[Misc] Buying and selling at auction

[marlowe]

Has anyone any experience of buying or selling at auction, not ebay but a proper auction house. I've got a few items I want to sell but I've never gone through an actual auction house before, only previously done ebay.

Has anybody had any particularly good or bad experiences and are there any local auction houses (Brighton / Sussex area) that they can recommend I should use, or avoid, based on their experiences?

 

[Titanic]

By the time you have paid your lot fees and sellers fees (often £5-10 plus 15% of the hammer price + VAT) and the buyer has paid commission (similarly often 20% + VAT)... you are likely to get 50% of the money you would get if you could sell it direct.

Having said that, they are usually very good at getting your items in front of a lot of likely buyers.

Swings and roundabouts.

 

[JakyBF]

Gorringes in Lewes are not bad. We sold a painting there and an 'online bidder' put in a high bid and won it.
Paid for a family holiday

 

[ofco8]

Many years ago we bought a print by a well known contemporary artist for our bedroom which cost £600.
However after a redec we decided we didn't want to keep it as it didn't work in the new scheme.
Checked various sources which said value was now about £500.
I contacted a couple of local auction houses, sent them photo of same print, which was in an expensive frame, and they came up with a pre sell value of £100.
Still got the print and will check the market again in a few years.

 

[amexer]

With fees from 15 to 20% you need to achieve a good price. As far as buying would avoid Tooveys who not only charge buyer 25% plus vat on top but if you buy online they charge a further 5% plus vat.

 

[marlowe]

By the time you have paid your lot fees and sellers fees (often £5-10 plus 15% of the hammer price + VAT) and the buyer has paid commission (similarly often 20% + VAT)... you are likely to get 50% of the money you would get if you could sell it direct.

Having said that, they are usually very good at getting your items in front of a lot of likely buyers.

Swings and roundabouts.

It's my understanding that the buyer fees aren't deducted from what the seller receive for their goods, only the seller's fees would be the only deduction from the sale price which means you should still get in the region of 80% minus the VAT on the commission which is 20% of the 20% commission price which is 4% which gives you 76% of the sale price at 20% commission. I think 20% commission is the upper end, some auction houses offer 15% + vat which equals 18% in total which isn't far off what you'd be charged selling via ebay if the buyer paid with paypal which would bring the total to 15%.

I also think there's more customer confidence buying through an auction house than through ebay so you are likely to achieve higher prices. The only difference is the buyer doesn't pay fees on ebay which might affect what the buyer is prepared to bid up to.

 

[marlowe]

Many years ago we bought a print by a well known contemporary artist for our bedroom which cost £600.
However after a redec we decided we didn't want to keep it as it didn't work in the new scheme.
Checked various sources which said value was now about £500.
I contacted a couple of local auction houses, sent them photo of same print, which was in an expensive frame, and they came up with a pre sell value of £100.
Still got the print and will check the market again in a few years.

Have you considered shredding it? It might increase the value.

 

[Titanic]

It's my understanding that the buyer fees aren't deducted from what the seller receive for their goods, only the seller's fees would be the only deduction from the sale price which means you should still get in the region of 80% minus the VAT on the commission which is 20% of the 20% commission price which is 4% which gives you 76% of the sale price at 20% commission. I think 20% commission is the upper end, some auction houses offer 15% + vat which equals 18% in total which isn't far off what you'd be charged selling via ebay if the buyer paid with paypal which would bring the total to 15%.

I also think there's more customer confidence buying through an auction house than through ebay so you are likely to achieve higher prices. The only difference is the buyer doesn't pay fees on ebay which might affect what the buyer is prepared to bid up to.

I agree the seller would receive 76% of the hammer price (and may also have paid a lot fee)... but this hammer price is lower than a direct sale would have been because the bidder has already factored in the 20% commission+VAT they have to pay on top of the hammer price.

Round our way, Bellmans are 20% + VAT and Tooveys are 24.5% + VAT on hammer price for buyers.

 

[Winker]

Depending on what you are selling, Brighton Auctions are good for general stuff. They are based in Woodingdean. There is a sale on right now, if you google The Saleroom and select Brighton General Auctions, you can watch what is going on. The sales are online, on the phone and to the room so there is plenty of interest. (no - I don't work there!)

 

[Worthing exile]

Worthing General Auctions (in Goring) are on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month.

Run by Lou and Paul, they usually get a full room and a catalogue of about 400 items each time.

I have bought and sold there. Very painless.

 

[Best Foot Forward]

Depending on what you are selling, Brighton Auctions are good for general stuff. They are based in Woodingdean. There is a sale on right now, if you google The Saleroom and select Brighton General Auctions, you can watch what is going on. The sales are online, on the phone and to the room so there is plenty of interest. (no - I don't work there!)

We used these guys a couple of years ago on a variety of house clearance items. Quite surprising what items attracted the highest prices (not at all what I would have expected), but I guess it all depends who turns up as a buyer on the day (in house, or online), and what they are looking for.

 

[Superphil]

My wife works at an auction in Horsham, has done for over 30 years, it's a simple process to sell, and buy. You are always made aware of the rates before you buy or sell and should factor this into your budget. The benefit of using such a place is that they do promote your item locally, nationally and internationally and it's in their interest to get you the best price possible. They are also pretty knowledgeable about what you are trying to sell, sometimes it makes for uncomfortable reading, but generally they know what something is worth.

If you are buying, then furniture is an absolute bargain at the moment, and generally anything you buy (antique or vintage) should hold or increase its value right now as the prices are low. Jewellery is also a good buy, bear in mind that most of the buyers are dealers, they will be wanting to buy something they can mark up. Those vintage Rolex watches, antique diamond rings and pearl necklaces you see in shops in The Lanes were most probably bought at a quarter the price you see from a local auction.

That said, don't expect the hardwood table you bought from oakfurnitureland last year to be worth any more than a fiver, there is no sentiment in the industry, reproduction stuff is worthless at an auction. Similarly, those limited edition Star Trek/Coronation Street/Royal Wedding/Osmonds commemorative plates your Gran bought in 1983 are worth pretty much nothing.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

We sold some paintings recently at Gorringes but got significantly less than the purchase price many years ago. They will restrict your ability to pit on a reserve. I haven’t sold anything on eBay or Gumtree but have bid a couple of times. Strikes me as a more manageable way of selling stuff and the overheads are certainly less.

 

[Superphil]

We sold some paintings recently at Gorringes but got significantly less than the purchase price many years ago. They will restrict your ability to pit on a reserve. I haven’t sold anything on eBay or Gumtree but have bid a couple of times. Strikes me as a more manageable way of selling stuff and the overheads are certainly less.

Agreed, eBay and Paypal combined normally take around 13-14% off the final value, although they do charge an insertion fee if you set a reserve, or a pre-determined sale price. I sell on eBay all the time, overall it's a decent way to get your stuff in front of many people.

 

[BNthree]

Depending on what you are selling, Brighton Auctions are good for general stuff. They are based in Woodingdean. There is a sale on right now, if you google The Saleroom and select Brighton General Auctions, you can watch what is going on. The sales are online, on the phone and to the room so there is plenty of interest. (no - I don't work there!)

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...rch-filter?clientID=Brighton General Auctions

 

[mylesfdo]

Depends what you are selling tbh!

Sold a few bits recently for father's estate and used Gorringes for some but they dont seem to be very good for artwork, maps or stamps but pretty good on silverware bits and more obscure items(some lacquer box I was going to bin fetched 3x estimate!!). I used Tooveys for some maps and also stamps and they are pretty good but will give you a lower estimate but then again this is to get buyers interested and again some maps went for 2x estimate!

Camera items and books I used specialists who were very good and if you need names let me know and Ill dig out for you!

HTH

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

By the time you have paid your lot fees and sellers fees (often £5-10 plus 15% of the hammer price + VAT) and the buyer has paid commission (similarly often 20% + VAT)... you are likely to get 50% of the money you would get if you could sell it direct.

Having said that, they are usually very good at getting your items in front of a lot of likely buyers.

Swings and roundabouts.

I don't want to buy either of those things.

 

[marlowe]

Depends what you are selling tbh!

Sold a few bits recently for father's estate and used Gorringes for some but they dont seem to be very good for artwork, maps or stamps but pretty good on silverware bits and more obscure items(some lacquer box I was going to bin fetched 3x estimate!!). I used Tooveys for some maps and also stamps and they are pretty good but will give you a lower estimate but then again this is to get buyers interested and again some maps went for 2x estimate!

Camera items and books I used specialists who were very good and if you need names let me know and Ill dig out for you!

HTH

I've just been perusing todays FridayAd and there's an auction house advertising in there who are based in Falmer called Antique & Collectors Corner. Seems a bit of a wierd set up. They hold sealed bid auctions only. With that arrangement the seller would have no way of knowing for certain how much their items sold for. Something could sell for £100 and they could tell you it only sold for £70 and pocket the £30 for themselves.

I don't think they're going to attract many sellers with that arrangement so not sure why they're doing it. I looked at their facebook site but they dont seem to even promote what they have for sale.