In August 2024, I contact Everything But The House (EBTH) as we were moving from the US to the UK, and had a lot of household items we could not take with us, an wanted to sell them.

They sent out a representative - Brandon - who came by to review what we were wanting to sell. While the representative was there, we informed her that in addition to the many household items we had to sell, we also had a collection of art and some musical instruments (harps) that we were going to sell through specialist dealers. My husband is an artist who has had exhibitions in many cities, he plays the harp and has a large collection of them, and I am a photographer. Brandon told us that EBTH could sell them for us. We were initially relcutant, but she persuaded us that EBTH woudl have specialist auctions for them, that they would market them specifically, that they would hold an auction just for my husband's art. I have all of these promises in emails and transcripts of voice messages.

They charged us 1900 to collect our items (to drive them approx. An hour).

In total we gave them 268 items to sell.

They LOST 10 of the items, even though I carefully labelled each one with our name and customer number. I have never had an recourse on the lost items.

In total we made 1400 from 268 items! This includes harps worth over 8000, and art valued at well over 15,000.

They sold valuabel harps for as little as 200, and manhy of our art pieces for 1 or 2 dollars.

I am aware that the contract says that they have no reserves, but we were told 'that never happens', and I have multiple voicemails and emails from the representative promising us the world and persuading us to sell with them.

In total, our items sold for almost 9000, which is still WAY less than their value, but after payign back moving costs and their commissions, we received only 1400 - that is about 5 dollars per item.

We complained, and got no replies. I was given the name of the VP of sales to email, and he never replied. Our lawyer has contacted them, and they do not even reply to them.

We feel totally cheated and ripped-off. We were persuaded to sell with EBTH, we were promised auctions that would promote our specialist items, and we got nothing of what they promised.

Before all this happened, I bought what I thought was a gemstone on one of their auctions. Not only did they charge me 50 dollars to mail it - when it weighed almost nothing - but when I took it to a dealer, I was told it was glass, not a real gemstone, and was worthless.

I would NEVER trust Everything But The House Again.

I purchased a small drop leaf dining table. Based on the listing photos/details, it appeared to be an old table that needed some attention, but was in mostly 'ready to use' shape.

I pick it up from their Blue Ash location, and the lady who wheeled it out to me kept going on about how cute it was. I think she called it "darling". I mention that I have a small house and it's just the right size for my dining room. Her eyes get big and she says nothing else. I thought it was odd, but didn't think much of it at the time.

As I'm unloading it, I notice a smell - a combination of old/musty and some type of solvent based scratch cover (ie Howard's restore a finish). Old furniture usually smells old, so no big deal, and I assume they tried to spruce it up a bit before selling. I decide to wipe it down with a vinegar/water solution and let it dry in the sun before bringing it inside. I start wiping it down & a greenish brown sludge begins to appear. The solvent smell gets stronger, then gets replaced by the skunky, foul odor of animal waste (like a dirty animal nest). 3 hours and 8 buckets later, and I had one half of it mostly clean. Someone, either EBTH or the estate they represented, attempted to cover it with scratch cover to make the table presentable enough to sell (after hosing it off probably, as literally the entire table was coated in filth under the fake 'finish'). There were no disclosures on the item page (description mentioned finish loss, water marks and missing drawer) or the main sale page (talked about the collector/his collection, nothing more).

I contacted EBTH and they apologized for the odor (only) and refunded my money. They have not acknowledged the animal waste or associated health risk even though it has been mentioned by me in each interaction. The behavior of the employee who brought it out to my car leads me to believe the organization was well aware of the condition, but still said nothing. (I don't fault her - I'm sure she wasn't allowed) They were perfectly content letting me bring a contaminated piece of furniture into my home as long as they made money. The more this company changes hands, the more their mission becomes about their bottom line, and nothing else. (Their current fee structure and outlandish shipping costs are further proof)

Anyone else who bought something from the Michigan/Mike Gaylord sale that closed June 11th - you may want to take a closer look at your items if you haven't already.

EBTH is supposed to be a reputable, go-to marketplace for antiques and other unique items. At the very least one should be able to expect your purchased item to be clean (unless otherwise disclosed), and I can't even bring this into my house.

First photo shows what I thought I bought, second (with visible sludge smears) and third show what I actually bought.

I discovered EBTH roughly three years ago. Overall, I like going to the site and check for items that I am interested in a number of times a week. But in the past two or so years, I have come to purchase from them less and less. But first the good things.

Timing:

The items up for auction are put well ahead of time, so you often have at least a week before the closing date arrives.

Photos:

The photos of objects are very well done, leaving very little question to various details of the items.

Transactions are quick and arrive fast, very well-packed, and seldom without any problem.

Now, the Not So Good.

Shipping: Shipping is absolutely out of line, more than it isn't. I have bought things from other auctions sites that are much lesser known than EBTH, and further away from their location, and yet have paid a fraction of the cost for similar sized items. I haven't paid attention to whom EBTH currently uses, but one auction house I deal with always uses FedEx and there is never a problem, shipping is low and in line with the item and distance. But not so with EBTH.

The first time I won something on EBTH, it happened to be a small piece of furniture. I never received it. Instead, I was given various reasons why it was late, or where it is now, or why the shipper is behind. After a month and a half of this, I called and cancelled the order. Their reply was that, "well, it seems you've waited long enough for the item, so we'll refund your credit card." Nice.

Photo Depictions: As I said earlier, their photos are very good and close to professional. However. Be careful with antiques and older items. Because they will tweak the photos to make them appear cleaner or brighter than they actually are. I had two items from them where this occurred. One was a very low-key painting. It was down in browns and deep earth tones and very monochromatic. In the EBTH photos, it appeared at least three or four times brighter than in actuality. The subject was very discernible, crisp, and can be seen readily from a distance. However, in reality the painting is so dark, that even in a very brightly lit room, WITH a painting lamp attached to its frame, it still is extremely dark and difficult to make out, so much so that I have never hung it on the wall. It looks too much like a black hole to nowhere. Too much tweaking with Photoshop going on.

The second item was with these very lovely large bronze 19th century bronze mantle urns. In the photos they appeared bright, clean, and polished. However, in reality, they were very dark, heavily tarnished, and dirty. I have no problem with this, as this is to be expected with older items. What I do have a problem with is that tweaking photos to completely change the appearance, giving them almost a new look, is not honest. I would understand doing this and being up front that the reason is to provide as much detail of an object as possible, then including one photo of actual tones to give its current shape. But EBTH doesn't do this.

Expediting Fee: Read the guidelines carefully. What you may not be aware of initially, is that once you win an item, there is an additional fee called an Everything Expedited Fee. It gets added on to the invoice and I have no idea if it is a set fee or a percentage based on the sale price. It may be the latter because on the invoice for the Urns, the amount is an odd amount ie., $8.09. Now why do this? That too me should be part of their cost for doing business. I am no fan of this current practice of breaking down every business's accounting steps and charging for them, like the utility companies do. I did not ask for that order to be expedited, and really I nor anyone else should have too. That should be normal business practice. A customer purchases something from you, and it is in your best interest to get it processed and out as soon as possible. It shouldn't be handled as if that business is doing you some kind of favor. Well, let's see… if you want your package within two months, it will cost you a little more… Buying from people was never this seedy in the past, but now these past two decades nothing is gratuitous anymore.

Conclusion:
For these two glaring reasons, I have come to use EBTH much less than previously. My biggest complaint are the shipping prices. As of this past year, I have yet to see anything shipped below $35. I could understand it if it had to do with the handling materials, but I receive items from another site with the same level of packing and care and sometimes more so, at a fraction of the cost. So, I don't buy that excuse.

This is also one of the same reasons I shop less and less with eBay. Sellers are abusing the shipping costs there as well, and have been for years. They complain, whine, and blame it on eBay, but I've sold through eBay countless times and never found their commissions or their shipping calculations out of hand. But then, unlike most sellers these days, I packaged items in size appropriate boxes, weighed them individually myself and didn't rely on the USPS Flat Rate boxes with static pricing on them. Too often, that would mean putting an $8 item in a $10.35 or more Flat Rate box. This lazy approach cost the buyer much more than it should, and too many sellers are doing this now.

So, If you think you are going to save some money buying on EBTH or eBay for that matter, think twice and very carefully. Yes, the item you may be interested in will have a very inviting selling price, but the shipping will either be equal to or more than what you buy it for. And typically, by quite a lot, thus killing whatever savings you think you will make. When eBay and similar sites such as this first began, this was hardly ever a problem. It really was worth shopping for used items this way. You seldom paid anything more for something than what you would expect in a garage sale. Today? Now you find things being sold for a small percentage less from what they cost new. And that is both greedy and ridiculous.

And I'm sorry, a 10% savings on something is hardly worth the effort just to say that you saved something.

A GOOD PLACE TO SPEND TIME. A GREAT PLACE TO FIND ITEMS OF INTEREST AND MANY VARITIES OF WHATEVER!

The quality of my item was great. The shipping and packing was far better than years past. DaveHW.

My selling experience with EverythingButTheHouse has been quite stress-free. The website is well designed with an easy to use seller dashboard. They are professional and knowledgeable, and were recommended to me by an art collector friend. I'm very pleased at the prices my husband's art has sold for. Of course, there are all kinds of interesting items featured on their site, not just art. With so many customers using the site, it's an easy way for your item to find the right buyer.

I have found several hard-to-find or scarce items on the site EverythingButTheHouse auction site. Auctions are almost always opened with a ridiculously low starting bid. And I have fortunately won a few auctions, and have gotten "steal-of-a-deal" wins. I always "like" or "follow" auctions just to see what prices they sell for- It is a fun and educational site to watch and you never know what they will have to offer! Kristi :)

At one point I decided that the cost of accumulating paintings produced and stored over the past 20 years since 1998 and depositing in storage another 25 years since 1974 in Venezuela was simply not worth my efforts to become commercially viable and that I had to dispose of it as best as I could. I looked into 45 auctioneering agencies, including galleries opened to the possibility of selling works on consignment. The latter were the least qualified to my objective. In a matter of a couple months, EBTH contacted me, referred by another agency who represented Estate houses. From the first telephone call I received, I knew EBTH offered the best prospects.

However, there were two aspects in the process that most artists would not agree to:
There were no reserves or minimum for the sales; the bids would begin at one dollar and market competition would call the shots. It meant that if the appeal was based upon the character of the work, works be sold by market demand with just a little bit of marketing support. There was promotion and expertise in describing the work just as any other art outfit would do to promote their stable of artists. By the way, the art department's team is comprised of some of the same staff that does the Road Show for television.

In the process we learned not to be restricted to a single sale but agree to many small groups of ten or a maximum of twenty-four pieces at a time, mixed with other artists over the course of a year an a half: on average every three weeks. We started in January last year with my first contract for over 700 pieces, which still have been selling after 28 auctions. As we speak there are four auctions being processed yet to be released. My work would be mixed with well known artists' from different states, who have already passed for the most part or are mature still-active-mid-career artists.

The team of the art department hired a freelancing journalist (who, by the way used to work in Rome and the Vatican covering cultural events) in order to develop a promotional profile based upon what the team thought would fit in uniquely into my profile, the art work and personal life.

From the start, I was rather combative with the very young reporter's jargon and the art-department's team's effort to establish historical associations or trends, which clashed altogether with my own sense, particularly with the "metaphors of silence" Series and personal manifesto against the very market system of valuation, and how was i to be placed within the marketplace. I wanted to separate from the idea of being a career artist; and wanted to be portrayed, instead, as a lover of my art, separate and apart from the makings of historial career valuations that seem to be the appeal to most art scenes within museum and galleries, even to alternative galleries.

My interest was in pushing for a "well listed" fringe position or the position of an outsider, rather than being a part of the contemporary commerce of art.
When I signed the first contract, I didn't quite understand, nor did I care how the work would be sold. The team told me I would be entitled to 55% of the net profits. The first auction consisted of 203 pieces, which was a disaster, even if the revenues exceeded a sum of 23 thousand dollars. In such a massive sale, paintings belonging to the same Series and same format would sell for disparaging amounts: one would be $1,500 and another $60. In other words, the market-demand when saturated would be quite uneven. But if they sold 10 pieces at a time, the market would respond more homogeneously, and so that approach has led to having equally distributed offerings at any given auction. Initially it served well in understanding how to make the most of the market opportunities at the expense of a huge learning curve.

I just signed my second contract for an additional 30 paintings, when the team truly understood how to mix and promote my work in order to get the best possible result.

So far we have netted $43,000 which was not a great deal of money considering the number of paintings, but it was a respite considering that I was saving over ten thousand dollars in the cost of storage over 5 years. Prior to EBTH at one point I was selling accomplished watercolors (22x30") for $20 a piece, as long as I knew that they went into the hands of some one who cared for them. Now my watercolors sell for over $600 at best or $200 at worst.

But money was never the object. Care was the bottom line, the idea of getting collectors who would preserve the work, not because of value per se: I could care less about the value as long as the opportunity to continue producing was there. The approach was to ask for support in the continuance of my mature years for just $1.

I like to add about EBTH's Art Department and Consignment-auctions that their responsibility includes that of providing any seller of art goods FREE mailing labels for up to 125 lbs per item, crate or bundle to deliver to the auction houses. Unlike many a gallery or museum, once the EBTH's Art Department receives the seller's goods, EBTH's Art Department takes on the fiduciary responsibility to represent the seller in every respect, auctioning and acting as a point of sale that covers all transactions including professionally packaging each item to deliver it to the collector-buyer, who in turn pays for the cost of shipping and handling.
Can you visualize how great this can be for any any artist consigning: not having to deal with any collector-buyer at all?
All one knows about the buyer is an anonymous number. The auctions expand through 5 to seven days, the last day and last minutes bids the outbidding can shift at an enormously rapid pace among bidders, some bidders choosing to preset larger amounts than those disclosed.
If I happened to know that many of my sales were from international buyers was because I had to became involved in a few benign troubles with responses to deliveries to the UK. EBTH however would be reticent to disclose names or addresses. The process was maintained absolutely private.

It is with a heavy heart that I would advise people not to use Everything But The House for the sale of any of their possessions. I run an estate liquidation company that has used EBTH in Maryland for more than a year to auction a wide variety of art, antiques, collectibles, jewelry and other estate items. My initial experience was outstanding. EBTH consistently generated much greater prices for me than any auction house I've used anywhere in the country. It even sold a painting for more than $5,000 that many national and local auction houses rejected because they said it wouldn't generate even a minimum opening bid of $200. Over the course of time, though, the experience has all been downhill. EBTH has system-wide organizational problems it just can't seem to fix despite many apologies and promises to me by staff to do so. It consistently loses track of my items -- ultimately paying other sellers for stuff that belongs to me, and paying me for stuff that belongs to someone else. I have had to waste countless entire work days searching through the countless auctions on its web site trying to find my items that were wrongly attributed to someone else and scattered among 10 different auctions. I frequently get checks with the name of my company spelled incorrectly, or made out to the wrong entity. I frequently get checks not consistent with the contract I have. Part of the problem is the company's insane practice of having the numerous locations throughout the country take in items from places like this location and ship them to the company HQ in Ohio, where they are then in theory processed properly, put up for sale and shipped. That practice has only increased the unacceptable amount of errors it makes keeping tracking of sellers' items. I currently have received no answer from anyone at EBTH about the status of some 60 paintings it accepted many months ago, appears as ready to sell in my account on its Web site -- but yet has not sold. I've written and called them countless times and never received an answer other than "I'm checking with the art department." A week has gone by since my latest futile effort to get a response. I kept taking the company's word for it that it would solve the unending problems and I kept trying to be patient as it kept producing such great numbers on the stuff it managed not to lose or sell but scatter through so many auctions it took me days to figure out what sold and what was missing. EBTH could start by providing sellers a receipt of what it takes but it won't do that despite appearing to have a bar code technology that would allow it to quickly photograph and tag the items and generate some kind of receipt. In other words, EBTH makes no record of what sellers bring in other than, in my case, the detailed Excel sheets and photo albums I submit to it. I can't take all the headaches anymore and won't be bringing anything else to EBTH until there is conclusive evidence it has fixed its many problems. There are many other auction houses in the region that I can use that may not always produce the same dollar amounts but don't provide the stress and headaches that EBTH does.

I was really drawn in by the wonderful items on the EBTH and the nice design of their website. In fact it's still pains me that I can't bid on items anymore because there are so many items I would like to purchase for myself and for my store. They have such TERRIBLE practices, I have decided I CANNOT bid on anything else. A third of my items never arrived!. I would wait a whole month before calling. Each time It was up to me -each time- to identify that the item had not arrived and file a complaint and wait. And wait. And I mean seriously seriously wait for months. The first time it happened I thought "well everybody has one of those types of situations that comes up sometimes". Then it happened again and again. One time I called to check on a pair of expensive vintage shoes that had not arrived, simple enough to ship, and the customer service person said, "we never find lost items; there's no point in even trying - I'll just give you a refund" (I didn't want a refund, I needed the specific shoes for a theater project. I wanted the item I purchased! I could Tell the customer service person had no interest in pursuing my item and acted annoyed.) Also they are either untruthful or careless in their descriptions at times. One time I bid on an item based on the description. I bid way higher than I would normally because of the quality of natural materials and craftmanship that EBTH stated were used in the making of the product. When I went to pick it up, it turns out the description was completely false! It was synthetic and mass produced! I would've never bid on it in the first place - not one dollar! The local pick up people even said "we couldnt believe someone actually bid that much on this lamp. I couldn't either, because it was so clearly "not as described". The pick up person had nothing to do with that. They had me check in with the office. The "office" never ever responded to my inquiries about it. NO RESPONSE. I lost a lot of money on that purchase! Also If you bid on anything just accept that the shipping prices are based on weight or the awkwardness of shipping - which is somewhat understandable. But even for lightweight and very small items the shipping is often through the roof! There was one exception. Different auctioneers treat work for them in different cities clearly have different shipping prices. The auctioneer in Blue Ash Ohio was is the -only one- I could find in the bunch that actually had reasonable shipping prices! But they lost items. So often that I sadly started to ponder that if they didn't get the price they wanted on an item that was valuable they were keeping it and reselling it locally. Of course I have no idea but it was very strange. So can't say I recommend their sales. I had no trouble with local pick up where I am but there are very few auctions in my local area and they had erroneous descriptions too. If you want to consider it an online gambling experience then that would be accurate. Just remember that there's a high probability you will lose! As for me... Goodbye EBTH!