The Buyer Deserves Better. The Collector Deserves Reform.

The Auction & Antiques

The antiques market has quietly normalized a structure that works against the very people who sustain it.

Collectors assume the risk.
Collectors deploy the capital.
Collectors preserve the objects.

Yet collectors are often the last to be structurally protected.

Buyer’s premiums of 25–30% (or more).
Seller’s premiums 10-25% Layered consignment commissions.
Stacked transactional fees at both entry and exit.

It is not uncommon for a seller to pay a significant commission while simultaneously assuming the risk of a low hammer price. In many cases, reserves are either discouraged, strategically limited, or set below what the consignor believes reflects fair value. The seller absorbs the uncertainty — and still pays the fee.

This is not alignment.
This is asymmetry.

Consider the structure.

The buyer pays a premium..
The seller pays a commission.
Both sides fund the system.
And neither side is structurally protected.

When a collector purchases a $20,000 object at auction with a 25% buyer’s premium, the real basis becomes $25,000 before tax. If that collector later resells through a traditional channel at 20–30%, another substantial portion is removed. Meanwhile, the consignor in that future sale may face limited reserve flexibility and full commission exposure regardless of outcome..

The transactional architecture erodes value before the object has a chance to perform.

This is not market volatility.
This is structural drag.

High friction discourages liquidity.
It penalizes responsible repositioning.
It compresses confidence on both sides of the exchange.

Expertise deserves compensation.
Curation deserves compensation.
Marketing deserves compensation.

But a system where:

• The buyer pays a premium
• The seller pays a commission
• The reserve is constrained
• And both sides assume risk

is not balanced. It is extractive.

A healthy market requires alignment.

Collectors deserve:

• Transparent, proportionate fee structures
• Predictable exit pathways
• Real reserve protection
• Capital preservation
• Structural fairness

When both buyer and seller are treated as long-term partners rather than transactional endpoints, liquidity strengthens. Confidence increases. Quality rises.

The antiques market does not need higher fees, it needs less extraction layers. It needs structural reform. Serious collectors deserve a system built on alignment. -Not compounding extraction.