Everything But The House
reviews and complaints

I recently found myself in a situation where I needed to dispose of a large collection of paintings that I had accumulated over the past 45 years. I researched 45 different auctioneering agencies and galleries, but none of them seemed to be the right fit for my needs. That is until I came across Everything But The House (EBTH).

From the very first phone call, I knew that EBTH was the right choice for me. They offered the best prospects and had a team of experts who knew how to market and sell art. However, there were a couple of aspects of the process that most artists would not agree to. For one, there were no reserves or minimums for the sales. Bids would start at just one dollar, and market competition would determine the final price. Secondly, my work would be mixed with other artists' pieces in small groups of ten to twenty-four at a time, which was a departure from the traditional approach of selling an artist's entire collection at once.

Despite these differences, I decided to give EBTH a chance, and I'm glad I did. The team of the art department hired a freelancing journalist to develop a promotional profile based on my art work and personal life. While I was initially combative with the young reporter's jargon and the art department's efforts to establish historical associations or trends, I eventually came to appreciate their approach. They were able to mix and promote my work in a way that got the best possible result.

Since signing my first contract with EBTH, I have sold over 700 pieces in 28 auctions. While the revenues have exceeded $43,000, money was never the object for me. My main goal was to find collectors who would preserve my work and allow me to continue producing. I was willing to sell my watercolors for as little as $1, as long as I knew they were going to someone who cared for them.

One of the things I appreciate most about EBTH is their Art Department and Consignment-auctions. They provide free mailing labels for up to 125 lbs per item, crate, or bundle to deliver to the auction houses. Once they receive the seller's goods, they take on the fiduciary responsibility to represent the seller in every respect, auctioning and acting as a point of sale that covers all transactions including professionally packaging each item to deliver it to the collector-buyer, who in turn pays for the cost of shipping and handling.

Overall, I highly recommend Everything But The House to any artist looking to sell their work. While the process may be different from what you're used to, the team at EBTH knows how to market and sell art in a way that gets results. Plus, the fact that you don't have to deal with any collector-buyers directly is a huge plus in my book.

I found out about Everything But The House (EBTH) about three years ago and I've been visiting their site regularly ever since. I like to check for items that interest me a few times a week. However, in the past two years or so, I've been purchasing from them less and less. Here's what I like and don't like about EBTH.

The Good:

Timing: The items up for auction are posted well ahead of time, so you have at least a week before the closing date arrives.

Photos: The photos of the objects are very well done, leaving very little question to various details of the items.

Transactions: They are quick and arrive fast, very well-packed, and seldom without any problem.

The Not So Good:

Shipping: Shipping is absolutely out of line, more than it isn't. I have bought things from other auction sites that are much lesser known than EBTH, and further away from their location, and yet have paid a fraction of the cost for similar sized items. I haven't paid attention to whom EBTH currently uses, but one auction house I deal with always uses FedEx and there is never a problem, shipping is low and in line with the item and distance. But not so with EBTH.

The first time I won something on EBTH, it happened to be a small piece of furniture. I never received it. Instead, I was given various reasons why it was late, or where it is now, or why the shipper is behind. After a month and a half of this, I called and cancelled the order. Their reply was that, "well, it seems you've waited long enough for the item, so we'll refund your credit card." Nice.

Photo Depictions: As I said earlier, their photos are very good and close to professional. However. Be careful with antiques and older items. Because they will tweak the photos to make them appear cleaner or brighter than they actually are. I had two items from them where this occurred. One was a very low-key painting. It was down in browns and deep earth tones and very monochromatic. In the EBTH photos, it appeared at least three or four times brighter than in actuality. The subject was very discernible, crisp, and can be seen readily from a distance. However, in reality the painting is so dark, that even in a very brightly lit room, WITH a painting lamp attached to its frame, it still is extremely dark and difficult to make out, so much so that I have never hung it on the wall. It looks too much like a black hole to nowhere. Too much tweaking with Photoshop going on.

The second item was with these very lovely large bronze 19th century bronze mantle urns. In the photos they appeared bright, clean, and polished. However, in reality, they were very dark, heavily tarnished, and dirty. I have no problem with this, as this is to be expected with older items. What I do have a problem with is that tweaking photos to completely change the appearance, giving them almost a new look, is not honest. I would understand doing this and being up front that the reason is to provide as much detail of an object as possible, then including one photo of actual tones to give its current shape. But EBTH doesn't do this.

Expediting Fee: Read the guidelines carefully. What you may not be aware of initially, is that once you win an item, there is an additional fee called an Everything Expedited Fee. It gets added on to the invoice and I have no idea if it is a set fee or a percentage based on the sale price. It may be the latter because on the invoice for the Urns, the amount is an odd amount ie., $8.09. Now why do this? That too me should be part of their cost for doing business. I am no fan of this current practice of breaking down every business's accounting steps and charging for them, like the utility companies do. I did not ask for that order to be expedited, and really I nor anyone else should have too. That should be normal business practice. A customer purchases something from you, and it is in your best interest to get it processed and out as soon as possible. It shouldn't be handled as if that business is doing you some kind of favor. Well, let's see? if you want your package within two months, it will cost you a little more? Buying from people was never this seedy in the past, but now these past two decades nothing is gratuitous anymore.

Conclusion:

For these two glaring reasons, I have come to use EBTH much less than previously. My biggest complaint is the shipping prices. As of this past year, I have yet to see anything shipped below $35. I could understand it if it had to do with the handling materials, but I receive items from another site with the same level of packing and care and sometimes more so, at a fraction of the cost. So, I don't buy that excuse.

This is also one of the same reasons I shop less and less with eBay. Sellers are abusing the shipping costs there as well, and have been for years. They complain, whine, and blame it on eBay, but I've sold through eBay countless times and never found their commissions or their shipping calculations out of hand. But then, unlike most sellers these days, I packaged items in size appropriate boxes, weighed them individually myself and didn't rely on the USPS Flat Rate boxes with static pricing on them. Too often, that would mean putting an $8 item in a $10.35 or more Flat Rate box. This lazy approach cost the buyer much more than it should, and too many sellers are doing this now.

So, If you think you are going to save some money buying on EBTH or eBay for that matter, think twice and very carefully. Yes, the item you may be interested in will have a very inviting selling price, but the shipping will either be equal to or more than what you buy it for. And typically, by quite a lot, thus killing whatever savings you think you will make. When eBay and similar sites such as this first began, this was hardly ever a problem. It really was worth shopping for used items this way. You seldom paid anything more for something than what you would expect in a garage sale. Today? Now you find things being sold for a small percentage less from what they cost new. And that is both greedy and ridiculous.

And I'm sorry, a 10% savings on something is hardly worth the effort just to say that you saved something.

Hey there frustrated folks! I recently had an experience with Everything But The House (ebth.com) and I have to say, I was not impressed. I know some people have had positive experiences, but I wanted to share my story in hopes that it might help someone else.

At first, I was excited to discover this auction site. I bid on several items, both individually and in lots, and the prices seemed great. However, I couldn't help but feel bad for the people who consigned their family estates to this company. Some items were ending for mere dollars, and if ebth takes 40%, what are the sellers making?

One of the biggest issues I had was with shipping. I'm not able to travel to where the items are located, so I entered my zip code to calculate shipping before bidding. However, when I won and received my invoice, the shipping charges were much higher than originally quoted. It seemed like the only people making money here, other than the company itself, were the shipping companies. And the packaging was a disaster. I ordered a lot of wood items, a mink capelet, and some Yankee memorabilia, and they were all shipped together in one enormous box. The only items that were wrapped were the plaques, and the mink capelet was literally rolled up in a ball at the bottom of the box. There was so much brown paper wrapping, it seemed like it was just thrown in the box to cushion the other items. And it took 8 weeks for a vintage shoe lot to arrive!

But the worst part was when I received a very expensive and rare item that was damaged and broken. It was clear that it was packaged in this condition, and the item was inaccurately described. When I reached out to ebth, they simply said they could only describe to the best of their ability and that it was a used item. I was quick to dispute this, as I've run a successful business for 34 years and know the importance of total transparency. If there's a problem, you correct it. I made it clear that if they didn't refund our money in full, we would contact the BBB and our attorney.

Overall, I would not recommend Everything But The House. There are many other sites that offer total transparency, and it's important to do your due diligence and check them out. If you want an auction site, visit eBay. If you have vintage items, list them on Etsy. If you have everyday stuff, list it on Mercari or Bonanza. Don't trust your family's estate or your personal valuables to an outfit that only cares about funding their bank account.

But for those who have had serious issues and problems with ebth, don't worry. You're not without recourse. Contact the Better Business Bureau and give a detailed account of your claim. And don't use your credit card to pay for items. Open a PayPal account and link your credit card through PayPal. They will back you up if the item is not as described, arrives damaged, or doesn't arrive at all.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope it helps someone out there!

I had a really bad experience with Everything But The House (ebth.com). I had both billing and advertising issues with this company. I have several complaints with screenshots on a pdf, describing the nature of my concerns. I was billed $50 total for transfers fees because it was not picked on the pickup date. On the invoice page, upon making payment the terms need to be clearly spelled out, if a pickup address is an individuals estate or a warehouse. The warehouse pickup is FREE if an item is not picked up on that date, in fact you have up to two weeks to pick up the item. However, I'm learning now that an individual estate sale address pickup must be picked up on that exact date and during that time or you are billed a transfer fee to be charged to your credit card to the local warehouse. Or, you could be billed shipping charge without knowing, and it will be 3x the price you expected.

In my case, the transfer fees were higher than my items I had won. Had I known there would be a transfer fee, I would have forfeited the items and paid out of pocket for missing the scheduled pickup day. Again, the address is only mentioned on the date and pickup, no mention if it is an individual's home estate. There is no mention of a transfer fee nor that the item will be automatically shipped if not picked up on that exact date and time from an individual's estate. I have provided screenshots of my bidding thru the invoice page and other complaints related to the website.

How would I know that William Howard Taft Cincinnati, OH is an estate location and not a warehouse location unless it is spelled out on the website bid page? Unless I know the warehouse addresses by foreknowledge located throughout the city, how could I even know this was an individual's home estate auction? The EBTH blue ash and Wilmer locations, I am told by EBTH, hold items for up two two weeks with no fees. Apparently, you must go to the shipping option tab on the bid page to read these rules and I visited there today but could not find these fees mentioned. If they were spelled out there... If I am selecting a pickup option initially why would I click a link to view shipping options?

Upon opening the shipping option tab there is mention of shipping fees and warehouse fees for certain large items but no mention of items being sold at an individual's estate being additionally charge transfer fees to a local warehouse or automatic shipping fees to your home. In my case, I bid on several items to be picked up in Cincinnati. The address and date for pickup were stated. I assumed I had 7-10 days to pick them up at the location as that is what I have done before at the Blue Ash location. The Blue ash distribution center hold items up to two weeks for pickup, in my case I had an item almost three weeks that I recently picked up last week.

Surprise, surprise! One of my items had been transferred to a warehouse even farther away than the pickup location, so I have to pay $10 extra for a $16 picture that I bid on and 1.5 hours of round trip travel or forfeit the item with no refund. A $26 loss and nothing to show for it. This website needs addressed in many ways. A company that states 63 million in revenue in 2016... how much of that is fees that customers were not aware of, like me? I presume many customers throughout the United States are paying transfer fees that were not stated and shipping fees they did not expect.

We were not contacted by anyone from ebth.com regarding a missed pickup or fees or costs of an item being shipped. The charges were just billed. We only came to know about these fees when we contacted ebth.com to inquire about missed pickup. I was told the fees were automatic if an item was not picked up at an estate sale address during the small window of time on that specific day. Since I did not go to pick them up, they were either shipped to me or would be transferred to a local warehouse.

Another issue we had was with a chair we bid $7 and won for on the auction ending site. When we went to the ending bid section there was no location filter. We did not realize the chair was in West Virginia, we realized thereafter, so we contacted ebth.com and they told us we could forfeit the item by paying $7 (the winning bid amount). Within 3 days we were billed $175.00 to our credit card for shipping fees and we were not even contacted on the phone and told about it. We were horrified to see that our account was debited $175.00.

During this time, we had bid on (3) other items that were ending without seconds and they were in California and elsewhere so we paid the $6 bid amount for those 3 items we won and forfeited pickup because they were too far away and too costly to ship to Ohio. ( I do not have invoices for these items because they were deleted by EBTH after my conversation with them on the phone.) As a business that has a revenue of 63 million in 2016, I would venture to say, there are more people than I who have suffered the same loss just as I have. There are reviews online, that I have located with similar complaints.

As a consumer, I expect to know these fees and the terms to be CLEAR. I have incurred now additional fees of $40 +$10 for unknown transfer fees + $6 +$7 for bidding on items that were in the ending page with no location filter. On a certain occasion when I went to pickup a certain item I had won, EBTH told me it was at another warehouse. It was quite a distance from my home but upon inquiring yesterday about the item, I was told it was lost in the warehouse either Wilmer Avenue or Blue ash and was refunded the $7.00 for the item.

Concerning the above, I would like the fees that I have been exorbitantly charged to be refunded or waived. ***The $175.00 shipping fee for the $7.00 chair is in process of being refunded to my credit card, only because it had not shipped from WV at the time of my call to EBTH. If I had not called to inquire, it would have been shipped and the $175 fee sealed, again no mention of this under the invoice terms. At present, an EBTH representative is inquiring if she can reduce the $40 fee for the $12 items I won, that were transferred. She said they may be able to reduce them, but not remove them entirely.

Again, no mention of these fees anywhere on my invoice at checkout, or on bid page when selecting Free pickup option EVER. We won the bid below for a rocking chair that was in WV, but showed cleared on their website it would be available for pickup in Blue Ash, OH. The EBTH rep just informed me that they made a mistake and it would not be shipped to Ohio now and they would refund the bid amount back to our card. They expect us to abide by their policies but when we go to claim the bid item that we have won,(below) they are not accountable for their mistakes. So the picture was lost at the warehouse that I mentioned earlier, and the rocking chair pickup location was their mistake so they are deleting that bid and refunding our $2. They will not spare us their error. Any good company would say, we will ship it to them at our cost. It was basically false advertising.

What did I expect from this company? Well, at least to be treated well.
The way they talked to me was way unprofessional and I am thinking about reporting about them.
They sent me a wrong order and blamed it on me for being inattentive. I wouldn't be so sure if I were them because things like this can be easily checked. All I have to do is to check my order information and everything will be clear. I don't understand why one of your representatives was incredibly rude to me. I personally did nothing to him, never offended him. I didn't deserve to be treated this way.
This person should be fired as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, I didn't remember his name, because I was too frustrated.

Disappointed with how they treat loyal customers. I have spent a lot of money on them, but once a problem occurred they preferred to leave me alone.
I used to order often, no more than one or two items at once. Never complained.
2 months ago I needed to make a big order. They promised to ship it within 2 weeks and give me a tracking number.
Two weeks later there was nothing and I phoned them. Numerous times. Heard the same story of how they can't understand what happened and that they will soon call me back.
No one did.
Tell me, what am I to do? it's not a joke...

I bid on a pendant that was described as being 1.0" wide, 1.0"high. When I checked on the item the next day, the dementions had changed to .05" to.25" luckily I had printed out the first description before it changed ! I contacted them 4 times & sent them the original description .I was told they could not have possibly make a mistake like that (even though I had proof) and I should be more careful of what I bid on. I won the item and am screwed . Dishonest, rude, people. Do not use them for anything unless you want to lose .

I used EBTH to liquidate the contents of my mother's house after she passed away, obviously a time of extreme emotional distress. Now, in retrospect, it was a terrible decision that I must live with the rest of my life. It was an absolute nightmare from start to finish. At the beginning of the process the EBTH salesman assured me that EBTH would get the highest prices for everything in the house. Then, when it was time to write the contract, I was told to expect next to nothing for the contents of my mother's house. "This stuff just isn't selling right now..." (Just one example: the dining room table was an early 19th century, solid cherry, Federal style that had been previously appraised at 10-18K!) Based on their low-ball figures they unilaterally choose 48% to be the commision based on their own low-ball estimates. (You are stuck paying their exorbitant commission no matter how much the sale brings -- NO SLIDING SCALE.) Due to that extreme commission, I decided not to include several items because I didn't want to give everything away at bargain basement prices and then be forced to cut it in half with EBTH. At that point I received an unpleasant phone call from the "salesperson" who tried to pressure me into including those particular items. I was already sick about the decision to use EBTH in the first place so this didn't sit well with me at all!

Pickup day was a whole new level of hell to go through. It was like a carnival. The two employees charged with an orderly pickup process were completely useless. It was like a free-for-all. Besides the scratched floors and gouged walls that occurred that day, the two guys who removed the refrigerator simply CUT the water line, thus flooding the entire kitchen to the point that water flowed all the way through to the basement, and necessitated a plumbing repair.

On top of that, the people who removed the washer and dryer from the second floor removed the condensation line from the central A/C unit situated in the same room. When I came in a couple of days later water was flowing through the light fixtures and the ceiling fans located in the kitchen on the first floor. They had also flooded the second floor, which did damage on two floors, including the floors on the second floor and the ceiling and fixtures on the first floor!

Finally, when I received the paltry sum of $4, 888.00 for all of my mother's lifetime collection of art, furniture, lamps, oriental rugs, etc.. (btw, my mother had been an interior decorator!) the check was made out incorrectly. Wrong name, wrong address - I couldn't even deposit it into any account. As I write this, I am waiting on/hoping for a replacement check.

Using EBTH was the WORST decision I could have made. I hope that, by writing this review, you will not make the same mistake. Stay away from this company. If I could leave a negative number of stars I would. It was like allowing vultures to pick the final meat from my mother's bones. I will regret it for the rest of my life!

I hired them to sell my household goods. They were too stupid to grade or describe my items. They are giving my things away on their web site. What will happen is that they will make money by screwing people on shipping costs and screw me by cheating on the descriptions.

For the love of God, never hire these 'people' to do anything. They will soon be out of business due to the way they cheat people. There is no way that you will be happy with this company!

Avoid this company at all costs!

I will never buy from them again, EverythingButTheHouse is the worst company I have ever deal with. All my items arrived broken or damaged, because everything was poorly packed and delivery guys didn't care about safe delivery.
I contacted their support and asked for an exchange and they refused to help. Not only I was disappointed with delivery of my order, but also with their terrible customer care service. They were very unfriendly and treated me in a bad way.
Everything about this store is terrible, I don't recommend them, worst ever!

EBTH used to be very accurate in checking and describing items. The last 4 items purchased, were significantly and obviously broken in several spots but marked "Condition: Good" precluding any type of gifting or resale. Customer service is not at all helpful, and really not very nice at all! Just lost total trust in this company! I will be closing my account.

I received wrong item and immediately contacted EverythingButTheHouse. They promised to take care of that and asked me not to worry. I even sent them pictures to prove that I was telling the truth.
They said that first I have to ship the incorrect item back and promised to give me a return address. Several days later I asked them about the address and they said that they remember and will contact me back later. Nothing again!
I tried to get their address so many times but every time received one and the same reply "later".
I want to get my item! That is not my fault that these guys completely messed up my order. Horrible!

Their customer service rep was very rude to me and he was impolite and did not show any respect towards me! I contacted EverythingButTheHouse and asked for a replacement because my order arrived damaged and not only my request was rejected but I also received a portion of negative attitude. I am appalled with EverythingButTheHouse, they are far the worst! I have never deal with such a terrible company ever before. It seems like they don't care about their customers and moreover they don't care if they lose customers! I will not buy from them again, and I regret I wasted my money here. Please beware, this site is just not worth it!

I made a bid for a ring and I actually won it! I was super excited about the ring and I was planning to give it to my wife as a present. After I won I was contacted by someone from EverythingButTheHouse and they said that it will take approximately two weeks to deliver my order. After two weeks of waiting I contacted them about my item and they said that there was nothing to worry about. They assured me my item was shipped and was supposed to arrive any time soon. Well, it is now over a month and I'm still waiting! Their customer service is absolutely unprofessional and careless! Better stay away!

I have a bad experience with EverythingButTheHouse and would not recommend this company to anyone. I made an order here and paid for it, but they never delivered it.
When I contacted customer service they claimed they shipped my order, but I do not believe them. When I asked for a tracking number they said they were not able to provide it. So it is obvious they lied from the very beginning.
When I asked for a refund they said they'll contact me back later and never did that! Avoid at all costs!