Estate Sale Evolution

Dallas estate sales get easier and more lucrative with this company

For those suddenly faced with a house full of furnishings to unload, there is an online service coming to Dallas that takes the traditional estate sale to new levels of efficiency and profitability. Everything But The House, the 7-year-old Ohio-based online personal property and estate sale provider, will launch here at the end of April or early May, according to a spokesperson.

Here's how it works: The company provides turnkey service for your estate sale, including assessing the inventory, taking photos, holding the seven-day online auction, and dispersing the items either in person or by shipping. Bids start at $1 for all items, and your auction is one of 50 to 60 hosted each month. Everything But The House takes 35 percent of proceeds.

According to company stats, its 350,000 monthly visitors come from all 50 states and 46 countries — a much bigger pool of buyers than your fellow Dallasites.

The company quotes average estate sale proceeds of $27,000. However, if you're considering an estate sale, be realistic about your possessions and their sales potential. That 20-year-old sofa just might not be in the same league as, say, the $89,000 that a 2004 Major League Baseball World Series ring brought to a savvy seller.

Categories of sale items include furniture, art, cars, books, jewelry, clothing, sports memorabilia, pottery, rugs and, well, everything but the house. Online treasure hunters can search by city, category or sale date.

Everything But The House is a hybrid of online-only and in-person business. The selling and transactions take place online, while the sorting, cataloging and distribution of the items require hands-on attention. The company is hiring full-time employees in Dallas to help handle the business in this new market, including public previews of sales. Those interested in selling their items can submit a query.

The formula appears to be working. The company says it increased sales by 43 percent between 2012 and 2013 and posted sales of nearly $14 million in 2014. It also attracted $13 million in funding from investors last fall. Other cities on the expansion plan in addition to Dallas include Atlanta, Boston and Washington, D.C.

Convinced yet? When it's time to part with your stuff either by choice or necessity, Everything But The House offers just about everything but the hassle.

Vintage bronze chandelier from a recent sale on Everything But The House, coming soon to Dallas.

Vintage bronze chandelier from Everything But The House

Photo courtesy of Everything But The House

Vintage bronze chandelier from a recent sale on Everything But The House, coming soon to Dallas.

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Toy News

Japanese collector toy store to open at Firewheel center in Garland

Gashapon

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A new store for people who like to collect small plastic objects is coming to Garland. It's called Gashapon Bandai Official Shop, and it's opening in June at Firewheel Town Center, where it will sell "capsule toys" — miniature plastic toys packaged in clear plastic capsules.

Gashapon is a type of vending machine that dispenses capsule toys. The concept is popular in Japan, with machines found in train stations, arcades, convenience stores, and other locations. (The name "Gashapon" is derived from the sounds of turning the handle ("gasha") and the capsule dropping ("pon").)

The toys inside Gashapon capsules can be characters from cultural realms like manga, video games, or Japanese anime franchises. Or they can be coasters, or food miniatures, or charms you attach to your purse or notebook, or little animal figures, or little whimsical animal figures, or little statues, or an assortment of little plastic hats, or a quartet of tiny jewelry stands in pastel colors (buy them all!).

The machines take tokens which cost $2 to $2.50 each; most toys "cost" 2 to 4 tokens each.

The idea of capsule toys — coin-operated vending machines — actually originated in the U.S. in 1907 along with bubble-gum machines. Japan embraced it in the 1960s, and the Gashapon chain was launched in Japan in 1977.

The first U.S. Gashapon Bandai Official Shop opened in Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district in February 2023.

The entire thing is driven by collector frenzy. The toys are produced in limited quantities, and in sets, which encourages customers to acquire every member of the set.

Customers do not know what they will get until they turn the vending machine handle — not unlike slot machines. Like gambling. Or as Gashapon says more delicately, "The element of surprise brings excitement during the purchase and gets everyone hooked!" … furthering the frenzy even further.

Garland will make the fifth location in Texas; following Hurst, which opened in May; Grapevine Mills Mall and Houston, which opened in 2024; and Mitsuwa Marketplace in Plano which opened in 2023 (There's also a kiosk at Grapevine Mills Mall.)

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