Horst Auctioneers — Local services in Clay Township

Not sure why they call it an antique auction on Wednesday. If your there to buy your in for great deals.I wish they would represent the seller and the items which hold value both sentimsental and monetary. I took my item there on a Friday to be sold the following Wednesday. as I had mentioned this on a antique site form appraisers and discussion only "no selling" I had come to find out the item wasn't from the 30's it was from the late 1800's and had unique workmen ship and label from a historical company in Indiana. There is a 10 dollar handling fee plus 20% you are not allowed to put a reserve on your item which is very odd. When I called Saturday and left a message to let them know I'd pay the 10 dollars to retrieve my item which when I took it there was told I would even get 100.00 for, it's worth more then that, I got a phone call back after the holiday on Tuesday saying I WASNT ALLOWED to get it unless I bought it back at the auction. I stupidly said nothing just said ok. I went to that auction and watched as a very boring and not at all representative of any of the items being sold as if there was nothing special about them, I was horrified to see my item sold for 35.00. they get the 10 plus 20% and you have to wait ANOTHER week to get your money. I'm guessing they roll over sales proceeds to get interest at their Bank too! I'm saying your better off putting in a yard sale. I've been to other auctions where resevres are excepted with a minor fee if not sold for your price and never ever told you can't have your stuff back for a minor fee. Im beyond disgusted and unclear why they have a ANTIQUE sale at all if your not going to represent it for what it is.They should be interested in the folks willing or must part with things as you are for buyer's. Never ever take your things of...

THIS IS A DISHONEST AUCTION. They get high prices for mediocre objects. Part of the way they do this is thru shill bidding. If you watch their auctions on Invaluable you will see sporadic but persistent withdrawing of bids throughout the auction. Once or twice could be a coincidence. But this occurs too often to be by chance. Only the auctioneer can withdraw Invaluable bids with the online format. They have this worked out to a science in which the shill bidder drives up the price; as soon as the real bidder drops out the auctioneer withdraws shill bidder's last bid and the underbidder suddenly wins the item. It all happens very fast. As I said-- they have this well choreographed. No one in attendance will be aware its happening because its not about the floor bidders (although floor bidders are also affected by the online shilling. The way to catch this is not to attend the auction but to keep a close eye on the Invaluable bidding. Do this and you will know something is fishy when you see all those online bid "RETRACTIONS" time and time again. I suspect that having been caught they will lay low for a while. If that's the case then this review has performed at least a minor public service for at least a little while. At this time the Sept auctions are being forensically examined by Invaluable trust and safety. I suppose what they do is good for consignors; but (obviously) not for buyers. Actually, pretty disgusting behavior any way you look at it. All just for love of money. Caveat emptor to all antiques buyers who chose to deal with...

We recently had to clean out and sell my mother-in-law’s home. The task was extremely overwhelming. There were large pieces of heavy machinery in a basement shop along with a lifetime worth of “stuff” in the house. We went with Horst and feel soooo lucky that we did! This business is the definition of family owned and operated. We had one generation of the Horst family come out and talk to us about what they would sell. We then had another family member come out and remove the items. The entire process was so smooth. I was shocked at what all they took (it made things so much easier for us with cleanup). The men that came to remove items were all local and trustworthy. I can’t say enough good things about our experience using Horst Auctioneers. It was such a smooth and...