Buyer Beware - Overall Experience I have purchased from Sharpless Auctions many times, always hoping to find a good deal. Unfortunately, my experience has been disappointing. I have received far more damaged or unusable merchandise than items in satisfactory condition. In my experience, many items appear to be damaged merchandise returned from retailers such as Amazon, Target, and Costco. I have received items that were so badly damaged they were completely unusable. Packaging is also frequently torn, heavily damaged, dirty, or has a mildew-like odor. I have also experienced purchased items being unavailable or missing at pickup. They claim they will look for the items and if not found will reimburse you a week later. I have heard similar complaints from other buyers while picking up merchandise there. Another concern is that listing photos do not always clearly show the extent of damage, making it difficult to accurately assess an item's condition before bidding. I strongly recommend inspecting items in person whenever possible. Buyers should also be aware of the 7% sales tax and 15% buyer's premium, which add approximately 22% to the final bid price. I understand this is a "buyer beware" auction and that the auction house states it is not responsible for damaged or missing items. However, I believe potential buyers should be aware of these risks before bidding. I am sharing my personal experience so others can make an informed decision. My advice is to proceed with extreme caution, inspect items carefully, and consider whether the potential savings are worth the risks and additional fees. read more

This is an absolutely atrocious auction site, you name me one single auction house in the whole country that takes 50% from the sellers plus I don't even tell you about that in advance you're just tricked into it... Their photos are horrible and if you happen to be some fool that buys something up there you better cross your fingers and hope that it's there when you go to pick it up... I would not drive very far if I were you.. I have been going to auctions and estate sales for over 25 years and I have never seen a company this horrible or rude in my whole life.. Do yourself a favor, don't do it... As a buyer or a seller stay far away read more

As I've mentioned in previous reviews, it really takes a lot for me to leave a 1-star review. It's actually much harder to write such a review and this may be my longest review to date, but here it goes... Sunday evening, August 9, 2020, a close family member of mine purchased about $160-ish worth of merchandise (consisting of 16 or 18 different lots; if you aren't familiar with auction lingo a 'lot' is an individual item or very often a group of items) from one of Sharpless's online auctions. She's done this several times before. Everyone goes to bed Sunday night and all is well. The next afternoon, August 10, derecho 2020 hit eastern Iowa. Auction item(s) pickup was to happen on Monday, August 10 from 9am-6pm at the Sharpless Auctions facility on Herbert Hoover HWY in Iowa City. Here's where the situation goes south: much of eastern Iowa was without phone service, or the ability to gain internet access for several days. This also must have included the phone line(s) at Sharpless Auctions. It was late morning, Tuesday, August 11 before we spoke with anyone regarding the (since passed) auction pick-up date/time. Sharpless said that they understood my family member's situation, but they "still have a business to run" and gave us a deadline to pick-up the winning items that afternoon, or they could resell the items for us and send us a check. Because we were inundated with having to help multiple family members clear debris from their yards, driving from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City was not an option on the 10th or 11th. Sharpless did resell the items we bought. We ended up getting a check for less than $70. Ridiculous. Some of the lots we had purchased separately were shoved together in the new sale, and nearly all of the items sold for less than what we paid (totally understandable, but couldn't you at least keep the lots separated like they were originally?) To top it ALL off, Sharpless keeps a 30% commission. I think what irritated me the most was that Sharpless never even acknowledged the severity of the storm on 08/10. The next day, on 08/11, they made a post indicating they were pausing the 08/10 auction. Why? Because a huge part of their audience was without power and cell service. That was it. No heartfelt post to their customers who experienced such devastation. They never attempted to call us to find out where we were (it would have been noticeable that the amount of items we bought hadn't been picked up yet) or if we were going to make it at all. Had we not contacted them we would have just lost the money and the merchandise. So, when the employee said, "we still have a business to run" she wasn't kidding. There's no sympathy from anyone at Sharpless. They've lost a couple of customers who purchased from them regularly over the past few months. If you have the auction itch, I highly recommend searching elsewhere in eastern Iowa. There are several other very reputable auctioneers in the area. read more

I've read some of the other reviews and it looks like Sharpless has made some improvements over the years. When they test a product, they usually list "tested" in the subject line. I have seen a few mistakes where the description might say something like "King Mattress" but the main picture is of a blender and additional photos are of the mattress, that's just an example. I always read the description and check every photo before bidding. I do love that on the day the item's auction ends, every time a bid is placed it adds 90 seconds or so to the listing. I like this because if I've bid something like $10 on an item and there's 34 seconds left and someone thinks they can swoop in and bid $11 at the last second and win it, they can't! It'll add 90+ seconds and I'll have enough time to re-bid. I've bought things that didn't end up working or were in worse condition than the photos made it appear but that's the risk you take when getting something that retails for $100+ for $2. The only thing that I feel like that holds me back from giving 5 stars is that a few times when I've gone to pick up my items, someone either didn't check my items against my list before I left or the staff was moving items around and the numbers on the table didn't match what was actually on the table. I like other auctions that pull all the items for me. It's so much easier to go there, give my name, check my list, and they pull it all together and give me my list and items and I load them into my car. The overall experience of Sharpless is just missing a friendly, more welcoming environment. The staff always seem too busy or stressed to be helpful or polite. Again though, I'm picking up items for 90% off of retail so I'm not trying to complain. Overall, the pictures and descriptions are fairly accurate and for me personally, worth the risk when bidding. read more

Purchased two items over weekend 10/15/22. Won Lot # : 6389 - 108 Sq Ft Waterproofing Membrane for $40. Stopped on Tuesday over noon hour. This is within 4 hours of the opening following my missed Monday pickup. Item was not available. Requested refund, I was told there would be no refund. Reversal of credit card was my option. Later received a call from Sharpless stating they would allow reversal. We both mutually agreed that we would not be doing future business. Sharpless has many cameras at their locations and has an obligation to make reasonable effort to protect purchases at their place of business. Purchases are well over $10K over the last year and half. This could have been handled differently. Customer from years back in Iowa City. Customer relations are lacking. Now, awaiting letter from credit card company of refund. Todd Shepherd 325-0362 local IC read more

This place could be great. It's has a large space, frequent auctions, and a wide variety of items. At it's best, you can find a brand new item sold here as surplus from local big box stores, or, you can find a consigned gem. However, there are major drawbacks too. Compared to other auction houses in Iowa, this place has a low standard for its photos and descriptions in the online listings, and its customer service. Some items only have one grainy photo and it doesn't show a critical part of the item: the inside, the model, the color, blemishes, etc. Or, the description is inaccurate or completely wrong. Other auction houses have more photos and they describe the condition of the pieces consistently. Multiple times I've bought an item, having only seen it online, and picked it up to find it's a completely different item inside the sealed box- that was my fault, they say up front that you have to inspect in person, but I wish they were more descriptive online. Beyond that, the customer service overall is not good. There are a couple people who are helpful, but the majority of the head staff almost seem like they don't want your business. And in just the past few months, they've increased the buyers fee from 10% to 15%, and the sellers fee on items $10 and below, from 30% to 50%. They don't offer shipping for smaller items either, which is understandable given the logistics, but many other auction houses in Iowa offer shipping (even on large items), which benefits sellers and buyers. I'm rating this place 2 stars because I've had more bad experiences than good ones here. read more

I always have enjoyed going to the auctions. I'm an auction newbe and it shows, trust me! LOL Staff has always been very helpful, kind and know a lot about the materials they are selling. Some just bother to know the bare minimum, but then you get those that really know because they go that extra mile and it shows when you ask questions about the history of any given product. read more

I like this place I have been a regular for years. I miss the in person auctions and the chats with the regulars. The security has improved but there is always room for improvement. Sometimes they don't advertise their items right so go look in person before you buy, I gotten burned a few times. The workers are generally friendly, Solomon is a great worker and nice guy. Sharpless should give him a big raise and a paid vacation so he can rest. Also Jean is a hard working friendly lady who finally partly retired. Owners are friendly as well. Blame yourself if you don't check your stuff before buying or don't buy it, it's risky. Great place. read more

amazing staff well ran. we buy and sell through Sharpless, always a great time...Donald is the most humourus ring man,