There's somethin happening here what it is ain't exactly clear. Please be very cautious especially if you're bidding on their sports auctions through liveauctioneers. Over the course of the last five years I've purchased quite a few items from Saco River Auctions - both single items and lots containing multiple items (usually baseball related lots). I agree with my fellow yelpers, even the reviews that aren't recommended. If anything Saco River has been consistently shady. I don't have a single whoa experience like others but I do have numerous transactions and a bunch of encounters where something just didn't seem right to draw upon. Hopefully this helps someone out there. Be very careful! Auction Disputes = Poor customer service After successfully purchasing items from Saco several times, one time, totally out of the blue, they filed a dispute with me on liveauctioneers. I had no clue what on earth it was about as I won two lots and paid promptly after I won. I immediately called them because this sort of thing can have serious repercussions on liveauctioneers. It turns out something went wrong on their end (big surprise) and "something happened" which resulted in them not linking the two separates lots to the same person (me). They resolved it immediately but by then it was too late. My account was suspended to some degree despite it entirely being Saco River's fault. Thanks Saco! Deceptive Images and Item Descriptions = Mysterious, yet timely, edits This is probably my biggest pet peeve. They post pictures at least a month in advance that are relatively vague. Both myself and others have inquired with them about specifics, for example, what kind of backs do the vintage baseball cards have (this makes a HUGE difference to those of us who collect pre-war baseball cards from the early 1900's). Upon inquiring they don't answer. Or they have their front office staff play dodge the questions the best you can. They don't respond to inquiries on live auctioneers either. Which isn't fair as people who can inspect the items in person therefore have information that people bidding online never get to see. I can remember on at least two occasions, after I put in initial bids, they magically changed the online images of the lots I was interested in 24-48 hours before the auction. They were different pictures and they even removed some of the better pictures, presumably so they could get higher bids knowing what bids were already placed. At the end of the day this sort of thing has happened several times in some form or another. It just seems like something isn't right. Shipping = Apparently they deliver by stage-coach Beyond slow. Has taken nearly a month on occasion. Other auction houses with even larger auctions somehow manage to ship much quicker. Mining Collections = You get the commons after they pick out the good cards! Avoid collection lots. Several times I've purchased/won lots (and been interested in others) that are clearly described as nearly complete. It later becomes blatantly obvious that they removed the best cards from what they usually call "estate" collections to sell them individually, either during that auction or in the upcoming auctions of the next 6-12 months. You can bet I'll notice if a set that's supposed to be xyz number of cards is short four cards. What's missing? Ironically the best cards of the set! Other times a lot I've bid on containing say 12 items suddenly turns to 10 items because they decided to list two of the items individually. After I've already placed a bid. The pictures of the lot I won are actually false as I never received several of the items since they were removed at the last minute. Can you say shady? Customer Service = Pompous Given everything above, I've voiced my concerns with them. I have never gotten a positive response or anything even remotely like the customer is always right. This is why I refuse to buy anything from them ever again. Avoid, avoid, avoid! read more

Blatant Fraud - Repackaged Wax Box Sold as Legit! As a small business owner myself, I never leave public reviews without first trying to resolve issues privately. I reached out to this auction company multiple times to discuss the fraudulent wax box they sold me, trying to get my money back but they completely ignored all communication. So now, here we are. The box they auctioned was knowingly repackaged and misrepresented. Not only was the outer seal suspicious, but upon opening the box, it became crystal clear the packs were tampered with: The wax wrappers were not sealed -- every pack was opened and not sealed at all. Cards inside were badly damaged, some with bent corners like they where forced back into the packs, not one card showed signs of being pack-fresh. Cards were facing backward, upside down, and disorganized -- not how legitimate packs are collated or sealed. Out of 36 packs and 540 total cards in a box, not a single notable star was found -- no Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, or any stars you would reasonably expect from this era. This wasn't just bad luck -- this was a rigged box, intentionally stuffed with low-value cards, likely to fool a buyer and pad the seller's profit. And when I attempted to reach out, they refused to even acknowledge me. That silence speaks volumes. This is deceptive, unethical, and outright theft. If you're a collector, investor, or casual buyer: STAY AWAY from this auction house. They are not in the business of fair, honest sales -- they are in the business of scamming hardworking people. read more

Company sold me fake cards. Ignored me when I sent multiple emails about cards failing both PSA and SGC.

ATTENTION Military Veterans .. This guy started off nice, but after sending my package to the wrong address he never owned up to his mistake instead said let's cut ties. If you mess up own it period. This owner has a major issue with not owning up to his mistakes. Bid elsewhere. I sure hope he tries to put a claim in for that big mistake, because the post office was warned.. read more

sold me a very obvious fake card. didn't seem to care one bit . purchased a Jersey card 1/1 and received The card as a non jersey card which you cannot tell from the pictures . Shows that it's a jersey but flat re printed card BEWARE read more

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you no longer accept my bids. iv'e been registered with you for years but that fucking invaluable has me banned from bidding after an incident 5 years ago. i miss bidding and you have name, address and cc info. of course i wriote you a long letter a month ago and you did not answer. what the fuck. i have hundreds of pre 1980 cards to sell but i guess your not interested in that either. you get the big bucks and to you i'm just a peon. jim hoff pa. read more

Dishonest. Recently purchased one lot of baseball cards. The item was listed as over 150 cards, I received 113 cards. The cards were in very poor condition and not worth the price I paid. Very dissatisfied. Tried contacting to voice my concern to get no response. Stay away. read more

Since my last review, I've continued to be a customer of Saco River Auction Co., both as a buyer and as a consignor. As a buyer, I've bid through invaluable and found lots to be accurately described. It would appear that they've attracted a larger contingent of buyers over the past few years, so some of the finer sports material sell quite high. However, what I've purchased has been satisfactory and shipping is prompt. As a consignor, I've now sold material in a half dozen sales. Troy handles my material well, lotting it fairly, photographing and describing it nicely and I've been generally happy with the prices realized. Because of the volume of material he received, it can be 6 or more weeks until my consignments appear. I would like Troy to develop a system whereby consignors can see their consignments, when they are being offered and the prices realized. He can be a bit inconsistent about settling with consignors: checks are received anywhere from four to eight weeks after a sale closes. Unlike other reviewers, I have never seen any dishonesty from Saco River Auction. In fact, as time goes on, he seems to be offering a greater number of graded cards, thereby insuring that they are authentic and unaltered. read more

Dishonest auction house. They either bid in house or have undisclosed reserve prices. I placed a bid that was higher than the hammer price online. They claimed someone purchased the item at a higher price yet the bidding had stopped BELOW my absentee bid. (borrowed from above because they did the same to me.... I had pre-bid on the following item that was for today. I watched it, and no one else bid on it other than myself. I bid $225.00 and that's what it sold for. However it says I am not the winner! I guess they are running a SCAM! If they want you to bid, and you win, but then they say you lost...., then what good is liveauctioneers? I'll go back to Proxybid. I've never had this happen before. The 7^#^&*&&( caption even told me I was winning until they ended the auction with no other bids. FAKE AUCTION!!! STAY AWAY!!! read more

BUYER BEWARE. ITEM NOT AS ADVERTISED! Purchased an item (via an online auction ) that Saco River Auction House advertised as an ANTIQUE. The photos of the item... well it looked like an antique but more importantly, it was **advertised** as an antique. That's why I bid on it and kept bidding until I was the successful high bidder. When I went to re-sell the item, I also advertised it as an antique. The buyer, with 35+ years in the antique business, told me that it WASN'T an ANTIQUE. I asked the buyer to provide me with info as to why they didn't deem the item an antique. They provided me with a detailed response. I had no reason to doubt their claim, so I refunded their money. I take care of my customers. Next step, I called Saco River Auction house to let them know they sold an item that wasn't authentic/as advertised/as described. I wanted to return it for a refund (only fair). After letting them know specifically why the return was being requested, the manager still said NO WAY. The items are sold as is and I should have called to ask questions prior to bidding. My reply was "Why would I call when it was ADVERTISED as an ANTIQUE." Their reply was... "Sorry, we're not going to do anything for you". OUCH! Another quote from the auction house... "Even if we screw up, do you know how many items we'd have to return?". WOW! Really?! So, this is my experience with Saco River Auction House in Biddeford, ME. I'm super disappointed with how they handled this transaction. I would say that a good portion of what they sell, they get right. BUT... NOT ALL ITEMS ARE AS ADVERTISED and they do NOTHING about it. Even more shocking... they didn't even care to. BUYER BEWARE. read more

This auction house isn't trustworthy. When bidding online they arbitrarily don't honor bids. They claim items sell to floor bidders but the bidding doesn't advance which would allow more bidding. I've placed bids where items post as sold for less than my absentee bid. Stay away. read more

Be very cautious about dealing with SRA auction if you are out of state. I consigned a picture for them to sell at auction. According to Liveauctioneers, which broadcast the auction, the work sold for a hammer price of $300. According to the bidding records, there were 3 bidders willing to pay $200 or above. The settlement statement I received claimed the sales price of ONLY $175. Instead of paying the $255 agreed to in the consignment contract, by misrepresenting the sales price, they paid only $148! This auctioneer business model is to off an attractive low commission rate to out of state consignors who are unlikely to attend the auction or be able to file small claims suit. They then gouge the consignor by paying based inaccurate reported prices. Instead of paying a 15% commission, I was charged a real rate of OVER 50%! read more

I have been to three auctions in the past two years. I am always amazed at the diversity of items at each auction e.g. a mounted giraffe head, local art and rare ephemera, and more recently, the original neon sign from the famous Whiskey A Go Go club in LA. Yes I thought, I am in maine and there is an item that I wouldn't expect to see here. Wonderful place to visit before an auction to view the items, the personnel are very friendly and during the auctions themselves, their is pizza and Poland spring water to enjoy! Enough said, its worth going, you never know what you may find and finally, my wife was happy I didn't win the giraffe head! read more

I have spent over twenty years dealing in antiques, memorabilia and collectibles and have worked with some of the biggest auction houses in the world. This is my first Yelp review, but I feel compelled to write it. My experience with Saco River Auction Co was extremely negative, smarmy and disappointing. I registered through the auction house and had to bid online because I reside out of state. The price on the item I was trying to purchase dropped because there was no interest. I wound up winning the item for a very fair price, which was great until my invoice never showed up. I have saved the screen shot from Saco River Auction Co telling me that I was the "Winner", but when I contacted them they let me know that supposedly someone else on the floor won the item. In the years I have been going to auctions and working in this field this has never...ever occurred. And I believe that honest mistakes do happen, but nothing in any of my with them indicates that anything honest is happening here. I've lost time and money in this experience. In all my years of doing business I have never felt compelled to write a Yelp review, but I want other buyers to be aware and to not be subjected to this type of experience. Honesty, professionalism and integrity matter. read more

I purchased an item at auction from Saco River Auctions through LiveAuctioneers. The description and condition report was accurate. The billing was correct. The shipping was competitively priced and prompt. read more

I have purchased many items over the past year from Saco River Auction. Never have I had a bad experience! Purchases I made were described accurately, the workers are very friendly and helpful(as in loading up my goods), and I would not hesitate in buying from them again! Bid with confidence! read more

I would be very very wary of this auction house. I purchased a painting from this auction house by a well-known artist. After receiving the painting I asked for more information on provenance and or authenticity than the very limited amount initially given to me at the time of purchase. Other larger and more prestigious auction houses had doubts about the painting's authenticity. Since this artist was so famous, those auction houses refused to take the painting unless there was better provenance or I agreed to list the painting as in the style of or attributed to that artist; a precaution Saco River did not take in the auction where I purchased from them. Frustrated, I finally gave the painting back to Saco River to re-auction the painting. I held a reserve on the painting equal to my purchase price. After the auction was over, they told me they wanted me to take the painting back as there were no bids on the painting. I said to Saco River that the auction site showed numerous bids on the painting although the bids were below the reserve I set. They responded by email that they Saco River were the ones bidding on the painting to generate interest and that there were no other bids on the painting. THOSE INTERNAL BIDS BY SACO RIVER WERE, IN MY MIND, UNETHICAL AND MAYBE UNDER MAINE LAW ILLEGAL. If that is what Saco River did, then of course the initial price I paid Saco River in the auction I purchased that painting from Saco River may have been bid up by Saco River and I was in effect really only bidding against myself ; SO MORALLY CORRUPT!!! read more

This is not a reputable auction house. I have seen them using phone bidders to drive the price up and when they get stuck with the item, they claim the phone bidder withdrew their bid so they have to return the item. I sold a 1910 t206 through them and it went to a phone bidder for $350.00. The floor bid was for $325.00 and it took them 2 weeks to tell me they got the card back from the phone bidder! Really. I chocked this up as an experience and gave them one more chance as an online bidder. I bid on a Wonder Horse for one of my clients and according to the Live Auctioneers website placed the winning bid. I called them after waiting two days for them to contact me and they told me that they sold it on the floor and that they would not honor my bid. I said so if I come down there then you are telling me the wonder horse won't be there? She said "no that's not what I said." I know from prior experience that if you place the winning bid on the floor. they expect you to take the item with you that night. I highly do not recommend doing business with these people. I give them 0 stars out of 5. read more