Antiques By Ray Hildenbrand

4 star review

5 star review

Ray worked with me on some items I had. He was very professional and honest. Finally a trustworthy businessman

Very strange experience. May be good for selling your valuables, but this is absolutely not a retail location and that should be better advertised.

SELLERS AND BUYERS BEWARE!!! Jeff Linette and Ray Hildenbrand Antique Associates / Antiques by Ray / Hildenbrand Militaria I met with both of these antique dealers together as they are associates. I would not recommend either person. Based on offers and what I have seen items they purchased from me sell for, they are interested in making at least a minimum of double the price offered / purchased. (See individual critiques / issues below). If you still choose to deal with them please know what your item / lot is worth, what you want for your item / lot, and make your own list of each item / lot (with descriptions and pictures) before you meet with them. Jeff Linette: Offered $500 on a jewelry lot that another dealer offered $1100.00 and Jeff’s lot had more items than the other dealer’s lot. Offered more than $250 less than melt value (of partial lot) alone on a coin lot. He used pressure tactics to make a “one time / today only” and “make our trip worth it” offer on a very large jewelry lot despite me saying I prefered to think through my decisions and did not intend to sell anything that day. While I originally sold the lot for the offered price, I greatly regretted accepting such a low purchase price. When I notified him the next day that I wanted to cancel the deal (as is my right as in PA a person can rescind any deal / contract made in their home within three business days), he was not pleased, but after conferring with his associates decided to return the entire jewelry lot at purchase price. When I went later that day to complete the deal, the entire lot had been gone through, despite him saying earlier on the phone that he did not sort the items yet. He said he threw out the bags and boxes the jewelry were in because they were in bad shape, dirty, and he had no need for them, so everything was given back all mixed together and in two different, larger boxes. While all items appeared to be there at first, upon returning home and completing detailed sorting I discovered items missing. When contacted the next day about 3, specific missing items, he first said he returned everything and did not keep or misplace anything. Then he admitted to throwing out items that he considered to be ‘junk’. Over the next two days, I realized some other items were also missing. When contacted again he insisted that he did not keep anything, but did throw some stuff out, told me I should look around my own house for missing items, and said that “Maybe I [he] should contact my [his] lawyer. I [Jeff] have a good lawyer.” That was until I told him that I would no longer bother him if he again purchased the items he returned to me at the original purchase price. This final transaction was completed that night. NOTE: Neither myself, nor Jeff, would be able to prove / disprove allegations as there were no individual descriptions / pictures of items or impartial witnesses to these interactions. I accepted the final transaction as the best outcome to an unfortunate situation. Ray Hildenbrand: Ray purchased 2 lots of multiple military items from me. He offered me a small sum ($200) for the 2 lots of items, and stated “I really only want to buy them because I have a personal interest in them.” I later found he had an ebay shop called Hildenbrand Militaria and decided to check if any of the items purchased from me were listed. I found that just the items he listed on ebay so far have sold for over $720. I discovered that five of the items listed had false / inaccurate product descriptions. In four of them he stated that I said the items were of (or issued to) a relative of mine. I specifically told him the opposite of that multiple times. He also listed the family surname name in the description, but gave a fictitious first name / initial. In the fifth item, despite my description of the item to him, he falsely stated my grandfather’s veteran status (he was a civilian employee at the time of item) and county of residence.

Sold some jewelry, but left feeling extremely cheated. Would not ever recommend him to anyone, unless you want to regret it.