Big Bear Auction Company

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OPEN NOW - Closes at 12:00am

On-line auction and advertisement managed. Owner is very friendly, professional, and helpful.

Do not give them your keys. I live out of state and trusted Big Bear Auction to sell personal possessions and real estate for an elderly relative. They cleaned up the neglected and damaged house and yard well, and worked to get a fair price for the property.

But there were multiple minor problems and major issues of security and key control. Staff duplicated keys and kept a copy despite a claim otherwise. They left windows open after telling me the house was locked. I declined the buyer's request for a house key on auction day. I discussed this with Jerry Glassman. He told me he would not give the key to the buyer. I expected to pick it up when I returned for the remaining belongings and informed them of my arrival date. Big Bear delivered the key to the buyer before possession date without my knowledge or permission and then denied it. Items were moved out of the house by the buyer and some stolen. Big Bear Auction took no responsibility, saying these things happen.

Bought and sold here. Auctioneers and staff are very friendly, lots of great deals to be had, and they're very willing to work with the customer on both ends.



I get the impression that both Heather and Diane over estimated the value of their items (and didn't previously go to an auction), as household doesn't sell and an auction does NOT net you retail prices!! If you want retail, sell on ebay or in an antique mall, NOT here - this is for unloading and getting pocket money.



Also, Heather - you couldn't get your items back. I don't know who you spoke to (and again, it seems you've never been to the auction before!), but they tell you straight up that items left past a certain date are BURNT. If you want your stuff, you need to go pick it up yourself.

DO NOT USE!!! Sent a 30’ trailer FULL of items to sell. They told me the whole trailer of my items sold for $75! Then when I asked to see an invoice 80% of my items were not even on the invoice. So I emailed Big Bear asking where the rest of my stuff was. I got no answer for 2 weeks other than a bill wanting money for hauling my items to their auction. When I did get an email back I was told my items that did not sell were “disposed of”. I EVEN emailed multiple times to find out where or how my belongings were “disposed of”. I never got an answer! This is the short version of a very long & very bad experience. Take it from me don’t waste your time and money on these very rude thieves!

I've used Big Bear as both a seller and a buyer before, and will review it separately.



As a buyer:

I've gotten excellent deals from Big Bear over the years, buying everything from furniture to collectibles to kitchen items. I always leave the place with a car full of great deals.



No other auction that I've been to (Shipshewana, Goodrich company, J&J, etc.) is so eager to help the buyer. They're always VERY clear on what you're buying, very patient, very willing to talk to you and help you out, etc. You can even make your own bundles of "stuff", making sure you can get 3-4 items you want but wouldn't want individually.



The only downside is that they need a more discerning eye when it comes to letting things sell. Everything sells, but they let people bring a LOT of junk. Broken furniture, boxes of moldy tools, etc.



While they usually make sure it all goes last, it sucks having to wait for each lot to wrap up when one might be nothing but boxes of junk that is slow to sell.



As a seller:

I usually take things right back to Big Bear. Knowing that "Junk" sells, my low-end items I get from here, other auctions, group lots bought elsewhere, etc. comes right here.



Big Bear is a great place to sell if you KNOW what to sell there. If you have an entire household, don't sell at Big Bear (or Shipshewana or J&J or any other auction house); take a storage unit, a back room, etc. here.



Selling an entire household? Call up someone to SELL AT YOUR HOUSE, or you'll lose money when people get distracted by other auctioneers at the same place or your group is broken up.



That said, I wouldn't take "good", top-tier antiques here. Take those to a place where more dealers frequent, and understand you still probably won't get retail.

DO NOT use Big Bear Auction in Eau Claire, Mi if want to get a good price from your items. They just about gave away our estate of 36 years of furniture, appliances, tools, and other items. We wouldn't even give them a star but had to to get the feedback read.