[from mjolnir]

Agree with Poster Bob.  If you're going to take them to auction, make sure you choose a lower estimate that (taking into account all fees) you would be happy with.  This way, worst case, you will be happy.  Don't let the auction houses force you into a lower estimate - they'll often say "oh we've had great success with this [lower] estimate before because it encourages bidding".  BS, they just want a sale and so want to see it go for any price ...  

[Pete the Post]

Christies, million years between responses, annoying to the max.

Sothebys seem pretty quick and pretty decent.

Not tried the others.

Its a crap shoot, bad things CAN happen price wise. They will always want a super low estimate so they are safe, if you try to up it for your safety, you might get a bit of movement, but not much.

[Wanchope]

Clearly they want to sell them, that’s there business and personally I find there is a balance. People always think price high to be happy, but quite often you don’t get the traction. Whereas a lower/more realistic price wets buyers’ appetites. That’s been my experience anyway. Good luck either way

[Pete the Post]

Sept 13, 2022 17:31:18 GMT 1 Wanchope said:

Clearly they want to sell them, that’s there business and personally I find there is a balance. People always think price high to be happy, but quite often you don’t get the traction. Whereas a lower/more realistic price wets buyers’ appetites. That’s been my experience anyway. Good luck either way

Its not about unrealistic prices, but not risking insane low outcomes just so they can get paid. Which can happen. I abandoned a few auction plans just because the risk wasnt acceptable. In other cases, we negotiated an acceptable middleground. As you say, just advice from experience. 

[Papa Rocks 64]

Sept 13, 2022 17:19:19 GMT 1 from mjolnir said:

Agree with Poster Bob.  If you're going to take them to auction, make sure you choose a lower estimate that (taking into account all fees) you would be happy with.  This way, worst case, you will be happy.  Don't let the auction houses force you into a lower estimate - they'll often say "oh we've had great success with this [lower] estimate before because it encourages bidding".  BS, they just want a sale and so want to see it go for any price ...  

Truth! As mjolnir notes, this is their general pitch and as such it's imperative you recognize their fidelity lies with the auction house, be very careful. Doesn't mean you can't be successful but ensure you place a reserve that you're fully satisfied with as a worse case scenario.

[Poly Mindset]

Sept 18, 2022 5:33:30 GMT 1 Papa Rocks 64 said:

Sept 13, 2022 17:19:19 GMT 1 from mjolnir said:

Agree with Poster Bob.  If you're going to take them to auction, make sure you choose a lower estimate that (taking into account all fees) you would be happy with.  This way, worst case, you will be happy.  Don't let the auction houses force you into a lower estimate - they'll often say "oh we've had great success with this [lower] estimate before because it encourages bidding".  BS, they just want a sale and so want to see it go for any price ...  

Truth! As mjolnir notes, this is their general pitch and as such it's imperative you recognize their fidelity lies with the auction house, be very careful. Doesn't mean you can't be successful but ensure you place a reserve that you're fully satisfied with as a worse case scenario.

However, a piece is going to go where a piece is going to go. If you set a low reserve and the bids climb up then that's great. If you set a low reserve and it doesn't climb or there are no bids then the market is telling you something. I don't think setting a low reserve should scare you away. Put it in and see where it goes and if you don't want to take that chance you probably shouldn't be in an auction anyways. The thing about auction houses is that though they may be a little expensive they do reach a huge audience of collectors. Nobody has a crystal ball so you have to ask yourself, what is your profit margin  and can you give away 20-25% and still feel good about a sale.

[alberti]

I wrote to an auction house in France.  I am going to Paris over the summer so the plan was to bring some prints by plane and send them to the auction house (French post office, registered) or hand-deliver them even.

The auction house gave me some nice valuation and they can pay to accounts abroad, all is fine but they also wrote this: 
"Be careful, if you bring them directly, you will need an address in France or go through the customs services."

I asked reasons behind it but no reply.  Why on earth do I need a French address? Simple, I travel, I go to Paris with a few prints (below 1000 eur in value ech) and handle them to the auction house, that's it?  Am I missing something here?  I am puzzled...  Am I better sending them from abroad then?

[dotdot]

(..i'm guessing... )

three letter word.

last letter is X

..

[Monkey]

I'm gonna assume you're living out of the UE, which may explain what they posted
Everything sold from a UE country must come from the UE (having an adress) or accounted import duties for (customs). Whatever the value (even less than 1k€ each)

Hope that helps

[alberti]

Thanks guys!  Yeah, sure I am outside EU.

Even if goods were initially bought online and originally comes from EU?  I already paid tax at purchase, and further importation fee and tax when at local customs    

And if I understand correctly, if I ship them directly to the auction house from outside EU, they can't sell without proof of import duties.  

So the solution would be to bring them and ask my dad to sell them on my behalf.    I am not keen on the multiple taxation

[Brice]

Mar 13, 2023 13:21:42 GMT 1 alberti said:

I wrote to an auction house in France.  I am going to Paris over the summer so the plan was to bring some prints by plane and send them to the auction house (French post office, registered) or hand-deliver them even.

The auction house gave me some nice valuation and they can pay to accounts abroad, all is fine but they also wrote this: 
"Be careful, if you bring them directly, you will need an address in France or go through the customs services."

I asked reasons behind it but no reply.  Why on earth do I need a French address? Simple, I travel, I go to Paris with a few prints (below 1000 eur in value ech) and handle them to the auction house, that's it?  Am I missing something here?  I am puzzled...  Am I better sending them from abroad then?

What would you need, a French postal address ?

[sammyman]

I think it's time for me to let go of some of my collection, primarily a couple of Banksy pieces and some Shepard Fairey pieces as well. 

I am thinking I'd like to put them in an auction house, but I don't have any experience with that. Considering the artists, is there a good house that I should speak with? 

What are fees? What are the risks of putting them for sale at auction?

[Javier Romero]

A couple of months ago I won some pieces during an action via First Art Auction / Liveauctioneers. The auction house took forever to send the pieces and when they arrived they were all fake and incredibly poorly packaged and damaged . Liveauctioneers asked me to send them proof from valid sources to dispute the item's authenticity. I got all the documentation together and even get in touch with the artists and they all confirmed those items were all fake. I was also informed by other victims of this scam that First Art Auction may be using different names to continuing scamming people via Liveauctioneers and even advice Liveauctioneers about this practice but they still allowed this seller to use their platform. Liveauctioneers is not providing any help, I sent the payment via they platform but they said there's not much they can do to issue a refund. They are a fraudulent business engaging in the sale of counterfeit goods.
Don't fall into the situation I fell into. Don't do business with Liveauctioneers. 

[clapped]

Surprised they haven’t been shut down by the government or bbb.

[Red Lotus]

Sorry to hear you haven’t had any luck with the refund, super disappointing.

It’s a tough situation when someone uses real photos and sends fakes, you expect the platform to step in. I got scammed by the same outfit on there and sent some message threatening legal action which maybe helped with the refund. (I used ChatGPT to write them..)

[Smokeidaeye]

I used to work with LiveAuctioneers back in the day when they first spun off from iCollector.com and it worked with a great collection of auction houses. Sad to see how trashy the business has become ever since it was sold off.

[LJCal]

Invaluable, liveauctioneers and the Saleroom are really just aggregators, kind of like what expedia is to airlines, likely their terms and conditions would pass any liability onto the auctioneer. Any claim would therefore need to be made under consumer laws which depend on where you're based, or be made under negligent tort. Neither is straight forward, you would have to demonstrate that their terms and conditions are unfair and breech consumer law in your country (assuming your courts have jurisdiction), or you'd have to demonstrate that they failed in their duty of care (if one is shown to exist) to you as a customer, negligence is another law which can vary considerably between jurisdictions.

Obviously litigation and enforcement of any claim cross border is complex, costly and often not viable. I'm not sure of the sums involved but if it's less than say £10,000 then you'll likely end up throwing good money after bad. A local litigator will be able to assess the merits of your case, advise as to the basis and process for a claim and give a budget, this may be a worthwhile exercise as it won't cost anything and will allow you to make a quantified decision.

The other course is possible criminal liability and recourse from their local consumer body. Based on what I've seen there is a good argument that they're abetting fraud and are either wilfully or negligently allowing counterfeit goods to be sold on their platform, certainly this should be investigated. Furthermore numerous consumers are suffering as a result of their business practises, so investigation by the relevant trading standards is merited and sanctions possible. I would use the threat of the above to try and leverage them into giving you the money back.

If you paid by card you may also wish to contact the issuer and they can commence a charge back to get you a refund.

Hope you get it resolved.

[its all about me]

To be fair, LiveAuctioneers are an auction platform. They are not selling you anything. They simply act as a go-between. Of course, they should be vetting auction sites that use their platform but ultimately your gripe is with the actual auction company concerned, not the group platform that hosts it.

[┏( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)┛ EnS]

Live auctioneer is just a selling platform. Did you check the rating/reviews of the auction house first?
Was the item described as “After (artist name)?”

[┏( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)┛ EnS]

Just checked… you can leave the first review!

[Javier Romero]

Feb 23, 2024 13:34:39 GMT 1 its all about me said:

To be fair, LiveAuctioneers are an auction platform. They are not selling you anything. They simply act as a go-between. Of course, they should be vetting auction sites that use their platform but ultimately your gripe is with the actual auction company concerned, not the group platform that hosts it.

I understand that, but I just need some help to directly contact that “auction house”. The only way to get in contact and send payment is via they platform. Liveauctioneers replied saying that the “auction house” stopped replying to them so now they dont have any more options to get in touch with them.

[Red Lotus]

Feb 23, 2024 14:33:46 GMT 1 ┏( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)┛ EnS said:

Just checked… you can leave the first review!

I think that's a different profile with a similar name. Here's then one in question:

www.liveauctioneers.com/auctioneer/8718/first-art-auction/reviews

[┏( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)┛ EnS]

Well, reviews say it all….

[The Italian One]

thanks for sharing,
hope you get your money back

[its all about me]

Feb 23, 2024 14:36:54 GMT 1 Javier Romero said:

Feb 23, 2024 13:34:39 GMT 1 its all about me said:

To be fair, LiveAuctioneers are an auction platform. They are not selling you anything. They simply act as a go-between. Of course, they should be vetting auction sites that use their platform but ultimately your gripe is with the actual auction company concerned, not the group platform that hosts it.

I understand that, but I just need some help to directly contact that “auction house”. The only way to get in contact and send payment is via they platform. Liveauctioneers replied saying that the “auction house” stopped replying to them so now they dont have any more options to get in touch with them.

You can send them an e-mail direct.  Or use their online contact form.

www.firstartauction.com/?page_id=283

[Javier Romero]

Feb 23, 2024 15:15:30 GMT 1 its all about me said:

Feb 23, 2024 14:36:54 GMT 1 Javier Romero said:

I understand that, but I just need some help to directly contact that “auction house”. The only way to get in contact and send payment is via they platform. Liveauctioneers replied saying that the “auction house” stopped replying to them so now they dont have any more options to get in touch with them.

You can send them an e-mail direct.  Or use their online contact form.

www.firstartauction.com/?page_id=283

I did all that, they just never replied back to me. I’ve been dealing with this situation for 4 months.  Lesson learned. 😔

[Red Lotus]

Not sure it will help but here are a couple of emails used by the guy 'running' it as of last year:

First Art Auctions aka LIGHT BLUE GROUP LLC
Murat Yigit - [e-mail] / [e-mail]

[.dappy]

urbanartassociation.com/thread/186682/psa-avoid-first-art-auction

[Peperami Monster]

So can I get some help 

what are the good and what are the bad auction houses 
for selling art on 

im helping a genuine friend sell an original miss van canvas

[drbf]

Mar 24, 2024 20:49:54 GMT 1 Peperami Monster said:

So can I get some help 

what are the good and what are the bad auction houses 
for selling art on 

im helping a genuine friend sell an original miss van canvas

I have used Sotheby’s, Christies and Heritage for both purchase and auction. It really depends on your relationship with the auction house and the pieces you are trying to auction. Try and get contacts at the various auction house’s. You can pm me for recommendations.