Orlando Estate Auction — Local services in Orlando

I frequently shop auctions for art and have been doing so for nearly 10 years. Over that time, I have made many purchases. Having said that, in all the years I have been dealing with artwork I have never had to write a negative review on an auction house until I had the misfortune of dealing with Orlando Estate Auction

As is typically the case, I was notified via email that an artist I follow had a piece of artwork coming up for sale at OEA. So, I went out and took a look at the images of the piece. After reviewing all of the photos I decided to ask a question through an online email system to determine the actual condition of the piece. My actual correspondence to OEA:

"It appears from one of the images that the piece has some craquelure. Can you confirm and if so how much is there?" Craquelure is cracks to the paint and reduces value since it is costly to repair.

OEAH Reply:

"Very minimal if any, I would describe the condition as "excellent".

Now that I've received word from OEAH that the piece is in excellent condition I am prepared to bid for the item. By the way excellent condition is really about as good as it gets from a condition point of view. Higher than that is Museum quality. Jumping ahead, I win the competitive bidding process, the purchase price is $600.00, plus (as the winner) I am required to pay a buyers premium and pay for shipping to my residence in CA. The end result is that the artwork cost me about $900.00.

When the art arrived, I was stunned by the condition. It had massive craquelure throughout and of course that is the area they decided to post the only close up image of the artwork and the image that compelled me to ask the original question. The sky component (roughly 40% of the artwork) had paint loss, scratches, the frame was chipped in many places (not scratched) and the lining was falling off the piece. When I took it to the guy who typically restores quality art I buy he said it would cost $500.00+ for the craquelure and $900-1800.00 to clean and repair it depending upon how bad it is when taken out of the frame. Of course, the only reason I bought it was because OEAH mentioned that it was in excellent condition. Now I have a unwanted restoration on my hands as a result of fraudulent behavior.

This is the note I received from them after alerting him of the condition issues:

"If you think you were intentionally deceived, I can not help that. We sell a large volume of inventory and this piece could have been described and photographed in more detail." What???

Anyway, there is absolutely no question that OEA purposely intended to deceive the public to sell this artwork. They listed the piece in excellent condition and when asked via the live auctioneer email system to validate the condition they once again confirmed that the art was in "excellent condition". A novice could have recognized the glaring condition issues and the way the photos were taken led the potential bidders to believe that there were no issues. If OEA didn't intend to deceive then they would have uploaded the 8 images I sent them which clearly indicated massive condition issues with the piece. The images they uploaded made the sky component of the artwork is clear (it had by far the most severe damage).

Based upon my experience, dealing with an unethical art broker is rare since their reputation is at stake. Jacob doesn't seem to care and apparently only interested in moving the merchandise at inflated prices regardless of how ethical it is.

The staff was neither helpful, informed or pleasant to deal with and pass their problems on to customers. As a result, I've had to interrupt my life to post reviews, coordinate with the BBB and file legal docs all because of a deceptive art broker trying to maximize his situation at the expense of his former client.

Beware,...

I recently trusted my aunt's possessions in the hands of Jacob and Jason who were the most honest and upfront of all of the companies that I spoke to when tasked with liquidating her estate. They set real expectations and were very quick at liquidating her Winter Park Florida estate. Many of the other companies that I spoke to had a fake tone to their voices, as if they were funeral directors consoling me due to the passing of my aunt. I had read the reviews and understood that this fake sympathy would turn into some sort of monster at one point so I looked further and discovered Orlando Estate Liquidators at Orlando Estate Auction. These guys were professional business types, they spoke upfront and honestly about what to expect and how the process works. From my photos that I submitted on their website they were able to schedule a crew to pack up and pick up my aunts Winter Park full house and her cars. In 11 days I received a check as indicated and it included an itemized statement. The sale met my expectations that were set in our conversation. The amount of time saved by utilizing these services is amazing and this allowed for us to provide an upgraded monument and memorial for my aunt Jean as the funds were available. With the house cleared out we were able to turn it over to a realtor and it is now under contract. The entire process from my aunt's passing to this point has been 2 months and this was due to the quick liquidation process that Orlando Estate Auction offers. So after this process Jason called me and asked me to write a review so here I am telling you my story. I have never met either Jason or Jacob but appreciate their efforts and mostly appreciate their honesty and ability to set realistic expectations as I have never had to do anything like liquidating an estate before. Thank...

The service was great, I had some mid century furnishings that I no longer needed and i submitted pictures on their website and then after email discussion I took them to Orlando estate auction. The staff unloaded the pieces and provided paperwork. I went to their estate auction that Saturday and watched my items sell. I was amazed that there were several bidders on my mid century items. I didn't think that many people understood mid century modern furniture yet the multiple bidders on my items changed my understanding. Jason later explained that many shop owners and collectors view the online inventory and come to the estate sales auction when their shops style items appear or leave bids on items if they cannot come. Anyhow, I was pleased at their ability to bring added value to my mid mod furnishings due to their having a following. Even though I was not liquidating a full estate sale they were able to sell my items. We additionally had some vintage garden pots, statuary and furniture. Once again they were able to bring the right buyers into their auction and I was very pleased with...