Revised on 7 November 2026. Should any information have changed, please notify me and I shall update it.
At an auction, the price announced at the fall of the hammer is not the final amount payable. The hammer price is subject to the buyer's premium, taxes and collection costs, and the total may be significantly higher. Each auction house operates under specific regulations, which must be reviewed prior to bidding. The precise terms are those stipulated by each house; ensure they are read in full.
The estimate
The catalogue provides a range, for example 3,000-5,000 euros. This represents the auction house's opinion on the probable price, not a formal valuation. A reserve price, agreed upon with the seller and typically confidential, usually exists below this range. Should the bidding fail to reach this reserve, the lot remains unsold.
A low estimate may serve as an invitation to bid rather than an objective assessment of value.
Beyond the hammer price
Buyer's premium. A percentage of the hammer price charged by the auction house to the buyer, as defined in their general terms and conditions, occasionally tiered according to price brackets.
VAT. Its treatment depends on the tax regime applied by the auction house and the nature of the lot. When the house acts as a principal under the special scheme for works of art and collectors' items, VAT is included within the margin and is not itemised. In other instances, it is applied to the premium or the total. Lots imported from outside the European Union may also be subject to import VAT. The catalogue identifies such lots with a symbol; consult the legend.
Droit de suite (Resale right). Legislation mandates that this be borne by the seller when the resale price reaches 800 euros. Certain general terms and conditions transfer this obligation to the buyer; if applicable, this will be stated. Further details are available in the guide on the droit de suite.
Collection and shipping costs. Storage fees incurred after a specified period, packaging and transport, which the auction house typically arranges through third-party providers.
Before bidding, calculate the total amount you are prepared to pay and deduct the premium and taxes. This constitutes your actual maximum bid.
Before bidding
Request the condition report for the lot; if the work is of sufficient value, commission an independent assessment. Attend the viewing or request photographs of the reverse, signature and labels. Verify the auction house's guarantees regarding authorship and the timeframe for lodging claims. Examine the catalogue entry with precision: in many houses, terms such as "attributed to", "circle of" or "style of" denote decreasing degrees of certainty regarding authorship, and the catalogue legend explains each term. Verify the provenance provided and consult databases of stolen art if the history contains gaps.
If the work is over one hundred years old and you intend to export it from Spain, ascertain whether it possesses an export permit or if it is classified as non-exportable.
Historical heritage and the right of pre-emption
Auctions of items forming part of the Spanish Historical Heritage must be notified to the Administration, which may exercise the right of pre-emption to acquire the lot at the hammer price. If bidding on a work subject to this condition, be aware that the adjudication may not be definitive until the statutory period has elapsed.
Online bidding
Live bidding platforms may impose their own commission, which is added to the buyer's premium. Absentee or "best offer" bids are executed by the auction house on your behalf up to your maximum. By bidding online, you acknowledge that a click is equivalent to a raised paddle: there is no right of withdrawal.
The right of withdrawal is excluded in public auctions. An exclusively online bid should not be assumed to be covered without verifying whether it meets the legal definition and the platform's terms. Do not bid under the assumption that a return is possible.
After the hammer
Payment must be made via bank transfer within the timeframe stipulated by the terms. The auction house will require identification in accordance with anti-money laundering regulations. You will receive an invoice and, upon request, the condition report and provenance documentation. Collect the work or arrange transport within the specified period; storage fees will be applied thereafter.
Further reading
- How to read a condition report for a work of art
- Authenticity, attribution, and forgery: a guide for collectors
- Restitution and responsible acquisition: the provenance of a work
- Importing and exporting works of art in Spain: permits and licences
On the open conversation
If you are employed by an auction house and observe a practice described incompletely, please contact me. This notebook remains open.
Sources
- Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996, consolidated text of the Intellectual Property Law, art. 24.
- Law 37/1992, on Value Added Tax, arts. 135 to 139.
- Law 16/1985, on Spanish Historical Heritage, art. 38.
- Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users, art. 103.