I thought Christie’s were the first to announce 20% buyers fees a few weeks back so yes hopefully all will follow suit. It’s a ridiculous concept that auction houses have gotten away with for too long now. How they charge the buyer and the seller is just wrong. Anything to bring these charges down is hugely welcomed!!

10% selling fee aint bad, no?

Let’s always drastically underestimate values in order to “elicit bids” and then claim we “smashed estimates.” It’s all a charade, and now they’re calling it a success fee. I wish I could set my targets so ludicrously low to make myself seem more successful.

Unless you're selling pieces for millions it's an absolute joke. Property agents/auctioneers charge 1-2% of value, deals take far longer and are often far more complex, yet they have large profitable and viable businesses. I know from working in the business and watching fees go from 4-5% to 1% in 20 years that business can adapt and still thrive. 

None of the large auction houses have modernised, they run flabby businesses, have huge overheads and greedy ownership. I really can't wait for someone to come along an eat their lunch. It will happen in next 10-20 years. 

Not sure what is a good price anymore.

Surprised LIITA didn’t sell.. £250k 3 years ago and now no buyers at £25k!


 

Having read most of the condition reports it sounded like a shit show! A load of ‘damaged’ prints priced/valued aggressively right in the middle of a paranoid market! 

Was a shit auction. same old lots as always, most estimates were too high, condition on many was shocking, a few lots outperformed the market but the rest either passed or sold below what the seller would have netted from a private sale. It's a really lazy model, and one they need to really rethink, right now I wouldn't consign anything Banksy related to Sothebys especially with the new fee regime and in this market, it's embarrassing.

I received the condition report for the CWSB (as still looking for one), and it was in much worse condition than the one that sold at Forum in April. The forum piece went for 30k GBP and this one went for 48k GBP! Was shocked someone paid that for it, considering the sale earlier this year. Thought for sure that lot was going to get passed.

Can anyone shed any light on how long it may take for a COA to be forwarded from Pest Control via an auction house after purchasing a piece. The blurb on the website says 'authenticated by Pest Control' but also that timescales are at the mercy of Pest Control.

Does that mean new owners could still be waiting years for the COA? Or is it a quicker process once authentication has taken place?

Grateful for any advice.

Cheers

Bump!

Wow - way over estimate.  

Not sure what happened to the 'Homeless de Milo' piece that was in the showroom yesterday.

The “Homeless” one is in tomorrow’s day auction.