Which houses, which sales
Auction houses range from international firms with specialist departments in every category to strong regional houses to online-only platforms. Within a house, sales are organized by department — silver, furniture and decorative arts, American paintings, Asian art, design, jewelry — and by tier, from marquee evening sales down to online "various owners" sales. The right house and the right sale for a piece depends on what it is, what it's worth, and who collects it; a Continental commode, a piece of American coin silver and a Florida landscape painting may each belong somewhere different. Getting that match right is most of the value an advisor adds. (We don't name the houses we work with; the reasons are on our auction placement page.)
Step one — the proposal
You (or your advisor) send photographs and a description to the relevant department. A specialist responds with an opinion: whether they'd accept the piece, in which sale, with what estimate — a low-to-high range of what they expect it to bring — and on what terms. Estimates are deliberately conservative; they're set to attract bidders, not to flatter the consignor.
Step two — the consignment agreement
A contract covering:
- Seller's commission — the percentage of the hammer price the house keeps. Negotiable, especially for valuable pieces or multiple consignments; an advisor who consigns regularly can often do better than a one-time seller.
- Reserve — the confidential minimum below which the piece won't sell, usually set at or below the low estimate. Too high a reserve and the piece is bought in (unsold); too low and it can go cheap. This is the number to think hardest about.
- Fees — photography and cataloguing, insurance while in the house's care, shipping to the house, and sometimes a "buy-in" fee if the piece fails to sell. Ask for all of them in writing.
- Timing — the sale date and the settlement terms.
- Attribution and condition — what the house will say about the piece, and your warranties about title and authenticity.
Read it. A good advisor negotiates it. Nothing here is fixed by law; it's all the house's standard terms until someone asks.
Step three — the piece goes to the house
Packed, insured and shipped by a fine-art shipper, or delivered by the consignor. The house examines it, may have it cleaned or conserved (at your cost, with your approval), photographs it, and writes the catalogue entry — description, dimensions, provenance if any, literature, condition report. Consignors usually see a proof. Errors here matter; a wrong attribution can halve a result.
Step four — the sale
The catalogue is published, online and sometimes in print; the piece is shown at a preview; specialists talk to their collectors; bids arrive in the room, by phone, online and as advance absentee bids. On the day, the auctioneer opens below the low estimate and the piece sells to the highest bidder above the reserve — or doesn't. The winning bidder pays the hammer price plus a buyer's premium (a percentage on top, kept by the house). You, the consignor, are paid on the hammer price, less your commission and fees.
Step five — settlement
Houses typically pay consignors around thirty-five days after the sale, once the buyer has paid. You receive a statement showing the hammer price, commission, fees and net proceeds. If the buyer defaults — it happens — the house may re-offer the piece or cancel the sale.
If it doesn't sell
A bought-in lot can be re-offered in a later sale, often with a lower estimate; returned to you (shipping at your cost); or sold privately after the auction by the house at an agreed price. Your advisor should have discussed this before the sale, not after. A piece that fails at auction publicly carries a small stigma — "burned" — which is one more reason to get the estimate and reserve right the first time.
How long it all takes
From first photographs to money in the bank: three to six months for most sales, longer for major specialist sales that happen once or twice a year. Consignment deadlines fall six to ten weeks before a sale. If an estate can't wait, the piece may be better sold another way. The routes compared.
What belongs at auction, and what doesn't
Auction is the right place for objects that are rare, signed, documented or collected: a piece by a known maker, a painting by a listed artist, early or important silver, a collection assembled with knowledge, anything with provenance. It's the wrong place for ordinary-to-good household contents, which sell for less after fees than a dealer would pay outright, and slowly. The uncomfortable truth is that most things in most houses are the second kind, and that a handful in some houses are the first. Telling them apart is the job. How we do it.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Which sale, exactly, and why that one?
- What's the estimate based on — which comparable results?
- What is the seller's commission, and what fees apply if it sells and if it doesn't?
- Who sets the reserve, and can I see it in writing?
- Who pays for shipping, insurance and any conservation?
- When and how am I paid?
- What happens if it's bought in?