Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 7, 2015/07/21) */ First of all, I must strongly object to what I feel are slanderous terms such as "collusion" and "preying on senior citizens"We in fact base our business on assisting senior citizens and/or their heirs to liquidating their personal property We have an excellent reputation in the greater Santa Rosa market where we conduct the majority of our salesWe conduct over sales per year and most of our business comes to us from referrals from realtors, fiduciaries, bank trust departments, and attorneysWe are not in collusion with anyoneOur services were explained to the complainant's father when we met initiallyOur procedure as well as his desire to donate unsold items to charity at the conclusion of the sale were also signed off by him when the contract with him was discussed and reviewedAt no time did I state that family members were not allowed to purchase itemsIn fact our contract only states that the client will remove anything not to be sold by the date we were to begin the sale preparation (5/11/15)The client had already moved back to WI prior to that dateWe do not have a store, we only sell for people in their homeWe do not carry items over to another saleI am a certified personal property appraiser, and have in the past held a CA auctioneers bond and previously was a licensed auctioneer in [redacted] when we lived thereWe (my wife and I) have owned [redacted] Sales and operated this business in [redacted] CA for yearsOften our clients or the family members have a view of prices for antiques that are unrealistic given the current marketplace, and in this case those views may be even more distorted because they make comparisons to pricing (usually at retail) in the MidwestThis is why we discourage family participation in the actual sale processOur goal is to sell at the highest possible price as we work on a modest commission, in this case 30% which is the lowest among our competitorsThe first day of the sale we remain firm on the prices we have placed on the items for sale, the second day we discount 25%, and during the final hours we increase the discount to 50% (usually on furniture only as it is the slowest to sell)As far as an IRS audit, we are certain our records would pass [redacted] muster
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/07/21) */
First of all, I must strongly object to what I feel are slanderous terms such as "collusion" and "preying on senior citizens". We in fact base our business on assisting senior citizens and/or their heirs to liquidating their personal property....
We have an excellent reputation in the greater Santa Rosa market where we conduct the majority of our sales. We conduct over 35 sales per year and most of our business comes to us from referrals from realtors, fiduciaries, bank trust departments, and attorneys. We are not in collusion with anyone. Our services were explained to the complainant's father when we met initially. Our procedure as well as his desire to donate unsold items to charity at the conclusion of the sale were also signed off by him when the contract with him was discussed and reviewed. At no time did I state that family members were not allowed to purchase items. In fact our contract only states that the client will remove anything not to be sold by the date we were to begin the sale preparation (5/11/15). The client had already moved back to WI prior to that date. We do not have a store, we only sell for people in their home. We do not carry items over to another sale. I am a certified personal property appraiser, and have in the past held a CA auctioneers bond and previously was a licensed auctioneer in ** when we lived there. We (my wife and I) have owned[redacted] Sales and operated this business in [redacted] CA for 13 years. Often our clients or the family members have a view of prices for antiques that are unrealistic given the current marketplace, and in this case those views may be even more distorted because they make comparisons to pricing (usually at retail) in the Midwest. This is why we discourage family participation in the actual sale process. Our goal is to sell at the highest possible price as we work on a modest commission, in this case 30% which is the lowest among our competitors. The first day of the sale we remain firm on the prices we have placed on the items for sale, the second day we discount 25%, and during the final hours we increase the discount to 50% (usually on furniture only as it is the slowest to sell). As far as an IRS audit, we are certain our records would pass [redacted] muster.
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 7, 2015/07/21) */ First of all, I must strongly object to what I feel are slanderous terms such as "collusion" and "preying on senior citizens"We in fact base our business on assisting senior citizens and/or their heirs to liquidating their personal property We have an excellent reputation in the greater Santa Rosa market where we conduct the majority of our salesWe conduct over sales per year and most of our business comes to us from referrals from realtors, fiduciaries, bank trust departments, and attorneysWe are not in collusion with anyoneOur services were explained to the complainant's father when we met initiallyOur procedure as well as his desire to donate unsold items to charity at the conclusion of the sale were also signed off by him when the contract with him was discussed and reviewedAt no time did I state that family members were not allowed to purchase itemsIn fact our contract only states that the client will remove anything not to be sold by the date we were to begin the sale preparation (5/11/15)The client had already moved back to WI prior to that dateWe do not have a store, we only sell for people in their homeWe do not carry items over to another saleI am a certified personal property appraiser, and have in the past held a CA auctioneers bond and previously was a licensed auctioneer in [redacted] when we lived thereWe (my wife and I) have owned [redacted] Sales and operated this business in [redacted] CA for yearsOften our clients or the family members have a view of prices for antiques that are unrealistic given the current marketplace, and in this case those views may be even more distorted because they make comparisons to pricing (usually at retail) in the MidwestThis is why we discourage family participation in the actual sale processOur goal is to sell at the highest possible price as we work on a modest commission, in this case 30% which is the lowest among our competitorsThe first day of the sale we remain firm on the prices we have placed on the items for sale, the second day we discount 25%, and during the final hours we increase the discount to 50% (usually on furniture only as it is the slowest to sell)As far as an IRS audit, we are certain our records would pass [redacted] muster
Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2015/07/21) */
First of all, I must strongly object to what I feel are slanderous terms such as "collusion" and "preying on senior citizens". We in fact base our business on assisting senior citizens and/or their heirs to liquidating their personal property....
We have an excellent reputation in the greater Santa Rosa market where we conduct the majority of our sales. We conduct over 35 sales per year and most of our business comes to us from referrals from realtors, fiduciaries, bank trust departments, and attorneys. We are not in collusion with anyone. Our services were explained to the complainant's father when we met initially. Our procedure as well as his desire to donate unsold items to charity at the conclusion of the sale were also signed off by him when the contract with him was discussed and reviewed. At no time did I state that family members were not allowed to purchase items. In fact our contract only states that the client will remove anything not to be sold by the date we were to begin the sale preparation (5/11/15). The client had already moved back to WI prior to that date. We do not have a store, we only sell for people in their home. We do not carry items over to another sale. I am a certified personal property appraiser, and have in the past held a CA auctioneers bond and previously was a licensed auctioneer in ** when we lived there. We (my wife and I) have owned[redacted] Sales and operated this business in [redacted] CA for 13 years. Often our clients or the family members have a view of prices for antiques that are unrealistic given the current marketplace, and in this case those views may be even more distorted because they make comparisons to pricing (usually at retail) in the Midwest. This is why we discourage family participation in the actual sale process. Our goal is to sell at the highest possible price as we work on a modest commission, in this case 30% which is the lowest among our competitors. The first day of the sale we remain firm on the prices we have placed on the items for sale, the second day we discount 25%, and during the final hours we increase the discount to 50% (usually on furniture only as it is the slowest to sell). As far as an IRS audit, we are certain our records would pass [redacted] muster.