Let us suppose that, alas, your uncle has died.
As his executor you have to clear the contents of his house in Berkhamsted. You have a choice of two long-established auction houses. Both are 10 miles from the house. Both are well-respected locally.
How do you decide which auction house to use?
For this article, we looked at Tring Market Auctions (www.tringmarketauctions.co.uk) and Amersham Auction Rooms (www.amershamauctionrooms.co.uk) and compared them against the usual criteria.
First, Convenience – the companies are very similar.
The staff visit the property, offer helpful advice, and arrange collection for which (normally) you will pay. If you deliver, access is easy; both companies have carparks.
Next, the People:
At Amersham Auction Rooms, Dick Ellis and Jacqui Arbery are the owners, and Stephen Hearn is the guv’nor at Tring Market Auctions. Well worth attending an auction, to experience the enthusiasm and to meet the people. All of them are genial and helpful and have been around their respective patches for, er, many years.
The Breadth Of Service:
Much the same – traditional advice and saleroom. Both welcome visitors even if you’re merely a spectator, and the auction is always interesting. Amersham Auction Rooms also offer on-line bidding, where the aim is to encourage a wider range of buyers. Intriguingly, at present Tring Market Auctions are pursuing a specific policy of not being on-line at their Tring venue, a decision which they have no difficulty in supporting and which we (at Where To Sell) intend to consider in a separate news item.
(“On-line or not” is a continuing debate. See https://www.wheretosell.co.uk/the-future-for-auction-houses/).
Tring Market Auctions do, of course, accept telephone bids, particularly during their special Fine Art, 20th Century & Decorative Art Sales*.
Both businesses promote their services in connection with probate and house clearances. Probate can be a very unwelcome challenge in what is already a distressing situation, and the legal formalities must be observed, so it is comforting to know that both these auction houses understand the requirements and offer sensible advice with full reports and valuations.
Their Charges? Not much difference.
For example, on a hammer price of £2000:
On sales, Amersham charges 15%, Tring charges 12% , both plus VAT.
On purchases, Amersham charges Buyers Premium of 15%, Tring charges 17.5%
. . . so it’s slightly more expensive to be a seller at Amersham, and slightly more expensive to be a buyer at Tring, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the difference is not enough to much influence the choice of venue.
For probate valuations, Tring Market Auctions charges a flat rate £100 plus VAT which includes two full reports, whilst Amersham Auction Rooms’ fee will depend on requirements.
Given that background information, what is the Conclusion?
If you telephone, whom do you contact first – Amersham or Tring?
And if you decide to hold a “beauty contest”, and you meet both parties at your late uncle’s house: they’re helpful; they’re sensible; you like them . . .
How, then, do you make the choice?
We suggest that you look for their areas of specialisation or (not quite the same) find out which items they are really keen to sell. If an auctioneer is known to specialise in particular items, he/she may be more likely to be supported by the keen buyers. And for an item to sell well, there have to be ready and competitive buyers – and they will patronise the auctioneers known for their expertise and enthusiasm in that market.
. . . which is exactly where we can help; we encourage the auctioneers to list their keen interests on Where To Sell. Then if you go to our “Make an Enquiry” page you will quickly see how enthusiastic your local auctioneer is about any given category.
If the auction houses don’t really specialise in any particular category (and neither Amersham nor Tring claim to major in any one item ) the sensible course is to weigh up the rarity of the item and the general popularity of the local saleroom against the time and complexity involved in dealing with a specialist some distance away. Where To Sell lists all the auction houses and intermediaries (by specialisation and by proximity) and all of them should be happy to give an honest opinion.
And if you still can’t choose, may we suggest flipping a coin?
