Recently I needed help liquidating the contents of my parent's estate, so I called an auctioneer that my aunt recommended. On his first visit, he was very polite, looked at the things I was trying to sell and said that he gets 30% of the "take." The next time he came, he wasn't so nice. The first thing he announced was that he had forgotten to mention that besides the 30% there was a $200 "carrying charge. Then made me sign a contract. He just about ransacked the house. he upended the boxes I had so carefully packed of small household items. I thought to myself "He will pick the stuff up and put it back in the boxes." Well he didn't. He also damaged some things like when he decided to take the dining room set. The chairs had cushion in the seats. Instead of carefully untying them in the back, he just whipped out his pocket knife and cut the ties and threw the cushion in the corner. I was shocked. What should I have done? Nobody else was willing to take the stuff.
2007-05-02 05:01:00 · 4 answers · asked by debodun 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Other - Home & Garden
You happened to come across an aberration. Most auctioneers and antique dealers that I know are much more courteous than the one you describe. They rely on repeat business and word of mouth stories are very important to them. You mentioned that this person was the only one that would handle the estate, it seems that you did contact other auctioneers. The estate may not have been very valuable. The other people you contacted may not have thought it was worth their time to bother with it.The usual fee for auctioneers is 20% (tho the fee may be higher in different areas) plus catalog photos, advertising and moving expenses. Read the contract again thoroughly. If you feel that you have been ripped of contact your local Better Business Bureau and the local auctioneer trade association
2007-05-02 05:15:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like the auctioneer felt that there wasn't a tremendous amount of value to the furniture. (Not sentimental value, but real financial value). Remember, you called 'experts' to provide a service that you couldn't do yourself. Not everything in our homes is valuable, sometimes it's just 'old', and the auctioneer should know the difference.
He should not have been rude, but going through the boxes of items let him locate and evaluate the individual items. Many times, a box of knick-knacks has only one item of value (if any). He maybe should have asked you to line up all the small things on a table so that he could scan the collection, pull out the items of value (to showcase at the auction) and indicate what items could be discarded or donated.
As for the furniture cushions -- they were added on to the furniture, right? If they are the least bit worn, stained, old, out-dated, there was really no reason to preserve them. Someone looking to purchase the furniture would be turned off by the old cusions, and not bid as much. Removing them quickly and efficiently makes it easier for the moving crew to move and stack furniture without damaging it, and show the furniture to its best advantage (getting you the most money).
Your emotions around the whole process have made you a bit more sentimental about these things -- it was probably difficult for you to watch someone treat your parent's things carelessly, and that's totally understandable. I'm sure you took all the items from the house that have true meaning for you, but it's still hard. Take a deep breath, and remind yourself that these are the left-overs that you can't use or don't want for yourself, and his job is to sell them quickly for the most money possible.
2007-05-02 05:54:15 · answer #2 · answered by Sue 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If these are things you don't want anyway, what's the problem? His job is to get in and out as quickly as possible. In any business, time is money. Businesspeople just don't want to bother piddling over every little thing. He probably had more houses to clean out after yours. he probably figured "Its your house - you clean it up."
2007-05-02 05:15:32 · answer #3 · answered by kapustafooz 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you didn't like what he was doing at the time he was donning it you should have said so .Because it was your stuff not his . have a yard sale your self that way you can sell it or keep it
2007-05-06 04:57:21 · answer #4 · answered by nyslone 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋