A buyer’s premium is the fee an auction house adds to your winning bid, and at the major houses in 2026 it starts at 27% to 28% of the hammer price on the first tier. Win a lot at $100,000 and your invoice before taxes can easily top $125,000. The premium is disclosed in every sale’s conditions, but plenty of first-time bidders still get caught off guard by how much it inflates the final cost.
Hammer Price vs. What You Actually Pay
When the gavel falls, the number the auctioneer calls out is the hammer price. That is not your bill. The auction house calculates the buyer’s premium as a percentage of that hammer price and adds it on top. The two together make the purchase price, and the purchase price is what you owe.
The hammer price is also what the seller’s side works from, after the house deducts its separate seller’s commission. The buyer’s premium flows entirely from you to the auction house. Bid $50,000 with a 27% premium and your purchase price is $63,500. The seller never sees that extra $13,500.
2026 Rates at Sotheby’s and Christie’s
Both major houses use a tiered structure: the highest percentage applies to the first slice of the hammer price, and the rate drops as the price climbs.
Sotheby’s New York rates for 2026:
- 28% on the first $2,000,000 of the hammer price
- 22% on $2,000,001 through $8,000,000
- 15% on anything above $8,000,000
Sotheby’s charges a flat 24% plus a 1% overhead premium on all wine and spirits lots, regardless of hammer price.1Sotheby’s. What Is a Buyer’s Premium?
Christie’s New York rates, effective September 1, 2025 and applying through 2026:
- 27% on the first $1,500,000 of the hammer price
- 22% on $1,500,001 through $8,000,000
- 15% on anything above $8,000,000
Both houses use equivalent tier structures in pounds and euros at their London and European salerooms.2Christie’s. How to Buy at Christie’s – Financial Information
These rates apply to fine art, jewelry, decorative arts, and most other collecting categories. Other asset classes work differently. Real estate and heavy equipment auctions typically use a flat rate around 10% rather than tiers. Smaller regional houses generally use simpler flat-rate premiums, with the specific number varying widely.
How the Tiers Actually Calculate
The tiers work like tax brackets. Each rate applies only to the portion of the hammer price sitting inside its range, not to the whole amount. Take a lot that sells for $3,000,000 at Christie’s New York:
- First $1,500,000 at 27% = $405,000
- Next $1,500,000 (from $1,500,001 to $3,000,000) at 22% = $330,000
Total buyer’s premium: $735,000. Purchase price before taxes: $3,735,000. The effective rate comes out to 24.5%, not the 27% headline figure.2Christie’s. How to Buy at Christie’s – Financial Information
For most buyers at smaller sales, the tiering is irrelevant. Bidding on a $5,000 painting at a local house with a flat 20% premium means you pay $1,000 extra and the math ends there. The bracket calculations only start to matter once the hammer price pushes past the first threshold, which at the major houses means well into seven figures.
What Stacks On Top of the Premium
Online Bidding Surcharges
Bidding through a third-party online platform usually costs more than bidding in the room, by phone, or by absentee bid submitted directly to the house. Invaluable adds a 5% surcharge on the hammer price for online bidders.3Invaluable. Invaluable’s Pricing Parity LiveAuctioneers allows houses to add up to 3% above the floor premium for online bids. A lot with a 20% in-house premium can carry 23% to 25% if you bid through a platform, depending on which one. Going directly to the house is one of the easiest ways to shave cost off an auction purchase.
Sales Tax
In most states, sales tax is calculated on the full purchase price, including the buyer’s premium. If a $50,000 hammer price carries a $13,500 premium, tax applies to the combined $63,500. The specific rate depends on the state and locality of the sale, so check the conditions of sale for the auction you’re attending.
Standard resale exemptions apply. A registered dealer buying inventory can use a valid resale certificate to avoid tax on the full purchase price. Exemptions tied to shipping goods out of the state of sale also exist in many jurisdictions, though the rules and documentation vary.
Payment and Storage Fees
Credit card payments often carry a surcharge, and some houses no longer accept checks at all. Sotheby’s stopped accepting checks in September 2024.4Sotheby’s. Guide for Buyers – Global Wire transfers are the standard payment method and generally carry no surcharge. Late collection can trigger storage fees if you don’t pick up your purchase within 30 days.
Is the Premium Ever Negotiable?
The buyer’s premium is officially non-negotiable, but a few exceptions exist. Phillips runs a “priority bidding” program that rewards early commitment: submit a binding written bid at or above a lot’s low estimate at least 48 hours before the auction and you get reduced premium rates. Phillips priority-bidder rates are 25% on the first $1,000,000, 20% from $1,000,001 to $6,000,000, and 14% above $6,000,000. Those numbers are meaningfully lower than the standard rates at the major houses.
For very high-value buyers and long-standing clients, auction houses have historically offered informal premium rebates or credits, though these arrangements are never publicized. If your business matters at that level, it’s worth asking. For everyone else, the published rate is the rate.
What Happens If You Win and Don’t Pay
Winning a lot creates a binding contract. Failing to pay by the deadline triggers a long list of remedies spelled out in the conditions of sale. Christie’s terms, which are representative of the industry, allow the house to pursue any combination of the following:
- Interest of up to 1.34% per month on the unpaid amount, accruing from the payment deadline
- Cancellation of the sale and resale of the lot, with you owing the shortfall plus resale costs if it sells for less the second time
- Forfeiture of any deposit or partial payment, applied to the shortfall or damages
- Refusal of your future bids, or a requirement to post a deposit before bidding
- A lien on any other property of yours the house or an affiliate is holding, which they can seize and sell to cover the debt
- Legal action to recover the full purchase price, interest, and legal fees
- Disclosure of your name and contact details to the consignor, so the seller can pursue their own claim
Storage charges accumulate separately. At Christie’s, if you don’t collect a purchased lot within 30 days, the house can charge storage fees, move the lot to a third-party warehouse at your expense, or sell it outright.5Christie’s. New York Conditions of Sale
Sotheby’s conditions contain the same arsenal: interest at 6% above the prime rate, the right to resell and charge you the shortfall, liens on your property in their possession, and the power to ban you from future bidding.6RM Sotheby’s. Conditions of Business for Buyers Walking away from a winning bid is not like abandoning an online shopping cart.
How to Avoid a Surprise at Checkout
Before you bid on anything, read the full conditions of sale and calculate your maximum all-in cost: hammer price, buyer’s premium at the applicable tier, sales tax, any online platform surcharge, and shipping or handling. Set your ceiling at the hammer price that keeps the total inside your budget, and stop there.
Registration matters too. Most houses require it at least 24 hours before the sale. At Christie’s, in-person bidders must provide photo ID and proof of address to get a paddle, and higher-value auctions may require a financial reference or a deposit before you’re approved to bid.7Christie’s. Register and Bid in a Live Auction Online registration is simpler but still requires a verified account with a shipping address. Phone bidding has to be arranged with client services in advance, lot by lot.
The buyer’s premium is easy to forget in the heat of bidding. Do the math before the paddle goes up.