InvaluableReviews 145

Invaluables does not guarantee any transactions, there is no buyer or even seller protection. They charge the auction house a selling premium and take the money and run. They don't provide feedback of the auction house. They won't deal with the auction in the event of a complaint. If you find something you like on their website, skip it and deal with the auction house directly. It will be cheaper for you and you'll get the same protection. If the auction house asks that you pay via paypal then don't. They are avoiding the buyer protection provided by visa and mastercard and forcing you to pay any transaction fees.

Buyer beware. You are on your own with this site.
I had one transaction that was bad all around. I won an auction for an antique figurine from Kavanagh Auctions in Montreal. It was described as wood, old, paint loss all over etc. The figure was in the photo standing on a base, both feet grounded.
It arrived and one foot was not attached to the base and thus will not stand. It swivels 360 around the other foot. No such damage condition was described in the auction description.
I emailed Invaluable several times and received no response whatsoever.
I then emailed Kavanagh with Invaluable copied on the emails and nobody responded to those emails.
I then telephoned Kavanagh several times, finally reached someone who said "Let me consult with my business partner and I'll get back to you." After several days when he did not get back to me I called him again, and he said, in effect, "its old; you didn't ask if it was broken; and maybe it broke in shipping and that's that."
So, in essence, tough on me.
Kavanagh is bad enough -- they should be blacklisted -- but the site that sponsored them, Invaluable, should have had the decency to reply to my many contact attempts, much less to make good on the repair or a reduction in the item's cost.
In any case, it appears that with Invaluable, you have ZERO assistance for purchases made by vendors they host. And, worse, some of those vendors are obviously shysters.
Shame on you both.

I recently purchased a ring at auction. Once I finally received it two months later I took it to my jeweler for an appraisal. He said it was in fact not up to the quality it was advertised to be at purchase nor was the gemology report that came with the ring accurate. In fact they were both way off! It was advertised as an SI white diamond with I-J color. The appraisal I received said it was at BEST I-1 yellow stone with L_M Color with many inclusions that were visible to the naked eye. In fact I took it to another jeweler just to have it looked at to make sure and he confirmed what the appraisal has said as well. Buyer beware, the "gemologist" report they provide in order to auction these diamonds off is not necessarily accurate! Will never make this mistake again!

Michael G.

1 review
2 helpful votes

TIME FOR A CLASS ACTION SUIT

4/24/16

Invaluable provides a path for auction houses to operate to sell their wares. I recently bought a so called Persian Kerman rug only to find out it was not Persian and was originally sold by Sears. When I complained that is was totally misrepresented, I was offered back $ 100 of a $ 1k expense that includes the price of the rug, buyers premium, taxes and shipping. If you cannot be at the sale, do not use these services. Someone needs to be responsible for this rip off scam.

Invaluable provides a path for scam artists to sell their wares and when confronted is completely uncooperative. This has gone on for too long now with absolutely no repercussions and or Government intervention. One would think the FTC would park themselves outside of there business and have a field day prosecuting and fining all the thieves. Hopefully some shyster law firm will come along and class action themselves into a Huge Payday as. This company has left itself wide open for litigation. Tell any lawyer you know about it, it will never get to court as there would be a witness list in the thousands. Shut these crooks down once and for all.

In online bidding in auctions sponsored by Invaluable.com, you are prompted to enter your maximum bid which, you are told, will not be divulged together with the assurance that their bidding tool will only go up by increments.
Do not believe that. Once you give your maximum bid, you are 100% assured that you will pay that amount, due to shill bidding which will increase the bidding amount to that immediately below your maximum bid, thus making your maximum bid the next bid. Then, there will be no more bidding and you will end up paying that amount while your intention was only to stay on top of the honest bidding by other interested parties.
It is a certainty that all maximum bids are immediately know by the seller and its shill bidders who then go into action with the sole purpose of increasing the price of the lot.
Invaluable.com does not keep your maximum bid amount secret but makes it freely accessible, thus setting you up for a big loss, while they and the seller profit.
Never, ever, put a maximum bid amount in invaluable.com or any auction. These people are dishonest and only interested in ripping you off!

I've been bidding at various online auctions (Invaluable.com, Liveauctioneers.com) over the last year and now have proof that they are completely rigged. On three different occasions I've been the only bidder on a lot and have not won the item. Once, an auction house called antiquesyes.com, hosted by invaluable.com actually told me that the client would not honor the bids and refused to release the items. There is virtually no oversight of any kind for these auction houses, no best practices, nothing. They use shills to bid against online bidders and artificially raise prices. The whole thing is corrupt. The best thing is to buy at flea markets, estate sales, live auctions and garage sales. At least you know the price you're paying is the price you negotiate.

First off I own a store. I attend and bid online on dozens of auctions a month.
Most recently I bid on a Invaluable auction in Bedford TX. Gallery 70two. I have had problems with them before but thought I would try again. Had problems with quick response and acceptance of bids in their live auction. So I placed absentee bid with their Invaluable site. In the morning. At approx. 6:00pm my lot came up. I won at $45 my max being $70. Auctioneer stated internet bidder won my screen said I won. When I did not receive a invoice I called. The rude Auctioneer I spoke to said I must have had a problem in my system. What? I had a problem? Not sorry. It was my fault. Said a floor bidder had won. I WATCHED LIVE! Impossible. Complete scam, I am reporting them in the morning.

I bought a painting from a site linked to Invaluable. The painting was in a really poor state and yet there was no mention in the description about it having damage. When I tried to get a refund I was told by the auction house that I should view before I bid. Which means that as an online auction they are telling me that I shouldn't have bid as an online customer. They were very disrespectful in their method of dealing with me. Don't bid with any auction house linked to Invaluable unless you have seen the item with your own eyes.

I ordered a ring, an opal and some pearls. The pearls are ok fresh water, no where near the estimate and the ring and opal were junk. I threw the opal away and gave the ring to a little girl for dress ups. Now I want to unsubscribe and can't no matter what. I was so stupid to get sucked in by these people. I would like to know how to get out and close my account. There is no provision for closing your account. I have no tried phoning yet but frankly I don't want them to have my phone number.

I bid on through artfact but when the computer was loading the bid, the auctioneer moved onto the next lot and obviously a technical error, the bid automatically went onto the next lot and I won the that item but it was not what I bidded for. I rang the auction house straight away to tell them what happened but they said they were too busy to talk and I emailed artfact straight away but all their replies were according to our system you bided on the next item, so they can't do anything about it. But that is exactly when the problem was, there was a fault in their system, if the computer was taking too long to load then I miss out on the bid fair enough, but the fact that it went onto the next item is a problem. It happened to me twice on that day and I know what I want to bid on and pressed the bid button on the item I wanted so don't tell me I bided on the wrong item. IT IS ARTFACT SYSTEMS FAULT. BEWARE!

My problem with Artfact.com is that they give the auction houses too much power. I bought an item--3 native american clay pipes-- from Garth's Auction in Ohio that turned out to be brand new. It was in the middle of an auction of antiques and only had a brief description so I assumed they were antique. I had an expert look at them and he said they were new. Garth's refused to cancel the sale and instead gave me a "non-paying bidder" strike, which now is a roadblock to my getting approved to bid by other auction houses. Even worse, ones I talk to, agree with Garth's. There is a HUGE problem among auction houses in NOT TAKING RESPONSIBILITY for what they sell. It is a whole new ballgame out there with Internet bidding. A bidder has to be cautious even when buying in pertson. But buying on the Internet is a minefield. The only safe way to buy is to BE ABLE TO TRUST THE AUCTION HOUSE to be accurate, or take the item back. Some of them purposely post only scanty photos and descriptions, so they can't be held responsible. This is shady and unprofessional. Garth's is to blame for not saying straighht out, that the pipes were new. Artfact is to blame for hosting
Such unethical businesses. I am the victim and now I am being hurt. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL if you use any of these "live" auctions. No one will take care of you--even if THEY are wrong.