Online Auction Buyers to Pay the Same as Floor Buyers with New Invaluable Pricing Model

Invaluable, the world’s leading online marketplace for fine art, antiques and collectibles, today announced it will eliminate the 5% fee - often passed on to buyers - at select auction houses. The change is aimed at increasing business for those auctioneers.

Under the new Invaluable pricing model, successful Invaluable bidders will pay the same as anyone attending the auction or participating by phone: the buyer’s premium, shipping costs and any applicable taxes.

Participating auction houses will also benefit from a new tiered pricing structure, offered to any house opting into parity. “Tiered pricing will effectively decrease the cost to an auction house for selling online as a lot value increases,” said Weisberg. “All these steps are designed to engage and reward bidders and, by extension, our auction house partners who should see energized sales.”

Under the program, the new tiered commission for participating houses would be as follows:

• 5% on works sold for $4,999 or less
• 4% on works sold for between $5,000 and $9,999
• 3% on works sold for between $10,000 and $14,999
• 2% on works sold for between $15,000 and $19,999
• 1% on works sold for over $20,000

These are flat commission rates, not progressive rates. Therefore, a $7,000 lot sold online would be a 4% commission, or $280; while a $21,000 lot sold online would be a 1% commission, or just $210. Auction houses take more to their bottom line on higher priced lots.

“We believe this move benefits everyone – the successful bidder who no longer pays the 5% fee and the auction house because it will draw more bidders into sales,” said Invaluable CEO Rob Weisberg.

Auction houses moving to the new pricing model must have pricing parity for all bidders – floor, phone, absentee and online, Weisberg explained. Auction houses have total discretion to set their buyer’s premiums. Invaluable is recommending a modest increase.

The new pricing model takes effect Aug. 10. Catalogs uploaded after that date will reflect the new pricing. Auction houses should contact their Invaluable representatives for details.

For more information on Invaluable, and the new tiered pricing tiers, please visit https://www.invaluable.com/invaluable/houseServices.cfm.

About Invaluable
Invaluable is the world’s leading online marketplace for buying fine art, antiques and collectibles. Working with more than 5,000 of the world’s premier auction houses, dealers and galleries, Invaluable helps buyers from nearly 200 countries connect with the things they love. With best-in-class online bidding technology, along with a fixed-price retail platform, Invaluable provides sellers with e-commerce and marketing solutions, as well as auction management software. Recently called “one of the fastest growing e-commerce sites in the art world” by Blouin ArtInfo, Invaluable has also been recognized by Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ and the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® program in both 2015 and 2016. Headquartered in Boston, Invaluable also has offices in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium and Australia. For more information, visit www.invaluable.com or follow us on Twitter at @InvaluableLive.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180730005554/en/