Your invoice, buyer's premium and tax
Your invoice is the full, final bill for what you won in a sale. It's prepared by the auction house and sent to you by email with a link to view and pay it. You can also see it under Invoices in your account.
What's on it
The invoice lists each lot you won and adds up the total. On top of the hammer price (your winning bid), you'll typically see two additions:
- Buyer's premium — a percentage added to the hammer price of each lot. It's how the auction house is paid, and it's standard at auction.
- Sales tax — applied according to the sale's terms. Depending on the sale, tax may be calculated on the hammer price alone, or on the hammer price plus the premium.
The invoice shows a Total, anything already received, and the Balance due — the amount you still owe.
Where to see the exact figures
The premium and tax rates depend on the sale, so we don't quote a single number here. You can see the exact rates in three places, all before you're committed:
- On the lot page — the buyer's premium and sales tax are listed right there while you bid.
- On the sale's terms — which you read and accept when you register for the auction.
- On the invoice itself — where the rates that were actually applied are printed against your lots.
The rates on your invoice are locked to what applied at the time of the sale, so even if the house changes its rates later, your invoice still reads what you were charged.
Per-unit ("times the money") lots
Some lots sell per unit — a pallet of ten, for example. There, your bid is multiplied by the quantity: a $40 bid on a lot of ten is a $400 hammer price. The lot page flags this before you bid, and the invoice shows the quantity and unit price so the total is clear.
If anything on the invoice doesn't look right, contact the auction house using the details printed on it — quote your invoice number.