CT BidsReviews 96

Unless you HAVE to use this site. Do not do it. Have them collect your items and find another way to sell. My dads estate items sold for a tiny amount compared to what the resale worth would have been on eBay. Example, they sold ALL my dads Lenox lighthouses for almost nothing, ALL 6 of them. Watercolor paintings that sold for over $150-$600 on other sites, sold for $50 and under on CT BIds. My fathers Dept 56 $#*!en's Collection sold for between $3 and $47 at the most when many of the houses sold for over $100 and more on eBay. I would not recommend this site for selling your families items unless you have NO choice. See photos for only a few examples of what my dads items sold for. I have many more

Bought some small items, listings stated would ship in usps flate rate box. After sale demanded $10 fee to deliver to ups. After several emails I gave up. Don't deal with the Lehigh Valley auctions.

Everything is good about the citibids side except the auction timing which is add 3 minutes every time you get out of bid which is not considered as an auction like eBay or other auction sites that takes the higher bid automatically in the last second, also l noticed a lot of shill bidding on some local auctions which is the whole family can bid on their items and drive prices they want for with no problem as it's not controlled as well, that's the the second negative thing about Ctbids site otherwise everything works fine

CTBids is like many other on-line auction houses - some sellers are honest and some are either clueless or crooked.

Descriptions are frequently weak and the photos nefarious. Many of their sellers know nothing about anything, which is why they buy a franchise instead of starting their own businesses.

If you see something you like, you can ask questions. If it is about authenticity or something similar, do it to share with others. If you notice something that may be to your advantage, keep the question private.

If the franchisee's rep doesn't respond to honest questions, run away 'cause they probably have something to hide.

Do NOT get carried away! Think about what you're doing and what they might be hiding.

And try to deal locally if you can. It makes things a lot easier.

I won several bids with Jennifer Black in the Seattle area,. Or so I thought. A Joe DiMaggio baseball with a COA. I sent it to JSA for authentication but they said there were to many irregularities to authenticate. So there went 600 dollars. Then I won a painting that I was charged 41 dollars to ship to me. When I got it the back had been taken off and the frame was falling apart. They almost always take the frames apart to make sure there is nothing of value hiding behind the painting. Unfortunately they don't fix it before shipping. I strongly recommend only using these auctions if you can personally go to pick up the merchandise. Also it is very common for these sites to have people raise the bids with no intention of actually buying. These sites as a whole are less than honest and my advise is stay local or stay away. I tried to get a response for my bad items but got nowhere. BUYERS BEWARE

I won the bid on 8 items through CT (Caring Transitions) bids, paid immediately, and scheduled an appointment to pick up my items the next morning. When I arrived on time for my appointment, I was informed by the man running the estate sale that "The owner must have come during the night and taken things" because 4 of my 8 items weren't there. Others who came around the same time as I did were having similar experiences with the items they won and paid for not being there. The man running the sale did refund me for the missing items, but the amount I bid was well below the dollar value of the items I had bid on, and I was very disappointed. I will avoid using CT Bids again.

Lots of hidden costs and lies about the process. We were charged thousands for dumpsters of things that didn't sell or sold but were not picked up. These things could have been donated or even set on the curb for people to grab. Actual trash was left for us to deal with. The photo is of things that were dumped out of boxes of things purchased and left in the yard. I should have taken more photos,
But I started cleaning before I thought to do so. The check we received after the sale did not even pay for the dumpster we had to rent to do what Margo said she'd take care of. We were offered $600 by another company to empty the house and clean up the property, and we should have taken it. We had to spend more than that to clean up Margo's mess. She said we would make thousands of dollars. Instead we are having to spend over $1000 due to her incompetence. The only one who made money on our sale was Margo.

So I've literally bought thousands of dollars of merchandise off this website, so I know a lot about them. First let me explain something to you. Every area that has items on this site up for auction has its own owner. It is like their own franchise. Each with different levels of business capabilities and professionalism. For example... the store in Utica, Boise-idaho, Tewksbury-ma, loudoun-VA, Brazos Valley and Annapolis & Arundel County, communicate with you are professional, and ship your items safely and quickly.
On the other hand, you have horrible business owners that make a person wonder why am I doing on this website.
They don't respond to you, they are rude, and do t know what they are doing at all.
The people from del sur, Cary NC, Indy North, will let you grow old before you see the items you bought, the guy from Denton and Collin County tx will have you pay for your items and supposedly "donate your items" if you don't pay immediately after he decides to send you your invoice. Same with greater tri-cities. But the worse of all of them is Moore Choctaw & east Oklahoma. Margo Gonzales. She is slow, has too much on her plate and will keep your items if she finds out they are worth a fair amount of money. She will claim to have sent them but she hasn't.
And when you have a problem with a seller there is nothing you can do... They are their own boss, owner of their business. So what can you do.
Shipping will always be pricey because they usually leave the items to be packed and shipped by a third party shipper plus they charge a handling fee for themselves.
Once I had a seller from Sheboygan WI charge me 9.00 to ship my item in a flat rate box and I ended up getting it in a regular envelope with a regular stamp on it. (It was a paper item).
So it is a real site selling mostly items from people that either pasted on or are being put into retirement homes. With some auctions from people that want to downsize or they are moving. The people hire from this company with each owner of their franchise having a strict territory that they cover. So if your new to the site you may have a horrible experience if the auction your bidding on is from a seller that is a jerk or a flake. Its live and learn with them. I will never bid on an auction from Moore choctaw ok, Margo Gonzales or from Denton tx, Rex norris.
Another thing I get sick of is having to hound some of these seller's to send a shipping invoice to you, or send them multiple emails asking where is my item can I please get an update... that is in my opinion unprofessional and shows that some of them but off way more then they can chew by getting into this business. Also one last thing. It may take some searching to find something you really want because some of them don't know wth they are selling, and if the kids of someone that past on is putting these items up to be sold they sometimes don't have a clue either, and just don't know how to list things.(and good luck having them answer any questions about the item). This may work in your favor...
If anyone has any questions feel free to ask

$50 dollars shipping no insurance not packed by ups in a box 3x the size item was a hand made pottery piece that was very fragile 6x6 in diameter not even an inch of padding on the bottom of the box. I felt and heard it was broken before I even opened it... you be the judge from the photos I would post the unboxing* video but I used a little bit of profanity. This was from Cincinnati OH seller is Rose Harris *******@caringtransitions.com. I even had to send her an email telling her I had not received my auction lot 3 1/2 week after I paid shipping. She apologized and it was here the next day. I expect quality at this point for the price of this pottery. Also having shipping issues with another franchise. If they can't ship an item confidently for the price charged they need to say so. Money sucking jerks and they screw over the people that own the estate. Also notifying the BBB.

This is a franchise outfit, so every person running them works as they see fit. That being said, some auctions are run better than others and some owners are more honest. I buy at CT auctions all the time for resale, BUT, I only buy from certain owners. Chris in Springfield, MA is honest, gives discriptions and points out defects. She runs picker sales that are great with leftovers. I have never been disappointed. However, I have stopped buying from other francisers for the reasons I stay with Chris. We do estate sales ourselved, in person only, and you need to be honest with the items conditions and not rip people off. We buy at auctions for deals, and if buyers feel ripped off, they get the very bad reviews listed here. The only reason I did not give a higher rating, Chris deserves all staes but other francise owners I no longer deal with. CT bids needs to vet owners better. BTW, people have complained about extending the auctions adter end time. I prefer that, stops bid snipping where someone can lurk to a couple seconds and steal an item from someone who was in from the start.

When I was in a pickle and needed to clear out some of my moms stuff after she passed away, they were there for me. Not that it's been over a year and a half, I'm slowly helping my dad rebuild his life by buying him new furniture and all kinds of items. I believe in repurposing all that we can. CTbids allows the world to be a little bit more green. We just got pops a great new car. Sometimes I buy at two auctions and when my pickup times overlap, they are great at working with me!

I won the bid on a super nice Hitchcock chair for only $37 (approximately 1/10th of its value) and CTBIDS OF RICHMOND "lost" my chair. The chair was either taken by an employee from a warehouse that is not open to the public OR the company "lost" it in order to auction it off again. They cheated me out of my beautiful chair and made up a lie about it being mistakenly being put in the donation pile. To their credit, CTBIDS OF RICHMOND did refund my purchase - They lost my chair, they lost my business, and I would not recommend conducting any kind of business with them.

CT Bids (Caring Transitions auctions) is 100% legit. I have been bidding and buying with them for several years. HOWEVER, you should understand that each Host/Franchisee has a territory, and each of them runs things a little differently. I am North of Pittsburgh, PA, and so I live in Leslie M.'s territory, and I have dealt with her the most. She gets FIVE stars from me, all the way. Helpful doesn't begin to describe Leslie and her helpers. Your auction disclaimer will say something like, our ppl are not going to help you load your stuff, so come prepared... but Leslie's ppl ALWAYS help me, without being asked. They know me on sight and call me by my name now. And her auction descriptions are detailed, with measurements and really good pics. She will list out brand names for clothing lots, and even mention and picture small defects on a single item listed in a lot. And she even puts some thought into the lot titles, trying to put some humor into the names to relate to the items listed.
That said, I gave only four stars to the company overall. Why? Because Leslie seems to be the cream of the crop, and not necessarily typical of CTBids hosts, and I think the company could do a better job in monitoring their sellers. From what I can tell, the Greater Pittsburgh Area is split to three hosts. North, South, and... Central, maybe? The guy in the South territory puts up pics ONLY, with a simple title, NO WRITTEN DESCRIPTION AT ALL. And the one or two times I have sent him a question about an item, he has been brusque and blunt with reply. I guess this is good enough for him, as his stuff does sell, and maybe he doesn't feel a need to put more effort into it. But I just find his whole page cold and impersonal, and quite lacking, and as such, I don't even browse his page anymore, much less buy from him.
The central guy is another thing, too. He puts up good pics, and tries to put in some humor, and a little description (if I wasn't spoiled by Leslie, I would say they were good), although I have had quite a few items where damages were not mentioned, and condition was not as boasted. However, most of his sales are out of a storage warehouse in a VERY decrepit and rather scary neighborhood, and I get a shady vibe from his whole setup. I DO like the fact that the warehouse is a drive-thru and you can drive up indoors right to the pick-up door and through. Very COVID effective... but you do still have to get out and load your own stuff. That's another thing about his crew, they aren't lifty-loady helpful. Again, I'm spoiled by the North crew... There was one time I was picking up a HUGE bunch of stuff from him and one of his guys helped and brought me a dolly and everything, but I got such an impression that he was looking over his shoulder the whole time, like he could get in trouble for it...
So, that's my story, hopefully it sheds a little light for anyone skeptical. As far as trusting them with your credit card or Paypal, that's not a problem, they are def legit, NOT scammy. I have never had any problem with that end of things, and it SEEMS to be all handled centrally, not by the individuals.

These so called "caring" individuals are nothing more than half brained money grabbers. They can't even fully put the right products together to complete a set or complete device (see the morons in Pittsburgh, PA) and then jack the prices way higher than they should ever go or the items are worth. Most items are flea market dollar items at best. Never let them sell collectibles like trains or trading cards.

Bid on a item but they didn't disclose the pickup date and time until the auction was over. On a weekday during work hours only a 2 hour block and no other alternatives. If I would of known, I would not have bid. I don't trust this company.