Not at all professional appraisers they do not use any modern technology or software in identifying people in photographs. They also work closely with Wes Cowan from the Antiques Roadshow and I was very disappointed with his lack of knowledge in being able to identify people in photographs. I sent Katie a photograph of a famous baseball player Honus Wagner and I even provided a well-known Wikipedia photo of him. They were an identical match I've shared this photograph with many people. No one has ever doubted it, but they looked at it for just a couple of minutes without even explaining any processes that they did to try to identify or prove that it wasn't the famous baseball player instead, they referred me to somebody else. I'm not sure how they complete their process of being an appraiser of photographs, although I can say that they were able to identify the chair he was sitting in it was from around 1874 so if you have any photographs of chairs from that era, they may be able to help you with that read more

Hindman - Auction House representative email correspondence Katie Horstman from Hindman/Freeman Auctions - Auction Houses Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I have purchased lots from this company over the years, but the ever increasing "Buyer's Premium" became a detraction. Now that they are known as Freeman's|Hindman the Buyer's Premium is 32% !!! Shocking greedy price gougers. Never will I purchase again. read more

Never in my life have I been treated so poorly. There's something wrong there. Six months and I was never able to actually speak with a decision-maker regarding my jewelry and/or vintage clothing. read more

Absolutely disgusting practices at Hindman. I was the high bidder in a timed auction today only to have the bidding "extended" when it expired. Worse, I was the high bidder the second time and they extended it AGAIN! This is fraudulent. read more

Helped a friend find this auction house in hopes that having his lot of civil war items open for online bidding as well as in a live auction would garner more money for my friend. The lot was "valued" at $2000-4000 by one of their "experts". Great. Then they said their cut would be "20%". Ok then. My friend dropped the items off at Hindman's office in Denver. It was then shipped to Cincinnati for a live auction, and listed online for bidding. The lot sold the day of the auction for $1700. My friend was not notified that it sold for 4 days, and was told his check for less than half of that would be mailed to him. Apparently, there were many extra " fees" stipulated in the lengthy contract that he signed. So the item sold for less than they estimated, they took over half of what it did sell, and if an online bidder won it, they would have to pay a 30% "buyer's premium" for the privilege of winning the bid. The big winner, of course, is the auction house. I will never use them again, and I would encourage everyone to not only not sell anything through them, but don't buy from them either. They are swimming in cash, at everyone else's expense. read more

I was willing to stomach the 35% buyer's premium, but I wish I'd known the following things before I bid on and won an item from them: - They a charge 3% credit card fee -They demand you send them a copy of your passport of drivers license, which would seem a violation of privacy - They expect you to arrange your pick up and shipping, which adds immensely to the cost of items. NEVER AGAIN! read more

Just kept going in circles with this company. They kept asking me to resend the same things I had already sent to qualify for their auction. At this point I don't want to bid on anything as I see this company is a disaster to work with, based on all the bad reviews. read more

They have bad customer service if you have a problem it can be painful . Hidden charges , bad condition reports , high shipping , they don't return calls , grouchiness . I would stay away . read more

I've purchased a few things and sold a few things from Hindman First off I keep using them because they're really the only auction house locally with any volume The items are generally good and representative of the descriptions and if you order a condition report However the service and staff are worthless 26% buyer premium is standard so I don't really even care about the money but the staff are just a bunch of woke idiots Slow to respond; little to no knowledge about items; always have to chase, entitled etc etc - it's so bad I'm taking off 3 stars Basically your mileage will vary - but as I said only show in town locally read more

I have several excellent items that I would have liked to consign. I have sent several emails, left several vm, left messages with the front desk, all in all more than a dozen attempts. No one has ever contacted me. I thought the life blood of auction houses was consignments? What is going on at this place? read more

Buyer beware! Read all of condition details in the auction before bidding. A reputable auction house would only sell watches that work. Hindman also sells broken watches. Hidden in the condition is a subtle note that the watch is "not running" and that they can't determine if the watch will ever work. read more

Hindman - Buyer Beware! Hindman hides information, like the watch is broken, deep in the description. - Auction Houses Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I am by no means a "collector", but I do appreciate good fine art, and I have found that Hindman presents a wide variety of art for auction that really run the gamut of art history, price, etc. I enjoy watching the online auctions, even if I'm not bidding. I've purchases a couple of items from them, and it's been a very easy process. I'm seeing a lot of negative reviews here from years ago...I am surprised, but okay. I will say that I have paid for my items with credit card; no issue. My experience has been very positive overall. My only gripe is that the buyer fee seems a bit high. I certainly understand the need for premiums (they have to make money, after all), but the percentage seems a bit steep. read more

Bad auction "experts" and poor customer service. I suggest avoiding at all costs. Please Google and look on eBay before you bid on an item at Hindman. read more

Consistently poor results, we would have faired better at a yard sale. We were completely disappointed, to say the least.

They will intentionally hide defects in their condition report and pictures. Make sure you check the items in person before bidding at this auction house. read more

For years, I've visited & purchased from Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, bringing my friends on numerous occasions. It's a hidden gem in the Chicago art world! Attending their previews is a learning experience for us, as we're able to see hundreds of items, ask questions and research individual lots. Truly, it's better than a museum, as the inventory is new each time. My favorite auctions are the Interiors, formally marketplace, as they have high quality items at attainable prices for an introductory collector and the art auctions, as we're able to inspect art more thoroughly than a standard gallery or museum. It's common place to ask someone to remove a painting from the wall to review it and ask for condition reports. Highly recommended for new & aspiring collectors, especially if you're the type who loves estate sales. read more

I wish I had read the reviews before even making an attempt at contacting them. Supposedly they offer free appraisals by appointment and the dates/cities are listed on their website. However, over the course of the last month I have left two messages and sent an email with photographs and have never received a response. Don't waste your time. read more

Sure wish I would have read these reviews before participating on an auction with them. Their site doesn't accept credit cards, they are horrible with their customer service. I was charged for something which they never even shipped. They never responded to my emails until I filed a claim with my credit card company and they initiated a chargeback. I called the shipper and the item is still sitting on their shelves a month later. Hindman said they are going to dispute my chargeback!!! Not sure how they can make me pay for something that I have never even received. BUYER BEWARE read more

Very cool auction house!!! They have amazing collections and auctions that you can attend in person or online. Even if you aren't buying, it's very interesting (and exciting) to watch. Very professional staff who are all distinguished experts in their respective departments. read more

My experience with this auctioneer was anything but professional. I bought a pair of 18 kt. Gold earrings that I loved and when they arrived in the mail they were an ugly and far less expensive pair of earrings. When I called to notify them they were not apologetic in the least and told me I'd need to return them myself and once they were received I'd eventually be credited back.......WOW, thanks for nothing but a bit of headache, disappointment and lots of wasted time. I would not recommend or buy from them again! read more

Great auction house with many good pieces on a regular basis. Prices and bidding are genuine. Highly recommended! Worth checking out! Much concern as of late though: 1.) Catalogs coming online only a few business days (4-6) before the auction is supposed to start. Not optimal for consignors or bidders. 2.) Rebranding of the site that has removed a lot of the online catalog viewing functionality, like the ability to view more items per page, zoom, etc... 3.) Removal of multiple online bidding options with a move towards Liveauctioneers (a site notorious for questionable items/bidding and nonpaying customers). 4.) A shift towards more online only sales. 5.) Preview setup... Last preview I went to did not have all of the items out in the room - had to ask for some specific pieces to be brought out for viewing. 6.) Departmental hires that are fresh out of school or don't have hands-on departmental expertise. 7.) Great estates have been few and far between. read more

Bought a piece of furniture from Leslie Hindman Auctioneers and brought it home. And Gosh! there were termites in it. We found a huge nest underneath the piece of furniture. we only saw it when we turned the piece upside down for cleaning. I understand they sold stuff "as is", but selling stuff with termites! I think they should somehow inspect the pieces they sell. Also, before you decide to buy something from them, check their pick up hours. They are very inconvenient. read more

I am the owner of an oil painting by Eugene Bennett, entitled "The Loop", and I thought it would be great for it to go home to Chicago. It is a very large Bennett, and rather unusual. Mr. Bennett was a friend of my family. On Sept. 3, 2015, I contacted them regarding the painting, via their website. Later that evening (after 9pm Chicago time), I received a phone call from a Patricia Corson, who seemed very excited about it, and wished to include it in an auction to be held December 15, 2015. She said she would email me paperwork that evening, or the next day. Sept. 10 - I had not received anything, so I called the main number and asked for her, got message machine. I left a message confirming our earlier conversation, and my email address. Sept. 16 - Ms. Corson called me, saying she was swamped with their current auction, and my paperwork was in the stack on her desk, and I would receive it within 2-3 days. Still saying she wanted the painting for the December 15, 2015 auction. Today's date, less than a month until the auction, nothing. I am not gonna chase them, I will just find another venue in Chicago, who is a LITTLE more professional. If they changed their minds about the painting, fine! But TELL ME. read more

Hindman sold me, through Live Auctioneers, a lot of circus posters. They worded it so the posters appeared to be vintage but after I bought the lot I talked to them and found out they were later worthless reproductions. They said they put a proper description on their own website and that was all they needed to do and I should have looked on their site and not relied on the information they put on Live Auctioneers. I refused to pay and many months later a man started harassing me trying to get payment. They also put an unpaid mark against me at Live Auctioneers. AND, to top it off, they then sold the posters as vintage at a subsequent auction with no change in the Live Auctioneers description. Do not expect any truth or fair play as they purposely cheat buyers. read more

What I learn about the customer service in Hindman is based on the following experience I have with them. My general comment is Customer service needs some improvement. Several experience: 1. Go back and check all the responses from Hindman auction with respect to complaints and bad comments. The responses from Hindman are all copy-paste with almost the same wordings and sentences. What a mechanical way it is to customers' complaints, let alone to other customer service in general. I contacted with Hindman for several times. I AM NOT VERY SATISFIED THROUGHOUT THE ENCOUNTERS. The following are my stories. 2. I call about the shipment issue for the first time, a man pick up the phone and answer me in an impatient and irritating way. In the end, before I have time to say goodbye, he already hung up the phone with uncatchable speed. 3. I sent a release authorization email to shipping address and also cc my shipper. The Hindman did not reply anything, even after the shipper had already picked up my artwork. It leaves me no ideas of at what stage about the shipment process. I think it is ok if they just do not reply for confirmation, what makes me really feel being treated disrespected and angry is that what I got in the end is an artwork without the frame. They rolled my artwork and put in inside a tube! I mentioned several times before shipping that I want it shipped as a whole with the original frame. Either Hindman auction or the shipped just totally neglect my request. 4. After I received the artwork, I tried to contact Hindman about my issue and looked for possible solutions. A woman picked up the phone told me that she would help me handle it by sending this issue to the proprietary team for further investigation and she told me that the team would call your back. However, they never call me back. 5. After a while they never call me back, I called them back, asking about the investigation result. A woman picked up the phone. The woman told me that they contacted the shipper company and I SHOULD CALL THE SHIPPER FOR THE INVESTIGATED RESULT. It sounds like that I wait quite a long time and in the end you tell me I should waste my time on waiting for nothing. 6. Now before I call the shipper for the investigation result and possible solutions, I made another call to Hindman about suitable solutions or compensations that encountered before. Another woman picked up the phone and she barely knew what was going on on my issue so that I explained it to her. However, this employee I encountered show another type of impatinece and aversion from the following behavior: Even before I finished explaining my issues and my problem, she constantly interjected and asked me to write an email about it. After I said I would write an email, she did not show any interest in listening to what I have not finished saying and hung up the phone. If you treat your customer like that, why you still bother to set up a phone number ? The problem has been stalled for quite a long time and I WANT IT TO BE SOLVED PROMPTLY. That is why I made the call, man. Overall, I encountered a man and three women over the phone giving me similar experience as I described above. I am not sure it is an exception but I think my dear reader may have your own answer. The following is a quote from other reviewers, which really resonated with me in terms of the feeling. I put no judgement on his factual description. The staff at the preview exhibitions are gruff, rude, and not knowledgeable about the items. They don't seem to be experts in any topics, so why even represent the items at auction? Case in point: I called about missing clock weights to a clock when it was shipped. I got transferred to three separate phone lines in Chicago before the last male voice told me he was too busy to talk to me because he was setting up for the next auction. He told me he was transferring me to yet a fourth line to leave a message and phone number and I would be called back at a later date. The return call was never made. I submitted the same requests via email and did eventually get a response to my question. read more

I purchased a George II oak linen press last month at auction. It stunk badly. Leslie Hindman's people blamed it on the shipper (who had the piece for all of 24 hours) and said there was nothing they would do. This thing was so stinky that I started to gag when pulling out the old liner paper. It continued to stink after the paper was removed because it is musty and moldy smelling like it's been in a basement for many years. I have aired out the drawers and lined them w/ baking soda, but it's an ongoing problem. A local furniture person told me that the linen press should be put in a "dry chamber" for a week or two and that "maybe" the smell could be minimized. This auction house handles beautiful furniture, but their quality control is poor. They should never have sold this item or, at the least, they should have noted the smell on their description. read more

Large inventory of art, furniture, clothes and jewelry. One could go to an auction at Leslie Hindman every two weeks. A 70's Pucci scarf or a Warhol, it is all there. Please do not be afraid of the word auction, as I once was. Auction does not necessarily mean astronomical prices. Look online, go in person, register to bid or just watch the excitement. There is always something for everyone in every price range there. I have bought items from $50 to $5,000 from them and I will continue to do so. The auction house is not so organized when it comes to online bidding and that is why they are not getting the coveted fifth star. read more

Don't recommend this auction house. Better off with Artnet, Artsy or even Ebay. Better realized prices and lower fees.

Shortly after graduation I made my way to Chicago... With a new empty apartment the possibilities were endless. LHA was basically a one stop shop - I was able to find furniture, small decorations and art. While there are many fabulous and expensive items offered. Don't be surprised to find some hidden treasures at an affordable price too! Wonderful and helpful staff. Large selection. read more

This is why Yelp is so good. If I had read the reviews of this place I never would have engaged them. I am not wealthy or an auction guy but instead turned to this auction house to sell a few reasonably priced items and buy some as well. In short dealing with them is a disaster. I called several times to resolve the situation and they failed to call back as promised. I just called again and no one even answers the phone during regular business hours. Next time I will use Ebay as I know what I am getting into there. read more

Also after we consigned several things, they weren't even listed very well on their consignment listing from us. and I'd have to wonder if they really know what they're doing. The woman we were dealing with told us this was her first auction she was organizing . Also the only item they listed from us didnt even sell, but they are asking us for more things..They told us that several of our antiques would be in an auction and later told us that they weren't really interested. What kind of business does that !!! I don't think I will be giving them any more. It's over a hr drive to get there. I don't need to waste my time, Thank you !! Now we have been there about 5 times to offer antique books to their book Dept. We were told that they would be included in the next auction over and over. They finally contacted us and told us that I could just drive down there and pick up all of our items !!! All we got for our effort and trips into the city was a Sorry !!!! Would you want to offer them anything after this crap ? We won't !! read more

Terrible! They are very confusing in their hammer price, buyers premium. We watched our items go thru and we had a different hammer price than what they show. I guess they think owners don't spend the time to watch the auction. This auction we had gold and diamond ring and watch. I got better cash offers from jewelry stores in Scottsdale. Our Items brought a little more than scrap prices They also do not preview online auctions in advance like other auction houses.. We have worked with several auction houses and they were very clear in their charges unlike LH. Also they take multiple items of yours and put them into lots with out consulting customer. They also were using wrong artist names on our Indian Jewelry. We will definitely never use Leslie Hindman ever again. Seller's Beware!!!! read more

I made a few purchases and when I received the item it wasn't even in sellable condition. They don't take the time to post pictures that are severely damaged. Most times they won't even respond to an e-mail of the condition. I can't believe they auction off items that are as damaged as they are. read more

Negatives: 1. Deceptive advertising with their catalogue listings that are posted on the Internet site "Liveauctioneers". All descriptions of the items where the screen Tab says "Details" are all with glowing descriptions. They deliberately will not publish whether or not the item has damages. This policy of theirs is followed when advertising all items on other bidding websites that are used to promote their auction items. It gives them the advantage to get higher bids when defects are not published. I recently bought an expensive grandfather clock from them and paid a good sum of money. I complained when the clock was delivered with no weights and other defects. They defended their position by telling me that I should have gone to their own company website and found a copy of the catalogue they published which specified all of the condition issues or given them a call to ask if there were any condition issues. Yes, they did publish the condition issues on their company web site, if you can find their catalogue for the auction. Every description mentioned is copied to offsite bidding websites like "Liveauctioneers" except for any condition issues. I checked this policy for a number of items that were auctioned. It is not that they forgot to publish the condition issues. It was simply a deliberate act of not publishing any condition issues for items auctioned on other bidding sites. 2. The buyers premium for their auctions is 26%. That means if you bid $1,000 on an item, you have to pay an additional $260 to Leslie Hindman. They take this in addition to the ~25% sellers commission. On this same $1,000.00 bid, if you are an "Out of State Internet buyer" you have to pay a Chicago sales tax of 9% on ($1,260 X 9% = $113.40). On the same $1,000 bid, the seller pays another $250 to Leslie Hindman. Hence the seller gets $750 and the buyer pays $1373. 40% of the gross before taxes goes to Leslie Hindman - which may be acceptable if they had amazing service. Of the total revenue generated from this transaction, the buyer would only receive %55 of the total sale price of this item. Now if you have to have a tall case clock shipped from Chicago to Atlanta, it is going to cost you somewhere between $900.00 - $1,400.00 3. You have no more than 7 days to retrieve your merchandise until you are charged a $5.00 storage fee per item as well as a possible $75.00 administrative fee. 4. Even with the extraordinary fees (see #1 above), Leslie Hindman does not take credit cards for purchases. You need to wire money (it's 2018 folks - who wires money?) or take a check or money order down to their west loop location. Now, if you really to want to pay with a credit card, Leslie Hindman will accept that but will charge you an additional %3.00 on you total purchase price which is charged back to you on your credit card. 5. The staff at the preview exhibitions are gruff, rude, and not knowledgeable about the items. They don't seem to be experts in any topics, so why even represent the items at auction? Case in point: I called about missing clock weights to a clock when it was shipped. I got transferred to three separate phone lines in Chicago before the last male voice told me he was too busy to talk to me because he was setting up for the next auction. He told me he was transferring me to yet a fourth line to leave a message and phone number and I would be called back at a later date. The return call was never made. I submitted the same requests via email and did eventually get a response to my question. read more

Called the morning I had advised auction house I would be arriving at 230 pm to pick up lot items. When I arrived lot,items had not beem pulled had to wait for over an hour. Clearly your time is not vaula me to them once they have your money. read more

When I don't have anything nice to say I try not to but I wish I would have seen these reviews. They don't return calls or emails. I'm convinced this place will not be in business within the next year. Very, very disappointing. read more

Many people do not realize that Leslie Hindman Auctioneer's exhibitions are open to the public. It can be intimidating to go into an auction house. But the process and experience couldn't be different. The staff at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers are very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. You are able to come in view outstanding works or art, jewelry, rare books and other important collection for free. Build your tastes and expand you knowledge here! Would love to have a coat check and cafe to make a perfect Sunday outing! read more

AVOID unless you can examine items in person. Bought a bronze in an online only auction. Photos were staged to show what was supposed to be a bronze in good condition. No negative information in the description. Actually the bronze was broken in two areas and a piece about 3 inches long broken off. In order to make the bronze look intact Hindman wrapped the broken piece in place. REPUTATION IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR AUCTION HOUSES. The only reason I bid was they acquired Cowans Auction which had an impeccable reputation. Unfortunately Hindman Auction is willing to forgo ethical behavior to make a few extra dollars. May 11, 2020 Denver auction lot 312. read more

I had a a sculpture from a passed friend Selling cause his daughter needed money for school. He is in a show at the mca going on till August !they bullied me in to a low reserve and sold for nothing. Was 15000$ sold for 1500. So nasty and blithering before the aution date. I would have bought it myself for a lot more. Never sell anything here ! read more

Caveat Emptor! As others have mentioned no item condition mentioned. Live and learn. I acquired glass items that were shipped and the packaging was some of the best I have seen, too bad the auction companies practices were not commensurate. I too would have foregone my participation had I been prudent and read a few more reviews. The days of this type of business behavior are numbered as yelp and other review sites are becoming more prevalent. Good luck sneeky businesses, you will soon be crawling into the bed you have made! read more