Everything But The House

This site is a great way of finding unique items, it's easy to use and they do a great job with the photos and information/dimensions, etc. Unfortunately, their shipping charges are so high that whatever bargain you might get when bidding, the final cost once you add all fees (and specifically shipping) makes the total transaction a VERY EXPENSIVE final sale. It looks like these high charges are their way to make strong profits on sales that benefit only EBTH. Be careful when bidding, since often items that are still in production (and that you can buy new) or vintage items you can find in places like eBay or Etsy, and you can get them for a much better deal once you add all their charges. It's a shame this is how EBTH handles things. If I was the person selling through their site I will be worried that their exorbitant shipping charges actually keep the "hammer" price down, and in return giving the true owner of the lot a tiny profit while giving EBTH the opportunity to get most of the proceeds of the total, all-in sale. I used to buy lots until I realize I was not getting deals, just making huge shipping payments to EBTH.

What a poorly run business. I question whether it might be a scam. Ordered two paintings, just a few days apart. Despite paying for shipping and all charges being put on my credit card immediately, the items did not ship. Was told that it was necessary to wait for ten days before shipping because that was the time frame that had to be allotted for pickup of the order. Really? I paid for shipping so it was obvious that I wanted it shipped and had no intent of picking it up. Still did not appear to be shipped after the ten day waiting period. Many inquiries, all of them telling me that company rep was communicating with those who were responsible for packing and shipping. Was told they would do it quickly. Still no progress on shipping. Then told that folks responsible for packing/shipping remember taking care of it even though there was no online progress noted in shipping. Customer service rep continued to say she was communicating with the packers/shippers, but there was never any concrete information and of course no package arrived at my home. Meanwhile, I mentioned twice in my communications (email... I could not find a way to call EBTH) that there was no progress noted on my second purchase. She failed to even respond to this, I suspect because I did not specifically ask her to do so. When I called her on it and said that I would think a good customer service representative would pick up on my expressed concern for my second purchase, she apologized. The next communication on that issue resulted in being told that the second item was damaged so badly in packing that it could not be sent out. No one had, of course, bothered to tell me that when it happened. I am supposed to have my payments refunded on my credit card for both items. Will wait to see if that happens.

I believe EBTH is running a shell game. They lost so much of our furnishings moving our things from one warehouse to another, and then what didn't sell, including mid century modern furniture and expensive Ligne Roset tables, they gave to Habitat for Humanity or couldn't account for where the furniture and other household items went. They personally told me they would ask me first so that I had the option of taking them back. But they did not. I connected with management through linked in and they were responsive to my anger with a phone call. The person I spoke to slipped and said I made $21,000 and didn't know why I was upset, but then quickly realized he was looking at the wrong number. We actually only made about $3,000. They must have made money on the lost furniture, which probably wasn't really lost. Long story short, I gave them an accounting of what was not listed on their site and what I thought was the fair market value for those goods. They took a percentage of that number and gave me restitution, but no where near what the reasonable value for those lost items should have been. They didn't have to take a percentage on the number I gave them. Really unfair. In order to get the minimal restitution I had to sign a waiver that I wouldn't pursue the matter. I didn't have the money to sue them or start a class action suit, but someone should. Buyers and Sellers Beware!

My first experience from purchase was handled with extreme professionalism and the delivery was Very painless.

We have purchased several items from here mostly with good results. The last item purchased took way too long to ship, couldn't find it for a while, then a month later got notice it shipped; we shall see. The sale said it was in Northbrook, where they have a warehouse, close to us, but the item wasn't in Northbrook, it was inOhio so we had to pay shipping we weren't planning for.

We also ran a sale through them and while we did make more than we thought we would, which was good, we think we could have done better had the descriptions been better or more accurate of what the item was. We spent several days, of a 7 day sale, emailing back and forth to get descritions changed. We had over 350 items so it was hard to verify all of them. Some the color was wrong, the gender was wrong, some were marked 14k gold or 925 silver and that wasn't mentioned and a couple items were separated and sold in two different lots so the item wasn't complete. Also an item was lost somewhere in the process and since we didn't photograph everything before it left it was our word against theirs; guess who won that argument. I am not saying this is a bad service, they do provide a valuable service and it is nice not having to have people come to the house and we probably got more for the items than we would have at a garage or conventional estate sale. My advice would be to document everything that leaves, even though they do it as it is packed. There was some breakage in transit, a problem when it all gets sent to Cincinnati.

Description of ring and pictures were not accurate
Size of ring was not accurate
Cannot trust this site

My selling experience was almost 100% negative. I had a collection of miniature houses, Not dollhouses, more like architectural models from the early 1900s-1920s. I provided detailed description information, and pointed out some of the more significant details, as these were items that I was knowledgeable about. The EBTH representative gushed over how nice they were and promised that they would be sold as a collection, perhaps even featured in a special auction. I was also told that I would be notified when the items were available for bidding, so that I could watch there progress. HOWEVER:
The items were not sold as a collection, but separated and sold at different dates
They were not described as "miniature houses" "architechtural models" or even doll houses. They were described as a "maquette of a house". Someone at EBTH chose to flaunt their rather pretentious vocabulary rather than provide a description that would actually benefit the seller. In fact all of the relevant details and history that I provided was ignored.
In the end, I was never told that the items were being sold, and even though I searched their sales, the houses were listed so poorly, that even as an experienced buyer and seller could not find them. All of the houses together sold for less than just one of them should have brought.
EBTH is best at serving... EBTH. Not the buyer or the seller!