One minute with Evelyn
What the book covers, how each page works, and what comes with it.
Standing in the house right now? Start here.
This is page 7 of the book, word for word. It’s here for free because the first fifteen minutes are when most of the mistakes happen.
The rest of the book walks you through the first week, then every room, then the hard part: deciding what to keep, what to sell and what to give away.
Read 21 pages freeThe First Fifteen Minutes
If you are standing in the house right now
- Don’t throw anything away today, and don’t let anyone haul things off yet. Give yourself a week before anything leaves.
- Walk through with your phone. Photograph every room, every wall and every open shelf before anything moves.
- Find the papers: the will, deeds, statements, insurance policies, receipts and old appraisals. Put them in one folder.
- Gather the small things into one box that stays with you: jewelry, watches, coins, keys, anything marked gold or silver.
- Don’t clean, polish or repair anything. Not a coin, not a bronze, not a painting.
- If someone offers cash for “the whole house,” or knocks to ask about gold, take a card and say you’re not ready.
- Then read “The First Week in the House” and start turning things over.
Every chapter opens with a true story.
Real people and real results, with the auction house and the date, so you can check them yourself. Many of them started at a yard sale, a thrift store or an estate sale. These are six of the sixty.
The Painting Behind the Bedroom Door
Silver City, New Mexico. Chapter 2, Turn It Over
The $35 Yard Sale Bowl
Sotheby’s New York. Chapter 9, The China Cabinet
The $3.99 Goodwill Vase
Wright, Chicago, December 2023. Chapter 10, Kitchen Glass
The $8 Garage Sale Brooch
Bonhams, New York, September 2017. Chapter 12, The Jewelry Box
The Box Under the Old Newspapers
Heritage Auctions, November 2025. Chapter 14, The Toy Box
The $25 Card Table
Sotheby’s, January 1998. Chapter 20, Furniture & Big Things
True stories, not promises. Most things in most houses are worth little, and the book says so. Chapter 24, “What’s Usually Worth Little,” is there so you can let those things go without a second thought.
The same checks work anywhere you find old things.
Most of it is worth little. A few things aren’t, and they rarely look valuable. The book is organized room by room, but what you learn goes with you.
In the house you’re clearing
Turn things over before they go into the donation bag or the dumpster. Chapter 4 covers the money that hides in paperwork, like old savings bonds in a drawer.
At a yard sale or estate sale
The $35 bowl and the $8 brooch were both bought at sales. The ten-second checks in Chapter 2 tell you what deserves a closer look before you put it back.
In a thrift store
The $3.99 vase was found at a Goodwill. Every item in the book tells you what to look for and what similar pieces have really sold for.
And when you find something, every item ends with where to sell it, and Chapter 27 shows you why you should never take the first offer.
Two pages for every item, always in the same order.
These are two real pages from Chapter 2, exactly as they appear in the book. All 195 items, across 631 pages, follow the same pattern, so once you’ve read one, you know where to look in all the others.
“Read the Bottom First,” pages 16 and 17, shown directly from the PDF.
- The tellThe one sign that says “look closer.”
- From Evelyn’s tableWhat she’d tell you if you were standing at the table together.
- How to check itShort steps you can do at home, in order.
- What it can be worthWhat sold, for how much, where and when.
- Usually worth littleSo you can let those things go without guilt.
- Don’tThe mistakes that cost families money.
- Where to sell itThe kind of buyer who usually pays fairly.
Forty years at the long table.
“For forty years I helped families empty houses. I sat at a long table in my family’s auction house in Ohio and looked at what people brought in: the china, the paintings, the jewelry box, the shoebox of photographs from under the bed. I learned early that the most valuable thing in a house is rarely the one the family expects. And the thing they expect is rarely worth what they hope.”
“This book is what I would tell you if I could walk through the house with you.”
EvelynEvelyn Hart is the narrator of the Finds with Evelyn channel. She is a character, and her background is part of that character. The true stories, prices, dates and facts in the book are real, with 1,135 sources listed at the end of the chapters.
Twenty-nine chapters, in the order you’ll need them.
Start with the first week. Then go room by room, or jump straight to the room you’re standing in. The Room-by-Room Index at the back lists every item by where it usually turns up.
Part One: First Things First
Before anything leaves the house.
- 1The First Week in the House6 items
- 2Turn It Over: The Ten-Second Checks5 items
- 3Research Like a Pro6 items
- 4Money Hiding in Plain Sight6 items
Part Two: Room by Room
The walls, the cabinets, the closets and everything in between.
- 5The Walls: Paintings & Prints9 items
- 6Photographs, Negatives & Family Papers4 items
- 7Stamps, Postcards & Paper Collectibles5 items
- 8Books, Letters & Documents6 items
- 9The China Cabinet: Porcelain & Pottery8 items
- 10Kitchen Glass & Cookware9 items
- 11Silver & Gold7 items
- 12The Jewelry Box9 items
- 13Coins & Paper Money9 items
- 14The Toy Box9 items
- 15The Sports Shelf4 items
- 16Holidays & Seasonal Decorations5 items
- 17The Closet & the Record Shelf7 items
- 18Pianos, Cameras & Electronics6 items
- 19Military Items & Wartime Keepsakes6 items
- 20Furniture & Big Things10 items
- 21Asian, Native American & World Art5 items
- 22Collectibles & Odds and Ends6 items
- 23The Garage, Basement & Barn8 items
Part Three: Deciding, Selling & Letting Go
The family side, and how not to get cheated.
- 24What’s Usually Worth Little8 items
- 25Myths, Viral Prices & Wishful Thinking5 items
- 26Keep, Give or Sell: The Family Side6 items
- 27Before You Sell: Never Take the First Offer9 items
- 28Donate, Recycle & Dispose Safely6 items
- 29Scams, Fakes & What You Can’t Sell6 items
Part Four: Reference
- 7 quick tables of marks and metals
- A glossary of 152 terms
- A directory of 56 organizations to call
- A Room-by-Room Index and an A to Z index
What this book is
- The step before you call an expert: what to look at, and how to check it at home.
- Real past sale results, each with the place and the date.
- An honest list of what’s usually worth little.
- How to sell, donate and dispose of things, and how to spot the scams that follow a death in the family.
What it isn’t
- An appraisal or a price list. A price in this book is a past result, not a promise.
- A get-rich promise. Most things are worth little, and the book says so.
- Legal, tax or financial advice. For anything that may be valuable, get a written appraisal before you sell, insure or donate it.
Everything you get for $39.
One payment. You download the files right after checkout and keep them.
The complete book, 631 pages
29 chapters, 195 items to check, 60 true stories and the full reference section.
The Large-Print Edition
The whole book in two volumes, 1,090 pages set in 19-point type, for reading on a tablet or printing at home.
The Family Treasure Ledger (optional)
29 printable pages: room sheets, item cards, a log for every call and offer, the family page and what to say when you call. You can add it at checkout.
want it
Secure checkout through Gumroad. No subscription. The download links also arrive by email.
GUARANTEE
Read the first chapter. If it doesn’t change the way you look at the house, email me within 30 days and I’ll refund you. Use the contact information on your Gumroad receipt.
Before you buy
Is this a printed book?
No. It’s a digital book (PDF). You download it right after checkout and read it on a phone, tablet or computer, or print the pages you need. Nothing is shipped.
Will it tell me what my things are worth?
It shows you what similar things have really sold for, with the auction house or website and the date, and how to check your own piece at home. It is not an appraisal. Condition, demand and the day of the sale all change what something brings, so for anything that may be valuable, the book tells you who to call for a written appraisal.
Can I use it at yard sales and thrift stores?
Yes. The book is organized by room, but every item tells you what to look for, how to check it, what similar pieces have really sold for and where to sell them. Many of the 60 true stories started at a yard sale, a thrift store or an estate sale.
Will this book make me money?
No book can promise that, and this one doesn’t. Most things are worth little. What it gives you is what to look for, what similar things have really sold for, and where people sell them, so you’re less likely to give away something valuable or take a low first offer.
Is the print easy to read?
Yes. The Large-Print Edition is included at no extra cost: the whole book in two volumes, set in 19-point type.
I’m not clearing out a house right now. Is it still useful?
If there’s a china cabinet, a jewelry box, an attic or a garage in your life, yes. The book is organized room by room, so you can start with one shelf and come back to it whenever you need it.
Are the stories real?
Yes. There are 60 true stories in the book, and every chapter ends with its list of sources: 1,135 in all, from auction houses, museums, newspapers and government agencies.
Who is Evelyn Hart?
Evelyn is the narrator of the Finds with Evelyn channel. She is a character, and her background is part of that character. The stories, prices, dates and facts in the book are real and sourced.
How do I get the book?
Checkout is through Gumroad. Right after you pay, you’ll see the download links, and they’re also sent to the email address you use at checkout.
What if it isn’t for me?
You have 30 days. Email me using the contact information on your Gumroad receipt and I’ll refund you.
Can I give it as a gift?
Yes. On the Gumroad checkout page, choose to give it as a gift and it goes straight to the person’s email.
Take your time. The house will wait.Evelyn, on page 4 Get the guide for $39
631 pages, the Large-Print Edition, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.