Selling & valorization
Negotiating seller's commission with an auction house
Seller's commission is negotiable on strong pieces — major houses earn up to ~50% total per lot (buyer's premium + seller's commission + ancillaries), so your leverage is the piece's explosive potential. On high-value or rare objects, negotiate to 0% seller's commission plus covered transport and insurance. Start the conversation only after they've seen the piece and want it; weak pieces have no leverage. Reserve your written minimum cost always.
The Method's take
The Method's protocol: the piece is your only leverage, and the threat of leaving works only if the piece is explosive. Get three competing estimates in writing, then negotiate with the hungriest house — 0% seller's commission is standard on strong lots because the house makes its margin on the buyer's side. Lock transport, insurance, and reserve in writing before consigning. If they won't move and the piece is genuinely top-tier, walk — a house that won't negotiate doesn't believe in the lot.
The math
A €20,000 hammer at 25% seller's commission costs you €5,000 — ten years of annual passes or fifty 24-hour tactical sessions. Negotiating to 0% (feasible on rare/high pieces) saves that €5,000 outright. The 24-hour pass at €100 teaches you which pieces have leverage and how to force the conversation — recovering its cost in one negotiation, or preventing a consignment where you had none.
One question answered here saved you a mistake. The engine answers yours — the exact object, the exact number.
Ask the engine — 24h pass €100