We used Jerry many years ago when we cleaned out my MIL's home. He was very kind, patient, and knowledgeable about the wide variety of items we inherited. Jerry was very thorough with his explanation of each piece and was able to answer all our questions. I still have his card after 20+ years and continue to recommend his services. (Don't listen to the person who wrote Jerry is 'mean and grumpy' - just the opposite!) And, I'm going to reach out to him again about appraising a painting from the 1800's. read more

As far as I can see, it's an amateurish outfit when it comes to estate sales. Had three people working a sale in a 2300-square-foot house, but admitted four people at a time! Everyone in line commented about it. They had a signup sheet, but had apparently left it out over night, so when I got there very early, I was already number 13. Fair enough. And that's usually good enough to get into a first group. But waiting for each group of four to complete their shopping was too much to ask; I had already wasted enough time and gas to be there. I have seen a single person handle a sale in a packed house better. This house was not so full as to be impassable for a much larger group. Doubt me? Here are photos: https://www.estatesales.net/MD/Rockville/20853/4134741 Do some folks pay to be first on the list to have the place to themselves? I have no idea. But if a company wants four people in their sale, I'd recommend they not broadly publicize it. read more

Jerry was a blessing during the appraisal process after my mother's death. I was very grateful for his direct approach, professional advice, timely appraisal report and subsequent help in selling some of my mother's items at his location. read more

Owner is mean and grumpy. Prices are waaaayyyy too high. It seems he doesn't want to sell the items for sale by pricing them that high. He's a jerk and runs the sales himself with no help so it's chaotic. Don't waste your time. read more

I interviewed a couple of different estate sale companies to help with my parents house. Jerry was very professional and his rates were highly competitive. I trusted him and his team in my parents house. He is a master at organizing and showcasing. Highly recommend. read more

I am delighted to give a stellar review for Jerry and his team at Items of Value. I needed to liquidate my home and he and his wonderful team delivered on every promise. Everything was done on time and in an organized way. We were very pleased with the results! The house was left completely clean and we were very grateful for his help. read more

Bad experience, shop around. Should have done more research about this company before I used him.

Jerry is a gentleman and does exactly what he says he is going to do. He runs his estate sales like a pro, on time, and delivers you a broom-clean house at the end, all for a very reasonable price. He's a very hard worker and does a great job with the elderly explaining the process and is very patient. I would absolutely recommend his services, he's very good at what he does. read more

Items of Value is an estate sale facilitator that you should run, not walk away, from as quickly as possible. We had the misfortune of signing a contract with them to help clear out the contents of my father's house in spring of 2010. They were recommended to us by a realtor friend of my sister, who later was mortified at how poorly they treated us (the realtor/friend later admitted that she had no prior personal experience with their work). Suffice to say, if you are foolish enough to deal with them, scrutinize the contract VERY CAREFULLY and do not agree to anything that concerns you in the least. We mistakenly cut them a lot of slack on the contract, based on the recommendation, and they referred to it constantly when we asked for lists of items sold in the original estate sale, items removed from the house for future estate sales. They brought so much other estate sale items from elsewhere into my father's house for "our" estate sale that they really didn't sell much of our father's stuff, some of which was some really nice antiques that ended up being sold for less than 20% of their recently appraised value (i.e. a late 1700s colonial-era breakfront, appraised at $8,500, sold at $1,700). After having the stuff they took offsite for two months, they kept everything remaining for pennies on the dollar (including some antiques we would have kept, had we known what would be paid for them). We never did see the final list of prices paid. During the sales process, one of the promises that convinced us to go with him was that he said he would take the numerous shelves in the basement with him after the estate sale, but he just used them for the estate sale and left them for us to dispose of. Rather than clear the house after the estate sale, he only took select items and left the marginal stuff. He only did what worked for him. In retrospect, we could have done about as well selling the prime items on EBay, donating the remaining valuable stuff and throwing away the rest (which we ended up doing ourselves, anyway) They added little to no value. The owner could not have been any more horrible to deal with. I would call him unscrupulous, but that would be too kind. By the end of the two-month ordeal, we were so glad to be rid of them, we didn't care what we got for my Dad's stuff. A truly awful experience. Note: This is the first bad review I have written on Yelp, following a number of them where I gave four or five stars, so you know these guys are useless. read more

Jerry Spreads himself very thin! He is organized - somewhat, but does not handle change well. Before My sale began, I had removed some of the items which were to be sold - he still had the audacity to claim a 25% commission for that! We had scheduled multiple sales due to the high volume of things I had. On the day of the first sale, Jerry showed up (right on time) and that was it... Just Jerry! Within 15 minutes of the start of the sale I had 15 people in my small apartment! There was chaos, shouting, shoving, and disorder. Also, people when into areas of the apartment specifically blocked off. Things from my room were missing after that. The building manager shut the sale down within 30 minutes and I would not allow another sale in my apartment after the initial experience of people not respecting boundaries and Jerry NOT PROVIDING SECURITY. I tried to secure another venue within my building but was unsuccessful. When I informed Jerry that I would not continue with the sale. He assessed an additional "appraisal fee" which was NEVER mentioned in his contract. In all, Jerry netted more money from the sale of my things than I did! He is not ethical in his unilateral "assessment" of commissions and fees. read more

Overall, I had very negative experiences with Jerry Ford, the proprietor of this business. I placed many items on consignment with him -- most of which he has lost track of, very little of which he sold, and much of which he says he says he donated or took to the dump. He may claim to do appraisals for the White House, but he's proven himself to me to be a BS artist and a disastrously lousy businessman. read more

There are some things you only do once in your life. Selling the contents of your family home after your last parent dies, is one of them. There is no guide book on this, sadly. Yet I was pleased to have the help of Jerry at Items of Value. He's been doing estate sales well over 40 years. He has a keen business sense and he knows how to handle the emotional aspect of such a task. Each client, I imagine, is going through some sort of terrific loss. And he has to navigate that, as he prepares each sale. It isn't easy watching things your parents spent a life-time collecting, leave that same home in 2 days. But here's what I know is true. Jerry was spot on in knowing what would sell, what wouldn't. He appraised several things that were worth keeping, as they were sentimental & valuable, and worth more than any buyer could provide us. So we kept those. Once you do the difficult task of determining what to keep, leave the rest to him. He takes 25%. Modest, in my opinion, as other companies charge 30 or 40%. Or others take the first $3,000 of sales. He added things to my mom's home, but he also takes un-sold items of mine to the next sale or to his warehouse for his monthly sale - allowing several more months of giving them a chance to sell. So at the end of it all, I have accomplished what on my own would have been hours & hours of work, trips & trips to Goodwill, or waiting for possible buyers from Craiglist list to show up and haggle over prices, etc. I could have taken many items to consignment stores, or sold them on Amazon or eBay. Time & effort, and maybe over the course of time made a bit more money. But an estate sale is just what it is. People come during a finite period, and find 'items of value' and things that bring them joy. With any business, yes, read the contract carefully, and ask specifically what it is you are expecting. If you are wondering if something is worth a lot, consider, maybe an auction house. Some local auction houses offer on-line appraisals. But Jerry does have contacts with many specialty collectors - textiles, military history, fine arts, collectible glass, pottery, rare pieces of furniture., collectible Presidential signatures. (those were brought to my home during the sale, and fetched a good bit - so I know people watch his ads). At the end of the day, so many items are merely 'things.' Part with them. Make a little money. Realize these items will be cared for in someone else's home. I won't be needing to do this again, until my kids face this same task some day, but do highly recommend Jerry and Items of Value. read more

We hired Items of Value to conduct an estate sale of our home in September, 2015. It was one of the most pleasant experiences ever. They came in and staged our house beautifully. They brought in additional carpets from other sales and made all the items as appealing as possible. Items which did not sell were packed up and taken on to the next sale. We are happy to recommend Items of Value very highly. read more

I would NEVER do business with this company again. Yes, they ran an estate sale. Yes, they sold items, and we received some compensation. The house was left a disaster: linens strewn about, glass broken, pictures unframed and tossed about, linings torn out of clothing and suitcases. If it was allowed to be this way during the sale, it was completely contrary to commerce. Some bulky items were removed after the sale, and dishes and glass were needlessly--it appears purposeful in at least one instance--broken when they were removed. A boatload of silver went missing, and it is only after holding the agent to account (if you have silver or other small valuables, be sure to take photos of the hallmarks!), that he suddenly "discovered" missing sales receipts. The inventory practices of this estate sale agent lend themselves to all sorts of errors, all of which favor the agent and not the client. If you must do business with this firm, DO NOT sign their standard contract; make revisions that protect you: you control price, inventory, reserve the right to claim unsold items, demand an accounting of ANYTHING they remove from the house, do not allow any "miscellaneous" grouping of items on the sales inventory (or demand a photo inventory), require a detailed set up plan (we did almost 90% of the work), have a clear understanding of charges AFTER the sale (we did not expect a $2000 fee to clean the house), ask for a hard copy of the advertisement they run, etc. PROTECT YOURSELF. read more