Grateful Not our first experience with Slawinkis' Auction House in Scotts Valley Rob and Company were professional and informative, while friendly and familiar Thank you for the great experience and key referrals to help us out along the way read more

Rob came to our home to check out the large number of antiques and collectibles we needed to sell as a lot quickly before we put our place on the market. He showed up at the appointed time and later made us a reasonable offer. He and his assistant returned the next day to pay us, pack everything up and take it away. They worked hard and very efficiently over several hours. Rob clearly is very experienced and knows how to do this correctly, and he and Dominique couldn't have been more professional, helpful and pleasant throughout. It was a completely positive experience. I wouldn't hesitate to use Rob's services again and would/will enthusiastically recommend him to anyone. read more

Through my experience at his auctions, Rob was fast, efficient and professional. Truly one of the best auctioneers out there. He and Bob were definitely a powerhouse while they were on stage. The event was well executed and everything was accomplished in a timely manner. His business has gone above and beyond to raise money to help with the research to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He also invited a special guest, an Italian tenor Pasquale Esposito to perform that evening to extend the support. The event was a huge success and packed in a full house. From what I saw, everyone there had a great time and people stayed well into the night. I think it's so wonderful that this specific family operated business has been a tremendous supporter of many organizations and non-profit agencies over the years. They have given so much back to the community with their hard work and dedication and I hope they will continue to thrive for many more years to come! read more

We love attending Robert Skawinski's Auction's. It's fun! You can learn so much about antiques, and the auction process and business. We've purchased several nice items over the years, as well. This is a family business and it's very special. read more

I have dealt with Rob several times over the years, and have nothing but good things to say. He has always gotten me good prices on anything I have brought to his Auctions, and been nothing but honest and helpful all the way through. I also appreciate the honesty when i have brought in something that is not the right fit for the current market / his clientele, so as not to waste my time. All in all, in my experience, he has gone 'beyond' what you would expect from a business, showing pride and integrity in what he does. Weather you are buying, or selling, I Would recommend for sure. read more

I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND Slawinski Auction Company to anyone interested in consigning their antiques, furniture or items of value. Rob came to my home, reviewed my items for auction, and confirmed a pick up and auction date for my collection. I was really looking forward to working with him. He seemed pleasant and honest. I felt confident that my items were in good hands. However, when I called him to reconfirm the pick up date, prior to my UK departure, Rob indicated that they were NOW unable to pick up the items - suggesting I drop them off. Rob knew that I was leaving the States for 4 months in two days. I absolutely had no way to get these items to their showroom. We then reconfirmed a new pick up date and auction date for items, where I made arrangements for someone to be at the house to meet him. I told him I would review contract and get back to him prior to pick up with any questions, so that I could mail document to him prior to pick up. I did have questions on contract. Some of the things he indicated to me in person were contrary to what the contract indicated -- especially relevant to commission rates and various liabilities. Rob indicated that it was a straight 20% commission on ALL items when he was at my home. The contract had tiered commission rates. I subsequently wrote him 3 emails (a mont h before pick up date) to set up a 10-15 minute phone meeting to review my contract questions - Plenty of lead time to schedule an appointment, one would think. I also called and spoke to Lydia who left Rob my message. I then followed up call with an email to Rob with meeting request, yet again. Two weeks past. I never received an email from Rob or Lydia confirming a scheduled phone meeting to review contract. By this time, I was frustrated. I wanted to sign the contract and mail it to him after he clarified my queries. Pick up date was now two weeks away. I wrote him a 4th email indicating that; " I would REALLY appreciate a return response, and a confirmed date to speak with you, prior to items being picked up." I also indicated that after one phone call and three emails over two weeks, that his conduct was very unprofessional to not reply to a clients questions. And I again, asked for him to please contact me to finalise our verbal agreement for consignment of items with his auction. What i finally received was a very terse and defensive email from Rob, which basically said, I think you ought to go to another auction house, if you think that we are unprofessional. Well, yes: one call and three emails over two weeks - and to not receive a response - I would say is unprofessional business conduct. I realise my items was not a high end collection over $2000, but certainly well over $1000. My collection might not compare to some other higher end items that he represents for auction I received the impression that my Meissen collection was not good enough for his auction and that he actually was disinterested in representing it -- thus the lack of return communication. The challenge I have is the following; Rob came to my home. He viewed all the pieces. He confirmed he was interested in representing them He said he could pick them up. He reconfirmed this with a follow up call that I made to him after he visited my home. He made a verbal agreement, and as far as I as concerned, it was good to go, once i signed documents and items were picked up. Then he did a 180 --- and just basically, blew me off. When I received his email made, it was quite apparent that he had no interest in representing me. He seemed annoyed, that I said his lack of response was unprofessional, and he did not address his lack of communication - but just cited I think you ought to go elsewhere. If he had he told me when he visited me at the house that he was not interested in the items, then I could have sent the items to Links in St Louis or to Clars in East Bay. But he led me to believe the entire time, I was confirmed for auction. I sent a final email: "certainly, your indication to NOW NOT represent me, can't be because I have written three emails in an effort to schedule time with you to review contract -- a normal and pragmatic thing to do before signing a contract." I am really upset with Robert's lack of courtesy and professionalism as well as not honouring his word. No integrity. I have worked with Sotheby's, Links, and Clars Auction houses which I recommend. They were all very professional, courteous, and timely in their communication with me from initial queries, to sales process, to payment process. I WILL ALWAYS advise against Slawinski Auction House and advise Sotheyby's, Links or Clars. First impressions can fool you - He fooled me. Once. A simple email, Rob, to set a phone meeting was all I was requesting. You could have found 10-15 min with a months lead time. Too bad. Bad feedback is not good for business. read more

Rob ran the live auction at our in-person fundraiser event in September 2021. We have over 220 guests in attendance. Rob and his team ran a wonderful auction that was upbeat and fun for all those in attendance. Rob's years of experience and professionalism made the event a big success for us. Thank you, Rob. read more

Slawinski Auction Company has been a great supporter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They have hosted live and silent auctions raising thousands of dollars to help fund blood cancer research and financial aid for patients living with cancer. They also support other local organizations as well with in their community . Very caring and giving people. Thank you for all of your support Slawinski Auction Company. We wish the best to you and your business. read more

Absolutely amazing! He stepped in for our school auction after a late cancellation...and knocked it out of the park! He has it all---skills, talents, experience, creativity, insight. Look no further for your next Auctioneer. Rob is a SUPERSTAR. Run, don't walk to hire him. Such a gem. read more

You won't find more honest guys. They won't lead you on and they don't play around. They will tell you straight about prices and are transparent with their process. I know that auction houses have been hurt by a few dishonest customers, so the Slawinski's have had to tighten up their policies to protect against major losses. There are more hoops to jump through, mostly if you're an online bidder, but if they didn't have those policies they wouldn't last long in this business. Bottom line is it's tough to find real people who won't nickel and dime you and don't have an angle. Not to mention how much they support the local community and many non-profits with their services. read more

A great local resource! Super professional staff, great customer service, honest and fair. Everything required for doing business in the field of antiques. read more

I had so much fun. My first time being at an auction and it was the best experience. All the staff is so friendly and helpful. The prices of items are amazing. Go and check it out. You won't be sorry!! read more

Nice auction house. More high end items so expect to pay some bucks. The auctioneer is fast and efficient. The auction moves nicely along. About 75 or more lots per hour like a real auction should. So nice to attend auctions where the auctioneer actually auctions, not telling jokes between each item, trying to sell every item and talks slowly like some places I have been to. read more

I attended their action last month and I was so overwhelmed of all of the great merchandise that I saw. I'm giving these guy's 5 stars because the great organization and service that they provided for me. Thank you! read more

Rob swooped in and saved the day last weekend when our original auctioneer fell ill. He was a pleasure to work with, and with only two days to prepare, he dug in fully and asked lots of questions to understand our auction items and process. He is an incredible auctioneer with perfect timing and pacing, even knowing when to pause to give people a chance to decide whether to place their next bid. He was patient with our inexperience (we are all busy parent volunteers) and loves to give advice and assistance along the way. In our few conversations before our event, he gave us great tips that we were able to execute, and together we exceeded our fundraising objectives. Rob focuses on the community aspect of an event and bringing everyone together, and you could really feel the love and connection during our live auction and fund-a-need portions of our event. Thank you so much, Rob. We are eternally grateful for everything you did to help make our event such a success! read more

Slawinski is one of the best auction houses I've visited. It's more of a higher end auction but not quite as high end as Christies or Sothebys. I have found quite a few items that were certainly worthy of those uber high ends auction houses. Good news for people in this area is that you can get those items with much lower buyer's and seller's fees. Customer service has always been great during auction preview and auction day. The auction moves quick and everything is quite professional. Heck, they even feed you. After the auction, they're quick to help pack and load. The whole operation is quite impressive. I have yet to sell, but I've bought plenty. Much of what I've bought was for personal use, but I've ended up changing my mind on some items and been able to resell for higher prices. Overall, it's a well run auction and one that I prefer over the others in the SF Bay and San Jose area. Buyers get a good deal and sellers get fairly reasonable prices. read more

Just received most recent purchases and very happy with the merchandise. As a customer of numerous auction galleries all around the country I can say not all of them are so diligent with condition reports or as helpful with logistics- especially some of the big ones. Rob and his team have always been a pleasure. I'll be back. read more

I have spent tens of thousands of dollars at this auction house and always paid for the items. Now they won't let me bid at all through Live Auctioneers. Ridiculous. There are plenty of SF Bay Area auctions to buy things including Michaans which sells items with no reserve price. read more

Great auction house; I've picked up plenty of treasures over the years at their three different Scotts Valley locations. Friendly and professional. Only four stars because frankly they've gone a bit too high end for me of late, and no longer offer the end-of-day amazing bargains we used to win. Now it's a lot more high-end asian art, and not quite as much fun. read more

Rob made our annual school fundraising auction truly special, and the live auction was on fire due to his perfect timing and expertise. He engaged the crowd with his detailed and concise representation of each auction item. His is a professional, skillful auctioneer, who has excellent communication skills and is very easy to work with. We're immensely grateful for his contribution to our auction. read more

Simply awful. I had exactly the same experience as several other reviewers. No replies to emails, no reply to Condition Requests, arrogant demands for 2 invoices paid to other Auction Houses before they will even consider granting one the right to bid online. Frankly that is confidential information. What I buy at Sotheby's Christies or Jo Blog Auction House in Alaska is confidential information and as such, Slawinski should understand the need to uphold confidentiality of their customers. For them to be so sloppy about understanding the need for strict confidentiality with customer data is deeply troubling. No other Auction House I have encountered makes such outlandish or arrogant demands. While I empathize with Sellers and Action Houses who experience tardy or non-payers, Invaluable.com and other portals require a credit card on file before permitting participation in online bidding with an auction house and ebay Feedbacks from sellers about buyers provides accurate information regarding their payment records without disclosing the item purchased or the price paid. Such protections should be more than adequate to protect against non-payers. As almost every auction house that I buy from provides only an invoice with both a description and an image of the items I purchased together with the price paid. It is none of Slawinski's business what I bought and how much I paid for it. To obtain a summary of invoice paid is an undue burden on the Auction House and a time consuming task. All they should need is my credit card detail, my name and address. By accepting the terms of participating in the online bidding in an auction a buyer is obliged to pay promptly for their purchases, so why the off-putting policy? Shame of you Slawinski for taking the fun out of online bidding and buying. If Christie's and Sotheby accept me with just my credit card, why do Slawinski think their demands are acceptable? And STILL no Condition report or reply to my emails. Disgraceful, they do not deserve my business and if you value your confidentiality maybe no yours? There are plenty of other auction houses with better attitudes and service. read more

We are very pleased with our experience with the Robert Slawinski Team. Rob came to our home and looked through what we had to offer and gave us an accurate appraisal of what it might bring at auction. Diann and I were NOT disappointed! We highly recommend this very professional service! read more

I have used Slawinski 3 times and will use them again, because they make selling items easy. They have knowledge on so many items and have resources to get you a good price, as well as great advice on when and how to get the best prices read more

I have purchased multiple items from 2 of Robert's auctions so far. Very impressed with how smoothly everything has been handled from purchase to pick up and with how professional, friendly, and quick to help Robert's staff have been. Though it is quite a way for me to travel, I'm happy to drive 1.5 hours each way to purchase items from Robert's auctions. Since winning a few auctions, I also brought in a few items for appraisal, Robert and Courtney were extremely helpful and gave me really great honest feedback on the possible value of what I had. Thank you so much for holding such great auctions! Looking forward to many more! read more

When my mother died leaving me with a house full of antique furniture and other valuable items, I didn't know where to turn. After several disappointing encounters with other auction houses, I happened on Slawinski Auction Company and Rob Slawinski was a lifesaver. Rob and his dad Bob aided me through the entire process of liquidating my mother's estate, from helping me price items for an estate sale to evaluating and moving the more valuable pieces for auction. Quite honestly, it felt like dealing with family -- that's how helpful and considerate the Slawinskis were during a very difficult time in my life. The entire team was terrific, everything was moved with precision and care, I was given very realistic estimates as to what items would sell for, and on the day of the main auction I was highly impressed with Rob's auctioneering skills. The Slawinskis have been in business a long time and it's obvious why. They are professional, caring, realistic and very nice people to deal with. I can recommend them highly without reservation. read more

Sadly I've gone to Slawinski's twice for appraisals...and both times they were VERY WRONG. They underestimated / undervalued my items drastically. The most recent was a complete antique bedroom set of Monterey furniture, and yes it is Del Rey Monterey style furniture made in the 1930-40's. He was very dismissive and really didn't know anything about my furniture but of course wouldn't admit that--he had his assistant looking it up on the computer for me---I can do that and already had. He told me to expect no more than maybe $900 for the whole bedroom set and I would be "LUCKY" to get that. He is SOOOOOO wrong. Later that day I did speak to someone who actually was incredibly knowledgeable about the furniture, its history and value. Guess what? The whole set is worth anywhere from $3000 (selling to a dealer) or up to $5000-$6000 selling it retail. And she advised me that it was in excellent condition contrary to what Mr. Slawinski said. He essentially gave me some very poor and incorrect information that would have cost me quite a bit of money He's really not interested in helping you out unless it is something HE can sell and make a good profit. He did ask me at least three times if we were selling the house that we had cleaned out...definitely not with him. read more

WOW! I just attended their first auction in their new multi-million dollar building. There are spacious show rooms,friendly staff to show you auction items,an 800 seat auction room with wide screen displays, and an excellent sound system. Lunch is served,( free) with goodies coming throughout the auction. Their ability to assemble amazing antiques and artifacts is second to none. This has to be the top west coast auction house! The site is easy to get too,right on the way to Santa Cruz,and safe. read more

I have been attending Slawinski auctions for years as a bidder and consignor . Bob and Rob are tops for honesty and telling like it is. Through their tireless efforts ,they have become the top west coast independent auction house. You never now what will turn up even the day before the auction. read more

I also wish there was a way to give a 0 review. What a joke! I have never heard of an auction company requesting so much information prior to being allowed to bid online, then to be told that one doesn't have enough references (plenty) or has not belonged to "online auctioneers" long enough (2 years). I guess we had the audacity to expect to bid on an item online and instead were told we would have to reapply to request permission to phone in to bid. Maybe that request would have been turned down too. We quite regularly buy things on Ebay, Etsy, and other online auctions and have excellent feedback - and have driven hundreds of miles to attend auctions in person - we've never had a problem ever! Why we were told that we could not bid online is a mystery. Probably because we had the nerve to request information on a particular item we were interested in bidding on (which also took several e-mails to get them to pay attention and respond - they had no knowledge about the art items they had up for bid and said they'd get back to us - which they never did without begging them for information). We had an easier time registering at Christies (they were fabulous!). Also, what kind of auction house doesn't take Paypal or credit cards and requires you to wire money? One that doesn't want you to dispute a sale if what you receive isn't what you thought it would be? No recourse for the buyer? Are we in the Stone Age? I don't care how much good they may do in the community - they have no idea how to be civil to potential customers. We will never again look at anything that they have up for auction. Caveat emptor because they just don't care - no, I take that back - they care, but only about annoying any potential bidders. I guess they have a crystal ball and can see how much money we have in our bank accounts and how much we might have spent at this auction - but that's okay - given how they have treated us, we wouldn't want to pay them one thin dime in buyer's premiums - we'll spend our money elsewhere. read more

Extremely dissatisfied with my experience with Slawinski Auctioneers. It is very frustrating when a company like this so unprofessional and has such a lack of care and effort. I registered to bid through live auctioneers and did not receive approval or correspondence for 72 hours. Most if not all reputable Auction Houses will approve bidding in less than 24hours and some in 10 minutes even if the auction has already started. The morning of the auction I hoped that before the auction began I would be approved and able to bid. Still no approval or any correspondence. When I sent them a message they replied with a credit card authorization form and also needed two previous paid invoices. Even though I have bought several thousand dollars worth of items from different dealers through Live Auctioneers web platform and NOT ONE auction house has EVER requested a credit card approval I filled it out anyways so I would be approved. I also sent them paid PayPal invoices from auction houses I had won items from the day before. Well then, 24 hours later no correspondence and no approval to bid and of course the auction is over. My bids, which several of them I would have won, did not get accepted because I was not approved. I will not give a dime of my future business to Slawinski Auctions. read more