Christie's Cuts Its Motor Cars Buyer's Premium in the U.S.

Showing it is serious about its North American business, Christie's has quietly cut its buyer's commission rate on Motor Car consignments to a flat 10%.
This comes as Christie's has revamped its North American Motor Cars staff, naming Christopher Sanger a Vice President of Christie's. Mark Donaldson, who has been Christie's Motor Cars presence in Beverly Hills, has left the company effective after the Retromobile auction. A replacement will be, but has not yet been, named.
Commissions have been a serious issue and Christie's corporate had already acknowledged Motor Cars' competitive challenge by letting it maintain a split commission rate that was lower than Christie's charged on other goods, particularly after a recently announced commission increase. The decision to sell automobiles with a flat 10% buyer's premium removes a serious impediment to buying at Christie's where the prior 17.5% premium on the first $200,000 bid meant that on a $50,000 car a buyer wrote a check for $58,750 at Christie's against $55,000 down the street at RM. On a $200,000 bid the penalty for doing business at Christie's was $15,000.
They're nice folks, but one has to wonder exactly what buyers got that was worth that price, and the revised pricing implicitly recognizes that the answer was, "Not enough."
The change should have a positive effect on the sales at Greenwich and Monterey later this year, both in buyers readiness to raise their hands and bid and in sellers willingness to consign good cars.

Rick Carey