ABOUT IT

The Austin Auction Company in north Austin specializes in quality imported antiques, estates, and such. Probably 90% of what they sell at each auction is furniture, with the other 10% being other items like artwork, mirrors, clocks, and other decorative items. The deals that you can get on high end furniture at these auctions will amaze you! You will typically pay 1/3rd to 1/4 of what you would pay at a store, and sometimes even less than that if you bid for an item that nobody else is competing with you for. I no longer shop for furniture at stores because I know that whenever I need something, I'll eventually find it at one of these auctions for much, much less.

Unfortunately, I do have a few beefs about the place:

1. The owner and head auctioneer, Ross Featherston, is not my favorite auctioneer. I find him difficult to understand (moreso than your average Texas auctioneer), and he doesn't do a very good job of indicating who has the current high bid. On top of that, he's not a very entertaining auctioneer, and often the sales room feels more like a courtroom. The other auctioneer (I don't know his name), is better in my opinion. He's a easier to understand and has a sense of humor.

2. There's no apparent order to the items that they auction. There's no numerical lot number progression or grouping - it seems completely random. This means that you have no idea when your items are coming up, so you have to sit there, often for 4+ hours waiting for your stuff. Often, I'm even afraid to go use the restroom or get a drink because I'm afraid my items may come up while I'm gone.

3. It's always freezing in there! Even in the middle of summer it feels like it's 60º in there. Brrr!

Their web site lists the upcoming auctions, and they post some photos of the stuff usually a few days before. Their web site sucks, however, as the photo preview has serious problems. It's a very amateur looking site. The best thing to do, is to just go to the preview the day before. On Friday's they'll have the viewing in the afternoon, but there is also a viewing for a few hours before the auction each Saturday.