Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/11/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Live Auctioneers courted me for months to sell i left 2 other sites to sell on there. I was vetted provided all proper information charged $500 to sell and approved.Listed my auction paid $599 to list the auction it was then approved by the **************** Auction was loaded had a $5000 email marketing which did very well day later my account is locked and auction shut down saying my account is linked to a suspicious or banned account no nothing no name of account or any explanation at all nothing! I emailed 7 times to VP'S HEAD OF THIS **** HEAD OF THIS **** COMPLIANCE AND NOTHING NO ANSWER AT ALL Not a word spent alot of money and ignored; Like a bait and switch sign up pay money and boom your gone and we keep your money and no reason why Also have bidders calling and emailing asking what is going on! And questioning my company and items Also had a client who bought a item and was bidding who then requested his money be returned because of this as he now does not trust us!I want answers!

  Business Response

  Date: 02/24/2025

  Dear *********,

  After careful review of your catalog, we determined that your auction could not proceed on our platform. Any fees paid to LiveAuctioneers have been refunded. Since the auction never took place, there were no winning buyers on our platform that would need to be refunded by you.

  Thanks

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/02/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  My ACCOUNT WAS CHARGED ! $2000 TODAY! YOU SAID I WOULD NOT BE CHARGED! LIES! SCUM!

  You supplied no legal reason to not allow us to continue! By you kicking us off after letting us buy marketing and so forth we had over $80,000 in bids we lost those sales plus clients who purchased and we told about the sale and then it was taken down thats real legit on your part! Kick us off after that! So that is why we lost sales! Which you are liable for and you ILLEGALLY CHARGED MY BANK CARD! ****** and thiefs!

   

   

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********* *********
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/18/2025

  Dear *********, 

  The amount of $2,000 was refunded on March 3rd, 2025, and no additional charges have been made on our end. As previously communicated, after careful review of your catalog, we determined that your auction could not proceed on our platform. Any fees paid to LiveAuctioneers have been refunded. Since the auction never took place, there were no winning buyers on our platform that would need to be refunded by you.

  Regards,

  LiveAuctioneers Bidder Support Team

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/11/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  They cannot validate my tax exemption certificate. I have repeatedly presented my documentation but they keep telling me they cannot validate, consequently they have charged me sales tax on 3 occasions. I have been buying from Live auctions since 2020 without issue until December 2024. My initial contact regarding this issue was on January 26, 2025. They take days to get back to you and never call back despite multiple messages requesting a call back. This has affected my business by increasing my expenses. Over the course of a year it can result in an undesirable expense as I will be paying sales tax twice.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/21/2025

  Hi ******,

  Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear that the whole process of validating your sales tax information is taking so long to resolve. I looked into this case and I was told that your certificate has been successfully uploaded and validated to your account. The refund request for all invoices dating from December 2024 has been sent to our sales tax team for approval. I'll ask my colleague working on your case to follow up with them and give you an update as soon as possible.

  Please continue to communicate with my colleague for any questions or concerns.

  Regards,

  LiveAuctioneers

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/22/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

  I received a response from a customer service representative a few minutes ago telling me that he hadnt heard from ME in a while? I advised that I didnt hear anything from him!! 
  until my sales tax has been refunded, I do not consider this complaint resolved.  
  Thank you BBB for helping!!

  ****** *****

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/10/2025

  Hi ******,

  I checked our communications with you, and I saw that on February 23rd, my colleague emailed you to say that your "tax certificate has been uploaded and validated on your account." Additionally, the sales tax refund was processed for 2 invoices. The refund should be in your account by now. If you have questions, please reply to my colleague handling your case.

  Regards,

  LiveAuctioneers

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/11/2025

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  on feb 2, 2025 i purchased a smoking pipe at an auction held by thriftiques of ****. i paid for the item to their third party platform and i asked thriftiques to get me a price for shipping to *****. i said i wanted to know the price before shipping. on the 6th of february, i was informed by my bank that 186 dollars had been taken by thriftiques for shipping, an incredibly hight price which doubled my cost and which i had not approved. when i called them he said, sorry, its gone . nothing to be done. i checked with **** and they said the package could not be returned to thriftiques. i have filed a complaint with the bank and they are checking but it could take months. thriftiques never called me, i did not get a number from them, and they take no responsibility.**********************************************************************************************************

  Business Response

  Date: 02/24/2025

  Hi *****,

  I'm sorry to hear you did not have a good experience with a sale on our platform.  I can understand your frustration over having an item shipped out without your consent, especially as you had the option to ship it to an address in the US. LiveAuctioneers is an online bidding platform, and we have no control over post sale issues like shipping. However, we value the feedback and experiences of our bidder community, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with us. While we are unable to compel the auction house to cancel the sale, we can log your complaint which would allow us to track similar issues.

  Regards,

  LiveAuctioneers

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/04/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On November 4th I purchased a small item from * ***** ******* on the Live Auctioneers site with the exorbitant shipping price of $65.00. I buy a lot at auction and when the item was never delivered I started communicating with the auction house. I called and sent multiple emails for over a month. I tried to contact **ve Auctiojeers at all of their phone numbers. No one answers and they have never returned a phone call. to date I have 15 emails that all say the asme thing, I even reached out to bidspotters who said they'd get right back to me 3 weeks ago.The shippers now claim they have escalated this. The items "arrived at the warehouse", whatever that means, and then nothing. No tracking # clearly means it was never shipped.Additionally when you buy @ auction there is a window for pick up that if you do not pick up the item, it is forfeited. That is clearly spelled out. However, they now offer bank account payment to save $50.00 , assume for not using a credit card. However, that can take days to clear which is not mentioned. So you have to wait for the payment to clear before you can pick up your items. Nightmare for the auction house and bidder. Auction house has not info from ** e Auctioneers nor can offer a phone number where they answer the phone.I have spent hours trying to get help with this company and find them painstaking to do business with. I cannot run a business trying to deal with all their problems.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/17/2025

  Hi *******,

  I'm sorry to hear you have not had a good experience with this sale. I reviewed your case, and I see that the auction house has requested that we process the refund due to the delay in shipping. They said: "Our team members and their families are out of office due to the LA fires. We are a bit behind in processing orders." Due to the long delay, they have decided to issue the refund instead.

  The refund request was made today. As soon as it's processed, the funds will be in your account in 5-10 days. If you have any questions about this, please reply to my colleague on ************ team.

  Regards,

  LiveAuctioneers

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/17/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased items and paid for shipping however when i received the items one was missing. i emailed several times and have not heard a response.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/23/2025

  Hi *******,

  Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get all the items that you won in the December 9th auction. I reviewed your case, and I see that our shipping partner has opened a claim. Once their investigation is complete, we will get back to you with an update. When I reviewed your case, I can see your frustration and I apologize again for your poor experience with this sale.

  If you want an update or have questions, please reach out to my colleague on the Shipping team, as she would be the best one to answer your questions.

  Regards

  LiveAuctioneers

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/24/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

  Ive asked repeatedly for updates on the claim and have not received a response. Your team is very unresponsive and it makes me feel like youre stealing from me.

  I want a full refund for the missing item and I want a full refund of all shipping charges.

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *****
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/17/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

   Would love a final resolution and refund  

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *****
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/10/2025

  Hi,

  I see that this matter is close to getting resolved. Please see the email from our shipping team:

  "I sent a return label on February 19 to have the attache shipped back to our warehouse. We are not able to proceed with the insurance, until we have the lot back with us. Can you please let me know if you have sent this back to us already? Please let me know if it would be easier for me to schedule a pickup at your address, or if you would like to drop it off at your nearest *** store at your convenience. Thank you"

  This message was sent on March 6th. Can you please reply to my colleague? As soon as the lot is returned, they can proceed with the insurance claim.

  Regards,

  LiveAuctioneers

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/02/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am an interior designer in *****. I have purchased many items for resale to clients over the past year, especially within the past 2-3 months at which time I was also working on Live Auctioneers to upload my resale certificate so I was not stuck paying tax on items that were for resale. Now that my resale certificate is uploaded to their platform, they are actively avoiding refunding sales tax paid within the past calendar year associated with resale purchases. To refund sales tax to a company with a valid resale certificate and proof that the purchases have been shipped to the state their resale certificate is valid in (which I have said multiple times I could show) is pretty standard operating procedure and I've never had an issue before with other companies when this situation has arisen. LA has actively ignored and avoided resolving this in a professional manor after many attempts both by email and by phone (which is nearly impossible as they don't allow bidders to talk to anyone on the phone and when I finally managed to get a person, ***** ****, he avoided helping me for their first 10 minutes on the phone and when while he finally agreed to follow-up with his finance department and have them reach out to me, I've heard nothing since).

  Business Response

  Date: 01/07/2025

  Dear *******,

  Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We sincerely apologize for the delay in processing your request and any frustration it has caused. We understand the importance of having your resale certificate properly reflected in our system, and we regret that this issue has not been resolved promptly.
  Please be assured that our Payments team is actively reviewing your tax certificate and the associated transactions. We are currently waiting for confirmation from that team to ensure everything is validated correctly. Unfortunately, this process can take some time, but we are doing everything we can to expedite it.
  We recognize that clear communication is key, and we deeply regret any difficulties you have experienced in reaching us or receiving follow-up updates. We understand your concerns, and we are committed to ensuring that this is resolved to your satisfaction as soon as possible.
  We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work to finalize this matter. A member of our team will reach out to you directly as soon as we have the necessary information from our Payments department.
  Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this delay has caused. Thank you for your continued patience.

  Best regards,

  LiveAuctioneers Bidder Support Team
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/17/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased an auction I won in the amount of $126.38 on 11/15/24, that was set to deliver on 11/23/24 and was sent back to sender same day due to sender not putting my unit number on the package. I have been sending them messages since that day with no response. I have emailed customer service multiple times and no response. I want a refund because the package is now lost in transit.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/24/2024

  Hello,
  

  Thank you for your message. Im sorry to hear about the issues with your shipment. I was unable to locate an invoice with the order number ******* in our system. To help resolve this, could you please provide the invoice number or any additional details related to your purchase?
  Once we have this information, well be able to investigate further. Please email the details to ******************************** and well work on resolving the matter as quickly as possible.
  Thank you for your cooperation.
  

  Sincerely,
  LiveAuctioneers Customer Support Team

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/03/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I bid on and won a set of ***** double-G crystal earrings for hundreds of dollars from ************************ (located in ********, **) via website Live Auctioneers only to realize these are counterfeit ***** items, as confirmed by multiple specialists. I am currently embroiled in an attempt to not pay for these earrings as they have not been shipped nor charged to my card yet. It is illegal to sell counterfeit goods and those are absolutely counterfeit.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/13/2024

  Hi *********,

  I'm sorry to hear that you have authenticity concerns for the pair of earrings you won on our platform. I saw that the auction house did not agree to cancel the sale. They said:

  "All our sales final we dont accept returns or exchanges.

  You can read our terms and conditions that you signed and agreed when you joined our catalog."

  The auction house's Terms & Conditions can be viewed on the listing. It states:

  "All property is sold as is and neither the auctioneer nor any consignor makes any warranties or representation of any kind or nature with respect to the property, and in no event shall they be responsible for the correctness, nor deemed to have made any representation or warranty, of description, genuineness, authorship, attribution, provenance, period, culture, source, origin, or condition of the property and no statement made at the sale, or in the bill of sale, or invoice or elsewhere shall be deemed such a warranty of representation or an assumption of liability."

  Regards,

  LiveAuctioneers

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/26/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I placed a bid on an item described by *********************** as a gold bar. After receiving item, it was tested for its authenticity but failed using precious metals industry standard machine. I reached out to Live Auctioneers to inform them of a scammer selling counterfeit gold on their website. To this day, Live Auctioneers refuses to deal with this issue. Moreover, other victims have left reviews indicating fake gold received. But yet, Live Auctioneers continues to let this scammer sell counterfeit gold on its site. This is a serious crime involving mail and wire fraud.I have asked Live Auctioneers to refund me but clearly theyre interested only on making a cut of the proceeds. I strongly advise Live Auctioneers to do the right thing by refunding me and banning Heritage Rare Coins from selling fake precious metals on its site. I will not allow others to fall for this scam and will work with the appropriate authorities to end this scam.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/05/2024

  Hi *******,

  I'm sorry to hear about your concerns regarding the authenticity of your purchase. I reviewed your case, and I saw that the auction house had agreed to a refund once the lot was returned to them.  They said that they "dont claim to be experts in grading precise metals" which is why they had agreed to the return. You have not returned the item and also filed a chargeback with your credit card company, so no further action can be taken until the chargeback is closed.

  I'm disappointed to hear that you're unhappy with the level of service we've shown. As a technology provider, our role in this matter is solely as a mediator to make certain both parties remain in contact while assistance is being requested.

  Regards,

  LiveAuctioneers

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/15/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  I have informed Live Auctioneers and the Auction House (***********************) to contact ****** ***************** about returning the item. Once again, I have to repeat myself that the item was seized as evidence due to the nature of the crime which involves counterfeit gold, credit card and mail fraud. I have been very clear on this, but its apparent there is fear on contacting ****** Police given the fact that Live Auctioneers is allowing gold scammers to sell fake precious metals and by taking advantage of consumers. The nature of this crime is serious and any attempts to downplay it will be met with legal consequences. Lastly, there is evidence of other victims that have left reviews about fake gold, but yet Live Auctioneers refuses to ban Heritage Rare Coins on its auction platform.

  You need to contact ****** ***************** as they would like a word with you. Again, the item is in their possession, not mine.

   

   

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *
  
  
  
  
   
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/07/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Live Auctioneers charged our credit card for a website fee after denying us for their services. They are refusing to refund the $500 that was charged. The $500 was only to be charged if we were accepted, to set up our new site. Our so called account manager is supposedly on vacation for the next month, after we were told shed be in office yesterday. They make excuses every time we call and **************** refuses to issue refund!

  Business Response

  Date: 11/18/2024

  Hi ***,

  I'm sorry to hear that your auction could not be published on our platform. I'll bring this up to the appropriate team so someone can reach out to you to discuss this charge.  Please expect a colleague to contact you this week.

  Regards,

  LiveAuctioneers

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/03/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# ********, and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

  [Your Answer Here]

   

  No communication has been made and no refund has been issued .

   

   

  In order for the BBB to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *** ****
  
  
  
  
   
  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/24/2024

  Hi *** ****,

  
  Thank you for reaching out. I've informed our payments team about your request. However, please note that the Auction Setup Fee is a required charge, and I can't guarantee a refund. For further details, I recommend contacting ********************************** directly.
  Best regards,

  LiveAuctioneers Bidder Support Team