How to Buy at Auction

Buying at auction rewards preparation. The catalogue does a great deal of the work for you, but it assumes a reader who knows what to look for and who understands that a bid is a commitment. Nothing in the process is designed to catch you out; almost everything can be learnt in an afternoon.

VALÉORINE conducts timed online sales. Lots are published in advance, bidding runs for a defined period, and each lot closes at a stated time. There is no auctioneer calling from a rostrum and no room to attend. This suits the material we handle, which is best examined slowly and described precisely.

Read the catalogue closely

A catalogue entry is a formal description, and every clause in it is deliberate. It will normally give the author or maker, the title, the place and date, the physical form, the extent, the binding or mount, and a statement of condition. Anything the specialist considers material to value should appear there.

Read the condition statement before the description. A handsome title conceals a great deal; a candid note about a repaired margin or a faded print tells you more about what you are buying. Where a lot is described as sold not subject to return, that phrase is doing real work and should be taken at face value.

Establish what you are prepared to pay

Set a figure before bidding opens, and set it as a total. The hammer price is not the sum that leaves your account: buyer's premium, any tax on that premium, and shipping are added afterwards. Our guide to [buyer's premium](/guides/understanding-buyers-premium) sets out the arithmetic in full.

The published estimate is a specialist's considered opinion of the likely hammer range, not a valuation and not a ceiling. Lots regularly sell above and below it.

Ask before you bid, not afterwards

Condition reports, further photographs, collation notes and questions of provenance are all available on request before a sale closes. Specialists would far rather answer a question in advance than receive it afterwards. If a point matters to your decision, put it in writing and wait for the answer.

Register in good time

Registration is a separate step from holding an account, and approval is not instantaneous. Identity verification and, where required, the acceptance of the conditions of sale for that particular auction must be completed before bidding opens. See [how to register for an auction](/guides/how-to-register-for-an-auction).

Bidding

Once approved, you may bid up to the current increment or leave a maximum. A maximum is executed on your behalf in steps, and only as far as is necessary to keep you in the lead; it is not a promise to spend the whole figure. Because our sales apply an extension near the close, a bid placed in the final moments extends that lot rather than ending it. Sniping does not work, and is not intended to.

After the hammer

A successful bid is a binding contract of sale. An invoice follows, stating the hammer price, the premium, any tax and the total due, with settlement instructions and a due date. Property is released once payment has cleared in full.

Collection and shipping are arranged after settlement. Paper-based material is packed to conservation standards; where an item is fragile, oversized or subject to export requirements, the timetable will be longer, and we will tell you so before you commit.

If a lot passes

Not every lot sells. Where a reserve is not met the lot is unsold, and it may or may not be offered again. There is no obligation on either side, and an unsold lot is not a judgement on the object.