Auction.comReviews 434

I had a ton of questions that I had which were realllllly dumbed down becauseI didn't even know what a title company was or a lien etc or how anything worked when buying or being in an auction and he was such a pleasure! I am sure it was not easy for him to answer all of my questions because Im sure most already know these things but he said questions are essential to learning and being a teacher thats also my philosophy! He persisted and gave me all the info I needed!

I bought a property from them back in 2019 and the sale went ok, then I was a the highest bidder on another property last month, we got the title search and we had title issues that their seller refused to sell ( I hired a lawyer to do the closing) and he send them an email to resolve the title issue so we can get a title insurance or cancel the sale, their seller refused to resolve the issue so we told them to cancel and return the deposit about ($12,000) we got an email from them saying that the seller not going to refund the deposit due to damages? What damages god only knows, glad I had a good lawyer which fought with them and threaten them with a lawsuit if they didn't refund the deposit, then they said ok we will return $7000 from the 12,000 the lawyer told them absolutely not and threaten to put a lien on the property and Foreclosure on it, finally they agreed to return it in full, they will try to scam you and they don't even respect their own contract, have a good lawyer if you going to buy from these scammer they work for the seller and they will not play fair.
And please auction.com don't leave a comment to contact you on my review.

Auction.com continues to auction a property, without fully disclosing the facts and information available.

The roof of the property was damaged by a storm and I sent photos to Auction.com. Auction.com keeps publishing the pictures of the roof BEFORE the storm damage and does not disclosed the pictures I sent to them.

Auction.com published this small statement: "The condition of the roof is unknown and may require repairs at the Buyers expense. This Property may require repairs at the Buyers expense".

Auction.com knows of the damage, knows that no repairs have been made, knows that the rain is pouring in through the holes in the roof, yet still presents a less than candid information.

In January 2019 I won an auction on a house year my property. The listing said, buyer would pay title insurance premium and I was taking responsibility for the city inspection issues, I talked to the City, I knew what they were, I was ok with that. I sent in my paperwork and the down payment, I got the HUD to close. There was the cost of Title insurance in the column saying I would pay for on it. I complained. Took 5 weeks to get a new closing date, which they missed and we had extension upon extension because THEY could not get someone to sign the agreement.
In the meantime there was reminder from the city about the inspection a year earlier, and I was told the seller wanted to fix the issue (even though I was obligated to fix as per the original contract). Fine, but by JUNE it was not fixed, no work done. By July I gave them the option, send me a "hold harmless agreement"... so I am ultimately liable, or give me a credit and I will get the work done (as mentioned it is right down the street). By August they say ok... to both actually. So that was promising.

THEN they get another fine from the city in August (grass too long, because they stopped the maintenance visits on the property), they agree to pay the $180, but have me be "liable for any and all fines" from the city inspections prior (to the now) August sell date. I ask them to send me a list of these fines. They can not. I say I won't be responsible for things that I do not know about and is clearly their fault for not maintaining the building while they were farting around with the close.
Emails back and forth. Until November...
I throw in some legal language in my emails "Changing terms of contract" "lack of good faith", "Fraud"... I got my deposit back in February of 2020, 12 months after I sent it in hoping for a quick close... now 7 months later, the house still sits. Vacant, not on the market and an eyesore.

I'll stick with Craigslist.

They list properties over and over and over because the reserve prices are ridiculously high (Not really the auction sites fault). Their shill bidding process of Auction.com bidding on behalf of the seller means the highest bidder under reserve will always be Auction.com, so you'll most likely never win an auction under the reserve price. The large majority of reserve prices are so close to market value that all of the risks of buying foreclosed properties (Everything that can go wrong with a title/deed, tax liabilities, liens, fines and fees, nightmare occupant scenarios, condition of building being far worse than stated, etc) far outweigh any bargain possibilities. Once you buy an auction bought property you are left holding ALLL the risks. Without the financial bargain of being able to get a great "Auction Price" price, there is no point of an auction.

You may be able to successfully buy a property on Auction.com, but don't expect what everyone thinks of when they think of getting an auction deal... You're going to pay closer to market rate than should be expected of REO and distressed property sales AND you are going to be handed all the risks that come with such properties.

Auction.com isn't really like an auction. It's more like a realestate agent submitting best offers on a property to the seller who doesn't actually have to accept any of the best offers whatsoever... all the while buyers are left with all of the VERY LARGE risks and realities of buying auction properties.

Also, they tie up your $2500 for far too long in my opinion. It can take a full week or longer for the release of your $2500 credit card hold.

I had a horrible experience with auction.com today. They advertised a foreclosure I had been following for the past month or so. They told me if it was going to clear for auction it would likely clear the morning of the sale. I lived about an hour away from the auction so I went before it cleared knowing there's a chance I would miss it if it cleared at the last minute so I went. Nobody was present to conduct the auction. The website claimed registration starts at 9 and the auction starts at 10. I confirmed with auction.com via their customer support instant chat while I was at the auction site at the auction time that the property hadn't cleared and that the auction wouldn't be happening today. So I leave at 10 seeing that nobody is there to conduct the auction and confirmed auction wouldn't be happening by auction.com. I get home and see an email saying property cleared for sell. After calling multiple times to see how a property can clear for sale after the auction was supposed to have already happened and if the auction is happening maybe later today I was given a 1-800 number to the debt company conducting the auction, who then told me they don't follow the auction time and that they actually have from 10 to 3 to be there to conduct the auction and that they come when they can. To me this practice is so wrong, so many lies, no clear answers, poor communication among staff and business who is actually conducting the auction.

RUN DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM THIS CORRUPT BUSINESSMAN. HE WILL DO ANYTHING FOR A BUCK AND STOLE MORE THAN $5500 FROM ME FOR A DAMAGED LLADRO THAT I RETURNED TO HIS CARE. I PURCHASED SEVERAL ITEMS AND FOUND MOST OF THEM TO BE IN POOR CONDITION AND QUESTIONED THE YELLOW GLUE MARKS ON THE PIECES. I TOLD HIM THAT I WOULD NOT BE COMFORTABLE TAKING THE PIECES AS THEY WERE NOT CLEARLY REPRESENTED AND GUESS WHAT? HE RETURNED MY MONEY TWO DAYS LATER. BUT I KEPT ONE LARGE HORSE/CAR PIECE BECAUSE OF ITS RARITY BUT MADE IT EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAR TO DOUG THE OWNER OF TRADING POST ESTATE SALES THAT I WOULD BE HIRING AN APPRAISER TO CHECK OUT THE LICENSE PLATE, AND THAT IF IT WAS RE-ATTACHED I WOULD BE RETURNING IT FOR A FULL REFUND. HE SWORE UP AND DOWN TO ME THAT IT WAS LEGITIMATELY FROM THE FACTORY AND HAD NEVER EVER BEEN GLUED ON. WELL, UPON ARRIVING HOME, THE PIECE BROKE OFF AND I DIDN'T REALIZE IT UNTIL I WENT TO TAKE PICTURES OF IT FOR THE APPRAISER. I TOLD DOUG THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE RETURNED, I DID IN FACT RETURN IT, AND HE FLAT OUT REFUSED TO RETURN THIS MONEY, WELL OVER $5500. WHAT A LIAR AND A THIEF. DO NOT USE THIS CRIMINAL. HE IS A SCAM ARTIST, PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS IS THE TRUTH AND YOU MUST NOT FREQUENT HIS SALES. BUYER BEWARE WITH THIS ONE.

I bid on the property only to have Auction.com bid up the property which they say is "common." The bidding site also says that seller may take less than reserve in some cases, but if auction.com bids it up, how would true seller ever have an opportunity to accept the bid. They are not trying to sell the property I bid on. They bid it up 2 times in a row so that instead of 5000 increments, it would be more like 10,000. They also bid at a $2500. 00 increment vs the 5k they has posted. I have bid on the same property on 2 different auctions with them, only to have Auction.com bid it up to more than it's worth.

I was interested in a home that was foreclosed on over a year ago I was the only bidder in the last year and they didn't accept my bid. Now the home is a direct offer I place the direct offer and they came back at the highest possible offer of 50,000. Which is more than what the home sold for when it was completely renovated five years ago and sold with a mortgage of 49,500. When you're offering cash for something it should be less than the mortgage value, especially now saying how it's been sitting empty over a year and all the carpets torn up and there's holes in the wall from what I can see when I look in the window. The estimated selling price of the home is $80,000 a home in this area and that condition will not sell for that much. It's doing no good sitting and they are wanting to play hard ball.

They say they place a hold on the account for that money, but they actually withdraw the money immediately. When you ask to get your money back, because you didn't win the bid, they tell you it will be returned the Saturday after the auction ends, but note that it may take 1-5 days after that to return to your bank. If they can take it immediately, why do they not return it immediately? Do they take your money so that they can earn interest on it and they hold it as long as they can for that purpose? When I used the chat, because you can't actually talk to a live person, Mary J. Did not feel the least bit concerned that I would post this review, go to the BBB and report them to the bank. So, let's see if Mary J. Cares afterward. Stay away from this site. They are crooks.