BENEFITS
Acquiring art works through traditional auction houses continues to be the closest thing the art world has to a stock exchange but it is distinctly noticeable that the art trade itself has begun to stay clear of buying its stock at auction. This is due in part to the punitive commission rates as well as the exposure of those sales results to third party websites.

Private Art Auctions is an initiative set up to redress these disadvantages by allowing buyers to compete in an open auction process whilst benefitting from a private sale at the same time, all with a radically reduced buyer's premium of only 12.5%.

• Sealed bidding process avoids any publication of winning bids on sold items.
• No sale results are published on our website thereby preventing third party websites' access to them.
• Specialist service in the compilation and selection of items included in sales' catalogues.
• Radically reduced buyer's premium of only 12.5% (+ VAT)

  THE AUCTION
We conduct three sales each year in April, July and November in the fields of Modern British, Modern European, Post-War and Contemporary Art.

• Once the catalogue is published on this website, a two-week auction process begins.
• If you wish to submit a bid on an item in the sale, you will need to register with us first and fill out the bid submission form.
• This will then be emailed to us, and a copy is sent back to you for your records.
• You also need to agree to our Terms & Conditions before a bid can be submitted, you can download this document here.
• We will notify you of the receipt of your bid, but please do not assume the bid has been received if there is no notification of its receipt.

  BIDDING
Bids are accepted during the two week process only and are based upon the concept of the absentee bid in traditional auction houses:

• In effect, we place bids on your behalf in the auction up to your bid limit.
• The sale price will be calculated on the level of the second best bid, plus one more. So, if a work is estimated at £4000-£6000, and two bids are left of £5000 and £8000, the sale price will be calculated as £5500 (£5000 plus one bid) and awarded to the bidder of the £8000 bid.
• Increments by which bids go up are published within our terms and conditions and conform to usual increments as seen in traditional auction houses.
• Where there are identical bids on the same lot, the bidder who submitted his bid first will be deemed the buyer.
• Half bids will only be accepted at our discretion and may not be deemed admissible in which case they will be rounded up to the nearest published increment.

  PAYMENT and COLLECTION

• At the end of the two-week auction process, we will notify you of the success or otherwise of you bids. An invoice based upon the hammer price plus our buyer’s premium (inclusive of VAT) will be sent to you, including our payment details.
• Payment by wire transfer is to be received by us within 10 days of the date of the invoice, and the funds will be held in a client account until the sale is deemed complete by us after the delivery of the lot(s) to our designated warehouse and their final inspection.
• Once the sale is deemed complete, we will issue you with a Buyer’s Notification which signals the completion of the sale. Title now passes to the buyer and the works are available for collection directly from the shipper’s warehouse.
• We allow a 5 day period after the issue of the Buyer’s Notification in which the buyer can collect their acquisition without incurring storage costs from the shippers.
• Once the 5 day period has finished, any new costs will be borne by the buyer and will be payable directly to the shipper before the work(s) can be cleared.

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Modern & Contemporary Art: 25th November - 4th December 2009

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Modern British Art: 11th November - 20th November 2009

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Summer Catalogue: 3-16th July 2009
Modern British, Modern European and Post-War & Contemporary Art

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Inaugural Sale:   3rd - 17th April 2009

  BENEFITS
Traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ auction houses continue to be the avenue of choice for those wishing to dispose of their art works. At the higher end of the market, this approach is still probably the most advantageous, but at the lower end, where works are more usual and prices more stable, this can be a very expensive route to market.

Commission rates are very punitive at up to 15% when a work sells. If a work goes unsold, then there are transport charges, storage, insurance, BI and photography fees to take care of before you can reclaim your property. This can be a very expensive failure. Perhaps even worse is the publication of this failure on third party websites, thereby damaging its future sales potential.

Private Art Auctions is an initiative set up specifically to help sellers avoid these negative aspects whilst still benefitting from the auction’s ‘open process’.

Specifically, our advantages are as follows:

• Specialist knowledge in the valuation, presentation and marketing of your art works
• A professional and discreet service in all aspects of your transaction
• Access to our extensive global network of galleries, dealers and private collectors
• Avoidance of any pre-sale costs
• Radically reduced seller’s premium of only 5% of hammer price
• No exposure of unsold lots to third party websites

  PROCEDURES

• Initially, the first thing to do is to contact us directly via email with a list of works you wish to consign for sale. Once auction estimates have been agreed between us, then you will need to supply us with all the cataloguing information and photography of the works which we need to complete your lot entry.
• Please download the cataloguing form here, fill out the relevant fields and email it back to us. You are free to set the reserve price on the lot at any time before the sale, but this must not be above the low estimate.
• Before works are finally included in the sale catalogue, we need to have received back from you a signed copy of our Seller’s Terms. You can download this document here. Please print it off and return it by post or email.
• Upon completion of the auction, we will contact you with your sales results. It is understood that we, as agents, are acting on your (the vendor’s) behalf to secure the best price possible within our conditions of sale for the art works in question.
• In the event of a lot failing to reach its reserve price, you may wish to instruct us to pursue a sale at a newly-revised price. We will only do so with your consent.

  LOGISTICS

• When a work is sold, the buyer will forward funds to us to be held until completion of the sale.
• The work will then be transported by the vendor, at their own expense, to our designated warehouse in London, New York or Berlin for final inspection by us. Please contact us directly if you wish to discuss what these costs may be. Of course, this varies on a case-to-case basis.
• Once the work has been inspected by us to check that the vendor’s cataloguing is correct and that the work has not been misrepresented in any way, a Buyer’s Notification document is sent to the buyer to inform them of the completion of the sale.
• Title now passes to the buyer and they are now free to collect the work directly from the shipper.
• Funds are paid out to sellers 14 days after the issue of the Buyer’s Notification. The shipping and storage fees will be deducted from your final remittance.

         Postal address:

PRIVATE ART AUCTIONS
PO Box 131
405 Kings Road
London
SW10 0BB
United Kingdom

         Telephone:

+44 (0)20 7351 0418

         Email:

         Company Registration No.

6225525

         VAT Registration No.

911691334

      Introduction
Private Art Auctions is a new initiative that aims to provide a cost effective buying and selling on-line platform for dealers and collectors of Fine Art. Combining the positive aspects of the traditional 'bricks and mortar' auction house with the privacy and discretion of the private sale, Private Art Auctions is a unique hybrid scheme which offers a discreet, expert service without the punitive costs for buyers and sellers.

Notes for buyers:

• Please register first and download the catalogue from this page.
• You are free to contact us either by telephone (10-6 pm Mon-Fri) or by email with your enquiries for further information, condition reports or supplementary images.
• The auction is a 'sealed bid' process whereby the best offer wins once the 10 day sale has ended. Bids received first will be given precedence over matching bids.
• You should always submit your best bid, we guarantee to work the bid down to the lowest possible price whilst still ensuring you are successful.
• Our commission rate is only 12.5%, a 50% reduction on some of our competitors.

For more information on how to buy through these auctions, please visit the 'Buyers' section listed on the menu bar.

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