As a lifelong thrifter and environmental advocate, I have great appreciation for estate sales. Of…read morecourse, some estate sale companies are better than others, and my favorite--by a longshot--is Hunt Estate Sales. There's a reason so many people trust Hunt to handle the delicate, often emotionally complex process of selling their artwork, jewelry, clothing, housewares, and other treasured items. And there's also a reason shoppers like me always click on the link to a new Hunt Estate event. Maggie and Jim are consummate professionals who treat their clients, customers, and the items they sell with utmost respect, even amid the chaos of a sale or pickup. I know this can be a tricky balance, as I've been to sales run by other companies that don't feel great for various reasons. But every time I acquire an item at a Hunt event, I leave happy and fulfilled. Rather than feeling like I've contributed to the pain of a family dealing with loss or downsizing, I feel positive about integrating beloved items into new hearts and stories. That's the energy Maggie and Jim project, and it's contagious. If you love shopping secondhand, you owe it to yourself to check out Hunt Estate Sales.

I would highly recommend Hunt Estate Sales. I was in a bind and Maggie dropped everything to help…read moreme. She is capable, kind, talented and hard working to ensure you have a successful result. Hire Hunt Estate Sales!

Just conducted an estate sale with Consignworks. I have nothing but praise for them. Deb and…read moreMarissa were a pleasure to work with. Made the process as easy as possible, responded quickly to any communications, had great suggestions, and were open to any "out of the box" suggestions. Would definitely recommend them to anyone considering an estate sale.

Most Professional, well organized, helpful, accommodating people and company ever ! This was only…read moremy second Estate sale and these folks had it down perfectly. Met all the people who worked there - Top Notch, wonderful and amazing to say the least. Made friends with lots of great folks in line - Super nice. Just a great experience, with great items, with great people working there and going to the estate sale ! Can not say enough good things about Consignworks honestly !! So happy I found them ! Ed Carp - Physed

This place and especially Steve knows it all,about jewelry and China,rare artifacts from around the…read moreworld. He is fair with his pricing for buying and selling. The shop is filled with amazing quality pieces.. The best is he is honest! As we all have our cherished (items)memories and think they are worth a fortune Steve will set you straight and just maybe:)

Still the best. I've purchased over 200 items from Steve and Joe. Both of them have been…read moreinstrumental in curating and building my collections. Excellent advice, honest service and pricing whether you are buying or selling. The only place to go

ATTN: All auction rug buyers I am going to relate a small…read morestory. Last week, the week of September 13, I bought a rug online from CRN Auction, Inc. 57 Bay Rd, Cambridge, Massachusetts. They sell rugs on the liveauctioneers and invaluable.com . Prior to the sale, I requested high resolution images and a detailed condition report. This is the condition report for lot 418 they emailed to me "418 Kuba, excellent condition very minor wear and two small edge wear/sewn spots, [one inch square] Thank you for your interest, I hope this helpful to you," The image of this rug appeared to be missing the upper border but it was hung on the wall with the fringe hanging over the edge. I wrote and asked "if the upper edge is having problems as it looks as if some of it is missing." They wrote me back and said "no, that was just the fringe covering the rug. The rug was absolutely complete." When I got the rug I was stunned. It will cost me about $700 to repair this rug in Turkey and it costs me about $1000 to buy it. The auctioneer absolutely lied about this rug.I'm a repeat client for this company. I phoned and asked for a discount to help offset the price of repair. They would not even give one dollar off the price of the rug and told me " their property was sold as is ,where is, strictly caveat emptor, the info they give you is only a courtesy, too bad if you don't like it." They only accept payment by check prior to shipping. No auction house deals like this. And now I know why. My advice to you is to STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. They are dishonest and very deceitful. I notified them that I plan to post my dissatisfaction to my 1000's of rug collector friends on Facebook and to my personal Oriental rug newsletter and the 1000's of rug related people I know on linkedin and their reply was "go ahead, we really don't care".

I have complete confidence buying from and consigning to CRN Auctions. They have been in the…read moreauction business a long time and they have the kind of knowledge that comes from having examined and handled every kind of antique out there first hand, and that is reassuring to me. When I buy from them and consign to them, I'm always pleased.

Run away! They charge very high fees for both buyers and sellers. Expect to pay 30% more if you're…read morebuying, and subtract 30-40% if you're selling something through this auction house. Fees are outrageously high! There's no parking, and the auction room is very small and chaotic.

I won two prints and a painting in the December auction and had a very positive experience along…read morethe way as I dealt with Grogan & Co. I found everyone to be polite and professional including the time spent bidding over the phone. I was slightly concerned about the best way to get my items to my car (parking is very close in the Boston Common Garage) and was very happy when Michael and the auction coordinator brought them out to my car on Charles Street for me. As the other reviewer mentioned, there are dogs around - I think that just adds to the friendly, family-run environment that fits in perfectly with Beacon Hill's charm. I will be watching future auctions and hope to be a return client. -R

would give zero stars if I could. The entire process was unprofessional from start to finish. Chris…read morecanceled our initial appointment last minute, so I sent him videos of the household contents to save him a trip. Then the staging was delayed repeatedly, though I will say they did a nice job once it was completed. The contract states that pricing would be done 7-14 days prior to the sale. This never happened, so I had no idea how items would be priced. The sale itself was postponed 3 times. On the day of the sale, I left a key for Chris to set up. My outdoor security cameras showed that Chris and his team arrived at 6 AM and immediately got a ladder from an off-limits shed and covered my camera with painters tape. When asked about this, Chris and his team were defensive and said it was standard procedure and kept changing the story: "Our customers don't feel comfortable being on camera" "It's against the law" (completely untrue; security cameras are legal in MA in places where there is no expectation of privacy, i.e. a driveway). There was nothing in the contract about this; the site they advertise on, estatesales.org, even *encourages* the use of cameras at estate sales to prevent theft, and other companies I spoke with said there was no reason for this. On top of this, Chris blamed my being upset on my own "trust issues" and one of Chris's workers (maybe his son?) was very rude and argumentative. When I asked about a review on Yelp that claimed Best Rate had stolen from them, Chris said it was a competitor trying to take them down, while his son said it was a disgruntled employee. After the sale, I saved off all 144 photos from Chris's ad on estatesales.org, which was lucky, since the ad was deleted immediately (which does not appear to be normal practice, as other prior sales remain live on the site). Unlike other reviewers, I did NOT have a cleanout done at the end, so I was well aware of what items were missing after the sale. A month after the sale, I finally received a check (for much less than I expected) and a ledger of the items sold. The ledger was so detailed it included things like "dish soap - $1", but comparing the ledger to the ad photos, numerous items were unaccounted for. I asked Chris about two of the items specifically, a mini bike worth about ~$300, and some air horns, because I knew a friend had purchased them for $60. Chris immediately said they had sold for $150 (which is extremely low) and $60 respectively, and would send me a check for these items. When questioned on why these items were not on the ledger, Chris stated these two specific items just "happened" to have been on the back of a sheet and were missed; he sent me a handwritten notebook page as "proof." Other unaccounted-for items were either not disclosed, or listed under "miscellaneous," so I have no idea if they were sold, what price they actually sold for, and/or if I was paid my contracted share of every item that sold. My guess is that they left other items off the list or fudged the sale prices to pad their profit margins. One item was even stolen by a customer (which Chris did compensate me for). I would highly recommend bringing your business elsewhere; I was heartbroken and so disappointed that this company was willing to deceive & scam a bereaved person. I have additional screenshots/videos/photos as proof, and there are threads on Reddit about this company as well.

Beyond terrible! Worst estate sale company around. Owner puts zero effort on behalf of his…read moreclients. Most items aren't priced in advance, and if you want a price, you have to wait at the check-out line (often 10-15 people deep) just to find out what it's selling for. At the last sale I attended, there was one man outside keeping people from entering, one man wandering around inside unable to answer basic price questions ("You have to ask at the check-out"), and one man (the owner) both pricing and ringing up people on the spot. Three people on site, that's it! The line was so long to enter and so long to pay, I saw many people take one look and leave. Understaffed, unprofessional, and poorly run. The owner talks a good game for his clients (I know someone who hired him, and yielded little in sales) but does a horrible job. Save your time and money and hire a professional. I feel bad for people who entrust their belongings to this hack job of a company.

This small shop is a treasure trove. I bought two pieces here and I get so many compliments. It's…read morefilled to the gills with beautiful pieces. well worth stopping by.

Stopped in recently. We visit "antique shops" regularly. It's a fun hobby. I would guess that the…read morelocation so close to Boston and Cambridge and other equally older neighborhoods, allows for there to be some amazing pieces. You rarely, if ever, see true antiques else where. You usually see older furniture. Furniture without unique quality. The furniture here has the deep rich looking quality that is the sign of a true antique. Prices are high. Yet the prices seem to match the quality and the age of the item. However, they are not totally overpriced as some of the shops we have visited. You know the kind of place that gives you the impression that somehow being dressed in jeans and sneakers does not qualify you as a real shopper. You know the kind of place that seems to have everything priced in the thousands. There are some real hidden treasures here.

If you are looking for an antiques shop where the owner really knows their business, this is the…read moreone for you, even if you have to drive out to Brookline from Boston (not that far really.) Prices are very reasonable--they are not out to get you but to share their love of antiques with you--and the store encompasses a wide definition of what an antique really is. Sometimes an "antique" can be a lamp or table that is actually very modern in concept and history, but is not appreciated by many homeowners. The owner also has a very good sense of design, and if you tell her where the piece is going to go, she can advise you on whether it is the right choice. Highly recommended!

Apparently they were on Newbury Street for 20 years prior to moving to their current location in…read moreBrookline, where they've been since for another 20 or so (the commitment, as you can probably tell, is impressive to me). Autrefois definitely did not share the crowded, dusty feel most antique shops I've been to -- I can't profess expertise in the area, but the store seemed pared down without being austere. The pieces were all wonderful, and I know that at least some were artfully restored, so well, in fact, that I even asked the owner about the great condition of most of the things, and she was happy to show me exactly where certain pieces were restored (she seemed to indicate that they are sent off for professional restoration). It's worth noting that I didn't see a piece that was obviously restored, and everything had a great patina. As I told her, if I had the money, I would be a frequent patron!