Auction Houses; What Percentage of sale for commission

HopelessCase

If you place items in an Auction what percentage of the sale price would you usually expect to pay in commission. Are there any other charges made.

Fish_n_Chips

Anything from 10% to 20%

soolin

HopelessCase wrote: »

If you place items in an Auction what percentage of the sale price would you usually expect to pay in commission. Are there any other charges made.

Every auction house is different so you will need to check with them individually.

Sme charge for 'lotting ' some for reserves and some only when an item sells.

paddyrg

You could also potentially pay for valuation, storage, etc. Will vary auction by auction, so ask them individually.

RFW

Fish_n_Chips wrote: »

Anything from 10% to 20%

I would have had wider parameters, 5-35%. Specialist auctioneers can charge the high end, property can be at the lower end. Though as already said it does vary. Some are tricky and some are straightforward, always ask if there are any other charges after commission. Some salerooms will also have a minimum lot charge, so they may have 10% commission but a minimum £5 charge, so if your item sells for £10 you'd just get £5 back for it.

Mikes_The_Name

Do auction houses have set rates for commission or is something that is flexible and can haggled over. Are items like paintings and antique furniture more expensive than general collectables

RFW

Mikes_The_Name wrote: »

Do auction houses have set rates for commission or is something that is flexible and can haggled over. Are items like paintings and antique furniture more expensive than general collectables

No set fees. You can try and haggle, it depends what you're selling. If you've got something of high value or volume you may get a better deal.
There isn't an industry standard rate.

Contains_Mild_Peril

They vary a lot. My local one is 15% plus a £5 charge plus £1 per lot.

RFW

Contains_Mild_Peril wrote: »

They vary a lot. My local one is 15% plus a £5 charge plus £1 per lot.

I've not done it for a few years but I used to charge vendors between 10 and 15%. Lotting charges are ridiculous, they put the auction house in RyanAir territory, adding silly charges. It's not as though you can sell something in an auction without lotting it.

WLM21

I think the one near me charges 22% for buyers and 21% for sellers.

So, they make quite a bit with every item sold ... with sellers and buyers both paying their fees

As others have said, storage, valuation etc might be more, but I don't know

Magic_Moments

I would use an Auction house to obtain a free valuation. Also ask them for all their charges and commission.Often the cost of selling through an auction houses taking everything into consideration can easily be 25% of the sale price. Therefore initially I would then try and sell to an art dealer or somewhere else, armed with the valuation. You would then know how much you would receive. If that is not successful compare Auction houses commision rates bearing in mind The lowest rate is not necessarily the best the option as if it is a small auction house it may only reach a very local market. If you chose a larger auction house it might reach more of the UK. If the item is only worth say £100 it might not be worth all the trouble. However if it is worth say £500 then a bit of effort might well be worthwhile excercise.