girlfriendred

Ok, I have a new question. The day we take the hop on/hop off bus around London there is an auction at Christies (both locations) for British and Continenal Pictures and 19th Century works of Art. My questions are: 1. if the auction has already started, can we slip in during it? and 2. can you pick up any "bargains" at these auctions, or is everything usually very pricey? and 3. if you are going to bid, do you have get be "qualified" first?

jody

Yes, to all 3..but you can pre-register earlier in the day.

jody

Also , stop in a few days before and look at the offerings in the pre-sale viewings and see if there is anything you are interested in and examine it ahead of time.

Tulips

And if you are buying something to take with you overseas, check regulations/taxes. Or have Christies ship it out to you. You can pick up some real bargains if you are there, but keep to a certain maximum; you can get carried away. And don't forget the premium that the auction house adds to the hammer price. South Kensington usually has the less expensive auctions.

girlfriendred

how much is the premium? Is it a fixed amount or a percentage?

andy

Premiums at most auction houses are between additional 10%-20% depending on the auction house...

Antiques can be brought back to the states DUTY FREE as long as you have the letter stating the era that they come from....

Here is the premium amounts added on that I got from the Christie's website:

King Street 19.5% premium
South Kensington 17.5% premium
Rates INCLUDE VAT...

Here is the Bidding policy if you are in person:
In person
We encourage you to pre-register by providing your billing information and a bank reference to the Bid Department no later than 48 hours prior to the auction. On the day of the sale, please arrive in sufficient time to present identification, sign the registration form and receive your bidding paddle.

Raise your paddle when you wish to bid and wait for the auctioneer to acknowledge you. If anyone else wishes to acquire the lot, they will bid against you by the same means. The auctioneer will continue taking ever-increasing bids from each interested party until all but one person drops out. The final bidder is the successful buyer and the auctioneer indicates that the lot is sold by knocking down his gavel on the rostrum and declaring the final hammer price.

You need to KNOW what you are buying to figure out if there are any bargains...
We have found that a trip to the countryside and their auction houses are far lower than Christies...But that is just us...Go and have a BLAST and remember to not get carried away by the moment!!