Negotiating auction reserves and commissions

 

See Also: ArtlinkGlobal Auction News Advisories at:  

 http://artlinkglobaladvisory.wordpress.com/

See Also: ArtlinkGlobal Benchmarks for Designers at:  

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/22926344

A U C T I O N   H O U S E   R E S E R V E S

 

Artlinkglobal will contact the most appropriate expert for the estate in order to provide fair market value appraisals and auction estimates for sale. Once the appraisal is in hand Artlinkglobal will commence a negotiation to secure a reserve price and commission structure with an additional consultation on both the timing and geography of the sale venue. I always recommend proceeding with a targeted analysis tailored to a de-accesioning strategy for each object in order to give you a firm idea of the appropriate reserves to seek with the auction house for both private and public sales.

 DEALER VS AUCTION HOUSE

If you sell the item to a dealer, you’ll typically get 50% to 70% of the retail price. You may do better at an auction house, which usually takes a 15% to 25% cut. And if you consign several valuable items to an auction house, you may be able to negotiate a lower commission.

COMPETITIVE BIDDING

Auction companies will often provide an auction estimate without charge based on a photo and description sent to them. Estimates provided this way can be a fairly rough gauge of value. When you de-accession through an auction house, be aware that sometimes auction appraisals tend to value objects at the lower end of the value range so as to encourage competitive bidding.

For this reason it is recommended that you set in place an independent appraisal.  See Appraisal Resources