Auction Pricing, Debunked
Auction Pricing, Debunked
Sometimes, auction houses have absurd hidden fees and outlandish pricing. However, we believe everyone has a right to know how pricing is structured, why the pricing is the way it is, and more.
Here’s how it works. As an intermediary, we facilitate the buying and selling of goods. A little like Amazon (sans the billionaire CEO.)
To cover the cost of facilitating this service and everything that goes into it (employee salaries, facilities, marketing, etc.), we charge a standard auction house commission between 20 - 35%, depending on the value of the item.
35%: Items worth $500 - $4,999
25%: Items worth $5,000 - $9,999
20%: items worth $10,000 - $49,999
Items over $50,000? Keep reading.
What is a Buy-In Fee?
A very common practice in the auction industry is to charge sellers, aka consigners, what is called a buy-in fee. This is usually a minimum fee charged for selling an item at auction, paid regardless of whether it sells or NOT. The buy-in fee covers the time and resources spent on marketing their item to sell it.
In the unlikely scenario that your item doesn’t sell, we do not charge you anything. Why? Because we think that it’s only fair that way. And because we <3 you.
Fun fact: 99% of our clients will feature their item in another auction if their item didn’t sell the first time around; however, there’s no obligation.
Skip the Commission
How can you get around paying us a commission if you sell with us? Consign an item worth $50,000. We know, we’re talking big bucks. But, golly, that anonymous work of art might actually be a Dali.
Whether you have ludicrous landscapes, preposterous portraits, fantastic furniture, or jumbo jewelry, anything worth over $50,000 will get the 0% commission treatment*.
The Devil’s in the Details
Let’s comb through the details of everything you just learned.
Buy-in: $0 (you don’t pay anything if your item does not sell)
Seller’s commission: we deduct a commission fee of 20 - 35% from the hammer price*
0% seller’s premium for items over $50,000*
*Hammer price: what the item sells for
Consignor - seller
What the Heck is it? The Reserve
Oh great, more auction terminology. This one’s easy. A reserve is a minimum price you are willing to accept for your item when it is offered at auction.
We advise you on what this amount should be during the valuation process. Each reserve is tailored to the item; there is no standard. However, it usually hovers around 50-75% of the estimate. So if your item is worth $10,000, the bidding might start between $5,000 and $7,500, for example.
Also, we won’t undervalue your item just to get it sold. We will use our years of experience to give you a fair, honest, and realistic estimate and reserve, with the goal of protecting the value you invested in your piece while getting it sold.
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