In the beginning, in an auction house far far away... auctioneers sold in guineas. A guinea being 21 shillings. Buyers paid the auctioneer say 10 guineas for something, the auctioneer paid the seller 10 pounds - a pound being 20 shillings. The difference of one shilling, or 5% (actually 4.76%), was the auctioneers commission. Racehorses are still sold in guineas to this day.
For centuries, that 5% proved to be a perfectly adequate commission rate. Buyer's premium didn't exist. It was only relatively recently, maybe the 1980s ?, that auctioneers started charging a buyer's premium.
Premiums have rocketed to now usually around 30%. It is not uncommon to see buyer's fees over 35% when yet another few percent is added on for using online bidding.
Sellers are also charged commission on sale, plus 99.9% of auctions add hidden extra charges for photographs, cataloguing, entry fees, unsold fees, storage, handling, etc. - Many auction houses now rake in around 50% of the hammer price!
Elephant House Auctions always had low fees. Pre-covid we were just about the lowest in the industry at a mere 5% sellers commission, and 10% buyers premium, with no hidden extras. Sure, we never had fancy carpets and pretty girls on glossy reception desks painting their nails. But hey, pretty girls are very expensive!!
Regardless of your views on the whole Covid saga, like every other auction house we could not continue to trade as we once did.
We created a revolutionary trading system, based on blind sealed bids, successfully selling a lot of stuff in a contact-free way. The principle was commission-free trading, with our business income derived from a small membership fee.
However, some collectors could not get their heads around this "new way" of trading, and many craved the excitement of live auctions. So, moving with the times, we now have live online auctions.
The Collector Connector website is here to stay though - developing ideas of how to efficiently trade in smaller easy to post items, so they don't 'clog up' the auctions.
The website continues to expand and improve the already massive database of information, images, archives and auction price history at it's heart, with many new features planned for 2024.
Conducting auctions online has many benefits: it cost us less to run, needs less space, less staff, and so we're able to keep our fees amongst the very lowest across the auction world.
Standard auction fees are 12% seller's commission and 20% buyer's premium - both already very competitive. But, become a Trader Member and get 25% discount, taking your fees down to just 9% and 15% - few specialist auctions in the world charge less than that!
Facility |
WWW (not signed-in) |
Basic Member FREE |
Trader Member £10 pcm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction Buyer's Premium | 20% | 20% | Discounted to 15% (minimum 6 months membership per annum to qualify) |
| Auction Seller's Commission | 12% | 12% | Discounted to 9% (minimum 6 months membership per annum to qualify) |
| Place Wanted Ads | No | No | Unlimited |
| Auction Price History | No | No | Yes |
| Photos and Archive Images | Thumbnails | Small | Large / Full Screen |
| Messaging | No | Yes | Yes |
| Favourites List | No | Yes | Yes, with auto-alerts |
| Virtual Collection | No | Yes | Yes, with auto-alerts |
Updated on 8th February 2024