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How to read auction results: hammer price, buyer's premium, estimates and guarantees

What is the difference between the hammer price and the price with buyer's premium? The hammer price is the last bid the auctioneer accepts. On top of it the buyer pays a buyer's premium, a percentage of the hammer, and the price the auction house publishes usually includes it. Andy Warhol's Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was hammered at 170 million dollars at Christie's New York on 9 May 2022 and the buyer paid 195 million dollars with fees, according to The Irish Times. Pre-sale estimates refer to the hammer and do not include the premium.

Key takeaways

Two prices for the same lot

On 17 November 2025 Picasso's La Lecture (Marie-Thérèse), painted in 1932, sold at Christie's New York to a telephone bidder. The hammer came down at 39 million dollars. The price reported the next morning was 45.4 million dollars, according to The Art Newspaper. Same painting, same buyer, two numbers.

The first is the hammer price, the bid at which the auctioneer closes the lot. The second adds the buyer's premium, the fee the house charges the buyer. Auction houses publish the second figure, and most press coverage repeats it. Whole sales work the same way: that evening Christie's took 574.7 million dollars at the hammer, or 690 million dollars with fees.

So when you compare two results, check which price each one is. A hammer price from one report set against a price with fees from another can make the premium look like a market move.

How the buyer's premium is calculated

The premium is charged in bands, like an income tax: each rate applies only to the part of the hammer that falls inside its band. At Sotheby's, since February 2026, it is 28% on the hammer up to 2 million dollars, 22% on the part between 2 and 8 million and 15% on anything above 8 million. Christie's applies the same schedule from 1 September 2026: 28% up to 2 million dollars (1.5 million pounds), 22% up to 8 million dollars (6 million pounds) and 15% above, in every department except wine. Sotheby's schedule is reported by Grossman LLP on 14 May 2026, Christie's by USA Art News on 3 September 2026.

The bands change by currency and by saleroom, and the houses revise them from time to time. The figure that binds you is the one in the conditions of sale of that specific auction, published before the sale and printed in the catalogue.

Then come the extras. Depending on where the work is sold and where it goes, the buyer may pay import VAT, sales tax and, in the European Union and the United Kingdom, the artist's resale royalty on works by living artists or artists who died less than 70 years ago. The seller pays a commission too, but that one is agreed privately: Sotheby's says seller terms are set case by case in the consignment agreement.

Estimates and reserves

The estimate is a range, for example 10 to 15 million dollars, that the specialists set from comparable sales, the condition of the work and current demand. Sotheby's calls it an informed forecast, not a ceiling or a guarantee. It refers to the hammer.

That detail matters when a result is described as beating its estimate. Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer was estimated at about 150 million dollars and sold for 236.4 million dollars with fees at Sotheby's New York on 18 November 2025, after a bidding contest of about 20 minutes, as reported by Hyperallergic. A real result, and a record for modern art at auction. But part of the distance between 150 and 236.4 is the premium, not the bidding.

The reserve is the confidential minimum below which the lot is not sold. Sotheby's states that the reserve is always at or below the low estimate. You will not see the number. You will see its effect: if bidding stops below it, the auctioneer passes the lot.

Guarantees and irrevocable bids

At the top of the market most important lots arrive with a guarantee. The auction house, an outside investor or both promise the seller a minimum price whatever happens in the room. When an outside party carries the risk, it usually does so through an irrevocable bid, placed before the sale at a level that ensures the lot sells. Catalogues flag both cases with a symbol, and the conditions of sale explain that the guarantor may be paid for taking the risk.

The numbers show how common this is. At Christie's two 20th century evening sales in New York on 17 November 2025, 59 of the 80 lots offered were backed by house or third-party guarantees, according to The Art Newspaper. Franz Kline's 1961 painting, estimated at 10 to 15 million dollars, found no buyer and became Christie's property: the house had guaranteed it.

For a reader of results this has two consequences. A guaranteed lot that sells with a single bid at the low estimate tells you less about demand than a lot fought over by five bidders. And when the guarantor wins the work, the published price is real but the competition behind it was thin.

Unsold lots and sell-through rates

A lot that does not reach its reserve is bought in, or passed. The work goes back to the seller, or to the guarantor or the house if there was a guarantee. Some lots never reach the room at all: they are withdrawn before the sale, often because interest looked weak.

Houses report a sell-through rate, the share of lots sold. Christie's gave 94% for its 17 November 2025 evening, a figure that accounted for one withdrawn lot and three unsold, The Art Newspaper reported. Among the unsold were the Kline and a 1938 landscape by Joan Miró. A strong headline rate can coexist with failures on exactly the works you care about, so read the lot list, not only the total.

Bought-in works carry a memory. Dealers and collectors remember a painting that failed in May, and it usually needs time, or a lower estimate, before it returns.

How to read an auction record

Picasso's public auction record is still Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O), 1955, sold at Christie's New York on 11 May 2015 for about 179.4 million dollars with fees. Before quoting any record, or using one to value another work, check five things.

Whether the price includes fees. The date and the currency, since a record from 2015 is in 2015 dollars. The year and series of the work, because a 1932 Picasso portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter and a late ceramic belong to different markets. The medium: oil on canvas, works on paper, sculpture and prints each have their own price ladder. And whether the lot was guaranteed and how many people bid.

A record is a single transaction between two parties on one evening. What it says about the next sale depends on how many comparable works came up before and after it. To follow the results of an artist lot by lot, with date, house and source, use the artist pages on Unicorn Art Watch, for example artwatch.unicorn-club.com/artists/pablo-picasso.

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Frequently asked questions

Is the hammer price what the buyer pays?

No. The buyer pays the hammer price plus the buyer's premium, and possibly taxes and the artist's resale royalty. Warhol's Shot Sage Blue Marilyn was hammered at 170 million dollars and cost 195 million dollars with fees at Christie's New York on 9 May 2022, according to The Irish Times.

Do auction estimates include the buyer's premium?

No. Estimates refer to the hammer price. Results are usually published with fees, so a lot can appear to beat its estimate partly because of the premium.

What is a reserve price?

The confidential minimum agreed between the seller and the auction house. Sotheby's states that it is always at or below the low estimate. If bidding stops below it, the lot is bought in.

What does a guaranteed lot mean?

The auction house, a third party or both have promised the seller a minimum price before the sale. Catalogues mark these lots with a symbol. If nobody bids above the guarantee, the guarantor ends up with the work.

Where can I follow auction results for a single artist?

On Unicorn Art Watch, which lists records and recent results of 100 modern and post-war masters with date, auction house and source, for example artwatch.unicorn-club.com/artists/lucio-fontana.

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Sources

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