auctions on liveauctioneers.com and also on invaluable

Hi
does anyone has experience doing online bidding with 2 online auctions sites (USA), mainly liveauctioneers.com and also on invaluable.com

seems to be too many nice deals ... so i wonder

thanks for help

Merry Christmas to you all!!

 

I've never had a problem with liveauctioneers..

 

thanks!

 

I've used liveauctioneers without problems but you're really dealing with individual auction houses so I imagine problems could crop up because of that. The most difficult part was having to arrange shipping myself though they usually have contact info for companies that would do it. Shipping has always been very expensive.

 

Welcome!

 

you are right. the auction house "EDEN Fine Antiques Galleries, GA, in USA" has a major auction next month, with some very beautiful items, but i wonder as prices seems too tempting, adding that they don't accept return, etc.

also they ask for $3,000 "deposit" payment to allow bidding. seems strange to me , but i never did online auction

any advice is welcome. thanks

 

YIPES!

 

exactly!

https://new.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/97821_day-1-east-meets-west-antiques-and-fine-arts

 

if anyone is bidding there, this is for info,
their reply to my email...

In order to register your bids we will required deposit of USD $3,000
Yes, this is authentic. Especially all lots from General Chen Qi's collections.

To authenticated age, we observe some points and criteria to consider it conservatively to be at least an antique. (100 years, US term).
We dont take any sample for laboratories test. Its often hard to tell jade ages, for all jade material will always shows some ages.
Auction house will guarantee all of our jade listing to be natural jade, not a lab created.
Our staffs take measurement to meet several determent points. Including but not limited to:
- Excellence of the craftsmanship.
- Correspondence tools/ process that they might use.
- The shape, design, color, and style during correspondence period.
- The eminence of the material used in the course of the period.
- The characteristic of initiate Mark and/or symbol.
- Any other imperfections, factor s, aspect, issues that might support the authenticity.
Along with the Asian Antique market increases, the opinion of an Antiques, especially on Asian-Oriental Antiques pieces, are so diverse and varies from person to persons.
As our houses experiences on Asian Antiques are limited, we described the lots based on our third party Asian-specialist that we hired prior to cataloging.
We always encouraged our valued bidder to carefully, closely, base on experiences and judgments to examine the lots prior to bidding.
..
"Especially" uh, i guess some more than others...?!

 

Yipes!
My eyes hurt.
(see my avatar statement)

 

I would never bid on a high end auction that I wasn't sitting in the room, or unless the items I wanted I knew dead to rights were authentic.

 

Sounds suspicious to me. I've never dealt with an auction house that required a deposit to bid. I also would never bid online unless I knew the specific auction house, and was VERY familiar with the type of item. The disclaimers above regarding the items from "General Qi's collections" are meaningless, unless you happen to know General Qi, or have heard of his collections. And note the disclaimer that the auction house is NOT familiar with the type of item, and relies on third-party specialists - in other words, buyer beware.
Liveauctioneers is a reputable company, and I've bid through them at times; but they are a middleman; if the auction house using their services is shady, then you are dealing with a shady business, via a reputable middleman.
Some googling reveals that General Qi was a Ming Dynasty general, around 1580; it is unlikely that an auction house has a significant number of items from his collections. And googling shows no other famous collector by that name.
From their website: "Eden Galleries is an innovative global art business serving the most discerning clients. Auctioneers since 2012." Since 2012?
I see a great many red flags, and would run away, fast.

 

thanks for your detailed reply, much appreciated.
i had the same concerns, sadly as some items are so tempting ( new.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/97821_day-1-east-meets-west-antiques-and-fine-arts )

happy new year to all!

 

That message from the auction house is illiterate, but reads like a Chinese instruction sheet, so many malapropisms and mis-spellings it makes me think that some Chinese fellow has shipped in a container load of modern jade and whatever and is about to foist it off as antique jade to the unwary.

The deposit thing is very, very suspect. I am registered with a British online auction service company, thesaleroom.com and I had to provide a Debit card number to authenticate my registration, but they do not use this to take money. Settlement is direct with the auction rooms.

Luckily they did not run their message past someone literate in English to iron out the bad grammar and wierd phrasing. I would give this the credibilty of the average Nigerian banker offering you $50 million for a small finders fee.

 

I've had it explained to me that everyone is below the Chinese and so they won't stoop to have anyone who speaks English correct them.
They won't even allow learned Chinese to correct them.
That is why menus and instructions are always a mess.

 

Put this in the search box of google earth for a look at their premises.

1485 Canton Road, Marietta, GA, United States

And a message from Mel Delzler, president director(?) refers tothe year of the rooster but reads like the year of the poppycock.

The year of the Rooster is often marked by brilliant success for those have endured with patience, generosity, and righteousness to achieve their goals in business and in their life. We celebrate the year of the Rooster which implies luxury, beauty and wealth with our friends around the world. EDEN Fine Antiques Galleries is honored and proud to offer General General Chen Qi's 陳淇, (Chen CangQuan 滄&#27849 heirloom collections including unpublished Qi BaiShi 齊白石 paintings, Fu BaoShi 傅抱石, Zhang DaQian 張大千, and many famous artists, that are vastly sought after by museums and private collectors, as well as his own calligraphy and paintings. Equally important we have amazing oil paintings of the Baron and Baroness painted by the Austrian artist, also 18th C Madonna & Child oil painting, married with gold frame. The allurement and condition of these items is simply amazing, the value to add one of these items into your collection is immeasurable. We at Eden Galleries are honored to inaugurate the Year of the Rooster by presenting this impressive collection to you the public for your buying consideration. For all of our clients, families and and friends we wish you a Happy New Year filled with anticipated success, considerable wealth, exceptional health and most importantly others to share these abundances with. Mel Delzer President Director

There are no Google hits for 'Mel Delzler'.

 

Spelling the name correctly would drown you in Googlets.

 

Good point, well made. I still think the whole thing is a bit fishy.

 

"From the collection of General Chen Qi (陳淇) (1912-2000), who styled himself as “Cangquan” (滄泉）and “Yuquanshanren”（玉泉山人), an artist, calligrapher, a prominent businessman and private antiques collector."

From link in an earlier post.

Yeah, frankly a large deposit in order to have the very dubious privilege of bidding on these inscrutable items is for the birds, and I fear, the bird-brained.

 

Gen. Qui earned his title in much the same way as Gen. Tso, the famous "Chicken general."

Ah, c'mon man, we all know there WAS NO Gen. Tso!