Some auctioneers have pointed out that the expenses involved in staging sales means they sometimes charge fees for charity auctions.
Art dealer John Brandler asked the auction house to clarify its wording of “all proceeds from the sale go to charity” in its cataloguing of a charity sale in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust in June. He said it was unclear if that included buyer’s premium.
A sale coordinator at Bonhams had replied to Brandler: “The full hammer price will be donated to the Teenage Cancer Trust. Buyer’s premium will be payable and 20% VAT.”
Bonhams has since confirmed it had waived all sellers’ and buyers’ fees for charity auctions held this year to date as well as such sales coming up in the next few months.
Other auction houses say it is common practice to cover the costs of a charity sale, however. Costs incurred in running a charity event can include advertising, cataloguing and shipping.
Kerry Taylor of Kerry Taylor Auctions told ATG that her firm did not charge buyer’s premium or commission on its CosProp charity auction in March 2023 but that “it really is the norm to keep the buyer’s premium” in the industry.
She added: “My entire team was involved in working on the auction for at least a month… so I bore the cost of all those salaries for that time. I donated 100% of the premium. Maybe a fairer way forward would be to just deduct out-of-pocket costs, thereby giving as much to the charity as possible without being out of pocket.”
Guy Schooling, chairman of Sworders, added: “Buyer’s premium is an essential income stream to auction rooms, as costs spiral and vendor commission rates are squeezed ever harder. However, we do not and have never charged buyer’s premium in charity auctions, which we conduct on an entirely charitable basis.”
There is not just a difference in fee policy between salerooms. In many cases, an auction house’s stance differs between separate charity events.
For instance, Nick Greenwood, executive director of Chiswick Auctions, told ATG that the firm waives the buyer’s premium for local charity sales in the Chiswick area but discounts the buyer’s premium at 50% for other charities that approach them, to cover their costs.
'A difficult one'
Adam Partridge from the eponymous auction house added there had been a couple of instances where a buyer’s premium was agreed with the charity to cover costs, but in general the firm does not charge a fee.
“It is a difficult one, but in general we wouldn’t dream of charging buyer’s premium for a charity auction,” he told ATG.
“In fact, the lack of premium is often something I use to help cajole the bidders into being more generous than they planned to be. However, it does depend on the type of event and what expenses other than time are incurred.”
Indeed, the extra level of generosity generated from charity auction sales - meaning higher bids than usual - can risk perceptions of profiteering if an auction house is not as transparent about its buyer’s premium intentions as it could be.
Having reiterated its position on waiving its fees, Bonhams told ATG: “Charity auctions are very important to Bonhams and we have waived fees for auctions that we have held this year - Goodwoof (in aid of Jai Dog Rescue) and The Feathers Ball at Natural History Museum for Ecoflix - as we will for the auctions coming up in the next few months: an auction in aid of the Royal West Academy of Bristol, the Royal Warrant Holders and Brain Power Art Sale in Support of Brain Tumour Research on August 2-12 in Edinburgh.”
