InvaluableReviews 145

Bidders should read every auctions TERMS AND CONDITIONS PRIOR TO REGISTERING AND BIDDING!
I am an auctioneer and will answer some of these complaints.

1) Shipping is a CONVENIENCE provided to the bidders by an auction house. Many auctioneers will not even touch shipping. They will either flat out refuse or some will send to a 3rd party company like UPS Stores. If an auction house ships, you should expect to pay a small boxing fee, postage cost to cover Priority Mail INSURED. This is why shipping is expensive. Read the Terms and Cobditions.!

2) Buyers Premiums:. When you attend an on-site auction that doesn't have a bidding option via online auction hosting platforms (Invaluable, Auction Zip, Live Auctioneers, etc), premiums are usually around 10-15%.

When you have an ONLINE BIDDING OPTION, the auctioneer has invested in photography and editing, lot descriptions, estimates, condition, and other fees such as premiums paid to the auction platform in addition to the expensive listing fee.

Lots you lost:. Many auctioneers list the same auction on multiple online platforms. If it's also being held live in an auction house, you have serious competition because those bidders took the time to attend in person. They can also touch and hold an item and you can't.

Why you didn't get approved to bid: perhaps you registered too late or your registration is incomplete (most often bad phon numbers and no credit card verification).

You may also have a strike(s) against your account that auctioneers around the world can see. If you fail to pay within the time stated in the Terms and Conditions, if you fail to pay, if you do not reply, if you fail to complete the sale... It's a little emoji type of icon next to your name. It lists all your strikes.

EBay is not Invaluable, Live Auctioneers, Auction Zip, etc. Bidders think every platform is eBay. It isn't. The platforms above are real auction houses that auction for a living and offer many lots per sale. They are not resellers scouring Goodwill to sell some items on eBay.

Why your bid was not accepted:. The auctioneer may have seen another bid before yours. Waiting until the last second is not the way to bid on these platforms. The auction is happening quickly and there is a lag on the internet. Bid your maximum amount and leave it. Auctioneers never see your max bid amounts. They are private. Another reason is there was a reserve on that item and it didn't reach the reserve price. Only auctions that clearly state "ABSOLUTE AUCTION" ARE REQUIRED TO SELL EVERYTHING IN THE SALE REGARDLESS OF BID PRICE.

You should also be aware that not all states require auctioneers to have a license. Wow is you who buy from unlicensed auctioneers

Finally, bidding on online auctions is a CONVENIENCE the auctioneer has offered the public. Period. The platforms themselves are just the software host and are not like eBay where a buyer can complain and return anything at anytime.

Always read the Terms and Conditions of the auction before you bid. By registering, you are entering into a contractual agreement. Bidders can find themselves in legal trouble when bidding and not paying once you reach a certain dollar value. Laws everywhere protect people from scamming them.

Finally, Buyer Beware. The photos and descriptions are there to help you make an educated decision based upon your own experience. Expecting an auctioneer to be a certified expert in anything other than auctioning is your issue.

I have over 1700 transaction with this company. When things go well, as they should, things are fine. When things don't go well, as when auction houses on the site don't live up to their obligations, Invaluable's so-called Customer Service is useless. They have even emailed me that their policy is to not get involved in post transaction issues. As a result. When I have not received my auction wins, or have been sent wrong items, my only recourse has been to contact my credit card company. It seems that there is no due diligence on the part of Invaluable in checking the auction houses using this site. I have found many examples of extremely bad practice and even fraud among some of these. My most recent problem involves a ring I purchased November 10,2019 from Imperial Auction for $30.00. The auction terms stated "Shipping: Due to popular demand, this auction will have FREE SHIPPING, FREE HANDLING, & FREE INSURANCE ON ALL ITEMS AND INVOICES.
Thank you very much for bidding with us!"
When I was sent an Invaluable invoice for $66.00 including $30.00 for shipping I replied with my US address and requested a corrected invoice. No reply yo that or two subsequent emails.
Today I received an Invaluable receipt stating thay they had processed the $66.00 charge through my credit card. This charge was unauthorized by me and I view it as fraudulent. I could find nothing in Invaluable's terms of service that they would engage in this deplorable behavior.
CAVEAT EMPTOR I will be cancelling my account with this dishonest business.

Invaluable Auction supported Old Johannesburg Warehouse Auction on-line... but shipping claims made prior to the auction were flat-out false... you can bid, and you can win, but you cannot ship the item home after, and this was already known to Invaluable. The Auction house countered (a month after the auction was completed) by offering to send a five-pound parcel - 14 inches by six inches by two inches - via Stuttaford's transport for $1,300 US from Johannesburg to North America. Courier companies and the postal service in South Africa are, in fact, operated by organized crime. Invaluable insists that it is not responsible for the "written prior mis-representation" offered by the auction company it endorses.

*Personal information redacted by admin

This past week, for the third time, the Invaluable online bidders screwed me out of a piece that I had bid on. I bid $100. Online and someone else bid $100. At the auction house.
Invaluable stated that, " We do not guarantee that by being the highest absentee bid you will win the lot." Then what's the point?

Zak/Long Island, NY

Bought art from Phoenix Auction Ithica NY in early June '19 under the Invaluable umbrella. Not delivered and no contact. Called. Told me they were just doing someone a favor and din't have the piece and couldn't get it. Not clear to be that the art even existed. Called several more times before contacting Emily at Invaluable. Said she would assist in making it good, but totally disappeared. Took no responsibility. Said she'd call back last week. Didn't. Two months have gone by and I feel scammed. Take your chances folks.

So many auctions on their website selling fakes, google the address sometimes a condo will come up, If an auction house does not have a physical address for viewing, name of parties working there, history, provenance of items run away, and even then they fake a lot of this. A huge percent of items sold are fake and auction platforms make money off this, should be criminal, they need to vet the sellers, Invaluable will not correct this, Never deal with an auction that will only take cash, wire money, or debit, you will loose your money. Buy something if you like it but don't expect it to be authentic. They allow auction houses to resurface with new names multiple times selling same fakes and for this they get a percent of your purchase. Boycott this save your money!

I have purchased tens of thousands of dollars of art on this site over a 5 year period. The site- backed by vc- has two major major problems. First, many of the items i purchased for up to 10,000 were fake. I sent them for authentication and they were fake. Plain and simple. The site may not be legally responsible for this but they are not in my opinion doing a fair job in preventing this. Second, the site is completly vendor oriented concerning alleged disputes. I have purchased tens of thousands and yet am now being barred from bidding over an alleged dispute concerning a 50 dollar shipping fee which was never agreed to. The site does not try to resolve these issues and vendors don't care if they ruin you ability to bid by sending a strike even when it is not really a strike. Live auctioneers does a much more even handed job iof this. This site needs to more time and money into making it a fair marketplace..

With Art Legacy Auction House I bid on and won a Paul Klee lithograph from 1954. When I didn't receive tracking info after paying for the item I called Art Legacy about the shipment. They said they'd get it right out and I gave them my business address to ship to. A couple weeks go by without an email with tracking and I call them again and Kathy asks, "Did you receive your Paul Klee lithograph". I inform her no, I did not which is why I am calling. Kathy says, "well the reason you haven't received it is because it was damaged in shipping and it is being returned to Art Legacy. She asks if I would like a different Paul Klee lithograph that they have and I clearly stated no, that Twittering Machine is the exact work that I want because 30 years ago in college, I discovered Klee because of this piece. Kathy says they will inspect the returned Klee and if it is in good condition, they will re-frame it and send it on to me. A few days later I receive an email with tracking info from Art Legacy. I'm excited because it must be that the package was damaged but not the lithograph. The package arrives and I open it to find that they shipped a different Paul Klee piece. Why on earth would they do this? Because Art Legacy is a hack auction house that apparently deals in fakes framed in $#*!ty plastic frames with $#*!ty plastic lenses. Still waiting for my refund.

Whatever you do in life, do not buy anything from Pennington Antiques & Consignment LLC. I bought from them an item described as Dale Chihuly Original, when in fact it is an item mass produced in China (with the label "Made in China" attached).
Invaluable.com customer support was not very responsive either and practically refused to help me.
I suggest NOT dealing with Invaluable.com either as they host fraudulent auction sites.
Horrible experience. STAY AWAY.

Stay away from this site, it traffics with "auction houses" that sell counterfeit products- purchased (January 13,2019) at watch offered as an authentic rolex and it was a fake.

After receiving the item, I was able to confirm it is a fake, i. E. Submariner code is *******, the item they sent me had a code ******* which corresponds to a GMT Master II model.

I have tried to ask them to take the item back bit as you can imagine they have not answered any of my attempts to contact them

BEWARE!

Why is the SAME ''nearly uncirculated' William III guinea that sold for $7,000 in the last sale (119). ALREADY. UP FOR SALE AGAIN in THIS COMING AUCTION (120) for A LOWER starting estimate ($5,000) THAN at the last auction ($6,000).

It's a warranted question?

I didn't bid (sale 119) because of information received from an astute pair of eyes at the time.

Somebody else obviously wasn't that fortunate.

My experience is that the condition stipulated in the flashy auction catalogues - in general - cannot be taken at face value.

It absolutely needs to be verified by an experienced pair of eyes BEFORE BUYING at ALL times that the coin(s) you are about to buy have NOT been cleaned.

If not, don't be surprised if the coin(s) is / are later identified as cleaned (altered surface) by PCGS and returned to you UNgraded.