Finders Weekly · Vol. I · Nº 1 · Charter Edition

Finders Weekly

a paper for the hunt — mid-Michigan estate sales

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 · Lansing Bureau

From the Editor

Morning.

You're reading the first issue of Finders Weekly. There are twelve of you on this list, plus my mom. (Hi, mom.) That's by design — this is the charter edition.

Here's what this paper is, and isn't.

It is: a free Wednesday-morning round-up of every estate sale across mid-Michigan, pulled from every major listing site, deduped, sorted by distance from your couch. Lansing · Detroit · Ann Arbor · Grand Rapids · Flint · Kalamazoo · Saginaw · Jackson. One email. No scavenger hunt across four sites and a Facebook group at 11pm Friday.

It isn't: a marketplace. We don't sell anything. We don't run sales. We don't take a commission. We're a neutral reference layer — like KBB for cars, but for the curb on Saturday morning.

This first issue is intentionally small. The aggregation engine is still tightening on its first runs, and operators tend to list 3–5 days before their sale — so May 2–3 listings are still rolling in. By Issue Nº 2 next Wednesday, you'll see the full picture.

A few things you should know now, while we're charter:

1. The Charter Reader cohort is 100 slots, nationally. You're in slots 1–12. The remaining 88 will fill quickly once the marketing turns back on. Charter readers stay grandfathered on every paid tier we ever launch.
2. Forward this email to a hunter you know. That's the only growth marketing this paper does. If three people on this list forward to one friend each, by Issue Nº 3 we're at fifty.
3. Want Ads open next week. Tell us what you're hunting — Pyrex Spring Blossom, an old Sunbeam Mixmaster with the turquoise bowl, an antique Coke cooler, whatever. When we see it at a sale, we flag it.

The point of the paper is you don't have to know us to find your sales.

— The Editor, Lansing Bureau

Editor's Pick of the Week

Personal Residence Final Estate Sale — Sturgis

Friday May 1, 9a–6p · Saturday May 2, 2p–6p · Sunday May 3 if needed
68438 Klinger Lake Road, Sturgis, MI 49091

This is the kind of listing the paper exists for. No operator, no commission cut, no professional setup. A family running their own personal-residence final sale, written in their own voice: "You buy, you haul, your liability. No early birds. All sales final. Pictures to be posted soon."

Furniture is the headline category. The descriptor is short on details because it's a family doing it themselves, not a Caring Transitions writing copy at scale. That usually means the prices reflect what the family's brother-in-law thinks the dining table is worth, not what a professional pricer would tag it at — which cuts both ways. Some of the best curbside finds in mid-Michigan come from this kind of sale; some of the worst no-early-bird shouting matches do too.

Sturgis is south-central, close to the Indiana line. ~50 mi from Kalamazoo, ~60 mi from Jackson, ~95 mi from Lansing. Worth the drive if you're a hunter who reads "you haul" as the magic words.

See the listing →

Also active this week

Still open — in person

Hidden Treasures: Furniture, Antiques & More

Oxford · Tuesday–Wednesday, April 28–29 · 12p–4p

Caring Transitions Oakland Macomb. Professional estate-sale operator, classic estate mix — furniture, decor, accents. Active until 4p Wednesday afternoon.

View listing →

Online auctions — bidding closes today

Detroit April Online Auction

Detroit · ends Wednesday April 29, 7p ET · Deal Auction Group

View listing →

April 29th Online Consignment Auction

Clinton Township · ends Wednesday April 29, 6p ET · Coughlin's Auctions

View listing →

The Tally — what cleared last weekend

Receipt-keeping. Every Wednesday, this section will list what closed the prior weekend. This week we're filling it from the prior scraper run, so it's a starter set — by Issue Nº 4, this section will run thirty entries deep.

50% Off on Sunday at Grand Ledge · April 25–26 · Estate Sales and Beyond LLC
A long, specific listing — Cedar chest, Breyer Horses, curio cabinet, vintage cameras, wall decor, original artwork, an accordion, oil lamps, a grandfather clock, chairs, rocking chairs, silverplate flatware, decorative plates, glassware, candlewick. The kind of estate that rewards a careful Saturday.

Spring Estate and Business Liquidation · Caledonia · April 24–28 · M37 Estate and Moving Sales
"Massive Estate Sale and Business Liquidation — 3000+ Items." Ammo, jewelry, vintage finds. Large operator, ran their own auction platform.

Steins, Glass & Ceramic Treasures (online) · Sterling Heights · April 22–26 · Caring Transitions Oakland Macomb
Collectible beer steins, vintage glass, decorative ceramics. Online auction closed Sunday.

Art, Silver & Vintage Entertaining Finds (online) · Oxford · April 22–27 · Caring Transitions Oakland Macomb
Artwork, silverware, jewelry, vintage serving pieces. Online auction closed Monday.

Coming in Issue Nº 2

By next Wednesday morning the scraper will have run twice more, and we'll have the May 2–3 weekend at full coverage. Expect a longer index — closer to what mid-Michigan actually puts on the curb in a week.

We'll also open The Block — a section for operators running a sale next week. If you ARE an operator and want to be featured, reply to this email by Tuesday. Featured listing is free for the first five operators in the charter cohort. After that it's $99/month for unlimited featured listings (grandfathered for the first twenty).

The math, briefly

• 8 mid-Michigan metros tracked — Lansing, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Flint, Kalamazoo, Saginaw, Jackson
• One Wednesday email — 7am ET, every week
• Free forever on the Finder tier
• Keeper tier ($5.99/mo) launches once we hit 1,000 free subs — Want Ads, early access, The Tally archive
• Operator tier ($99–$249/mo) launches with The Block

How to help us

• Forward this email to a hunter who'd want it.
• Reply with feedback — what you'd want to see, what's missing, what you hate.
• Tell us what you're hunting for the Want Ads launch — even a one-line answer is enough to start.

That's it. We're a paper. You're a reader. Saturday morning is what we're both in this for.

— The Editor, Lansing Bureau

P.S. The cover photo on the FB Page (facebook.com/findersweekly) was redesigned this week — Newsprint variant, dark ink on warm cream. We're aiming for the register of an aging set of eyes that has read the Sunday paper for forty years, not Substack. Tell us if it works.