In this blog post, we are going to give you beginners advice on do's and don’ts when it comes to buying from auction houses. We have a lot of experienced art collectors come through our doors, but we also have a lot of first-time art buyers that often want advice. So, we wrote this blog post for the new buyers, so that they can have a simple and easy-to-follow guide when looking to buy from auction houses.
Do
- Set a clear limit. Once you find a piece that you have your heart set on, it's important that you always have a clear limit in mind. This will keep you from falling for the auction psychology of going much higher than planned because you want to outbid someone else.
- Ask about phone bidding rules. If you bid on the phone, you should always ask beforehand whether they require you to bid the minimum.
- Read the small print. Always make sure you read the small print at the back of the catalog or on the website, as some auction houses don't take anything back and don't guarantee authenticity. Also, make sure to read between the lines, for example, if it says; "in the fashion of, or in the style of", these are pseudonyms for not genuine and probably modern.
- Find out how much of a premium added to the hammer price. Remember, the hammer price is not the final sales price. Many auction houses nowadays add up to a 25% premium to the hammer price. So, keep that in mind when you fix your limits on your bids.
- Request a condition report. Always request a detailed condition report with pictures and an exact list of cracks, restorations, appraisals, paper trails, and background information.
- Timing is everything. You'll want to avoid the main slots where everyone buys, for example, Sotheby's on Saturdays. If you have different options and are buying during the main season (fall), wait until the dealers and collectors have spent their limits and go for objects later in the season/ sales event.
- Look for misplaced objects. You want to keep an eye out for misplaced objects. For example; a futuristic Gino Severini crammed into a long lot line of antiquities and old masters. Pieces like that tend to have much less competition and get easily overlooked. Always look through the entire auction catalog and search for misplaced special pieces like that, out of place works on paper, for example, are very common.
- File any eventual claims immediatly. Be sure to return/claim your piece immediately if there is something wrong with it, as most auction houses only give you a 14-day window for any returns.
Don't
- Only look for big auction houses. Another alternative to big auction houses is the smaller less known auction houses, for example, Tajan, and Grisebach. You can also look for estate sales in your area, but we recommend avoiding online auction houses with no real brick-and-mortar address, as you stand the chance of buying fakes.
- Bid at the start of the auction. See how it plays out. Find out who you're up against. Don't drive the price up in the beginning unnecessarily. Bidding for the first time right before the hammer goes down is demoralizing for the competition because they already think they have a piece at a certain hammer price and then you go in last and outbid them.
- Get your expectations up. If you find a good piece at a very low estimate, don't get your expectations up because they might just be baiting you. A high estimate could result in the piece being brought in, but you could make a much lower bid in the after-sale. You want to buy in the after-sale if possible, because, the best bargains are to be made after the sale when a piece is brought in. That's when you can make an offer to the consigner through the auction house which is either the starting bid or even lower.
- Send in a written limit. When you send in a written limit, most of the time they will reach it somehow.
We hope that you found this blog post helpful. Keep an eye out for next week's post with more help on navigatin the art world.