OK, so specifically what is a private fine art broker? I have people email me and call me with this question off and on and I think it's very important to know how what I do differs from what a dealer or an auction houses does for a person wanting to sell their antique Tiffany Studios lamp (see my other online web site which is specifically for brokering Tiffany Studios lamps at www.antiquetiffanylamps.com or major oil painting by one of the major American or European artists. I’ll make some important points here that will point out the differences between what my firm does, versus an auction house or a dealer.
- Dealers usually have a gallery or shop or sometimes they sell from a residence where they have inventory and a selection of items for sale, on consignment or that they own outright. They can ask any price they wish of course for a work of art of a Tiffany Studios lamp. When they buy things for their inventory to sell, of course they want to buy as cheaply as possible so they can make the best profit after paying their overhead. There is an old expression in many businesses, whether one is a car dealer or an art dealer: “Buy cheap, sell high.” Being a broker and having no gallery or other high overhead allows me to find a buyer who will pay very good prices for my clients merchandise, while I accept a very modest fee for my job as a broker. This nets the seller of a Tiffany Studios lamp or a fine oil painting much more money from my experiences in this business spanning almost 39 years.
- Auction houses operate on volume. They advertise to find estates and single items to sell in their auctions. They likewise have quite abit of overhead. The larger the auction house the more overhead they will likely have monthly. Paying employees, paying for a nice location with showrooms and paying for extensive advertising and catalog distribution is very costly. While they try to get the best prices for the clients who consign their items to them, there is never any guarantee of an exact sales price. Likewise, they cannot guarantee a sale. Some auctions have as much as 20-25% of the items in a large sale which do not sell for various reasons. On top of this, the owner is given only a fairly wide price range or “estimate” of what their authentic Tiffany lamp or piece of artwork will sell for at auction, based on the auction house experts best guess. Regardless of what price an item sells for, most large auction houses are going to ask for 10-25% in commissions and other miscellaneous fees to sell art or Tiffany Studios lamps for the owner. They get a fee from the buyer and the seller usually.
From my experience, my private clients who do not want to pay a 15-25% "buyers fee" at auction (plus applicable state sales tax) would much rather buy through me, since I ask for much less as a fee from them, they do not have to wait for the item they want to buy to “come up” at auction, and everything is very confidential.
As my web site states several places, we do not charge the seller any fees or other costs to sell their art or their Tiffany Studios lamp. My brokerage firm does the professional research on current market prices just like the auction houses and dealers. I price things as high as I feel I can realistically to sell items within a reasonable time frame. Once sold, the owner is paid by wired funds or a cashier’s check within a business week. I try very hard never to take anything for brokering unless I am 99.5% certain I can sell it within the time frame agreed upon with the owner. The percentage of lamps or art I have ever had to return or that have not sold is probably about 1% or less over 38+ years.
So those are the main and important differences in what I do as a private art broker and private broker of authentic antique Tiffany Studios lamps and how dealers and auction houses handle those same types of items. The differences are great and the net in the end to the owner is usually much greater also. It definitely has many advantages to the owner financially, time wise and as far as privacy and confidentiality are concerned.