Alex Cooper Auctioneers Inc

Avoid Alex Cooper Auctioneers. I bought a brooch at an online auction that was described as "Signed Tiffany and Co". When it arrived, it was clear that it was actually stamped "TIFFANY & CC" -- a completely different thing!

Alex Cooper Auctioneers refused to refund my money and got quite nasty about it. Either they either were selling counterfeit goods or they were seriously misrepresenting the items at auction. Either way -- STAY AWAY. Not nice people.

The selection of rugs at their rug gallery is extensive, but you can also customize rugs which is pretty cool. Jayme helped me pick out a design and customize the colors that I wanted for my living room. The prices really were surprisingly reasonable considering that I was customizing my own oriental rug. If you don't want to customize and you are looking for a bargain, they have a lot of rugs on sale in the gallery and on their website.

I recently attended one of Cooper's antique auctions. Although I understand that item damages are not disclosed in their catalogue, they were very helpful when I e-mailed them for damage reports. Also, they conduct 3 days of exhibitions prior to the auction sale, so we had ample time to inspect all the merchandise. The sale runs pretty quickly so you really need to do your homework beforehand. I was very pleased with the accuracy of the descriptions in their catalogue and found their pre-sale estimates to be pretty close to the mark. They appear to have the highest quality antique sales in the area and get the best merchandise. Overall, I was pleased with the items I bought and my experience there. If you do your homework before you attend the sale, you should have the same experience.

I have shopped for rugs at Cooper's in the past and ended up going to another shop to buy. They have kind of a haughty attitude, though their rugs are beautiful and they have a huge selection. Prices are huge to match.

I've also been to a bunch of their auctions and though it's fun to look at the array of high-end stuff, the sales are actually not run very well and I suspect are not 100% honest. If you go, keep your eyes wide open and make sure you preview carefully.

I cannot recommend Alex Cooper auctions. They do not disclose damage like most other local auction houses do and I've seen them do some questionable stuff while auctioneering (like running bidders up a notch or two after there are no other bidders left). Their sales are not run efficiently either. It's very much buyer beware and woe to you if you complain.

I have shopped for rugs there in the past and was not impressed with the service or the way they treat their help. We ended up going somewhere else for our rug and were much happier.