Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers Corp.

I have won two muskets on separate occasions. Both times they had to re invoice because no one checks where the person lives and then there is the outrageous shipping charges. Bonhams doesn't want to be bothered to ship in house, so they have their two recommended shippers. I just personally shipped a musket from California to New Hampshire for $86. Their shippers are charging over $300!! Just a note to yourself - YOU WILL GET SCREWED ON SHIPPING! Remember that when bidding..

Today I am reviewing only my initial communiques with Bonhams by email and the “drop-off” experience in San Francisco: I must have communicated by email with about 5 different people who work at Bonhams in order to get a lithograph in my possession into an upcoming auction in LA. Everyone I spoke to or emailed with was generous with information, patient, courteous and responsive in an unusually quick manner. I have no complaints whatsoever. Even the drop-off of my item in downtown San Francisco (which could well have been a real pain) was just about as simple as could be. And the office itself is beautiful and lovely to look around! Thanks, Bonhams!!!

I went to to quail car auction during Monterrey car week this year and it was such a nice experience. All the cars were beautifully laid out and unlocked so you could get up close with each of them. The employees were knowledgeable and extremely helpful with finding what I need. As someone that appreciates cars it was interesting to see road and race cars of all different eras and styles in one place. I had a fantastic experience with Bonham's and would use their service for any of my auction needs.

Bonhams has been harassing me through email and phone calls for the past week regarding my sales tax documentation. They have been threatening me with non paying bidder reports, they have called me saying I am required to pay tax even though they have accepted my tax forms (two separate resale permits from two separate states; both valid.) and removed tax on the invoice and the invoice is already paid for. They have yelled at me on the phone, told me my business is closed (it isn’t.) told my my license isn’t valid (it is.) and when called out on their lies, they accept the license and payment. Until the next day; where they call and threaten me again and say I’m required to pay tax before they ship to me. I will never, ever shop at bonhams again in my life. This is the most disorganized bunch I’ve ever encountered in my life. I cannot wait until this firm closes their doors for good.

You can have a good experience, BUT , sellers need to do their homework ahead of time and buyers need to know what they are doing when coming here. Bonhams is not bad place if your local and have a very desirable item. But it is important to know that this is not Ebay, this means that when the auction house takes on each items their is a considerable expense associated so that it can be auctioned. The expense to auction an item will be the responsibility of the consignor that is unless they can amend their consignment agreement. When using any major auction house you need to know what percentage of lots tend to actually sell at auction (each group being bid on at a time is considered a lot). If you are selling a rug and similar rugs are only selling 50% of the time that means there is a 50% change you will walk away with any money and a 50% change you will owe the auction house for the attempt. To learn if your items sell, go to the auction web site and see how many lots were offered and compare that to how many actually sold. Note: a decent auction tends to sell 75%+ of the lots and that selling a lot does not mean that the seller made a great deal of money after fees are deducted. Also large numbers of lots are made up of items from galleries needing to move inventory and estates of the deceased. When you consign items you need to know what the fees will be and if needed have them noted as flat fees in your contract. Also be aware that if your lot does not sell you still need to pay the cost associated to offer your item. Auction house are though a great potential bargain for buyers. If an item has not sold in auction that you are interested in, then contact the auction house and present them with an offer. Since sellers still need to pay a fee for their unsold items they might be more then happy to take an offer post sale they would have rejected before the auction. So to enjoy working with Bonhams or any Auction House, take the time to educate yourself so you do not spend more money then you make when liquidating assets via an auction.