Heritage Auctions Reviews 123

I regret to say that my experiences with Heritage Auction House have been deeply disappointing, and I would not recommend their services to others. Here are the key issues I’ve encountered:
1. Failure to Honor Auction Wins
I won a piece at auction for several thousand dollars, only to be told afterward that it was a “mistake” and the item was not available. An auction house’s credibility is built on the integrity of its processes—verifying items, accurately listing them, and honoring sales. Heritage had taken photos of the piece, printed it in their catalog, promoted it for months, accepted pre-bids, and finally put it up for auction. To retract the sale after it closed is inexcusable. This caused significant frustration, especially as I could have used those funds to bid on another piece instead. Their lack of accountability in this matter is alarming.
2. Unfair Double Standards
In a separate instance, I placed a pre-auction bid on an item by mistake. I realized the error and contacted Heritage before the auction date to request the bid be pulled. Unfortunately, their customer service failed to respond in time, and the bid stood. After I “won” the item, they refused to acknowledge their error or cancel the bid—even though I had reached out well in advance. Ironically, they showed no leniency here, despite failing to honor a sale when the roles were reversed in the previous instance. This double standard in their policies is both frustrating and hypocritical.
3. Misrepresentation of Items
On another occasion, I purchased a collectible item that was listed with incorrect details, specifically the year of the piece. Auction houses are supposed to set themselves apart from platforms like eBay by verifying the authenticity and accuracy of the items they sell. This kind of misrepresentation undermines their credibility and betrays the trust of their buyers.

In summary, if you’re seeking an auction house that values integrity, provides responsive customer service, and ensures accuracy in its listings, Heritage Auction House falls short. My experiences have been riddled with poor communication, unfair treatment, and a lack of accountability. I expected more from a company that positions itself as a professional auction house.

I've been a client at Heritage Auctions for some three decades, both as an auction bidder of rare currency and as a consignor. It's always been a pleasure to deal with and seek the professional advice of HA Consignment Director, Craig Eustace. And in particular, I have also thoroughly enjoyed the highly professional and expeditious assistance from HA Client Services folks (such as Aundrea M. and before her, Alanna I.) in getting my items promptly shipped. They've always provided me with outstanding customer service (which is why I've been such a loyal HA client for some 30 years). Sincerely, CVB

Online they state the give free appraisals, so I sent a couple of pictures of some coins to see what value they may have. Heritage responded saying my coins didn't meet their consignment criteria. I didn't ask to put them on consignment, I just wanted an appraisal like they advertised they do. Zero stars would be a better review.

Heritage is a renown auction house w top notch service. I have nothing but praise for the professionalism maintained by the firm, especially the great personal attention provided by the firms best hire Sarah Miller. Never a problem she can’t solve or a question she can’t answer.

Heritage Auctions visited our home and selected a number Chinese ceramics pieces for auctions. Some of the more valuable items were featured in a catalogue for auctions, and the remaining pieces were described in the HA online auction site. HA provided beautiful photos and detailed descriptions of all the items, and we worked out the starting bidding prices for the items. As a result, all the items were sold at very good prices. We also appreciate that HA handled the whole process in a very professional manner.

Sarah explained the process before hand to perfection, explaining the variables, and what, in her opinion, I might expect. And everything went as well or better than expected.

I've been a numismatic client of Heritage Auctions for over 25 years. The coverage is worldwide, prices fair (sometimes scary good), service excellent, and in-house knowledge of numismatics just superlative, particularly the expertise and help from Sarah Miller of the NYC office. They handle everything from collector coins to expensive splendors. Very highly recommended.

I've purchased items here for ten years and they have been nothing but professional. Quick shipping, responsive to emails, even going above and beyond to send unslabbed coins I won to be graded instead of just sending them to me and saying "that's your problem." I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews and assume that most of those are just from that small percentage of people who will be unhappy no matter what.

Working with Sarah Miller, Senior Vice President and Partner, HERITAGE AUCTIONS has been a pleasure. Our family has placed multiple collections for auction and always feel that we received fair and equitable returns on the collections.
Sarah and Heritage Auctions take the time to market the collections to a wide audience, provide great customer service, and the online auctions are exciting, as well as, educational and the searchable database provides extensive information.

Sarah at HA was a pleasure to work with. They handled everything for us seamlessly and we were very happy with the sale price of everything we sold thru HA

So unprofessional. Barely communicated or showed interest in items they allegdly sell for very high amounts.....or do they. Is this more of their bubble shill scams? Say one thing website says another. Then I go read reviews at bbb and online. Now Im glad I was driven away, probably saved myself thousands rather than making it. Thumbs Down.

No change ,very poor company to deal with when issues arise. Blagged their way through the last complaint , just avoid

They don't tell you shipping prices until after you already recieve the item. The shipping does not include customs.
I ended up paying over $300 for something I won for $80.
They will give you a quote if you ask but they don't advertise that and will just charge your payment method without notice. Likely will ignore your request and send it regardless.
Absolutely disgusted.

Edit: they went up 2 stars. Their customer service has been very quick in answering my questions and helped remedy this issue.

Tried to bid on a piece of art, they've got my CC number for verification which is fair enough but they also want a photo of either my passport or drivers licence...

Might as well give them my date of birth, mothers maiden name and the name of my first pet while I'm at it.

Sadly, you've lost out on a couple of thousand dollar bid, plus whatever the import duty and VAT would have cost me for a piece of art by my favourite graphic novel artist.

Life's too short

Thank you very much for all you have done. You were brilliant. From what was for us a difficult decision regarding what to do with the movie posters. We were lucky that our paths crossed. You made the whole process of our consignment was very easy and stress free. From the moment we met you, we knew the posters were in safe hands. My uncle is very happy with the outcome. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending you for your service and expertise.

Very poor service. Made an error on shipping invoice making painting 100000 instead of 10000. Government wanted to tax me on wrong price. Fedex called them and got right price. But then company recalled the painting anyway. Shipped it again and I had to pay the taxes again. Still fighting the government to get the first payment of taxes back. Heritage completely unhelpful even though the mistake originated with them.

Sent them 12 Guitars...Garry Shrummm said each one would average 3k...The Lisa Marie Presley Red Telecaster and others (Slash, Motley Crue, Ace Frehley...) all netted me just 4k after they charged me $1500 for photography & another $1500 for Misc expenses... I'll work with a real auction house with my good guitars and continue to spread the word.

Lying, pieces of ^%&t. Karma Cops Are coming for you!

Lack of Unprofessional,unpleasant to work with. I am waiting for payment for my 1999 New York Yankee World Series pendant or for it's return....it was an awful experience, I had a bad feeling right away and the abrubt, nasty phone call sent shivers down my spine as i am waiting for the return of my pendant. I will follow up with the end result.

After trying to sell my pendant @ 4k less than valued, they then put it back on their site the morning after "auction" had it "offered" for 3k more than they said it sold for. Sneaky...
The auctioneer, Sebastian is unprofessional, nasty, rude and untrustworthy.

I would never recommend them.

They are a legitimate platform but their shipping times have become absolutely absurd. Will be 6 weeks post payment, MINIMUM, before they ship your items. Note that is not accounting for shipping time. I frequent multiple auctioneer platforms and none are as slow as HA

Just went to the free taxation day in Vinkeveen (NL). Brought a Ditch Master (Johannes Storck) a page from the west Roman Empire Justitiabus 526 ad. (Last auctioned at 23.000 GBP) and a Roman golden Broche. The guy literally said the painting was a poster and the youth did not like the page from the Roman book of law, so it is worth nothing. Then he wanted to scratch the broche on a proof stone to see if it is gold, which an only a hooligan would do to antique. Clearly only interested in gold they do a lot of damage to antiques, as someone might throw it away. Bunch of crooks.