I buy over 100 to 150 lots a month on various auction sites, so parcels are coming and going.
After a recent bruising experience with an auction house on storage charges, I feel these costs need to be added to the transparency debate.
In this case, I was informed that I owed a high three-figure sum after mistakenly not organising the collection of lots I had purchased.
I told the auction house they have a duty to warn the buyer by email or phone – or even letter – of the financial consequences if this happens. The auction house said they did not feel obliged to do this, as the imposition of storage charges is contained in their terms and conditions. They also said they had started to sell my property to recover storage charges, but they did not even inform me of this.
In this era of internet sales, most dealers are buying from further afield and have to rely on carriers and others to arrange collection.
I salute those auction houses who adopt a more customer-service approach in this regard.
Jamie Dillon
Visage Gallery
