AG office calls event a ‘buyer beware situation,’ company disagrees

The press secretary for South Dakota’s attorney general calls this week’s Treasure Hunters Roadshow a “buyer beware situation,” but a company official disputes that advice.

The event, where local and area residents are being offered money for their antiques and collectibles, began Tuesday and will continue through Saturday at the Ramada Inn in Mitchell.

After The Daily Republic published a preview story about the event in Monday’s edition, the newspaper received several tips from readers about Treasure Hunters Roadshow checks that bounced in other cities. The tips were the product of news stories from media outlets in Michigan, Illinois, Arizona and New Mexico.

The Daily Republic sought advice about Treasure Hunters Roadshow from the South Dakota attorney general’s office. Sara Rabern, the office’s press secretary, said South Dakotans have not filed any formal complaints about the company.

“This is really one of those buyer beware situations,” Rabern wrote in response to e-mailed questions from The Daily Republic.

Rabern said it’s “probably better to deal with local antique dealers,” because local businesses are easy to contact and also fall under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement. Traveling companies might not be easy to contact and can complicate jurisdiction issues, she said.

Rabern also encouraged sellers to check with several local dealers before selling any item to a traveling company. The variety of offers, she said, can give sellers a better idea of what their item is really worth.

Matthew Enright, director of operations for Illinois-based Treasure Hunters Roadshow, disputed Rabern’s advice. He acknowledged that his company suffered what he called an “isolated” incident with bounced checks, but he said it was because the company’s bank unexpectedly placed a hold on a $500,000 deposit. The hold caused about 80 checks to bounce, Enright said, out of about 4,000 that were issued at the time.

Enright said the company made good on all the bounced checks.

“It was a brief issue,” Enright said. “We’re not proud of the issue, but it did happen, and everything’s been fixed since then. We’ve wrote over 50,000 checks since that incident and have not had any issues.”

Enright said his company can usually pay more for items than local shops can, because his company has a bigger global network of buyers and better marketing.

As an example, Enright cited the company’s recent purchase of a 1960s guitar. The seller had an appraisal for $60,000 and was willing to sell for that amount, Enright said, but Treasure Hunters Roadshow was in contact with a collector who was willing to pay $100,000. Enright said his company paid $100,000 to the seller, sold the item to the collector, and took a percentage from the collector.

One person who will be closely watching this week’s event in Mitchell is Brenda Oleson, who owns the Second Impression Palace Antique Mall on Main Street. She is worried that the Treasure Hunters Roadshow might cut into some of her prime summer business, and she’s concerned that some items of local, historical importance will get sold to the roadshow’s collectors and shipped elsewhere instead of staying with collectors in this area.

“I don’t know anything about this company that came to town. I honestly don’t,” Oleson said. “I just know that we’ve been here for 25 years, and when a business stands for 25 years, it must be doing something right and treating our customers right.”

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