The only reason I got out of bed so stupid early (for me) and drove an hour to this Midas Touch Estate Sales auction this morning was because of these Niels Koefoed chairs that Midas Touch Estate Sales had advertised.
...And when I got here I was informed that a member of the family had TAKEN them 5 days prior. Did Midas Touch Estate Sales know? Yes, according to a family member on site. Did Midas Touch Estate Sales take down the pictures of the chairs? Nope. Can Midas Touch Estate Sales be trusted? Well, you can judge that for yourself.
Just another reason to avoid most estate sales. I've been disappointed far too many times. These companies need to clean up their act or they aren't going to have any shoppers (other than the big dealers) left.
ReplyDeleteWell, how completely aggravating! Grrrr.......
ReplyDeleteIt's BS. I have had the same thing happen to me. I spotted a Pearsall table in an estate sale company's photos. I called the company and asked about the table, they told me that it would be available on Friday morning. I stand in like at their sale, only to be let in and see the table is marked "FAMILY".
ReplyDeleteNot only did I not get that table, what else did I miss out on at other sales because I was lured into standing at a place that did not benefit me?
Mike's right. It's total BS. That's exactly why we've almost entirely stopped messing with estate sales. If Midas Touch knew 5 days in advance of the sale, they had time to change the pictures, for sure.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who does estate sales for a living, and she gives families a deadline for getting things out. Still, they try to get them later. She's adamant that they can't touch a thing once she posts pictures...but she has still had homeowners come in at night when she's not there and take things out...sometimes the night before the sale. She can't force them to put the items back, because they belong to them. And to get into a major squabble with the owners means you might get fired after you've spent days cleaning, arranging and tagging a houseful of items and not get paid.
It's so much better to deal with a major auction house that has the items locked up in a warehouse where wishy-washy relatives can't rummage through at the last minute. I don't know what relatives don't understand about the process.
I ended up waiting around for nearly the entire auction for an opportunity to bid on the only two other Modtomic worthy objects in the house and got outbid on the first (a trio of walnut nesting tables that looked very Lane to me) but hit paydirt with the other. So...silver lining and all that. I will of course share that score with you all later!
ReplyDeleteThat really stinks. Sorry you missed out on the chairs. I just recently started going to Estate Sales and the company that you mentioned is one that I usually avoid. I have found them to generally not be very nice. But it sounds like you did end up with a treasure, so that makes up for it. ;)
ReplyDeleteSt. Louis estate sale companies are notorious for doing this....they tell you the "family" took it, when in reality it was another dealer who is a friend of theirs.
ReplyDelete