Skip Domingos is a buyer's dream but a seller's nightmare. Bidders wait till he hits rock bottom of $10 starting bid, sometimes even as low as $1 before they bid so bidders get a LOT for their money and the folks that consign their things get zilch. If you're shopping for a deal this is the place to go but if you have things to sell you will do better with a yard sale or perhaps doing as little as placing a sign in your living room window of things you have for sale in hopes that someone driving by your house will see the sign and come knock on your door. The only one that really makes out in this place is Skip and the high bidders that walk away with everything for a song. This guy deserves zero stars but Yelp requires you give at least one. ;o( read more

I am a big auction fan. Loved Skip and the atmosphere. Then the change. The new owner does not understand that customers come first not money first. It's fun to bid just not fun to interact with the folks now running it. I have taken my business elsewhere to people with customer service. read more

Last year, my parents tricked me into going with them to this place. They are die-hard estate sale faithfuls and love antique furniture. I came prepared w/ my ipod and a book, thinking there was nothing I could afford...An auction house? In Petaluma? The (hot) warehouse was lined up with an assortment of any and everything you could think of. Dishes, large mahogany wardrobes, dressers and antique pieces. They even had washers & dryers and "mystery" boxes-(Sealed boxes taken from various storage units). The live auction dynamic gives you such a rush. I left with a full Mikasa set, a coffee table (once allegedly owned by George Lucas), countless wine & champagne glasses, three tea cups w/ saucers (paid $10 for all and when I got them appraised they were worth $150)and an antique chamber pot. All for about $250. My parents got a complete dining room set w/china cabinet & hutch for $500. The appraisal price was $3,800. They later sold it for $2,000. Best place to get quality, unique furniture pieces and accenta at ridiculously low prices. As the crowd gets scarce, the prices get dirt cheap. The only negative is that if you get too carried away, your bill can get outrageously high. Don't go alone! read more

Now under new ownership I am really enjoying some of the changes they have made. Monitors throughout the floor so that you can get a closer look of the current items up for auction. What I love about the auction is that even if you don't need anything, you always find something you can't live without. It is a great way to spend the afternoon. My step daughter is getting married soon and I have already decided that I am going to buy some wooden furniture pieces, shabby chic them and use them at the reception (Flea Market Flip style). I am sure I can turn right around and sell them for more that what I picked them up for at the auction. It's locally owned and family owned-he even has his kids working there. Which I love, they are learning life skills while getting to work with dear ole Dad! Go check it out, you won't be sorry read more

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

Skip domingos is a real auction house that does a great job. I having been going there for 15 years. There are many dealers that buy inventory for there business's. Great prices for all. True some times items sell low. Buyers dictate the value. This is not a consignment shop for those who think their used junk is worth what they paid for it. They have more selection and better values than any other store and new merchandise every month. Mike M read more

For many years we were avid auction buyers. After Skip sold out, I stopped going for awhile, but out of curiosity, went there today to preview.Only a few people there. Not a good sign. Didn't stay, but I was interested in an item & called to make absentee bid. Been going to Skip's auctions for at least 10 years & 1st time ever, I had to pay for a credit card "fee" to MAKE a bid. Great business practice---NOT! Auction not fun anymore either. Over the years we spent GOBS & GOBS of money but it was fun & enjoyable then. I think the new era of owners need a little more professional help (& tutoring from a clown. :) Lighten up and make it enjoyable again! read more

I totally agree with Marina, could not have said it better myself. I just went through the items he sold of mine and could barf. Literally throw up for what he sold things for. If I had any idea he would let some items go for so little, he would never had seen them. I am just sick. Never, never again. Another thing, those kids he has working for him don't know squat about antiques and they are posting most of the live auction ads. Spelling is wrong, descriptions are wrong, I was so wrong to go with them to sell. He has totally let Skip down. read more

I don't think they are trustworthy. I have experienced both selling & buying. When selling I asked for an inventory list that they didn't produce, then I witnessed them selling items that they never paid me for. Finally, I bought an air compressor that they claimed worked great! Went to use & the damn thing is broken, won't hold compressen, it would cost more to fix than worth. Advice STAY AWAY, I feel like they are thieves. read more

Very unprofessional! The person with all the info does NOT even have the decently to call after leaving several messages.

I tried for months to find something and each time went away dissapointed. Its almost like trying to find a needle in a haystack, a lot of inventory of things that you might see in a garage or estate sale. Honestly I was suprised at what people are willing to pay when you could find the same items on Craigslist for less. The thought of spening the hours it takes to get to the one item sitting in a folding chair was painful. I don't recommend it as a way to spend your Saturday. read more

DO NOT HIRE THIS MAN! He is ruthless and sold my things to "friends" for less than half of there "auction value". A 20,000.00 (appraised professionally) antique (which I said I wanted his guess of value BEFORE auction but he never called) sold for $2000.00! He explained that his friend SAID that was what it was worth so he sold it to her! I lost thousands from this guy because I trusted him in the beginning. Dis-honest and down right lazy-just a quick sale is all he cares about-not the best price I guarantee. I have used professional auction houses so I am not naïve about how prices go (getting less than we know something is worth) but this place will really disappoint. Have a garage sale-you'll do better than Skip Domingo. read more

Today was my first visit to this auction even though I am an avid auction goer. I was excited to see they had a nice selection of furniture however that was all that excited me...on several occasions the auctioneer mentioned that he had a very low absentee bid and that he was not going to start the piece that low and proceeded to sale it at a higher price. No need toinsult the absent bidder juststaylowandgoup that's your job. Also I have never been to an auction were every item had a minimum start price. ..I understand some expensive items placing a minimum price but every item seemed to have a low that was set by the auctioneer and if he didn't get that price instead of going lower he would pass the item. I left half way through and close to a quarter of the items had been passed for not an acceptable bid? If that is how an auction house wants to operate just open a store and set your price or disclose that all items are subject to a minimum price subject to the auctioneers discretion. Very interesting won't go again. .. read more

I consigned a truckload and received a general listing on the contract (ie., "jewelry") ... Some things showed up at auction and were sold for very, very cheap. Some showed up, were passed on, then "disappeared." I never received and explanation for what happened to the things that vanished ... including things that somehow never made it into the auction (like the jewelry). In this case, sellers beware. read more

Skips is my favorite place to unload furniture and things I'm tired of. They do all the work for you and send you a check. And all those odds and ends that you had in storage or in a closet, you will never have to move them again! read more

this auction house is under new ownership. it has improved greatly in just about all ways. give it a try. it is not the "same old way" new owner is honest and is making what was not so good so much better. i recommend giving him a try. read more