I've been coming to this auction as a buyer since Skip held it in a cow field in Two Rock. That's 35 years; over 100 auctions. I've bought antiques, household junk, art, cars, a piano, you name it. Skip - part snake oil salesman, comedian and an avowed Christian (which always threw me off) - was also the consummate huckster).
Mostly, Skip's a people person.
The auctions were fun; entertaining as a 3 ring circus. The deals worth spending a day on horrible folding chair seating in a freezing/overheated fairgrounds building. Each item hoisted high by a couple of strong men, so if you missed the preview, you could still get a good idea of the item. Great for spontaneous buying decisions; I invested tens of thousands of dollars in them over the years, most often thrilled with a spontaneous buy. (Hello, 12 foot marlin!) The same strong guys loaded treasures after the sale with great care, which was always appreciated.
The current owner worked for Skip for a long time. I had very high hopes that the auction experience would only get better. The auction house has made a few changes: adding monitors which feature the items and did away with the strongmen. Coffee now free, a nice touch!
But after being insulted by the new owner numerous times, and seeing him insult his employees, and other buyers, I'm not going back. There is a feeling of desperation and no more humor. The monitors leave me cold. It's so boring! Loading is rushed and sloppy. At last auction I bought some incomplete items, advertised as complete. A "boom box" (no cord, had to toss it) an "antique Scrabble game" (no pieces, just two boards in a box, unusable and unsellable trash). When Skip was in charge, those kinds of incomplete items would go into a grab box or onto a table top of potpourri, with some usable items and some straight up junk. Those boxes and table top buys were fun as you never could see all the contents until you purchased the whole shebang for like $5 or $10. So if the table included a busted radio, you loved the pewter candlesticks you didn't notice earlier! Take the bad with the great; that made it fun!!! Not anymore! Now incomplete items are shown as complete on the screen, sold individually and apparently not examined or they just don't care?? I assumed (wrongly) that singular items are complete. I know new management would tell me it is all my fault and I need to preview better. But here's the deal. Logic says yes, everyone should preview. But when you sell a radio that a customer decides in the heat of an auction to buy spontaneously and it's totally unusable, your customer feels burned. When you're unwilling to make it right, they don't come back. Spontaneous purchases, even small ones, are golden in the auction biz, and successful auction houses know this. They maintain integrity to their buyers by offering items that are complete! I didn't expect that my radio would have no cord, or the game board would be just boards in the game box, with no pieces! What a rip!
Another misunderstanding, furniture I bought was checked off the list along with numerous items that went into my big truck. It had NOT been loaded and was offered at another auction. I saw it there at my next auction and assumed wrongly that it had been sitting in my warehouse, since their loader guy had checked it off on my receipt. Mistakes happen. But after a song and dance from the owner, and his glaring hostility, still no resolution. About $70 lost. Success in the auction biz comes from understanding that mistakes happen and that's human nature. When I told the owner that I had spent thousands with him in his new ownership, and I just wanted him to make this mistake right, I was dismissed as "just trying to make him feel guilty". I was a loyal customer and just wanted a mutually agreeable solution!
Last straw:
My adult daughter bought a $3600 minivan at last estate auction. She was top (only) bidder. She previewed the minivan a day before, waited all morning to bid on it and all afternoon to pay for it. They did not have the complete paperwork they needed to finalize the purchase. Ok, she was willing to leave a check. They produced a bill including tax; confusing as DMV also charges tax. She asked; they replied that they were unsure how taxes worked or how to write up the needed bill. They told her the auction house owner still needed to procure a death certificate and get other paperwork together, anyway. They (owner's teenage kids) said purchase needed more paperwork to finalize. So daughter left with no car but an agreement to complete everything during her work week. She has tried in vain to communicate with owner and complete the sale. At first he blamed HER for not completing sale. He insinuated she did not have funds ready on day of auction. Nasty. Then he went radio silent. No communication at all. Same car now advertised in this weekend's auction. Why not complete sale? Holding out for more $$$? Sad. Unprofessional. Very disappointed! read more
