Some lots and items are good. But the auction experience is SO bad its just not worth working with them. From obtaining info about a lot, to paying, to trying to pick items up, its like dealing with people who were fired from the DMV for poor service and incompetence. Over several years Ive told myself ... well, maybe it was just THAT transaction. Today my shipper told me if I buy from them again, he wont pick the item up -- its THAT bad. Finally, I agree. NEVER AGAIN!

Good experience both buying and selling at Skinner. Knowledgable staff and accurate item descriptions

Terriblethey claim to be willing to start the process of selling artist at auctionbut when i submitted a piece by a very good artist they declined becuase it didnt have a auction record and when i called to clarify they denied ever saying that they would start the process,they then claimed that auction is exclusively for secondary sale and living artists almost never get a part of that money, but as we know its not true there are many living artists who make big miney at auction and the only reason most artists even the ones who have a auction record dont do that is becuase there is so much misinformation in the auction market.saying that auction is exclusively secondary market is a front to cover up their selfish silliness to only sell famous art .to all you artists out there this is the truth

I have been in the auction business since 1972; I have been a client of Skinners since 1988... The auction business is a tough one - because the vast majority of people do not understand the process. First, the items are received from the consignor; Then they are described and photographed for the auction; Then they are put in storage pending the auction; Then they prepared (dusted, polished and the like) are exhibited before the auction; Then they are arranged for efficient delivery after the auction; Then they are offered for auction; Then the buyers must make payment and arrange for pick-up and delivery... Those that are not paid for immediately must then be stored once again... Then, after full payment is made; the consignors are paid... As you can see, this is a labor intensive; time consuming multi-step process involving several different departments... Much more often than not, things go smoothly. The moment they dont; the consignors and buyers that do not Get the process begin to complain. IF you are selling something and the exact timing of payment is required, discuss that with your receiver and/or the head of the Department in advance. I am sure that something can be arranged... IF you are trying to buy something, and take it with you, you will HAVE TO make arrangements in advance. Otherwise your check purchases will be held until your check clears... And I cannot tell you how often checks have to be redeposited several times before they clear, BUT, it is quite common in this business, as some buyers attempt to sell their purchases quickly to cover their checks...

I had a terrible experience with a recent auction. I was notified by Skinner during a live auction and by email that I had been awarded a lot that I was actively bidding on. However, the lot was reopened, without any notice or explanation, and it was awarded to someone else at a higher bid. I believe that these practices are unprofessional at best, unethical at worst. I will no longer be a customer.

Avoid Skinner! Apart from a few bright spots (Judith/Asian Art and her scholar/assistant Richard, Jonathan/Clocks and Watches, and a generally amiable, well-intentioned staff, albeit with one or two nonresponsive or conceited higher-ups)), Skinner can be a miserable place to sell your artwork. As a very accomplished and knowledgeable ethnographic art and antiquities dealer from Cambridge, who, sadly, is no longer with us, once observed to me after a Skinner auction, Skinner sells art by the yard. By that he meant that, in his view (and I concur), Skinner runs a wholesale, high volume business catering to dealers seeking cheap inventory. In my view, Skinner has never developed the cachet necessary to build the level of retail (i.e., collector)presence achieved by the the top-tier N.Y. firms. And their recent headline making acceptance (and later withdrawal) of a painting misidentified as a Florine Stettheimer (an important, albeit not well known, artist) cannot engender much trust among collectors. Concerning consignments, under their contract, Skinner can lower estimates and place artwork in a cheap (less expensive to run) Discovery sale where low estimates and low expectations set the stage for low results. A painting by Anne Harris, Self-Portrait in Pauls Shirt, is a good example of what can go wrong at Skinner. Originally sold by Nielsen Gallery, Boston, it was placed by Skinner experts in a Discovery sale, (Discovery/Studio Paintings, Nov. 10, 2010, 2525M/Marlborough, lot 39) sat unnoticed, and sold for a hammer price of $350, about 98% below her gallery pricing at the time. According to Anne, Phil (Alexandre Gallery) sought out the purchaser and bought the painting for $4,000. Another work by Anne Harris, With Max in May, (Studio Art Online, July 10, 2019, 3267T/Marlborough, lot 1303), from a series that formed the basis for a museum solo exhibition, sold for $1,500, half of its original Nielsen Gallery price, and about 75% below her current gallery pricing. And a painting by Laurel Hughes, Settling, (Discovery Interiors, August 21, 2019, 3280T, lot 1140) sold for $130, about 90% below its original Nielsen Gallery price. In my view, any of these works (at least one of which I have a strong familiarity with) would have done well in a better promoted and followed (and more expensive to run) fine art auction. But that is not how Skinner chose to handle them. My advice? Go elsewhere, maybe to a good boutique firm like (rhymes with) Logan, if you need to stay in Boston, or (rhymes with) wind, man, (they recently did well with a comparable Suzanna Coffey work), in the Windy City if you can ship there.

I met with a representative from Skinner Inc to appraise and then auction my late uncles estate, (roughly 75 pieces of furniture and over 100 prints). The early process went smoothly. The Skinner employee arrived on time and was courteous and informative during the initial appraisal. He mentioned Skinner would be interested in most but not all of my uncles pieces, so we scheduled a second meeting to catalog and transport the items. Again, the Skinner employee was punctual and polite, but the truck never arrived. The Skinner employee told me hed email me a picture of his notes, which he would then write up as a proper catalog. He said he would then email me the catalog. He also said he would email me the direct contact information for the trucking department, so I could schedule the pickup. Then, for no reason that I can discern, all communication ceased. The Skinner employee did not email me the information he promised, nor did he respond to my emails, nor did he respond to my phone calls. It was -- and is! -- still a mystery to me. I have since hired someone else. Short of some plausible explanation of extraordinary circumstances, I will never work with or buy from Skinner Inc.

Everything seems to be going smoothly for me. From initial appraisal, to consignment, to shipping, to consignment agreement... Last will be the auction and the sale (the most important part). I am happy. EDIT: Everything went fine. I just got my check. The fees are a little high (but I also wouldnt have been able to sell the product without them...) They did everything promised. I am going to use them again very soon.

Skinner responded to my original review, posted below. In an email, a Skinner rep asked if there was anything we could assist you with. I called back and am still waiting for a response. Skinner collected a premium of $675 from me, the buyer, and $675 from the seller. I purchased the item for $2700. So, for the combined $1350 premium that Skinner collected you might expect a best practices policy in customer service of responding to a clients concern. Compare Heritage Auctions charging me $8 for shipping a coin purchase from Dallas to Richmond. while Skinners recommended shipper charged me $148. Skinner ignores a client once they bank the premium and presume their tackiness will be forgotten. Maybe not. Ms Keane should restore integrity to the shabby and indifferent actions of Skinners customer service.I bought two lots of coins for $2700. Skinner recommended an in-house shipper who charged me $148 for shipping about 8 ounces of coins to Richmond VA. I called Skinner to discuss adjusting or rectifying this outrageous charge for shipping. Skinner and a Ms Keane would not return calls to their offices. So sad to see this company turn so cheesy and greedy.

Very poorly run organization. Sent them a check to pay for a lot. They claimed they never got it so I sent another. They tried to cash both. Fortunately I had stopped payment on the first. Called 3 times to try to remedy but no one returned the calls. First time....last time.

The Head of the Music Department Adam Tober is a clown. Skinner is a good place to buy historic artifacts and I have bought a few good watches.If you would like to buy or consign a violin, do not ever consider this auction house !

BEWARE, THIS COMPANY WORKS WITH SCAMMERS!!!!A guy by the name of Nitin and his boss Mahesh reached out to us, saying they work for Utility Saving Expert, and had offered us a deal that entailed saving 50% on our utility bills. Initially, they claimed that they will save us money on our credit card bill, upon paying their vendor Skinner Inc (THIS COMPANY) $2,934. Over the course of 24 hours, Nitin had asked us to deposit $2,934 in an account named Skinner Inc (with a boston address), stating that this account is a verified vendor. After doing so, our credit card company had told us that the bill they paid was returned unpaid, and they ran away with our $2,934.We are currently investigating this situation and we STRONGLY advise steering clear from this company, as they are working with scammers.The account was under the account name Skinner Inc in Boston MA (in other words, THIS COMPANYS account)

Highly recommended, could have not had a better experience. Everything went smoothly, from being admitted to the auction, to being notified about the result, payment, refund of sales tax (we are from out of state), coordination with the delivery & packing service. Valerie was extremely helpful and answered my questions very promptly, even at late hours. So excited about the painting we obtained. Way to go, Skinner, keep up the good work !

After several emails back and forth, including numerous pictures of every description and angle they asked for of my 100 year old bottle of rare alcohol, they just completely stopped all correspondence including emails, etc. I sent several emails that were totally ignored. Very unprofessional.

Dont bother trying to have artwork appraised by these people. They undervalue your items to a considerable degree. Shopped around at different auction houses, Skinner gave me an incredibly low estimate. Wound up using a different auction service that rhymes with Twisties, received an estimate 40% over Skinners figure, AND the item sold for even more than the estimated value.

Very helpful staff. Very knowledgeable

I won a no reserve auction and they canceled the sale after the auction was over. Highly unethical happy to have learned my lesson before investing heavily with them.

I took once some precolombian small pieces to Skinner.They want the entire lots appraised for $200 to $300...I took my Items to different auctioneer where they sold it individually and I got $1500 after their commission.Appraiser at Skinner are all number guessers but not well experienced.Stay away.Go to different auctioneers.

I am not hugely familiar with auctions and found it rather intimidating, but each time I asked the staff questions I found them very polite and none of them looked down their nose at me. By the time I was leaving I had to laugh when the security man said he could tell I had done this before. LOL! They supplied packing materials as a courtesy. The painting I was there to bid on got way out of my price range, but was pleasantly surprised to snap up two paintings I thought would be too expensive. A very good day and Ill certainly go back if I see something I want....and can afford!

Totally incompetent auction house. During their July 19th 2019 American Indian auction they had repeated online tech problems. Rather than postpone the auction they continued on extending it to July 23rd. However, they then notified winning bids on the 19th that you had won your item. Following that notification then another message was later sent that you had not won your bid upon item but another tech problem had sent the message in error. They felt this message justified their nulling and voiding of all bids placed. This is totally unethical and they warrant a class auction suit. Dont trust this auction house.

I thought Skinners was a good company. I have done business with them for about 8 years. I suppose they have a few experts, most auction houses have none. A while ago there was an auction and there were problems with the on line bidding, three important issues. I called the company and left messages with two people involved in the auction and of course they werent available to take calls the next day. I was steaming but polite and asked them to call me back. They didnt and they should be fired for disrespect and irresponsibility, plain and simple. I called a third person and had to leave a message today, and I am waiting to see if that person calls back because of course they werent available to take the call as well. I would have highly recommended this company some years ago but not now.

Surprised by the recent low reviews. Courteous staff, fantastic items, welcoming preview events.

I only bought the wines and spirits from the Skinner auction . From my experience with those auction house, Skinner is the worst. The shipping company they chose for me, damaged my lots on the way my home. It’s been almost four months, still waiting for the payment. Worst I have ever had.

Their department Fine Musical Instruments is just a joke.They sell violins and bows with incorrect descriptions, and fake labels.Very bad customer support, and not friendly att all.AVOID THEM !

Very helpfully staff. HIGHLY RECOMENDED.

Any institution that sells or buys Rhino Horns or sells Ivory should be boycotted for live. AVOID AVOID The hilarious part of all this is that the Vietmanese customers who pay so much for it are under the mistaken believe that the horn will give them mighty erections and can cure cancer…both of which are hooey. How can anyone but voters be so ignorant of facts? The fact is these animals die when this horn is removed - they are in shock and pain and die slowly - just like I hope the buyers of this illegal item dies - slowly and painfully - this is wrong.

A 1st class auction house with knowledgable staff and the items are nicely displayed.

I have bought through Skinner and sold through Skinner going back 20 years. Buying has resulted in the receipt of damaged goods. Selling has been terrible with high fees and losses to show for it. Never again.

Fake...false