Christie’s
I knew it would take very long for the other ‘major’ auction house to up its buyer’s premium. Nate Freeman states in his ArtNews article that Christie’s is widening the brackets for prices charged the highest fees and increasing the percentage tagged on its most expensive items. The new fee structure, which takes effect September 11…
Alex Capon, a writer for the Antiques Trade Gazette, really laid it out:
When a lot is knocked down at £1m at an auction, the buyer will now pay £208,750 in fees to Christie’s. This compares to £209,000 at Sotheby’s.
The greater difference comes when a lot sells at £5m – a buyer will now pay £858,750 to Christie’s, compared to £796,000 at Sotheby’s – something mainly due to the Christie’s 20% range now applying up to £3m, while Sotheby’s 20% range goes up to ‘only’ £2m.
I still want to know why the buyer is being charged so much for … the pleasure of buying? Shouldn’t the seller be the one who is charged more money for the supposed services an auction room is providing them? Just does not seem very fair that when the auction rooms see their profits dwindle, they hike up buyer’s premium in hopes that it will help the bottom line. Maybe they need to cut back on expenses?
Now watch, all the smaller auction rooms — who do very little for the buyer — will start upping their premiums.