Julien’s Auctions

Julien’s auctions just can’t seem to pay their ground transportation bills. Service is over 90 days old and all we hear are excuses (and «the check is going out»). This is even after an unwarranted discount. Service companies beware!

The reason Julien’s auctions get’s one star is Martin Nolan, who is in charge and has excellent staff people.
My experience of Martin and his style of doing business dates from the Larry Hagman auction a couple of years ago. Larry was a good friend and we attended the auction together, with him giving me the scoop on pieces as they came up. Major fun and auctions are a great rush. Too bad Martin lacks integrity in so many areas. A backer I had for my purchases (I was broke at the time) regneged on covering my purchases and Martin set it up for me to pay over time (being Larry’s friend and all). The way the deal worked in the Hagman auction — 25% was added to your purchase price for the auctioneer. I had paid off the cost of the goods
and was working on the commission when Larry died. Martin decided to take for himself 2 valuable pieces (sacred objects) — a horn and a British mail pouch. He re-​wrote the invoices, removed the two pieces, refused telephone calls and told his staff to tell me the pieces were gone and I would never see them again.
During the auction, things were sold as Larry’s which were not his (for instance Maj’s red hat)
was sold as Larry’s — I had him sign everything like that which was sold, so at least they had his autograph. There was broken down furniture and some pure junk of Mary Martin’s which was sold in the on line version of the auction, which you would never have bought in person unless you wanted some twigs to start your fire. When the I dream of Jeannie bottle sold for $ 8,000, I realized the purchaser thought it was the only one. It wasn’t — I got mine for $ 600 and it was signed by Larry. There a few of those replicas around. He signed the auction one too to give the buyer more value.
What took me so long to write this review? I met his parents and did not want to embarrass them. I thought at some point I could help Martin do the right thing. He is not so inclined.
I’ve decided to sue you in court Martin and seek damages for what you have put me through. I believe small claims will suffice at $ 10,000 per item. I have your altered documents in which you try to cover your theft. I am so sorry I did not do this sooner and perhaps I could have prevented any of the rest of the one stars here from doing business with you.
I hope you wake up soon Martin — your business could be major fun, with great potential — just curb your greed, sharpen your ethics and make your parents proud.
Valerie Kirkgaard 310 455‑8623

Let me tell you a little story I had this marker from a job I worked at almost 40 years ago and I thought maybe someone who loved Marilyn Monroe would love to own it. Well I read about juliens auction house in people magazine and text the owner told him what I had and he explained how the whole process worked and took me step by step he walked me through the whole thing when the catalog came out I got it in the mail and throughout the process his employee Megan kept me informed. On the day of the auction I got a call in the evening and Megan asked if I watched the live auction and I said no the next words out of her mouth were well it sold for $ 170,000. I couldn’t believe my ears I was shocked and then I started to cry and then Darren got on the phone and said «congratulations». This Company went above and Beyond what most company’s would do. I’ve told all my friends if you have anything to sell this is the place to go. Wonderful people to work with. Thank you Darren and Megan you are great people to work with.

Wanting to sell my sports collectibles, I looked around (yes, including Unilocal) for an auction house to sell part of a large collection. Based on the ratings and reviews posted for Julien’s Auctions, I would have steered clear, but one of their representatives (who shall remain nameless) agreed to come to the storage facility where the items were located and decide on the spot if the collection was valuable and of interest to him.
Agreeing that some of the collectibles were «auction worthy,» the representative of Julien’s decided to auction about 10% of my collection of sports memorabilia.
When I brought the sports collectibles to Julien’s, I asked the representative before we shook hands and signed a contract, what was Julien’s cut (percentage of hammer price); the representative stated «20%.» While agreeing that the 20% cut was within the industry standard, I signed the contract.
Several weeks lapsed between the auction end and receipt of the proceeds, but when I finally got paid, I nearly fell out of my shoes. Instead of having 20% deducted from the hammer price (highest bid) as the representative clearly stated, instead 48% was deducted from the auction sales price to my horror!
It was peculiar when the representative said that anything with an appraised (not appraised by a neutral third party, which makes it biased) value of less than $ 10,000 does not qualify for a reserve, which made me apprehensive. The predicted sales price quoted before a contract was signed was much higher than expected, but with no reserve, the actual sales price was much lower than expected. Do not be fooled by highball appraisals, they may be yet another strategy to instill confidence in unsuspecting consumers when there is no reserve to protect them from cheapskate bidders.
Julien’s used under-​handed tactics to keep half of the profits, which is immoral and dirty business practices. If any government agency wants to investigate their shady business strategies and tactics, I would be happy to assist.
If just one person avoids Julien’s Auctions because of this rating and review, it is well worth the effort.
Julien’s employs shysters who use smoke and mirrors to rip-​off customers.

Horrible Horrible Horrible! Scam, Shady, Bull*hitters out to rip you off. If only NO stars were an option here.

What a horrible company this is. Last winter, I signed an agreement for them to sell several Elvis items that were scheduled for auction this last spring. Spring came and went and not a word from them. I just called (7÷9÷2014) and they told me they’d send the check out tomorrow! I asked if this was the way they do business, keep the money until the client calls. The lady there said «Well, we usually wait for cosigners to call first before sending out a check». I asked if they just keep the money if people don’t call. She gave me a lame apology, but it doesn’t change the fact that this is one sleazy and/​or inept auction house.

Had a fun night at their street art auction last night-​even got a Mear one piece to boot! It was freeflow cocktails, champagne and some food as well! No complications in picking up our piece after the auction and even got to see the already sold items from the LordOfTheRings collection which was cool!

If I could give them zero stars I would. I won a dream item from the Phyllis Diller auction, and I live in the area, so I requested a pickup rather than shipping. After 2 weeks I called and emailed, and got no response. 3 weeks, more calls and emails. One email finally came saying they would contact me when the item was ready. I patiently waited. Over a month since the auction, and I called again, and was told to make an appointment to pick up my item. I agreed to come on my lunch break (I work 9 – 5, M-​F and that was the only time frame they gave me). Every communication with them had NO sense of urgency or service. They acted like they were doing me a favor they barely had time for.
I showed up on time, was told to park in back by the loading dock. I did, called them again and was told someone would be down with my item. 20 minutes pass. Finally a 20-​something hipster twerp shows up empty-​handed, and says, «duhhhh, are you the one waiting for the Phyllis Diller dress?» I said yes, he stared at me stupidly then said «I’ll be right back with it.» I told him I was in a hurry, which he didn’t acknowledge. 15 more minutes, delivery trucks are waiting for my spot. He finally re-​appears, with the dress on a hanger, not wrapped in any paper or plastic or ANYTHING protective at ALL! I won’t lie, I let this poor kid have it. Told him exactly how unprofessional they were. I ended up wrapping it in a beach towel I had in my trunk. RIDICULOUS! I certainly don’t expect white glove VIP treatment, but WOW! This was downright GHETTO for a Beverly Hills estate auction house. Clown shoes pathetic.
Really sad, because the estates they work with deserve more respectful and honorable care of the items they entrust Julien’s to sell for them. They seem to have a monopoly on these types of estate auctions here in L.A. I’ve been wondering how to contact the estate of Ms. Diller to let them know how carelessly her belongings, and the people who paid good money for them, are being treated. Proceed with caution, folks. These are not professionals.

I bought several lots from the Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller auctions. Many items were not available to preview in person, and they ended up being damaged. It was never mentioned. I e-​mailed and called them to pick up my items three weeks after I was told they would contact me, and they couldn’t bother to respond. I had to keep calling and calling. Once I found that many items were damaged, I e-​mailed them. They couldn’t even bother responding to my concerns. There are some highly unprofessional people at this location.

Well run auctions. Neat stuff. Mostly sports or entertainment memorabilia. I bought a babe ruth signed ball through them online. I could probably have gotten one cheaper through ebay, but then I’d never really be sure if it was real.

I went there to look at Michael Jackson’s memorabilia and other rock star stuff. My friend noticed that the picture of Michael in supposed jacket had 3 epaulets while the one being sold only had 2 on each shoulder. We politely told one of the employees and were not-​so-​politely escorted out. Would I buy from them? No way. Wait until there’s an auction someplace more reputable.