Back in July, Christie’s reported a sharp fall in their overall sales for the first half of 2016 … £2.1 billion vs. £2.9 billion for the same period in 2015. You can read more about that HERE. So, how are they going to fix that? Well, one way is to charge buyer’s more!
It was announced this week that while the percentages will not change, the thresholds will: For all collecting categories other than Wine, the update to the fee schedule amends the price thresholds at which fees are applied (see detail below) but presents no change to the fee percentages themselves. The new premium rate will be an amount equal to 25% of the hammer price of each lot up to and including £100,000/$150,000; plus 20% of the hammer price from £100,001/$150,001 up to and including £2,000,000/$3,000,000 and 12% above £2,000,001/$3,000,001. This change effectively widens the thresholds where the percentage fees apply but does not change the percentage rates. To see their full press release, click HERE.
I do like the way they keep stressing the percentages will not change; but the fact is, you will be paying more. They are now getting closer to the fees charged by their biggest competitor … Sotheby’s.
