What a lot! Auctioneers accused of ‘hidden fees’ on antiques

one complaint about premium rates.

Robbie Barry, secretary of the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers, said he feared the complaint could have been made mischievously. And Jeremy Lamond, director of Shropshire auctioneers Halls Fine Art, said: “Adding the buyer’s premium into the estimate is meaningless. This is what our terms and conditions are for, and to which bidders sign up before they bid.”

If the ASA finds that the current practice is in breach of advertising rules it could see auctioneers forced to state the buyer’s premium percentages with the estimate for every individual lot.

A Thomas Chippendale cabinet sold at auction for £2million would attract a buyer’s premium, normally 20 per cent, of £400,000. An Elizabethan oak bedstead with an estimated price of £150,000 would attract a buyer’s premium of £30,000.

It is understood that the watchdog will examine whether the system meets the requirements of the CAP Code, the UK’s code of nonbroadcast advertising.

This says that any quoted prices “must include nonoptional taxes, duties, fees and charges”.

Most auctioneers currently state their premium levels and other charges in the terms and conditions at the back of sale catalogues.

However, Mark Dodgson, secretary general of the British Antique Dealers Association, said that auction fees should be clearer.

“One way of achieving this would be for buyer’s premium rates to be stated on every page of the catalogue.”

Robert Young, who runs a London antiques dealership, added: “I am surprised that it has taken so long for the ASA to target the situation. The way things stand, auctioneers are seemingly in direct contravention of the CAP code.” misleading