My Consignment Experience with Classic Auctions

[Stampsfan]

I am writing this as information for anyone considering sending their consignment items into Classic. This is how my valuable items were handled, and how I was treated.

In the spring of 2017, I contacted Classic Auctions as I had four game-worn hockey jerseys I was looking to move. Marc at Classic was very interested. We agreed on a 7.5% consignment fee, and within a month I had shipped all four jerseys, along with LOA’s for two of the jerseys, to Classic.

Three of the jerseys were listed in the Fall 2017 auction. The fourth, a 1996-97 Chicago Blackhawks Steve Smith jersey, was not in that auction. It was one of the two jerseys with an iron clad LOA; this one from the Blackhawks. In good faith, I waited approximately 7-8 more auctions for my jersey to appear in an auction, but it was never listed.

In February of 2019 I wrote Classic and Marc, asking him when the jersey might be going into one of their auctions. A week later, I received an email reply asking me if I had any paperwork for the jersey. I explained that I had sent four jerseys in and the LOA’s for two of them were in the package, including the Smith Blackhawks LOA.

Two months went by without a reply, so I started writing again in April. They were going to look into it.

Two more months went by with no reply, so I started writing again in June. They were going to look into it.

Three months later in September of 2019 I wrote them again, inquiring about the status. No reply.

In October of 2019 I wrote them again, inquiring about the status, and indicated I will be seeking further actions if I do not get the courtesy of a reply. They indicated they wanted to send the jersey back to me without the LOA (as they could not find it). I told them not to do so without the LOA.

Another month goes by without a reply, so I wrote them again, asking if they had the LOA. Marc’s answer was as follows:
“Its been long since we got the jersey but im being told that we do not have an LOA for this jersey and no one seems to have ever seen this LOA, not sure if we ever got it or what happened with it if we did but there are no LOAs at the moment.”

More emails went back and forth, with Classic basically accusing me of not ever having sent them the LOA. Finally, by January of 2020 they somehow found the missing LOA (that Marc accused me several times of never sending) and were sending me the jersey back. No apology, no attempt to list it in an auction, still blaming me for their incompetence, and an apparently very poor inventory intake process.

For three years they had my consignment, showed a complete lack of customer service in answering my inquiries, and blamed me for them losing the LOA. I could go on about the grief factor and time wasting too. In the end I was so frustrated, I built a website so others can see the full details before choosing to consign with Classic.

Details are at ClassicAuctions.ca

[pokerplyr80]

Given the time that had passed misplacing a LOA sounds like something that could easily have happened. Obviously the Jersey should have been listed in the same auction as the others, but I would have contacted them as soon as I realized it wasn't to find out what happened. Waiting for 7-8 more auctions to pass without reaching out directly seems like an unusual decision to make, at least to me.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

Given the time that had passed misplacing a LOA sounds like something that could easily have happened. Obviously the Jersey should have been listed in the same auction as the others, but I would have contacted them as soon as I realized it wasn't to find out what happened. Waiting for 7-8 more auctions to pass without reaching out directly seems like an unusual decision to make, at least to me.

I agree with this statement. That said, I'd not do business with them again after that type of treatment. One thing is that at least they found the LOA and sent it back (not that this should be applauded) but if they were total deuche bags, they could have sent back the jersey without the LOA and stuck by their claim.

Allowing them to hold onto the jersey without a definitive time line is something that you should not have allowed.

It's too bad you had to go through that. And thanks for the heads up on the AH.

[bnorth]

Like the other 2 I also think you waited WAY too long to contact them about it not being listed and auctioned.

I applaud you for telling your side of what happened. The website might be a tad too much but absolutely awesome.

[BeanTown]

Hopefully the Auction House comes on here to confirm or deny what was written. If all is true, then the AH may want to rethink their communication with consignors. With that being said, if I was the OP, I would have called them non stop on the phone. Talking live is 10x better than emailing, unless you want a paper trail.

[AddieJoss]

I like the website. Cool idea.