range. If you’re not sure which pile a piece belongs in, our page on how to sell your jewelry explains how estate jewelry gets assessed.
2. Vintage Stereo Receivers and Amplifiers
Collectors hunt for 1960s and 1970s stereo receivers and amplifiers from brands like Marantz and McIntosh. Next to a smart speaker it all looks out of date, and that’s exactly why it gets tossed.
Check the front panel for the brand and model number, and keep any manuals or boxes with it. Gear Patrol puts a Marantz 2245 at about $400 and up and a Marantz 2270 at about $1,600 and up, and a 1961 McIntosh MC275 tube amplifier sold at a Wright auction for $6,875 in 2022.
3. Old Hand Tools and Woodworking Planes
Woodworkers and collectors still buy good old hand planes, saws and chisels, rust and all. A bench full of old tools looks like garage junk, so it often goes out all at once.
Look for a maker’s stamp like Stanley or Bailey, a model number cast into the front of a plane, and the original box if there is one. Past sales tracked by Stanley Type Study put a well-used Stanley No. 4 at about $69 to $95 and nicer ones up to about $365, and a boxed Stanley No. 1 was valued on Antiques Roadshow at $5,000 or more.
4. Sterling Silver Flatware
Tarnished sterling silver flatware looks a lot like cheap silver plate, and that mix-up sends real silver to the donation bin. Real sterling is always worth at least its melt value, and full sets in popular patterns can bring a lot more.
Sterling is usually marked “sterling,” “925” or “.925,” while plate often says “EP,” “EPNS” or “silverplate,” according to APMEX. Knives often have filled handles, so they weigh more than the silver in them.
The pattern can matter as much as the metal. On Antiques Roadshow, a Georg Jensen sterling set bought at a yard sale for $25 was appraised at $10,000 to $15,000.
5. Mid-Century Modern Furniture
Mid-century modern furniture from makers like Herman Miller, Knoll, Heywood-Wakefield and Lane sells to design buyers, even when the family thinks it looks dated. Unlike ordinary brown furniture, a labeled designer piece has a real market.
Check underneath, on the back and inside drawers for a label, a metal tag or a stamp. At a 2025 Wright auction, an Eames lounge chair and ottoman from around 1970 sold for $4,826.
6. Vintage Sewing Machines
Quilters go looking for vintage sewing machines, especially the Singer Featherweight, to take to classes and retreats. To everyone else they look like old appliances, so they often go straight to donation.
A Featherweight is a Singer model 221 or 222, made of aluminum and weighing just over 11 pounds, with a flat bed that folds up on the left side. Dealer Carole Meeker of antiqbuyer.com says she sells most 221s for $595 to $750 and up, and the rarer 222 brings two to three times more.
7. Old Photographs, Letters and Paper Ephemera
Some old photographs, letters and papers have real collector value, and many more hold family history worth saving. Paper is the first thing to go in a rushed cleanout, since a box of it looks like clutter.
What counts is the subject, the type of photo and whether anyone is named. The Playle’s real photo postcard guide lists pre-1940 photo postcards of baseball stadiums at $50 to $500, while most unnamed family snapshots are worth more to relatives than to buyers.
How to Keep Valuables Out of the Trash Before an Estate Sale
Hold off on clearing things out until an appraiser has walked the house, and follow a few simple habits in the meantime. Each one protects value that’s easy to lose.
- Don’t clean, polish or refinish anything, since buyers care about original surfaces.
- Keep sets, pairs and parts together, including loose pieces you find in drawers.
- Keep boxes, manuals, receipts and paperwork with the items they came with.
- Set aside anything signed, stamped, labeled or marked on the back or bottom.
- Don’t shred or recycle paper until someone has gone through it.
At iStuffSellers, Darren Hahnfeld appraises the contents before anything is removed, and our personal property appraisals cover single pieces and whole households.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, leave the house as it is until the estate sale company has walked through. Clearing it first is how valuable pieces end up in the trash, and the company will sort, set up and clear whatever doesn’t sell.
Signed costume jewelry often is, while unsigned pieces usually sell for much less. Look for a maker’s name on the back or clasp, like Trifari, Miriam Haskell, Weiss or Eisenberg, before you call anything junk.
Most old family snapshots have little resale value, but some photographs are worth real money. Early types like daguerreotypes and tintypes, photos with named subjects, and real photo postcards of sports, transportation or town scenes all draw collectors.
Sterling silver is usually marked “sterling,” “925” or “.925,” while silver plate often says “EP,” “EPNS” or “silverplate.” British sterling may use hallmarks instead of words, and older American coin silver may be stamped “COIN.”
Schedule an Estate Appraisal Before You Throw Anything Away
A walk-through before the cleanout is the easiest way to keep valuable pieces in the house and out of the dumpster. It takes far less time than sorting everything yourself.
Before you rent a dumpster, call iStuffSellers at 301-401-6688 to set up a free walk-through anywhere in Maryland, Northern Virginia or Washington, DC. Darren will go through the house with you and point out what to keep before anything leaves.
