Scenario...

[CailinDeas]

If I sell an item at auction for say £100. I pay commission of £15 + VAT
You buy the item for £100. and pay £15 commission + VAT
So I get £85 - Vat and you pay £115 + VAT.
Is this so?
Thanks

[hc4361]

Yes.

[CailinDeas]

Think I fancy being an auctioneer!!!

[Canary42]

Assuming that both Seller's Commission and Buyer's Commission are 15%, then you are correct.

However, some Auction Houses charge more, some charge less, and many charge different rates for Sellers and Buyers.

[ToraToraTora]

yes but the vat is on the commision not the item so the buyer would pay £100 + £15 + £3. So the buyer pays £118, the seller gets £82, the auction house gets £30 and HMRC get £6.

[bert_h]

Some auction houses charge the seller another 1.5% of the hammer price for "insurance", and a small "lotting fee" for putting the item into the sale catalogue - especially if it's on the web.

[hc4361]

Very risky business if you don't know what you're doing. Even Sotheby's has been sued for mis-describing an item.