MADAM – Raymond Woodruffe complains about paying, in effect, 36.6% commission, including VAT, taking into account the buyer’s premium of 21%, for selling a clock for £1400 at auction.
Three salient points arise. First, what did the vendor originally pay for his clock? Second, what was the estimate? Third, why did he not arrange for the photograph fee to be waived, and negotiate a sensible vendor’s commission rate?
The figure initially quoted by a provincial auction house (in this case, 15%) is, in my experience, normally an invitation to negotiate.