Has anyone experience of selling through an auction house?

Few not free?!

I've contacted three and one has come back v quickly with estimated value. As it's for charity they said they'd reduce their charges. They're wanting it for a specialist auction which isn't for a free months. All seems fine by me. Will see if the others get back to me.

We were very disappointed with the auction house we used to clear mil’s house. Anything they didn’t want, even a brand new unslept in single divan was just chucked unceremoniously into the back of a lorry and presumably ended up as infill at the dump. The items they did sell were very piecemeal and we didn’t get very much for them. Had we known and had more time we would not have used them. We found out too late there was an antiques shop that would take items and give a reasonable amount.

If using an auction house again I’d get a proper valuation for each item and decide whether to put a reserve on.

Your first step is to contact the auction house and ask if they will take it. Sadly, many things we perceive to be valuable are no longer of interest to them.
If they are they should give you an estimate and you can work out if it is worth doing - bearing in mind how much will be charged for their commission etc.

Yes, we have done so - particularly when we had to clear out my late in-laws' house. We used an auction house just a few miles from us, and they were very helpful. It worked out well for us, probably because we had a considerable number of items to dispose of, so the commission was well worth paying for the convenience of getting rid of everything in one go, as it were.

Market auction houses that hold antique/collectible sakes have a day before when you can take in the item or a photograph and provenance in the case of furniture and they will tell whether they will accept it for auction.

If they do they will guide you from there.

Obviously you pay transport costs to the auction and removal costs if it doesn’t sell. Plus the Auctioneers fee. Sometimes this is a minimum amount regardless if what the item fetches.

Be aware that you could end up with a loss unless the item is valuable and what’s in demand at the moment,

My experience was very positive - I found an auction house that specialised in what I was selling ( not always necessary of course, depends on item)
I checked their credentials. I set a reserve and checked their charges and it all happened smoothly with money paid over very shortly after the sale.