We cost less and offer more than most other auction houses.

Our portfolio of services has been designed to return the most value to you, whether buyer or seller.

Mark Hill Auctions was founded in 2024 as a boutique auction house aiming to revolutionise how auction houses operate. Our seller's commission and buyer's premium are amongst the lowest in the business, with no hidden extras. We also offer a retail sales option through Scottish Antiques and their luxuriously appointed Galleria, and we pay top prices for gold and silver via Scottish Antiques.

Why Buy or Sell With Us?

• Low, Competitive Commission Rates
With commission rates as low as 10% on both sides, you keep more of your money - and bidders can bid higher.

• A Picture Speaks 1,000 Words...
Every lot is illustrated with numerous high-quality photographs, including marks and any condition issues. This means that not only is your item presented in the best way possible to a global audience, but bidders are easily able to make the best decision about how much to bid.

• Comprehensive Unfront Condition Reports
Each and every lot is accompanied by a detailed and comprehensive condition report available from when the catalogue is published online. Still have questions? Just ask us for more information or images and we'll be happy to help.

• Cost-Effective In House Shipping
Every applicable lot is accompanied by a packing and shipping estimate to enable you to work out how much you are likely to pay in total before you bid. All packing is done professionally in house and shipping is via UPS tracked services. 

• Retail Opportunities
Through our partner Scottish Antiques, one of the largest and most popular online retail destinations for antiques, design and collectors items, we can also offer you an international retail sales channel in a town-centre location at our discretion, if we feel that will suit your item better. Your item will also be displayed in our luxuriously appointed Galleria showrooms. Please click here for more information.

• We Buy Precious Metals At Unbeatable Prices
Why give away a large portion of the value of your gold and silver to buyers' and sellers' commissions at auction? Through our partners at Scottish Antiques, we buy gold and silver at truly unbeatable prices to allow you to realise the very best price for scrap precious metals. Please click here for more information.

• An International Audience
We list all our auctions on the online market leading platforms The Saleroom and EasyLive Auctions, offering you access to millions of bidders and buyers from across the world.

THE TEAM

Mark Hill Auctions is powered by over a century of combined expertise across a spectrum of categories.

Our team is led by auctioneer Mark Hill. Mark is best known for being an expert on the BBC 'Antiques Roadshow' since 2007, and an expert on the BBC 'Antiques Road Trip'. He has also co-presented four other series on antiques and collecting for BBC2. He started his career at Bonhams and then Sotheby's in London in the mid-late 1990s before moving on to become Director of Auction House Services at icollector.com, forming and running a ground-breaking alliance with eBay Live Auctions that revolutionised the auction industry by pioneering live online bidding in 2001. From 2002-2017, he was the co-author of the internationally renowned, annual 'Miller's Collectables Price Guide'. In 2006, he founded Mark Hill Publishing Ltd and has since published over 12 books on new areas of 20th century design and the decorative arts. In 2022, he joined the team of dealers at The Pantiles Arcade selling fine postwar Czech, studio and other art glass. Mark is also a member of the British Antiques Dealers' Association (BADA), an Accredited Lecturer of The Arts Society, and a Freeman of the City of London. 

Mark is supported by Robert Woodmansey, who brings a wealth of business experience from his background in financial markets and electronic trading in the City of London and beyond. He has built a reputation for disruptive business models and founded Onix license-fee free, software as a service - the first of its kind and still the market leader. Throughout his life, he has always collected glassware and porcelain with both passion and strategy. In 2014, he chose to make dealing in fine antiques his full-time job for his 'retirement', and founded Scottish Antiques, which is now one of the largest singular online sales destinations for antiques and the decorative arts in the country. In July 2021, he moved the company into The Pantiles Arcade to offer a retail shop in a busy town centre and tourist destination. With this new venture, Robert is taking his winning formula for a disruptive business model to another another service industry and is determined to redress the balance in favour of those who consign items to, or buy them from, auction.

Our Managing Director Germaine Woodmansey brings a wealth of front of house and administrative experience to the team. With a thirty year track record of customer service in the banking and retail sectors, Germaine is our hub of organisation and inspiration. In her current role, she is also responsible for booking valuations and collections, and customer liaisons, and she also manages our relationship with Scottish Antiques. Germaine is also ably assisted in her role by her charming and constant companion Maggie the dog (see below).

Director Andrew Hill's lifelong passion for history and the arts meant that a career in antiques seemed like a perfect fit. It was not, however, until a series of chance encounters with Robert Woodmansey in their shared local that he became involved in the antiques world, working for Scottish Antiques while studying History at King's College London. After graduating with a 2:1, he began working full time at The Pantiles Arcade, becoming integral to the sourcing and researching of their extraordinarily diverse range of antiques and works of art. Over the past years, he has bought, handled, researched and sold many thousands of objects from across the centuries. His heart skips a beat when encountering anything from, or relating to, the Napoleonic Wars.

Maggie is both our Head of Security and our Head of Biscuits. A happy and bouncy 'Heinz 57' who's full of life, any food left below 4ft above the ground is considered fair game - as are any stuffed toys brought in. She loves chasing her ball up and down the Galleria, and is inseparable from Germaine. Every now and again, you can find her taking five with a quick snooze under the mahogany sofa table in our valuation office.

Our Location

Mark Hill Auctions is located inside the Grade II Listed Georgian Corn Exchange building, in the heart of the historic Pantiles. Built in 1802, the building has served for over two centuries variously as theatre, a corn exchange, a military drill hall, a shopping arcade, and an auction house. Now called The Pantiles Arcade, it is a thriving antiques centre containing leading dealers offering thousands of antiques, artwork and vintage pieces. The Pantiles, in Royal Tunbridge Wells, became a popular entertainment and shopping resort during the Georgian period, following the discovery of the health-giving Chalybeate Spring in 1606 by a courtier of King James I. The town's status was enhanced by 'celebrity' visits over the centuries from Queen Henrietta Maria, Dr Samuel Johnson, the actor David Garrick, the dandy and fashionista Beau Nash, and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The town gained its 'Royal' title in 1909 from King Edward VII, due to the patronage of the royal family. Much of the charming original Georgian architecture and layout survives today and the beautiful, tree-lined conservation area is now full of bars, restaurants, cafés, boutiques and more, making it one of the top destinations to visit in Kent - the 'Garden of England'. Come and visit us to browse a range of top quality antiques for sale or to be sold by auction, or get a free valuation, and then enjoy a drink or meal, or performance amidst Georgian splendour. Make a day of it!

Select photography of items across this website by David Bartholomew.