They buy truckloads of pallets from Home Depot. The large majority is returns but they do get some…read moreold, unsold overstock and discontinued items. There was a point when the boxes the items came were open and pictures taken of the contents. Now, that is really a hit and miss as they do not have the time because they went from 3000 items to 6000 items. If there are pictures, they do not show obvious damage. You will find out once you get the item. A lot of the items sit outside exposed to the weather. I have bought a couple hundred items. Expect about 25% to be in poor condition, broken, or missing parts. When larger items that contain batteries such as a lawn mower, the batteries are removed and sold separately. Expect about 10% to be in like new condition; maybe only used once or twice. Sales are final and no refunds. So if you buy a battery starter set like I did, it was missing both batteries and the charger was old and dead. A total waste of $35 plus time and travel cost. On top of the bid price there is an 18% auction charge. It takes anywhere from 20 minutes (small purchase) to 90 minutes to get your items. Most of the workers that I ran into are nice and friendly.

A few years ago, going to a Rockey auction was so much fun and the items were much better quality…read more Currently, there aren't in person auctions. Why? Because Clint (owner) is making more money selling items online and in the retail store. For the online auctions, the quality of the items is overpriced junk right now. Damage and defects are not disclosed or shown in pictures. We used to spend $5,000 a month and now, zero. Taking a break until things change.

Excellent auctioneer, I attended a recent auction, primarily of glassware, Tim Kline and Jeremy…read moreWaite, along with their staff, did a very good job - fast moving, accurate and good location for the auction.

Great business run by great people. They have a great selection of items that come up for auction.read more

From the owner: Mead's Auction Service provides auction service, appraisals, estate sales service to the Wellsboro,…read morePA area.

Whether it is a complete liquidation or consignment, buyer-beware, if you go to a Fraley auction…read morethere is a good chance you will be bidding against the seller and if you win, you lose. Fraley had a "Complete Liquidation" of a farm on Saturday February 23, 2019, meaning the business was closing and everything was being sold. However, the business is not closing, which I learned only after a 3 hour drive and enduring 6 and half hours of the auction. Not only was it not closing, but one of the owners (there are two brothers who had inherited it from their parents, since gone, and one operates the farm and the other collects checks leading to animosity and finally a split which prompted the auction to establish value) was a bidder, bidding on nearly every item and winning the vast majority. Not a bad strategy for them; get rid of the clutter, upgrade at a profit or value the split (with his brother) at less than replacement cost while keeping the business intact. Auctions are "buyer-beware" but that works when we all have the same limited information. In the long run, you get deals and you get duds but when you are bidding against the seller with complete information exacerbated by the fact the value of an item that needs to be disassembled, transported and reassembled is always worth more "in place" (many of the lots were being sold as complete barns of equipment such as feeding, watering and processing systems that instillation cost is a big percentage of the value) and an auctioneer working hard to get the highest price possible (through out the auction, it became clear there was a relationship or affiliation as they frequently were interacting with the seller) knowing that the owner is bidding with a knowledge of what everything is worth having weeks, months and years to prepare a value, you will always lose. It wasn't until the very end that I learned the mystery bidder, bidding on nearly everything, was the seller. I brought my concern to Fraley. They started with "you must not go to a lot of auctions" (hundreds, ask my wife. She thinks I have a problem). They continued, saying that auctions are buyer-beware with everything being sold as-is, where-is and without warranty and, further, allowing the seller to bid is neither unethical or illegal and that it was my conceited New Jersey attitude that had created this problem in addition to me being mad because I had overpaid and buying anything was my choice, I didn't need to bid on anything if I thought it was too expensive. Fraley disagreed that the auction was misrepresented as a "complete liquidation" since the farm is "buying" the items and paying commission to the auctioneer just like anyone else. By this time, all other auction participants were gone (not much to take since the seller bought the vast majority) and it was only Fraley staff yelling at me in 4 letter words about what I should do, where I should go and what I could do with my ethics since what they do is legal. This auction was advertised as a "complete Liquidation". Allowing the seller to bid, makes it a "reserve" which was not advertised either verbal or written.

Cowley Auctions went above and beyond to ensure I had a positive auction experience. Good people…read morewho deserve your business