Never bought at auction before? Whether you are looking to buy or sell, our quick guide will help get you started.

Buying

Auctions can be an exciting experience, whether you are searching for rare or interesting items, or looking for a bargain. Whatever your reasons for coming we’ll do our best to make your experience as enjoyable and rewarding as possible.

1) Have a good look at the items you wish to bid on, either on the morning of the sale or at one of our viewing days. Satisfy yourself to authenticity, suitability etc. Just ask for advice if you need it.

2) On sale day get a bidding number from reception, first timers will be asked to register.

3) Decide what the maximum is you wish to bid up to. Don’t forget that on top of the hammer price you will have to pay commission at 15% plus VAT on the commission. (This equates to 18% of the hammer price).

4) When a lot you wish to bid on is about to be sold, make sure the auctioneer can clearly see you and raise your bidder card to let him know you are bidding.

5) If successful, show the auctioneer your bidder number card.

6) Pay at reception and collect your items. Simple!! We can offer a delivery service but it is advisable to get a quote beforehand so that you can factor this into the cost.

Bid Online!

If you can’t make it to our auction room for sale day we offer live online bidding, allowing you to bid from anywhere in the world! All you need is an internet connection and a computer (or a mobile device!).

We currently have two online bidding platforms for our auctions: The-Saleroom and BidonThis

– Run by Antiques Trade Gazette, Laptop/Desktop computers only.

– Full mobile device support so you can bid from your mobile phone or tablet.

Selling

Auctions can be an exciting and hassle free way of selling your possessions. We’ll do our best to make your experience as enjoyable and rewarding as possible. We operate a ‘No sale – No fee’ policy, we make absolutely no charge at all for any item entered, that does not sell. Sell with confidence.

1) Bring items into the saleroom for assessment or photographs if too big to bring. Alternatively, a home visit can be arranged.

2) Satisfy yourself with the values placed on your items and set a reserve price with the valuer if required, so that the items do not sell for less than you would like.

3) We will enter your item into our next sale, or if we agree it would benefit from being in one of our specialist sales, then we will enter it into the earliest specialist sale we can. We will market your item appropriately to achieve the best prices possible on your behalf.

4) We will send you a cheque for items sold, after deducting our earlier agreed fees. We do not charge for the items that have not sold.