Able Auctions

worse place ever!
they have things on line but at auction to speed things up they group things when you want to buy 1 of’s and yet they have too much stuff to auction so they mess about with thumbs up their !!! while everyone waiting. why don’t they do that before auction not during. they very sloppy, I bid on items on line and while there it never came up in person and then when I got home found out I won. they can’t cross reference stuff to your name either. yeah and buyer’s premium and now I find out they double dip! seller’s premium. never going back there ever!

Listen one of the two of the gripes below can be resolved by showing up at the preview day during business hours. sorry this is a business I get that. But lets talk about their technology and process that I am sure leads to lower prices for the sellers and missed opportunities for buyers.
First I have bought stuff around the world Christies, ebay, Hakes, Heritage, Heppel, as an absentee bidder either by phone or online and given this experience the tech they use here really is weak and it is not fully supported by strong management processes. Today I bid online for an office chair, I looked at the online catalogue/​bidding vehicle and called up to see if I had won and they had said it was removed. They said it was in printable catalogue? Err … is this the place for it, you have an online auction site that is live?
Ok I write this as I have had enough of their online process, you submit bids in live mode and most of the time it does not work. If you attend a live auction and there are multiple items and you want one. you must tell them before the auction as they will sell a few and then sell them all as a group… and you will miss out. they do not sell them one by one by one… and you just have to know that with them
Listen this is the last place I would sell my collection/​stuff. I could go on but having a system that misses higher bids and poor infrastructure means as a seller I am losing money and as a buyer I am always frustrated. I have come back always in hope … of a good deal but my advice is just do not waste too much time with them you will always be frustrated.

This company does dishonest business. They do not control the number of people who enter the auction house, so the place becomes packed so that no one can see anything. They use extremely tiny screens to show the items, and the photos are taken with flash so you can’t discern any flaws. They hold up the items at the front, but only the people at the very front can see the items. The rest of the people can only barely discern what’s happening, and are fooled into thinking that the items are better than they actually are. Then they place bids, and when they go get their item, they find that it’s far from described.
Yes, they do have a preview available. But it’s during hours when most people are working and unable to make it. As a result, I’d guess that a vast majority of the people there were not able to attend the preview.

I have done business with many auction houses in Vancouver and this is BY FAR THE WORST.
An auction should be a simple, black and white experience. I bring you an item, you show item to public on agreed date, cross your fingers that the bids are high and then receive your money minus the consignment fee.
Simple right?
Not at Able Auctions!
Here they take your items, play a crazy shell game with your items, lie repeatedly to you about the whereabouts of your goods, tell you they are sold when you ask for them back, then tell you they can’t find your money when you ask to be paid, then after chasing after them for weeks you’re told they JUST sold at some out of town auction for a major fraction of the appraised value. WOW.
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH ABLE AUCTIONS!!!

The single least professional business I’ve ever had the misfortune of dealing with, anywhere in the world. 2 star rating? That is being generous. I would give them 0 stars if it were an option. They are in the opposite business of customer service. Rude condescending and totally unhelpful.

I went to the police auction on April 26, 2014 after hearing about it on the news and in the paper. I thought I’d go check it out and maybe buy a bike. I will be honest, I don’t know much of anything about bikes and how much they are worth.
My girlfriend and I decided it’d be fun to check it out. She bid and won a cruiser bike for $ 225 which seemed cheap compared to the other cruisers before hers. We didn’t go the day before to check out the bikes so they would roll them up on stage and hold them up to look at. Her bike appeared to be in working condition. In a few of the write ups they mentioned a broken gear shifter or bent tire but only in a few. Call me stupid for assuming any bike they sell should be in working condition unless otherwise stated.
I bought 2 bikes which I knew weren’t high end but I’d not an avid biker so I thought I could have them to ride once in a while as that’s all I needed them for. No mention of defects in the description. I paid $ 175 for the pair. What a deal I thought.
After the auction, we paid and went to pick up our bikes. My girlfriend’s cruiser came out and they front tire was completely off and popped. She questioned the worker about the condition saying it didn’t appear like that when they showed it. He basically shrugged it off.
When my bikes came, I almost left them there. First bike had no brakes, broken gear shifters and two flat tires. The second bike had a broken seat, no brakes and broken shifters. The auction worker laughed when I questioned him about the condition and said all sales are final.
Who the hell sells anything in this condition without disclosing it? We spend $ 490 with all the taxes and fees and got 3 unridable bikes. Stay away from these scam artists.
I took the bikes to a bike shop today to see if they could be fixed and the shop told me that they were garbage and not even worth fixing. Thanks Able Auctions and Vancouver Police for selling us unworkable pieces of crap.

I am a regular auction goer and I have been to this auction on two occasions. Both times the merchandise purchased was in good working order and the auction was held very smoothly.

I’m writing this as someone who has not only been a bidder but also a consignor to Able Auctions.
As a buyer, I found they were very helpful in the learning process. My first auction had about 50 different lots I wanted to bid on. The auctioneer, who I had spoken with a few times before the auction, made sure his spotter paid attention to me so I didn’t make any mistakes.
As a seller, I had a similar experience. They were very professional in taking in and cataloging my items. They provided ample advertising and marketing for my stuff and in the end, I got a nice chunk of cash for all the items I consigned to them. Within 3 business days of the auction end, I received an auction report and cheque for my items.
My only real beef is this mysterious Buyer’s Premium that the whole industry sticks people with and I found their commission rate to be a tad high. (especially when you combine it with the Buyer’s Premium).

I’ve bought a few things from Able Auctions over the years. Mostly arcade games at the once famous Mother’s Day coin-​op auction, which I believe does not exist anymore. I got some great deals, but remind yourself that the auction fee + taxes + any storage fees sneak up on you if you don’t factor those in when you’re in the live auction frenzy.
Able Auctions hosts the big annual police recovery auction. The special thing about this is that there are bicycles galore. It’s unfortunate that someone, or some store, had these stolen from them before they arrived here, but I’m assuming that occasionally some are actually returned to their rightful owners. Stil, it’s amazing that this many goods are actualy recovered.
This year, I had my eye on a Cervelo S2 road bike. They had it listed on their website, and even had a video featuring the bikes up for auction. The details of the items are not listed well on the website. Obviously, they only advertising the nice ones. Most of what’s here are beaters.
This year, I thought I’d give the preview a try and see what size this Cervelo was. Interesting. The bike was not there anymore. The staff didn’t know anything about it. I smell something fishy. I wasted my time, and I’m sure others may have as well.