Fall is in the air, it must be Auction Season! Item Number: 100031 $0.00

DescriptionI don’t know about the rest of world, but here in Colorado autumn is in the air. The university and all the local schools are back in session, the temperatures are back down to the mid 90’s (33-35 C for all our European friends), and the French are finally starting to come back from their month long vacation. And with the autumn comes one of my favorite seasons – auction season!

Auction season usually runs for two sustained periods each year. You have your spring auctions which run from April through June, and your fall auctions which run from late September through early December. This fall we have already seen auction hype heating up with Christie’s and Sotheby’s ready to duke it out again, with the lighter weight divisions preparing to fight for those Dollars and Euros that the big two miss. Among the other auction houses to watch are Bonham’s in both London and now the USA, Arte Primitivo, several Parisian and Munich houses, Skinner (occasionally), and a new up-and-comer, Artemis Gallery Live (more shameless plugs!)

With all these auctions and all these available goodies, I thought perhaps I would go over some of the basics of how to buy at auction.

Here are some basic tips to guide you:

• Plan your strategy. The first step in any auction plan is scout out all the goodies that are being offered. Virtually every auction house now uses Internet based On-Line listings. If you are looking at a number of items, I would recommend you set up a folder in the favorites section (bookmark in some cases) of your browser, and save links to the auction catalogs and especially favored items in that folder. For example, here is a link you may wish to add into that favorite’s folder – Artemis Gallery Live. You might also want to mark your calendar for all of these events. There may easily be a good 10 to 12 auctions to follow this fall, so knowing who has what, and what day these auctions happen, can mean the difference between getting what you want, or missing out big time!
• Plan your budget. Some of you are fortunate enough to be able to spend as much as you want, whenever you want on your ancient art. For the remaining 99.9% of the population, do an accurate assessment of what you can afford to spend, or what you want to spend. If you see a few things you really, really want, you might consider a small contingency fund, but be careful. Auctions prey on your emotions and one can find themselves way over your limit in a matter of seconds.
• Do your research – check out all the auctions you can. There may be times when you see similar items in several of the auctions. If they are of interest, determine if there are significant differences in the items, conditions, auction house rules and costs, or guarantees associated with each. Doing your research on the auction house themselves is also never a bad thing. Things like buyer’s premiums can have a huge impact on the final price. Not to throw stones at Christie’s, but in the spring, they held an auction Amsterdam where the buyer’s premium was 29.5%!
• Identify your targets. Create your short-list of things you would like to add to your collection. Only you can know what will really make you smile, but we never recommend you buy because an item appears to be a great value, or because if you buy this lesser piece maybe you can buy a second item. Collecting art is all about emotion. If you do not have a high emotional attraction to an item, eventually it will lose favor. Buy what you love!
• Get the facts – condition, provenance, sizes, shipping arrangements, etc. Make sure you have all the information you need to make an informed decision. Some auction houses do not make the condition readily available. If you have any doubts - ask! If you need additional photos because perhaps a critical angle is missing – ask! After the auction is never a good time to be asking about anything other than when can you get your piece delivered and even that is something you should know about before the auction has happened.
• Establish a maximum price per lot. For the pieces you are interested in, set your limit. If you decide you want to spend $10,000 on a piece. Make that your limit. But be realistic. In the heat of battle, if you are at $9500, and the next bidder goes to $10,000, plan in advance if you will really stick to your budget or go that extra bid.
• Make sure you calculate buyer’s premium, VAT and shipping in your maximum bid. Added charges can add up very quickly. Most auction houses now charge 20% buyers premium (by comparison, Artemis Gallery Live only charges a modest 14.5%). Many European auction houses charge VAT on top of the buyer’s premium. Then there are shipping charges and credit card charges. Don’t be surprised after the sale when you get an invoice that is 30% higher than the hammer price. Anticipate these expenses in advance!
• Decide how to bid – phone, live, Internet, mail. There are now a number of different ways to bid in an auction. In the god old days (5 years ago), you might either attend in person, or be a phone bidder. The Internet has changed things rather dramatically. You can now use the Internet to submit bids in advance, or to even bid live from the comfort of your home or office. Based on your personality type, you may get into the rush of live bidding, either at home on your computer or on site. But if you are one of these types that get all nervous as the action heats up, we might seriously recommend you submit your bid in advance and let others handle the bidding for you. In most cases you can tell the auctioneer exactly where to start your bidding and how high you are willing to go.
• Auction bargains - Let’s face it, auctions are a form of psychological warfare; as such, they tend to take on a distinct personality all of their own. Usually, auctions start slowly, build momentum, reach a huge crescendo, and then slowly fall off toward the last lots. Sometimes some of the best bargains are first or last in an auction. It can be worth being emotionally ready to jump in early, or stick around late to pick off some real beauties!
• After-auction bargains – Contact soon, negotiate aggressively. Don’t be fooled - very few auction houses sell everything that is up for sale even though it may look like it. If you see that an item you have interest in did not sell, contact the auction house and see if the owner is willing to deal. Find out the reserve price (the price the owner has set as their minimum) and see if that owner is willing to sell for less. It is in the auction house’s interest to make a sale, and they are quite happy to help you make that happen after the auction is completed.
• Once the auction is over, re-group. There may still be another 10 more auctions to come this season, and many more goodies to covet!
  
  Auctions are a rush. I’ll be the first to admit my palms get all sweaty when I am poised to do battle at an auction. There’s really only one other thing I can think of that gets the heart racing like a good auction. Isn’t that right, honey…?
  
  Happy collecting!
  Bob