Hammer & Co Est. 1897 · New York
(212) 555-0184

Before the sale

How to bid

Four ways to bid, one published ladder of increments, and a premium calculation printed in full. Nothing about what you pay is left to be discovered on the invoice.

Registration first

Four ways to bid

Whichever you choose, you register with the house first and are issued a paddle number. Registration closes 24 hours before a live sale and one hour before the first lot closes in a timed sale.

  1. 01

    In the room

    Register at the desk on the day and take a paddle. Raise it clearly; the auctioneer takes the bid from the paddle number, not the face. If you are unsure whether the auctioneer has seen you, they have not — raise it again.

  2. 02

    Online

    Bid live through the sale, or leave a maximum on a timed lot and let the system bid up the ladder on your behalf. In a timed sale the anti-sniping rule applies; in a live sale the room and the telephones run against you in real time.

  3. 03

    Absentee

    Leave a written maximum with the clerk. The house bids on your behalf up to that figure and no higher, taking the lot as cheaply as the competition allows. Equal absentee bids are settled by the order they were received.

  4. 04

    Telephone

    A member of staff calls you a few lots before yours and bids to your instruction. Booked at least 24 hours in advance, and normally offered only on lots estimated above $2,000, because a line has to be staffed by a person.

The ladder

The bidding increment table

Bids do not step by a percentage. They step by a published ladder, and the increment is set by the level of the current bid.

The next admissible bid is the current bid plus the increment for its band, rounded up onto the ladder so a bid never lands between two rungs. The auctioneer may vary the increment at their discretion — most often to take a half-step to break a deadlock — but they may not take a bid below the next rung.

An absentee bid that does not sit on a rung is reduced by the clerk to the rung below it. Leaving $4,400 on a lot standing at $4,000 means bidding $4,250, because that is the highest rung your instruction reaches.

The house increment table, in US dollars
Current bidIncrementNext bid
$0 – $199 $10 $0 → $10
$200 – $499 $25 $200 → $225
$500 – $999 $50 $500 → $550
$1,000 – $1,999 $100 $1,000 → $1,100
$2,000 – $4,999 $250 $2,000 → $2,250
$5,000 – $9,999 $500 $5,000 → $5,500
$10,000 – $19,999 $1,000 $10,000 → $11,000
$20,000 – $49,999 $2,000 $20,000 → $22,000
$50,000 – $99,999 $5,000 $50,000 → $55,000
$100,000 – $199,999 $10,000 $100,000 → $110,000
$200,000 – $499,999 $20,000 $200,000 → $220,000
$500,000 – $999,999 $50,000 $500,000 → $550,000
$1,000,000 and above $100,000 $1,000,000 → $1,100,000

What you pay

The buyer’s premium, worked out

The hammer price is what the auctioneer knocks the lot down at. It is not the price of the lot. The premium is added on top of it on a regressive scale, and the scale is the same for every buyer.

Hammer at

$1,000

Working for a hammer price of $1,000
Hammer$1,000.00
Premium 27% on $0–$1,000 $270.00
Total to the house 27.00% blended $1,270.00

Hammer at

$45,000

Working for a hammer price of $45,000
Hammer$45,000.00
Premium 27% on $0–$45,000 $12,150.00
Total to the house 27.00% blended $57,150.00

Hammer at

$1,600,000

Working for a hammer price of $1,600,000
Hammer$1,600,000.00
Premium 27% on $0–$1,000,000 $270,000.00
Premium 21% on $1,000,000–$1,600,000 $126,000.00
Total to the house 24.75% blended $1,996,000.00

Reduced rates. Rare books and manuscripts sell at a first-tier premium of 25 per cent, as is customary in the book trade. The reduced rate carries through the whole scale, not only the first band.

Sales tax. New York State and local sales tax of 8.875 per cent is charged on the hammer price and the premium together, where it applies. It may not apply if the property is shipped out of state by the house or if you hold a valid resale certificate.

Artist’s resale right. Lots marked λ may attract a resale royalty where the sale falls within a jurisdiction that levies one. Where it applies, the charge is added to the invoice above the premium and passed to the collecting society.

Import duty. Lots marked ‡ have been imported under a temporary arrangement. If such a lot remains in the United States, duty may fall due on the hammer price and is payable by the buyer.

Timed online sales

Anti-sniping

A bid placed inside the final 3 minutes of a lot extends that lot by 3 minutes, from the moment of the bid.

It extends again for every bid inside the window, and it keeps extending for as long as people are still bidding. Only the lot bid on is extended; the rest of the sale runs on its own schedule.

Without the rule, a timed sale is won by whoever can place a bid in the last two seconds — which is a test of connection latency, not of what someone is willing to pay. With it, the lot goes to the highest bidder, which is the entire point of an auction.

The countdown on a live lot marks the window: inside the final 3 minutes it is ruled underneath and set in the live colour, so you can see that a bid you place now will move the close.

  1. 02:41 The lot is inside the window. The countdown is marked.
  2. 02:12 A bid is placed. The close moves out to 3:00 from now.
  3. 02:57 Another bidder responds. The close moves again.
  4. 00:00 Three minutes pass with no bid. The lot closes and is knocked down.

Answers

Questions the clerk is asked most

What is the difference between the estimate and the reserve?
The estimate is the range the department expects the lot to sell within, published in the catalogue. The reserve is the confidential minimum below which the seller has instructed the house not to sell. A reserve may never exceed the low estimate. We publish whether a reserve has been met — never what it is.
Is the hammer price what I pay?
No. The buyer's premium is added to the hammer price: 27% on the first $1,000,000, 21% on the portion between $1,000,000 and $6,000,000, and 15% above that. Sales tax, shipping, insurance and any duties or resale-right charges are additional. Every lot page shows the whole working.
How do bidding increments work?
Bids step by a published ladder rather than a percentage. The increment is set by the level of the current bid — $10 below $200, $100 between $1,000 and $2,000, $100,000 above $1,000,000 — and the next admissible bid is printed on every open lot. The auctioneer may vary the increment at their discretion.
What is an absentee bid?
A written maximum left with the clerk before the sale. The house bids on your behalf up to that figure and no higher, taking the lot as cheaply as the competition allows. If two absentee bids are equal, the one received first prevails.
What is anti-sniping?
In a timed online sale, a bid placed inside the final 3 minutes of a lot extends that lot's close by 3 minutes from the moment of the bid, and does so again for every bid inside the window. Only the lot bid on is extended. The rule exists so a lot is won by the highest bidder rather than by whoever has the fastest connection in the last two seconds.
What happens if a lot does not meet its reserve?
It is passed. Nothing is sold and no invoice is raised. The department will usually approach the underbidder after the sale. A lot that passes is not a lot that has failed; it is a lot that has not yet met its price.
Can a lot be withdrawn?
Yes, at any time before it is knocked down, and the house must withdraw a lot if a question arises over title, attribution, condition or export documentation that cannot be resolved before the sale. Bids on a withdrawn lot are cancelled and no bidder is under any obligation.
When do I pay, and when can I collect?
Payment is due within seven days of the sale. Property may be collected once the invoice has cleared, by arrangement, within thirty days. Storage charges begin after that.

More at the frequently asked page and in the conditions of sale, which govern everything above.

Register to bid

Registration takes a few minutes and closes 24 hours before a live sale.

Register (212) 555-0184