Sellers Guide
How do I start?
Our Seller's Commission is amongst the lowest in the business, and can be as low as 10% + VAT. See below for more information.
We'll start by valuing your items. We can do this for you if you bring them to our location in The Pantiles Arcade, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, or by filling in our online valuation form with full details and clear digital photographs. We occasionally hold valuation days in different locations all over the area and, if you have many items or a house or apartment full of items, we can arrange to visit you.
What happens next?
We will reply to you with an estimated price range that we expect your item(s) to sell within at auction. Items may be grouped together into a lot, or an item may form a single lot in its own right. We can then agree a 'reserve' for each lot - a minimum price below which the item will not be sold. The reserve cannot be higher than the lower end of the estimate. For example, if we value an item at £300-500, then the reserve must be £300 or less.
A retail opportunity...
If we feel that your item may perform better in a retail environment than in an auction, our reply may at our discretion also include a suggested retail price. If you agree, we will then hand your item to our retail partner Scottish Antiques (The Hoard Ltd). They will describe and photograph it, and will post it for sale on their website. It will also be displayed for sale in our Galleria showrooms at The Pantiles Arcade.
If your item hasn't sold after an agreed period of time, it can then be consigned for sale in our next applicable auction.
Once we or Scottish Antiques have taken possession of your item, it is fully insured. You will be given a receipt for your item(s), which will include a basic description, further details and a receipt number, as well as your contact details. For more information, see A Retail Opportunity.
What will it cost?
We pride ourselves on our competitively low auction Seller's Commission fees which allow us to give you back more of the hammer price than by selling with other auction houses.
You receive more, because we take less.
All items sold through Mark Hill Auctions are subject to a Lotting Fee of £10 + VAT per lot and the applicable Seller's Commission from the table below, the total of which will be deducted from the hammer price.
| Seller's Commission on Hammer Price | |
| Amounts up to £500 | 15% + VAT |
| Amounts in excess of £500 up to and including £2,500 | 12.5% + VAT |
| The excess over £2,500 | 10% + VAT |
All items sold through our retail partner Scottish Antiques are subject to the applicable Seller's Commission below, which will be deducted from the selling price.
| Items sold for under £1,000 | 21% + VAT |
| Items sold for over £1,000 | 18% + VAT |
Photography and insurance are included in all fees, so you will not be charged extra for these services.
What happens with the auction?
We will take numerous high quality photographs of your item(s) and write a detailed, accurate and precise description and condition report. Together, these will enable bidders to make an easy decision about how much to bid. The item(s) will then be loaded into our auction catalogue and published to the following international online bidding platforms allowing bidders and buyers from all over the world to see and bid on your item(s) online:
In addition, the catalogue containing your lots will be promoted to our existing client base and to Scottish Antiques' client base. We also undertake extensive marketing of auctions to drive interest and raising bidding levels. Some lots will also be promoted on our social media channels.
As our Buyer's Premium rates are also competitively low, bidders bid higher - we take less, so you receive more.
