It creeps me out. I find it vaguely disrespectful to the dead.
I get that is a common feeling just seems morbid to go into someones former home and pick through their shit.
I don't know about estate sales, but I had a situation a couple of years ago where a friend died and I got a ton of his stuff. The majority of it is vinyl, and some of it is worth quite a bit. Of course, this didn't go down well with some family members and friends who were probably expecting it to be divided between them. I suspect the reason it was left to me is because he knew I wouldn't sell it. I did sell some of it and covered funeral costs. What they don't know is, I only had to sell 6-7 bits of Beatles vinyl to do that.
Dead people's stuff creeps me out. Not in the sense that I myself feel weird for having it, but because of other people's reaction to it once the person has died. They're like vultures.
It's not so much the taking of the possessions so much as judging someone based on their impressions. I am an odd person.
What else should be done with the stuff? Destroyed?
I ask these questions to see how other people think. I am fine with others going to estate sales.
I think they have started over charging at the estate sales. I still go to them but rarely find something within a reasonable price range. If I do buy something I secretly hope that it contains a poltergeist.
Do you ask the widow/widower about them so you can figure out what they cherished?
The dead are the dead to me, and even if there is an afterlife they can't take their possessions with them. So why not redistribute it among people in the here and now who can actually use it?
When I have died, I'd rather see my stuff my relatives and friends can't use (and be it just for sentimental value) sold on their behalf, than to have it gather dust and rust. The best way to honour my prized possessions (such as old RPG books or smoking pipes) is to see them put into the hands of people who are able to appreciate and use them.