To Auction or Not To Auction - (Auction Houses)

Consigning individual items or an entire collection to an auction house has always been the first choice of most collectors (or their heirs) for disposing of high quality collectibles. In the past (pre-internet), it may have been the best choice for many sellers. The major auction houses, Christie's & Sotheby's, had access to most of the serious collectors worldwide, they would handle entire collections, and their commissions & expenses to buyers & sellers were not considered excessive. Unfortunately, all of that has now changed, giving rise to many issues that must be considered before deciding to auction or not to auction.

The most critical issue is that the major auction houses will now only accept the finest and most expensive items in a collection, leaving the seller to make other arrangements to dispose of the rest. While the major auction houses may get a seller premium prices for their best items, it will certainly be far more difficult for the seller to find outlets for the rest of a collection, without its best items. The second tier auction houses will certainly atttempt to fill the vaccuum left by Christie's & Sotheby's exits from the antique scientific instrument auction market, but it will take several years for any of them to expand their base of buyers and, with four or more auction houses competing for business, it is unlikely that one or two of them will be able to dominate like Christie's & Sotheby's did, leaving the auction market splintered and none of the auction houses with access to a majority of the most serious buyers worldwide.

The second most critical issue is that the commissions & expenses to sellers have become very much higher in recent years, including packing, shipping, storage & insurance charges from the seller's location to the auction house, catalog photography, seller's commissions, unsold item charges, and packing, shipping & insurance charges for unsold items returned to the seller.

Another critical issue is that the commissions, payment costs & shipping expenses to auction buyers have also become very much higher in recent years - buyer's premiums plus VAT at UK and EU auction houses are usually 24% or higher, payment costs (bank charges, credit card surcharges, and currency conversion costs) can add another 2-4% at least, and packing/shipping charges can be downright eyepopping. As a result, many serious collectors are no longer willing to buy from auction houses, preferring instead the many other venues offered on the internet.

In light of these issues, consigning to an auction house should no longer be a seller's first choice, but should be considered as simply one choice among many now available in the marketplace and sellers should evaluate the pros and cons of each relative to their specific needs.