Selling with Mayfair Auctions

There are three simple steps to selling with Mayfair Auctions as follows:

1. Valuation - the first step is to request a valuation of your items using the form below or by getting in touch with us.
2. Consign - our experts will provide a free estimate of how much your item might raise at auction and advise on the next steps to consign your items to us to auction on your behalf.  
3. Auction - your items will be marketed and sold on global auction platforms ensuring you receive the best possible price!

At Mayfair Antiques, we believe that a team with different skills and qualities is the recipe for success.  With this in mind, you should expect the following from us:

• Expertise and knowledge - we have experts in jewellery and antiques who are able to appraise your items and give you insights into their history and value.
• Approachable and respectful - our team is friendly and approachable.  We aren't stuffy or set in our ways and there are definitely no 'silly' questions and we will always try our best to help you through the process and answer any questions you have.
• International reach - we market and sell to buyers from all over the World so your items will have the best chance at selling.
• Efficient and organised - We have built Mayfair Auctions from the ground up, carefully designing our team, processes and technology with efficiency in mind to ensure that you have an excellent customer experience and are kept up-to-date on the sale of your items.
• No fees! - we charge no fees to sell your items in our auction so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain in consigning your jewellery with us!

Simply put, zero!

Unlike many auction houses, we don't believe it is right to charge both buyers and sellers for our services as we think it can create unnecessary conflicts of interest.   We do not charge any of the following fees which are commonly charged by other auction houses:

• Seller commission
• Storage fees
• Insurance fees
• Loss or damage warranty fees
• Lot entry fees
• Photography charges
• Unsold lot charges.

Accordingly, our charging structure is simple.  Sellers do not pay any fees or charges and that includes no charges for lotting, photographs, advertising, insurance, etc.  We undertake this at our cost.  Buyers pay a simple, fair premium on the hammer price creating the right incentive structure - we get paid and cover our costs when we sell articles on behalf of our sellers and not when we don't!

If you decide to withdraw items from a sale after you have agreed to consign them to us, please note that we may charge for this to cover our costs in preparing photographs, marketing, etc.

We market our auctions online as well as offline.  In terms of online exposure, we have found that two of the strongest auction platforms are the-saleroom.com and easyliveauctions.com. All Mayfair Auctions’ auctions feature on these platforms.

Yes.  In our experience, buyers like to see good quality photographs and usually more than one or two; three or four is ideal. We will generally prepare 3-4 photos per item as a minimum. The photography process is expensive so you may find other auction houses will take fewer.

Some auction houses may, when reviewing your items, initially suggest a high value only to then revise their estimate downward at a later date. This initial valuation may, of course, be enticing (indeed it may be intended to be so) but a valuation is no guarantee of a sale or the price it will obtain. 

We don’t ‘puff up’ valuations – we will always give you a realistic estimate of value upfront and we will always try to obtain the best possible price in the market – indeed we only get paid if we do!

Based on our experience, we may take the view that we can realistically achieve that price.  As noted above, we will always give you a realistic estimate of value upfront.

However, some auction houses may ‘low ball’ their estimates as it means they are more or less guaranteed to sell the item and earn commissions. This can, however, mean that they’re not highly incentivised to obtain the best possible price for your items. That said, a lower price can entice more buyers to the market which, perhaps counterintuitively, can mean that the end result is better for the vendor.

We pay our sellers no later than 4 weeks after an auction takes place (that’s what our T&Cs say) but our current timeframe in practice is, on average, under 3 weeks as we pay out as soon as we can – we think this has value in itself… “time is money”, as they say.

Some auctions, however, may take 6 weeks or more to pay sellers after an auction has taken place. The auction industry standard is 4-5 weeks. Most will not pay sellers until the latest date they are required to do so under their T&Cs and will hold funds in their account until then even if they’ve been received within a few days of the auction.

This should go without saying but we'll say it anyway - yes!

All items consigned to Mayfair Auctions are stored in a highly secure environment.  Our anti-intruder systems are top of the range, fully monitored by our security provider and we have a dedicated police response.

Over and above this, we carry appropriate insurance with a market-leading insurance provider in the field.

Yes we do.

However, not all auction houses keep your money separate from their own.  In other words, they may mix together money they receive from buyers for your and their other clients’ items, with their own money that they use to pay suppliers, employees, expenses, etc.  In our view, this is not safe or professional as it means that if that auction house were to become insolvent, your money could be used to pay other creditors of the auction house in preference to you and you could lose out.

Money received for clients should be kept separate and in an account labelled ‘client money’ or similar to help ringfence that money in the event of any financial difficulties of the auction house.