Bidder Reviews for Swann Auction Galleries (60)

Everything was just as promised.

I have done business with Swnn several times over the past two decades. Always knowledgeable, always top tier, always satisfied.

usual maniacal packaging. many thanks.

This experience was blissfully easy. They went out of way to help me. They held my item at location, wrapped it perfectly and it was exactly as depicted. Everyone in business is aware how top flight this auction house is.

One of the (not so many) auction houses that offer in-house shipping plus this also for a fair price. That also spared me time to look for a third party to organize pick up, packing and shipping. All questions I had in advance concerning the item were answered quickly and correctly. The handling and shipping was fast and careful. The communication transparent and friendly. A great and pleasant experience.

Swann is arrogant and unfriendly and unhelpful from start to a finish I may never see. Nearly a month later still no poster just rude responses to my many queries. They get the highest premiums I’ve seen of any auction house for anything. Then they virtually demand a wire transfer for payment since there are no credit cards taken and you can either mail them cash (as if), or a money order, which will just add to the interminable wait to receive your purchase. I have yet to see mine because a company that sells posters doesn’t seem to know how to ship them, and is as unpleasant about being required to as they are about every other aspect of dealing with buyers. Obviously I won’t be doing business with them again and am pretty discouraged about ever completing this transaction and what condition the poster might be in when and if I do. They only just today send me a receipt/paid invoice for a wire transfer made more than three weeks ago. And their attitude from their advertising onward has been arrogant and insufferable.

Just giddy that I finally own one of Nancy Koenigsberg pieces. Great buying experience with this auction house. I even got an email from the artist herself. She likes to keep track of where her art is located. Could not be more happy. Highly recommended!

Very accurate description. immediate reply re questions ask prior to auction. Pick up was flawless

I would be very wary of the descriptions and ask for a comprehensive condition report before bidding on any item from Swann. Would double-check everything-I have seen multiple descriptions from Swann that are factually incorrect (based on some of the descriptions, I'm not sure how much they know about what they are selling...) The print that I bought was permanently glued to acidic paper and then glued into a frame-effectively worthless. The acidic paper, frame, etc.-none of it was mentioned in the description. The frame was conveniently cropped out of the picture. Needless to say, don't trust what they say/what you see. Be sure to confirm everything before bidding.

took far to long to ship and only after 4 inquires did it finely get shipped

Very satisfied with the overall experience! Swann Auction Galleries were very professional, efficient, and cordial. Much appreciated.

excellent shopping experience

Seamless transaction, shop with confidence! Total pros!

The experts in the Prints Department, Lisa and Todd, are lexically knowledgeable in their area of expertise. They take a fastidious pride in the authenticity of the items they curate and welcome bidders 'questions and concerns. As far as my experience of buying prints from Swann goes, bidders may assume they can buy with complete confidence. These people really know their stuff!

Bidding from Australia-won an auction lot and was quoted an exorbitant shipping charge, well in excess of the cost of the lot itself, and also fully double (or more) the amount charged by other US auction houses with which i have been recently dealing. After some negotiation I was able to get a reduction in the shipping charge, for which I am thankful enough (but why such effort should be necessary?). The worst was yet to come, as Swann only has two options for payment for those outside the US, namely: international bank transfer, and international money order !?) please.... no easy payment by credit card, nor paypal. What century are we in again? When i went to my bank to inquire about an international money order they looked at me funny, as though i had come from somewhere in the distant past, and who could blame them? They informed me that they did not administer international money orders and had not done for some time. So my only option was to pay by international bank transfer, which cost me a further $25.00. When all was said and done, the auction lot cost me $60.00, but the overall amount i paid in the end, including all extra charges was $160.00! This is completely unacceptable. I will not state that Swann wishes to deliberately discourage international participation in their auctions, only that if this were their intention they could not go about in a more efficient way. I ask again, why in the 3rd decade of the 21st century Swann does not have the facility to accept payment by credit card, or why they do not have a Paypal account?

Excellent house! Courteous and responsive item was exactly as advertised

Great service and just what you would expect from a long established auction house.

When knocking down at other auction companies, I looked for the delivery company which packs a knocking down work by itself and took an estimate from 2-3 companies. I had my expensive shipping charge stolen in that case. You could also send shipping charge and the packing charge at the cheap price at the same time as a work was remitted, so a swan auction was saved very much.

I bid on and won a framed item in their recent auction. I received a question as to whether I wanted to have it shipped with or without the frame. However, I had already sent in my payment that included the frame. I placed two calls without a response so by the time I got a call back they had already cashed my check and turned the item over to their shipping dept. So my main concern was their lack of communication. When we did finally connect, the person was friendly but at that point I had no option. I can also comment that the shipping cost seemed quite high but I will have to determine that whenI get home and see the packing.

Very good and very responsive, would certainly buy again

The works was packed properly and sent by Fedex right away.