Business Profile
Auctioneer
Purple Wave Auction, Inc.This business is NOT BBB Accredited.
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Reviews
Customer Review Ratings
1.19/5 stars
Average of 21 Customer Reviews
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Review fromStacey G
Date: 05/23/2025
1 starStacey G
Date: 05/23/2025
SELLER BEWARE!!
We recently sold three trucks via Purple Wave and incurred an $85,000 loss as they sold for roughly 50% of our investment.
There is not a reserve point and they will sell regardless of the loss to the seller. We advise you to carefully review your Purple Wave contract, especially regarding the inclusion of a reserve to safeguard your assets. Without it, sale prices may not reflect true value, potentially leading to significant losses for sellers. This structure appears more favorable to Purple Wave and buyers, leaving sellers scrambling to make payroll.
Please ensure you fully understand your contract before proceeding with any sales.Purple Wave Auction, Inc.
Date: 05/27/2025
Thank you for sharing your experience and concerns about our auction process. We understand how disappointing it can be when sale results don't meet expectations, and we take all seller feedback seriously.
I want to clarify that our auction terms, including the no-reserve format, are clearly outlined in our seller contract. Our team works to ensure sellers understand these terms before proceeding. The no-reserve auction format is designed to create competitive bidding environments that often benefit sellers, though we recognize market conditions can impact prices.
We'd welcome the opportunity to discuss your specific situation further and address any concerns about how your consignment was handled. Please contact me directly so we can review the details of your experience.Review fromWilliam W
Date: 01/03/2025
1 starWilliam W
Date: 01/03/2025
Order number: DP6060
Item was not as described. Video showed the vehicle running, driving under its own power, with the accelerator working. Broken windshield was not listed. Broken ignition was not listed. Truck could not be shut off properly.
Mileage was NOT unknown. Mileage was 330k miles. With the dash stating “Reduced Engine Power”.
Drivable condition was not the same as video. I have video obtained by myself and the Texas Highway Patrol.
Upon contacting the seller, seller told me to take it up with the auction company.
Seller informed me he replaced the battery after the vehicle was listed for auction. Seller was not present at the time of sale, and refused to be present. Someone else showed up, who witnessed the problem, and left without any resolution or communication from the seller.Purple Wave Auction, Inc.
Date: 01/03/2025
Mr. W*****, please provide me the video you obtained. I have also asked our mediation specialist to reach out to you.Review fromTravis C
Date: 10/28/2024
1 starinaccurate description of item being sold ended up being scrap metal because didn’t list parts missing other than a battery in descriptionReview fromShawn P
Date: 05/06/2024
1 starI’ve been buying from PW for 7 years. This is what I’ve learned….their business model and organization is extremely flawed. They rely heavily on buyers, hence the 10% premium you pay. But at the same time, they need items to sell. So they only charge $100 to list an item to attract sellers, that way they can get that 10% from the buyers. Only problem is that they protect their sellers 100%.
If you’ve got a truck with an engine going out, use Purple Wave. If you’ve got a loader that needs the entire undercarriage rebuilt, use Purple Wave. Anything you have that is busted but you can’t tell by just pictures, you’re in luck. Purple Wave reps will angle pics, fall back in videos and intentionally leave out information that would sway your buying decision. Why do this to the group that’s responsible for 95% of their revenue? Because with every dissatisfied customer there’s 3 more naive customers waiting to be taken advantage of. PW needs those high bid numbers to show potential selling clients that they can bring the big numbers. But you’ve spent tens or hundreds of thousands with them? Of course they’ll make things right. Just contact your regional rep or higher up the idiot chain to get a big middle finger that ultimately translates to “don’t trust our buyers and definitely don’t trust our paid reps; it’s their job to screw you over. Best go out and check out that unit all on your own.”
Now, unlike most auctions where the buying and selling premiums are about equal and there’s full transparency to protect both sides, PW believes they can screw over buyers year after year because the supply of buyers is never ending. Or maybe that’s why they finally decided to sell….
To sum it all up, don’t trust a word out of anyone’s mouth and definitely go check out whatever you want to buy first. 90% chance it’s not what you thought it was.Review fromGary W
Date: 04/22/2024
1 starGary W
Date: 04/22/2024
I had a sale thru Purple Wave over 30 days ago and still have not received my money. When you buy something from the website, they want their money in a few days, but they don't care when the customer gets theirs. Contacted them several times with no customer service to get my money. I will never buy or sell anything on Purple Wave again.Purple Wave Auction, Inc.
Date: 04/23/2024
Our terms of sale is settlement within 15 business days. My records indicate (2) checks were processed and sent 3/25 and 3/29 (5 and 9 business days following the event) When you had not received the check and we were notified, we voided the check and re-issued on 4/16. I am sorry you haven't received payment but I can't control if mail is delayed or lost. If we have to re-issue another settlement check, we will send via fedex or UPS. It's not our intention to delay payment. We would hate to lose a customer because of a delay in the mail.Review fromBrian T
Date: 04/17/2024
1 starBrian T
Date: 04/17/2024
No communication for months at a time. Now they don't even answer their phone or return emails. Multiple items I bought were not as described. My Sales rep said they would stand behind it and then nothing. I would never buy anything here again!Purple Wave Auction, Inc.
Date: 04/19/2024
Mr. T******, what is the issue you are having. From my understanding you had been missing some titles for vehicles you had previously purchased but from my understanding that have been sent out. You are welcome to contact me directly. My email is *******************Review fromJason W
Date: 02/15/2024
1 starI strongly advise against using purple wave. I was looking at a ditch witch mini skidsteer. I intensely watched the video from the seller, Barth equipment sales, of an employee showing the unit moves left/right and up/down. The video was less than two minutes. Seeing no obvious issues with the item, I decided to bid on it.(item is located 7 hrs away so I cannot test drive it easily). Well, I won the item for 24000.00 with another 2400.00 buyers fee I immediately paid for the item. I scheduled pickup for the item in Springfield Missouri. The owner was very rude, but I’m like whatever. So we put the running machine on the trailer (less than two minutes to do so) and went home. The unit set for a week. Went to use it… after two minutes of idling to warm up, the engine starts smoking and blowing oil out the exhaust. I took it to a shop for diagnosis. 1500.00 later they said it needs an engine. A cylinder is grooved allowing oil to blow by. Quote for engine is 13,000.00. I filed complaint with putplewave. They had me go through hoops and information gathering and saying “we are considering your situation”. Two weeks later they inform.. “I have talked to my manager and we will not be assisting you in any way”. Lesson learned??? DO NOT BUY ON PURPLE WAVE! They do not protect buyers at all!! They take the word of the seller that “oh yeah it runs just fine, no problems”. Well I’m here to tell you otherwise. I’m 33,000 into a piece of junk machine that I could’ve bought a new one for 50,000.00. Soooo disappointed. And the icing on the crap parfait? They charge 10% just to win an item to nothing more than screw you over in the end. Absolutely HORRIBLE experience. Will never use them again. I sincerely hope this review helps someone else avoid this costly experience. At the end of the day know that purple wave is an auction site and there is a reason the junk they sell is on the site.Review fromBill B
Date: 12/15/2023
2 starsBill B
Date: 12/15/2023
It's a crap shoot. Hope for the best, expect the worst. Purchased a bucket truck oct.25,2023. Video showed fully functional truck. Called owner to make sure , he said ran good. Drove six hundred miles for nothing. Finally after a month of lies I hired a trailer to have it shipped. I didn't get the truck in my possession until December. The mechanic said it had zero fuel pressure , no way it ran. Kept purple wave informed. Sympathetic but no solutions.Purple Wave Auction, Inc.
Date: 12/20/2023
We appreciate any feedback (good or bad). We try to list equipment as accurately as we can. We take our own pictures and videos of the equipment and do try to call out major mechanical or safety issues as we observe them. Our descriptions, photos and videos are not substitutions for inspections. Our goal is to have happy and satisfied customers.Review fromWilliam H
Date: 11/24/2023
1 starOn 11-09-2023, I purchased a 1997 Kenworth dump truck from a Purple Wave auction in Des Moines, Ia. The price I paid with the buyer's fee was $35,200.00. Before bidding, I carefully viewed the numerous photos included and watched the attached video of the truck being demonstrated and lot-driven. I also read the notes on condition, which the only concern listed was "Dash warning indicator: air warning". On 11-17-2023, I made contact and made arrangements to drive 180 miles to pick up truck later that day. Upon arrival, we located truck. There was no one there, but key was left in truck. I contacted seller, and he stated it would be ok to take the truck. We then left in truck and made our way to a fuel stop to fuel truck. after fueling, we then proceeded to get on the highway to head home. My driver immediately had problems trying to get truck to shift out of low range on the transmission. He was able to get it out of low range one time before it began grinding and went back into low range, and truck would not exceed around 20 mph in low range. We were able to limp truck to the closest heavy truck drivetrain shop we could locate, where we were told transmission was probably defective. At this time, we immediately contacted Purple Wave, as we believe truck was grossly misrepresented in their auction listing. By showing a video of truck being lot-driven, they were indicating that the transmission was good and operatable, not that it only had 3 or 4 forward gears, and would only do 20 mph. It was their responsibility to list this deficiency, as the seller would absolutely have known about this issue. Estimate to repair transmission is in excess of $11,000.00.Review fromStacy E
Date: 10/12/2023
1 starStacy E
Date: 10/12/2023
Buyer beware were purple auction will lie deny misrepresent and then charge your card on stuff that you did not buy. Please be advised stay away from these people they are other auction services that are legit these people are not. they do show you small videos of stuff, running and operating, but they will not tell you if the transmission was working at idle or at high rpm to make it work. it’s not locked by accident. They’re misrepresenting that stuff. It is solely for the purpose of miss leading people for their moneyPurple Wave Auction, Inc.
Date: 10/20/2023
Purple Wave specializes in selling used equipment and vehicles at no reserve auction. All items are listed "AS-IS" and are available for inspection prior to placing bids. Our descriptions, pictures and videos (when applicable) are not meant as substitutions for inspection. In addition, our listings also include location and seller contact information to assist with setting up inspection.
To address the charging of your card, we do reserve the right to charge 15% of the winning bid amount for failure to pay, we specifically speak to this term and ask that you agree and understand prior to placing your 1st bid in the auction. Ultimately, we don't like auto charging our buyers, we would much rather have our buyers honor their bids and pay their invoices.
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