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October 2023 by Mike Hawkins
45% commission: Dina and her team handled our mother's estate sale. While we liked the initial sound of their online auction approach, be aware that they took a hefty 45% of all proceeds. Their approach also seems to be quick turnaround sales - so they did not effectively use the documentation we provided for antiques or collectible items such as our parents' collection of Hummel figurines. They ended up going for 75-80% below what their book value was worth.Dina was often quite hard to reach, with multiple unreturned phone calls or emails, and I found her customer service skills to be terse and below average. It wasn't a pleasant experience.Further, I do not recommend against using their services for clearing out a property - they charged $60/hour per person, which is much higher than we were quoted elsewhere. We chose them because of the tight deadline because of the impending sale of the property, but you can save 50% on clearing out costs by going elsewhere.Bottom line? Choose them if you're under a tight deadline and do not place a big emphasis on the amount the sale will generate or the associated costs for the clear out, commission, etc.UPDATED:(Downgraded from 2 stars to 1 star.)Well, this was 'interesting'. You can see from the grumpy reply that this company has proved my point about their approach.Let's tackle their responses in order:1. 'Know your customer' - I was in fact the executor, not my brother. I also called/emailed during normal business hours for Novato - time zones were not a factor.2. Terms - I merely provided clarity for people interested in their services, to help people evaluate if they wanted to proceed with this option.3. Bidding - again, 'know your customer'. After a change of plans with one of us buying a larger house, we ended up bidding (and winning) many of the items to keep them in the family - and paid the 45% commission on the resulting higher prices to Picks and Treasures without complaint. That wasn't ghost bidding to drive up prices, we were active participants in the process - and Picks and Treasures was okay with that, merely suggesting that we just change our email address to be less obvious.Judge for yourselves - personally, I'd steer clear of a firm with this sort of customer service approach.
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February 2023 by Jon N.
I've been a customer of Picks and Treasures in Novato for awhile, and also their auction location up in in Rohnert Park. They find the coolest items, and every lot starts at $5. Every week there's a couple new auctions in multiple locations. I especially love that they are a local woman-owned, family business, and I can come pick up my winnings in person. They have super friendly, helpful staff. One of them told me recently they're starting a Thrift Store at the Novato location to sell certain items at a low cost to give back to the community.This is the kind of place a feel good about supporting with my hard-earned dollars.
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February 2023 by Jamie A.
I've been a customer of Picks and Treasures since they first started business and enjoyed watching Dina grow. She not only works with passion, but the amount of care she puts into her work is amazing. For the number of times I shopped her store and picked up items, she has always taken the time to talk to me as a person. She brings a special kind of something to the community. I will continue to shop at Picks and Treasures and work with Dina.
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January 2022 by Rae Y.
Dina was great in helping us with an estate sale when a tenant recently passed at our apartment. She was very knowledgeable and attentive to our needs and concerns. She was the only one out of several estate liquidation services I contacted who quickly responded and thoroughly explained the entire liquidation process. The entire process itself was quick and seamless, but most important of all, Dina and her staff took all of the troubles/stress out of our hands. I will definitely use her company again in the future if the need ever arises.
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February 2021 by Dave H.
There is going to be a problem writing a review that does not sound phony; that's how great Ms. Young is at what she does and, most importantly, how she does it. Her pricing structure is commensurate with other like-kind services in the area, but from the get go she stands apart; kind, attentive, respectful, no pressure from the first call to her first review of the estate, through the contract, during pre-auction previews and postings, to the auctions themselves and finally the disbursal... she was so considerate, so thoughtful and also just so ethical that she put other businesses to shame. Ms. Young also brings real attention to detail, a wealth of knowledge and experience, and a willingness to listen and investigate possible hidden value. She treated the least item and the most valuable coin with the same respect... knowing that each item was a part of my family's past. In sum, I feel very lucky to have engaged her excellent services and to have met such a truly good person.
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January 2021 by Livia C.
We worked with Dina not on an estate sale but a move sale. We had compiled about 10 years worth of 'stuff' (junk) after we had sold our first house and were moving into our second house. There needed to be a lot of decluttering so that we weren't overwhelmed with all the things that just didn't fit the new house (both in decor and space). However, we did have some higher ticket priced items like fairly new and valuable appliances (a commercial fridge, stove, dryer) and even an old beat up car. Dina and her team walked us through the process. I got a chance to review a couple of options on how to sell those items. I chose the higher customer service option and Dina came out and sold everything. Maybe we had a box or two left but they were items that were going to the donation bin anyway. Dina did so well that she got us a buyer on a couple of our higher value items that paid more than we purchased those items for originally. I hope Picks and Treasures survives COVID-19 because Dina and her team provide an extremely valuable and high quality service to Northern California. Thank you so much!
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January 2020 by Sarah Mackle
Dina did an amazing job with my father’s estate. He was quite a collector, yet she and her team had everything out in under 4 weeks time. She was able to sell almost everything, even items we thought nobody would want. We’d been told by other companies that we would probably end up having to pay thousands of dollars to have most of the items hauled away, but Dina found a home for most everything. Not only that, but made a nice profit as well. Can’t recommend Picks and Treasures highly enough!
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December 2019 by Sarah M.
Dina helped us with my father's estate. He was quite a collector, yet she and her team were able to clear the entire house in under 4 week. She was able to sell almost everything in the house in a series of online auctions, followed by an on site sale. We had been told by another company that we would have to pay thousands to have much of estate hauled away. Dina not only found homes for most everything, she turned a nice profit as well. I can't recommend Picks and Treasures highly enough!
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November 2019 by Jenn M.
Amazing place...outstanding customer service. Felt like home.
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May 2019 by Karen Donohue
Such a great place to discover treasures! Very reasonable prices & very friendly staff!
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January 2019 by Mike Di Matteo
Nice little shop. Very nice owners. Will be returning soon
