Post-Sale Advice
After the auction has finished the next piece of correspondence you will receive is the post-sale advice. This is a document, usually sent by email that informs you of the lot status after the auction. It will usually reference the stock ID number, lot number, lot description, estimates, reserve, sold status and a proposal of what will happen to your lots if they failed to sell. This will usually be displayed in a table and will be for all lots offered in the auction.
If a lot is sold then the table will show you the hammer price that the lot achieved. At this point, it is rare for these figures to take into account charges such as vendor commission as they are dealt with in the vendor statement. At the bottom of the table will be the cumulative hammer total of all lots sold which will give you an indication of the funds that you will receive at a later date.
If a lot is unsold there will be no hammer price as nobody bid high enough, in relation to the estimate and reserve, to purchase the lot. Because the lot is unsold there is the question of what to do next with the item. There are many options including re-offering the lot, merging with other lots, disposal/donation and return to vendor. The item history (number of times already offered) and the item value will usually dictate the proposed action.
Re-offer is probably the most common proposed action. This involves offering the item for sale in another future auction. In many cases this will also warrant a reduced estimate and reserve as the current figures were most likely too high, resulting in the lot not selling. All of this information (proposed next auction, estimates and reserve) will be included in the document. For example, if a lot failed to sell in a Fine Art auction with an estimate of £200-£300 with a discretionary reserve of £200, the auctioneer may propose re-offering the lot in the next General sale with an estimate of £150-£200 with a sell reserve. This would be to ensure that the lot sells, but because of the reduced estimate, there is a good chance the item will sell for less than you initially hoped for.
Next, is a proposed merge of certain unsold lots. It follows many of the same steps as above but also includes merging multiple unsold lots into one single combined lot. This is usually for lower value items but can be a good way of selling items if you just want to get some money for them. For example, if a ring, necklace and a watch were all unsold the auctioneer may propose merging the three lots into one combined lot with an increased estimate as it would need to account for their cumulative value. Therefore, if the ring was previously estimated at £80, the necklace £100 and the watch £120 the proposed new combined estimate may be £250-£300.
The next two options are fairly simplistic. If a lot is marked for disposal the auctioneer will simply take it to the tip and dispose of the item for you. In some cases, it may be marked for donation instead. The auctioneer may have a link with a local charity and will donate the lots to a charity shop or a local initiative. These actions are usually only the case for low-value items.
Finally, the auctioneer may propose that the lots are returned to you, the vendor. This is usually for items that have failed to sell a couple of times but are too valuable to simply dispose of or donate to charity. If this is the case you will need to organise collection or delivery of the items with the auction house.
All of the above actions at this stage are simply proposals. They are not set in stone and are merely the advice of the specialist. If you have any issues with the re-offer, such as the proposed auction or estimates, or disposal etc. then raise it with the auction house. The email will usually mention this and will provide a contact number or email address to use in case of any disputes. Some auction houses will include in their terms that if you fail to respond they will go ahead with the proposed action. Therefore, if you have not received this after a couple of days raise it with the auction house as they may have the wrong email or address on record. Some auctioneers may also require a signature confirming that you are happy with the proposed actions; if this is the case it will say so in email or document. Finally, some auction houses will call instead of sending a document. If this is the case the discussion and confirmation will take place there and then over the phone.
After the post-sale advice has been sent and confirmed the next stage is the statement process and payment for the lots sold at auction. This final stage of the process is covered in my next article on vendor statements.
