How to Sell with Sotheby’s: A Step-by-Step Guide

An auction does something a private sale can’t: it puts your object in front of a global field of competing buyers at a fixed moment in time. Instead of negotiating with one interested party, you let the market set the price in real time—and when more than one bidder is vying for the same thing, that competition works in your favor. In 2025, an average of 4.5 bidders competed for every lot sold at Sotheby’s, a figure that has risen year on year.

Auctions also offer something sellers often underestimate: certainty of timing. Once your object is catalogued into a sale, you know exactly when it will be offered and when, if it sells, you’ll be paid. You’re not waiting indefinitely for a mysterious buyer to materialize or undertaking an extended back-and-forth negotiation.

There’s a less visible benefit, too. Before an object reaches the salesroom, trusted specialists research and authenticate it, establishing what it is and where it came from. That scrutiny carries weight. Buyers know that an object sold at Sotheby’s is authentic and guaranteed. Confident buyers submit higher bids.

The path from your living room to the salesroom has a few stages.

It begins with a submission. You share images and what you know about the object—its history, any paperwork, where it came from—through the Sotheby’s online portal. A specialist in the relevant category reviews it.

If the object is something Sotheby’s can sell, a specialist provides an auction estimate—a price range the object is likely to achieve. If you decide to proceed, you’ll sign a consignment agreement setting out the terms of sale.

From there, the object is catalogued: photographed, researched and written up for the auction catalogue and website, then marketed ahead of the sale. Some objects may even be professionally cleaned, reframed or otherwise tidied up so they show their best self when they hit the auction block. On sale day, it’s offered to bidders in the room, online and on the phone. If it sells, you’re paid once the buyer settles—typically about a month after the auction.

An estimate is a price range—a low and a high figure—that Sotheby’s specialists assign to your object based on what comparable works have sold for, current demand and the object’s particular qualities. It’s an informed forecast, not a ceiling or guarantee, and it’s in everyone’s best interest for the estimate to be as accurate as possible.

The low estimate is a starting point. A good low estimate accurately reflects an object’s value, but positions it competitively to attract bidders and encourage competition. Generally, a strong auction result comes from multiple bidders sensing a good price and then jockeying it up deeper into the estimated range. In 2025, lots at Sotheby’s sold for an average of 139% of their low estimate—the third year in a row that figure has climbed.

The high estimate marks the upper end of what specialists expect under normal conditions—a confident projection of a strong result. Nothing caps the bidding there, and when two determined buyers want the same object, the hammer can—and often does!—fall well above the high estimate.

An estimate range, in other words, isn’t a hedge; it’s the range within which specialists expect spirited bidding to land, with real room above it when demand runs hot.

The reserve is your protection. It’s the confidential minimum price you and your specialist agree on, below which your object will not sell. If bidding doesn’t reach the reserve, the lot goes unsold and remains yours. You’re never obligated to part with something for less than you’re comfortable accepting.

The reserve is always at or below the low estimate. That relationship sometimes confuses first-time sellers, but the logic is simple: the estimate is a public guide meant to attract bidders, while the reserve is a private floor meant to protect you. Setting it below the low estimate keeps the entry point inviting while still guaranteeing it won’t sell for less than you’re willing.

When selling at auction, there are two kinds of commissions at play.

The buyer’s premium is an amount the winning bidder pays on top of the hammer price—the price at which the auctioneer’s hammer falls. It’s calculated as a percentage of the hammer price and is published in advance, so every bidder knows the full cost of winning a lot before they raise their paddle. As its name suggests, you only pay this fee if you’re the buyer. The premium goes to the auction house.

On the seller’s side, the terms—including any commission—are set out in your consignment agreement and discussed with your specialist when you decide to sell. Because they depend on the object, the category and the specifics of the sale, they’re agreed case-by-case rather than fixed to a single published figure. Your specialist will walk you through exactly what you’d receive from a successful sale before you commit to anything.

The first step is the simplest: submit your object. You don’t need to know what it’s worth, or even be committed to selling it—Sotheby’s specialists will help you determine your options. A few photographs and whatever information you have are enough to begin.