MADAM – As the focus of the debate in ATG’s letters pages seems to have shifted from criticism of the buyer’s premium to arguing the case for the seller, may I have my say?
If I asked an auctioneer to sell an item and was advised it was only worth £50-100, then I could hardly request a reduction in commission of, say 15%.
However, if the same auctioneer recognised my item was possibly worth upwards of £100,000, I would reply: “Thank you so much, but given you will receive 20% from the buyer I do not expect any charge other than a contribution towards insurance.”