The five words that decide the money
Estimate. The saleroom’s published guide to what a lot is expected to make, as a range. It is set to attract bidders and is deliberately conservative.
Reserve. The confidential minimum the seller will accept, agreed in advance. It cannot be higher than the low estimate. If bidding does not reach it, the lot is unsold, or “bought in”.
Hammer price. The winning bid, before any charges. Every figure in the price records is a hammer price, and they are illustrative until partner saleroom results replace them.
Buyer’s premium. A percentage added to the hammer price and paid by the buyer to the saleroom. 20 to 30 percent in British provincial rooms, with VAT on the premium, which auctioneers account for under HMRC’s VAT margin schemes. Online bidding platforms add a further 3 to 5 percent.
Seller’s commission. A percentage deducted from the hammer price and kept by the saleroom. 10 to 20 percent, with VAT, plus fixed charges.
What a seller receives
The charges are not proportional. Fixed fees swallow a small lot and barely touch a large one, and the commission rate itself falls as the hammer price rises. Three worked examples show the shape of it.
| £100 lot | £1,000 lot | £10,000 lot | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hammer price | £100 | £1,000 | £10,000 |
| Seller’s commission | −£15 (15%) | −£150 (15%) | −£1,000 (10%) |
| VAT on commission | −£3 | −£30 | −£200 |
| Lotting fee | −£5 | −£5 | −£5 |
| Photography and cataloguing | − | −£10 | −£50 |
| Insurance at 1.5% | −£2 | −£15 | −£150 |
| Received by the seller | about £75 | about £790 | about £8,595 |
| Seller keeps | 75% | 79% | 86% |
The buyer on that £1,000 lot pays the hammer plus a 25 percent premium plus VAT on the premium, so about £1,300. The £500 gap between what the buyer pays and the seller receives is how the saleroom is paid.
The charges are why an item has to be worth selling before it is worth consigning.
Artist’s resale right
Sellers of pictures meet one charge that nothing else attracts. Artist’s resale right is payable when a work by a living artist, or one who died within the past 70 years, sells for £1,000 or more through an art market professional. The seller pays it, and the saleroom collects it.
| Portion of the hammer price | Royalty |
|---|---|
| Up to £50,000 | 4% |
| £50,000.01 to £200,000 | 3% |
| £200,000.01 to £350,000 | 1% |
| £350,000.01 to £500,000 | 0.5% |
| Above £500,000 | 0.25% |
The total is capped at £12,500 for any single work. The amounts have been calculated in sterling rather than euros since 1 April 2024. A modern picture hammering at £4,000 therefore costs the seller £160 on top of commission, which is the line on the account of sale that surprises people.
The rest of the glossary
| Term | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Bought in, BI | Unsold. It failed to reach the reserve and comes back to you, sometimes with a fee |
| Condition report | A written note of damage, restoration and wear, on request before the sale. Free |
| Saleroom notice | A correction to the catalogue announced before or during the sale. It overrides the catalogue |
| As found | Sold without warranty as to condition. The catalogue is telling you something |
| After sale | An unsold lot sold privately in the days after, at the reserve less charges |
| Absentee or commission bid | A maximum left with the saleroom, executed on your behalf. Free |
| Increment | The step between bids, set by the auctioneer |
| Provenance | Recorded ownership history. It adds money when documented |
| Vendor | The seller. “Vendor’s commission” is the same as seller’s commission |
| Knocked down | Sold. The hammer fell |
| Withdrawn | Removed before the sale. Most rooms charge for it |
The bidding ladder
Bidding rises in fixed steps, and knowing them keeps a commission bid from landing in an impossible gap. A typical British saleroom ladder runs like this.
| Bidding between | Rises by |
|---|---|
| £0 and £100 | £5 |
| £100 and £200 | £10 |
| £200 and £500 | £20 |
| £500 and £1,000 | £50 |
| £1,000 and £2,000 | £100 |
| £2,000 and £5,000 | £200 |
| £5,000 and £10,000 | £500 |
| Above £10,000 | £1,000 |
Leave a commission bid on an increment. A bid of £230 in a room stepping in twenties is executed at £220, and the lot sells at £240 to somebody else.
Timing, and what the money looks like
A consignment is catalogued for a sale weeks or months ahead. Specialist sales run two to four times a year in each department, so a silver lot sent in October may not be offered until February.
After the sale the buyer has a period to pay, and the saleroom pays the seller after that. Expect the money four to six weeks after the hammer falls. It arrives with an account of sale, which is the document that itemises every deduction. Check it against the terms you were quoted.
If a lot is bought in, most rooms re-offer it in a later sale at a lower reserve, or release it. Ask what the unsold fee is before consigning, because it is charged on the estimate rather than on nothing.
Charges to ask about before you sign
Commission rate, and whether it falls for higher-value lots. Lotting fee per lot. Photography and cataloguing. Insurance, charged as a percentage of the hammer or the estimate. Unsold fees. Storage if a lot is not collected. Collection and carriage from the house.
Everything is negotiable for a good consignment and nothing is for a single ordinary lot. A house full of contents is a good consignment, and that is the moment to ask for a reduced rate across the whole entry.
Specialist or general?
A general sale takes everything and attracts local buyers and the trade. A specialist sale, of silver, of medals, of books, of stamps, attracts the collectors who pay for the best examples.
An ordinary piece does as well in either. A good piece does better in the specialist sale, even at a higher commission, because the right buyers are in the room and they bid against each other rather than against the trade.
When auction is the wrong route
Below about £100 in hammer value the charges eat the proceeds, and a dealer’s offer or a direct sale is better. What each of those three routes returns on the same object is set out in how to sell antiques. Damaged silver without a maker is a refiner’s job, as the scrap or auction guide explains. Bulk books, common stamps and worn coins sell by the box, and the box is the unit to think in.
Working out what the object is comes before any of this, and the four questions a valuer asks are set out in what is this worth.
For everything else, two free opinions from salerooms, with photographs, are the way to find out. The valuation form sends one of them to a partner saleroom for you. Get the second from a local auction house, so you have something to hold it against.
