Sotheby’s latest change to its buyer’s premium represents a dramatic change in strategy since it introduced a ‘simplified’ structure in 2024.
Sotheby’s latest alteration to its fees represents a dramatic change in strategy since it introduced a ‘simplified’ structure in 2024.
The new rates came into effect on February 13, shortly after the completion of the latest series of Old Master sales in New York.
The changes apply to all of Sotheby’s global salerooms and operate across all sale categories apart from wine and spirits (which have a flat 24% fee on hammer prices).
The firm has also significantly raised the threshold of the lower tier at which the highest percentage applies, up from £800,000 to £1.5m in the UK, but a doubling from $1m to $2m in the US.
It means that, for example, the fees Sotheby’s charges to buyers for a work selling for a £1.5m hammer price has risen by 13.5% (previously £370,000, now £420,000).
The new approach appears to be aimed at improving margins at ‘the lower end’, the area where the bulk of works are sold by volume. The latest rise in premium marks a dramatic reversal in approach for Sotheby’s after it ‘simplified’ its structure in May 2024, reducing its buyer’s premium to 20% (up to a hammer price of £5m/$6m).
At the time Sotheby’s chief executive officer Charles F Stewart described it as an effort to make the client experience more “transparent, simple and fair”, but it was subsequently abandoned the following February seemingly due to the adverse effect on consignments and, ultimately, the bottom line.
Rivals Christie’s last changed its premium in September 2025. A spokesperson for the company said it had no plans to change its rates currently.
Phillips also introduced a new premium structure in September 2025, featuring lower rates for ‘Priority Bidding’ where a binding bid is placed at least 48 hours in advance of an auction’s start time. The rates quoted on its website remained unchanged at the time of publication.
Sotheby’s new buyer’s premium rates
28%: up to £1.5m /$2m
22%: £1.5m to £6m/$2m to $8m
15%: above £6m /$8m
Sotheby’s previous buyer’s premium rates
27%: up to £800,000 /$1m
22%: £800,000 to £6m/$1m to $8m
15%: above £6m /$8m
