Agree details and ship your item 

If you choose to partner with Christie’s to sell your item, we’ll work closely with you to agree the details of the sale. You can keep track of the status of your item in the ‘Selling’ section of your online account.

Your Seller's Agreement

Before you sell your property with Christie’s, you will need to sign a Seller’s Agreement. This is the contract that confirms the services, outlines the fee structure and the terms and conditions of sale between you and Christie’s.

Note: Christie’s is obliged to report annually the total amounts paid to each US Tax Resident consignor who sells through Christie’s. To complete the reporting, US consignors will need to submit a Form W-9 and all non-US consignors will need to submit a Form W-8BEN prior to settlement.

Seller's Commission

Christie’s charges a single Seller’s Commission rate for the services we provide. The commission is calculated on each item as a fixed percentage based on the eventual hammer price at auction. This rate includes marketing costs and insurance cover (except for wine auctions, where marketing and insurance are charged separately). If your item sells for over the high estimate we agree with you, there will also be an additional 2% Performance Commission fee.

You may also be charged for other external services such as shipping, restoration and framing, but these will be discussed and agreed with you beforehand. VAT (value-added tax) or applicable duties or taxes may be due on such fees based on the jurisdiction of the auction site.

Agreeing to estimates and reserves 

Christie’s will agree a low and high estimate range for each item with you. This information is published in the auction catalogue and will be publicly available to potential buyers.

Christie’s will also agree a reserve price with you for each item. This will be an amount that we both agree that we will not sell your item below during the auction. This amount must be equal to, or lower than the low estimate, and will not be published.

Ship your item 

Your Christie’s sale contact can assist you with your packing and shipping arrangements in order to get your item to our saleroom or warehouse, or you may use your own shipper.