Answers
Frequently asked
Everything the clerk gets asked, answered at the length the question deserves rather than the length that fits a tooltip.
Section 01 Bidding
- Do I have to register before I can bid?
- Yes. Registration is free and takes a few minutes, and issues you a paddle number. It closes 24 hours before a live saleroom sale and one hour before the first lot closes in a timed online sale. We may ask for identification and, on higher-value lots, for a bank reference.
- What is a paddle number?
- The number on the card you raise in the room. The auctioneer takes a bid from the paddle, not the face, and the clerk records the sale against the number. It is how a saleroom stays anonymous in the room and accountable on paper.
- Can I bid below the published estimate?
- You can bid whatever the ladder admits, and the auctioneer will usually open below the low estimate. Whether such a bid buys the lot depends on the reserve, which is confidential and may never exceed the low estimate.
- What happens if two people bid the same amount?
- In the room, the auctioneer decides which bid they saw first and their decision is final. Between two equal absentee bids, the one received first prevails. Between an absentee bid and a bid in the room at the same level, the room does not win — the absentee bid was there first.
Section 02 What you pay
- Is the estimate what I will pay?
- No. The estimate is the range the department expects the hammer price to fall in. To that is added the buyer's premium, and then sales tax where it applies. A lot estimated $30,000–50,000 that sells at $40,000 costs $50,800 before tax.
- Why is the premium regressive?
- Because the work of selling a very expensive object is not proportionally greater than the work of selling a moderately expensive one. The scale reflects the cost of the service rather than the value of the property.
- When is sales tax not charged?
- Where the house ships the property out of New York State on the buyer's behalf, and where the buyer has lodged a valid resale certificate with us before the invoice is raised. We cannot advise on your tax position; that is a question for your own adviser.
Section 03 Condition and authenticity
- Can I return a lot I am unhappy with?
- Generally no — every lot is sold as is, with all faults. The exception is the authenticity guarantee: if within five years you satisfy us that a lot is a deliberate forgery not described as such in the catalogue, we rescind the sale and refund the purchase price.
- What does "as found" mean?
- That the lot has faults the house can see and probably faults it cannot, that the report does not undertake to list everything, and that the lot is not subject to return. It is a warning, and it is meant as one.
- Will you tell me if a lot has been restored?
- Yes, as far as we know. Restoration is normal in property of this age and the department reports it plainly: a replaced foot is described as a replaced foot, not as a sympathetic later element. Ask the department direct questions and you will get direct answers.
Section 04 Selling
- What does it cost to sell?
- Seller's commission is 12 per cent of the hammer price, with photography, cataloguing, condition reporting and insurance in our care included. There is no commission on an unsold lot.
- When am I paid?
- Thirty-five days after the sale, on cleared funds, less commission and any agreed charges.
- Will you take anything?
- No. We decline a great deal, and we would rather tell you that a thing is worth less than the cost of selling it than take it, catalogue it and watch it pass.
Section 05 This website
- Is this a real auction house?
- No. Hammer & Co is a fictional house built to demonstrate a website design. Every lot, estimate, bid, result, provenance chain and specialist on this site is invented. Nothing here is offered for sale and no bid placed here is a real bid.
- Are the bidding mechanics real?
- The mechanics are: the increment ladder, the reserve logic, the buyer's premium arithmetic, the countdowns, the status model and the anti-sniping rule are all genuinely implemented, because a demonstration that fakes them demonstrates nothing. The bids themselves are not — nothing is sent anywhere.
Still stuck?
The departments answer direct questions directly.