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.

[pokerplyr80]

I missed the part about creating the website the first time I opened this thread. I feel like I'm missing something. One simple phone call could have solved this years ago. Why were you upset enough to go through all this trouble, but unwilling to make 1 phone call either before, during or after the first auction?

[Stampsfan]

To answer some questions...
The website was a side project. I may expand it and put some of my stuff on there for sale. I have not decided yet.
Why did I wait? Looking back, not sure. I’m a pretty patient guy with things, plus I’d heard from others that sometimes they have held other items for a long time, and eventually the items have Been auctioned off. When you sign an agreement, you expect both sides to hold to it. Plus it’s not like I was waiting for the cash.
Could I have called? Yeah again looking back, sure. However I do like email as a proper Documented record. It is certainly a legitimate method of communication today. If I had done this over the phone, then Nothing is documented. I might have been asked at that point “why didn’t you email and have the communication properly documented?”. In the end I’m glad I have the documentation.
The issue for me is they held onto it for two years, and lost the LOA. My gut tells me had I not reached out, it would still be sitting in their warehouse. I posted this here and on Facebook. It’s not bitter, it’s iNformation that I think folks should know. That’s a lot of what this forum is about, and I’ve seen this type of information posted here over the years I’ve been on here.
In the few short hours this has been up, I’ve been accused of things that are out of character for me, but I’ve also heard from numerous people about their frustrations both as buyers and sellers with this auction house. IMO this is the type of information the Net54 family would want to know.

[Snapolit1]

A consignment fee. Cute idea. No thanks.

[buymycards]

Hi,
A lot of people are giving you crap about the way that you handled the situation, but 100% of the blame should go Classic Auctions. Their sloppy handling of your consignments caused the problem, and their lack of communication made the situation worse. It was up the them to contact you immediately after they discovered that they couldn't locate the COA, and it was up to them to let you know, before the first auction occurred, that one of your items was not going to be in the first auction.

This problem was not caused by you, and you were extremely patient with Classic Auctions, even though they treated you like crap.

I love the website, and sometimes the only way to get a problem solved is to out people on social media.

Rick

[bobbyw8469]

Wow!

[Kingcobb]

This is not acceptable from Classics Auction. They should have returned the Jersey immediately if they did not intend on listing the Jersey. I think they need to have the jersey authenticated and returned to you with a LOA in my opinion. Good luck. Daryl



Daryl Fraley

[Den*nis O*Brien]

---the pain of frustration you endured for so long. Th AH treated you with indifference and that is not how to stand out in a crowded AH landscape. Very nice work on the website !
Sincerely, Dennis

[hcv123]

.5% OP who could have been a bit more on top of the situation earlier
99.5% Classic - Holy crap!! How could they run a business like that?

Website - priceless!

[bnorth]

Any other experiences with this AH from other members? Sometimes stuff happens and sometimes bad businesses somehow stay open and prosper.

[Rhotchkiss]

Thank you for sharing your experience. While I agree with others that you could have (should have) reached out much earlier and more often, it does not excuse the way the AH treated you and your items. I have had no personal interaction with this auction house so cannot comment beyond your post

[yanks4]

This is the kind of crap that happens when you get too big for your britches.
They almost have a monopoly on hockey and apparently forgot what got them there.
Stuff does happen sometimes in any business and because I have not heard anything else from consigners, I will cut them a little slack. The lack of communication would really infuriate me. Absolutely no excuse for that IMHO.

[boysblue]

Any other experiences with this AH from other members? Sometimes stuff happens and sometimes bad businesses somehow stay open and prosper.

--------------------------------

For what it is worth.......I have consigned stuff with Classic several times over the past decade or so without issue. Marc has always been pleasant and professional in my dealings with him.

[sox1903wschamp]

Had a recent issue with a Hockey Set that had a card in it (maybe the most valuable) that was not as described.

It was a little bit of a struggle but I stayed on them and we reached an agreement that was satisfactory for both parties.