Auction Houses

[TightEnd]

There is typically, whether in London or Provincial a 20% or so buyers/sellers premium on a sale incl VAT

They charge both sides. Buyers pay 120% of hammer, Sellers get 80% of hammer

The Auctioneer does a catalogue, and obviously markets the catalogue and provides the services of putting buyers and sellers together

How is 20% both sides justified? It must be one of the highest margin businesses around.

[EvilPie]

There is typically, whether in London or Provincial a 20% or so buyers/sellers premium on a sale incl VAT

They charge both sides. Buyers pay 120% of hammer, Sellers get 80% of hammer

The Auctioneer does a catalogue, and obviously markets the catalogue and provides the services of putting buyers and sellers together

How is 20% both sides justified? It must be one of the highest margin businesses around.

Seriously? I honestly would need to see proof because I genuinely can't believe it.

On a low value item fair enough but is this even on property or valuable art?

I've never seen it mentioned in 'homes under the hammer' for example. You never see the interview bit afterwards and the guy says "so you got the house for £100k" to get the response "well £120k after the auctioneer turned me round and bent me over".

[TightEnd]

not sure about house auctions

taking one provincial auctioneer for example

http://www.trevanionanddean.com/how-to-buy/

"Buyers Premium and charges

All purchases are subject to buyers premium at 21% inclusive of VAT.  The final price that you pay is the hammer price (the value you bid at the auction), plus the buyers premium."

and another for seller charges

http://www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk/pages/faqs.php

"Commission
A commision charge is levied at 15% of the hammer price on each lot (£5 + vat minimum charge) up to and including £5000 and then 10% on the balance thereafter in all sales. "

[ripple11]

Yeh Chiswick Auctions near me....

buying 22% +vat

selling £6 entry fee!  + 15% commison +vat

 Auction house two doors down has similar charges, mind you its rent is 100k a year for a high street location.

[EvilPie]

I suppose in niche markets which art probably is then putting the two parties together must have a huge impact on the eventual price. Surely that's only good for the seller though? Maybe it's good for the buyer as well though because the leg work of finding an item is done for him/her. It's just sat there waiting.

I wonder if there are opportunities to haggle for really impressive pieces? Surely if I owned a rare painting worth millions I could get a huge discount as all the top auction houses would want to be the one to sell that item?

Definitely a huge mark up but thinking about it it's not actually that bad. Pretty much everything we buy has gone through several stages of mark up before it gets to us so 40% is actually quite small.

I bet most things on Tesco's shelves have the equivalent of 20% in both directions. They'll be paying 20% less to their suppliers because of their buying power and they'll be marking up by a chunk before it gets to us.

[Karabiner]

There are quite a few auction houses who only charge the vendors commish.

"No Buyer's Commission" is a fairly frequent advert.

[Graham C]

Doubt you'd get a big discount for having a painting worth millions.  You'd want it sold by Christies or Sotherby's rather than your local AH as they have the buyers and you know their customers have money.

Can't say I blame them for having a fee to put stuff in, they must get loads of crap.  Can you imagine having to sell half the tat they end up buying on Bargain Hunt.

[The Camel]

Don't let Betfair see this thread.

They'll have the idea to charge commish on both sides of a bet.

[Ironside]

they always mention the commision on the antiques road trip and pointing out even though it looks like they have made a profit they have made a loss after commision

always annoys me about it in bargain hunt how they get the full profit though i suppose they would have to or no one would ever show a profit

[atdc21]

they have been doing it for years, charging both parties. most general auction houses would of been 10% buyers fee, but gradually this moved up .
Car auctions slightly different , regular trade buyers would get discounted rates dependent on how many vehicles they bought per year, could vary quite a lot , the smaller car auctions used to do better rates. The BCA rate if you are a private buyer is astronomical nowadays.

[vegaslover]

Most auction houses take the piss with their charges. I used to trade a fair bit but stopped selling at auction when after entrance fees and commission it was more profitable to sell on facebook, and as everyone knows those groups are populated by chavs who want to pay fuck all for things.

More annoying on any of the tv programmes, is the ridiculous concept that buyers go into antique shops and get 40-50% discount. The prices are agreed prior to going on camera.

BCA prices for private sellers/buyers are a joke nowadays. Cheaper to buy a car from a garage than auction, once fees are added.