One buyer is tempted by an old dressmaker’s dummy. Another has decided on an art deco brooch. Another has his heart set on a unique, hand-painted £1,500 door – for his toilet.
They are among the dozen or so bidders who have turned up for a sale of 20th-century artwork and furniture at Cheffins auction house in Cambridge. Many more are hovering online or on the telephone, waiting to place thousands of bids from afar.
There are many reasons why people come to auctions. The buyers Guardian Money spoke to, who ranged in age from 38 to 76, had come to enjoy a day out nosing around the cool, quirky and often beautiful items, as much as to get a bargain.
But bargains – or, at least, purchases that are “affordable” and represent “incredibly good value” – are there to be had, according to Martin Millard, a director in Cheffins’ fine art department, and an auctioneer for this sale.
If you buy a superb quality mid-century dining table from a reputable auction house, “the chances are, it’s always going to retain some value, and it may well improve and enhance its value over the coming years”, he says. Buy a similar-sized table on the high street and “chances are, 80% of its value is diminished the minute you walk home with it”.
Alongside price, buyers are attracted by the opportunity to buy items that have been built to last, and the fact they are not available to everyone on the high street. “We’ve seen the young buyer – the 35 to 45-year-olds – coming in with a degree of regularity,” says Millard.
“It’s the generation that is now able to afford their forever home, and perhaps looking to furnish it properly now that they have a little bit more space and disposable income.
“They are switched on to sustainability, to interior design, and want to buy something that no one else is going to have in their home.”
A large bronze sculpture of a hippo encased in a glass coffee table is a case in point. “It’s been one of the most admired pieces, just because it’s so quirky and unusual,” he says.
It is listed to sell for £2,000-£4,000. However, the prices in the catalogue – the “estimates” – are only a guide, and as the auction gets under way, it becomes clear that the price eventually paid may be wildly different.
While a painting of green apples by the artist Quentin Bell, estimated to fetch £800 to £1,200, sells for £10,000, the hippo coffee table goes for £1,800.
Cheffins says 27% of items are sold below estimate, 39% are sold within estimate and 34% are sold for more. “We can spend as long as we like pondering over an item’s value, but the day we find out what it’s worth is the day we put it into the market for sale,” says Millard. “The advantage of this is that you know, when you buy something at auction, you’re going to be paying a market level.”
Georgia Walker-Churchman, 38, a lecturer from Norwich, snaps up one of the best bargains, buying three handmade pots with an estimated value of £100-£200 for just £60. She says: “I think you have to be an optimist to come to auctions. You have to think: maybe I’ll pick up something incredibly valuable for £20.”
She is a regular auction shopper and enjoys the experience of touching the items for sale. “It’s a really nice way to access and learn about stuff that I would never normally see, except in a film or a hotel,” she says. “Plus, you can pick up a bargain that you wouldn’t find on the high street, and there’s this element of the thrill of the chase. It’s fun. It’s kind of a hobby.”
Like other buyers, she looks at the prices that similar items have sold for online before she decides what to bid. “If it’s well below what you would pay on eBay and secondhand sites, that’s worth a buy.”
When bidding, however, it is important to remember that auction houses will normally charge a substantial buyer’s premium, plus VAT, on every item sold, so you should always expect to pay a large percentage more than the hammer price. Between 25% and 30% is standard, says Millard.
That might seem like a lot but, he argues, “if you walk into a high street shop, the retail margin might be 350%. Whereas if you buy at auction, our margins are incredibly transparent.”
Getting the item home is your responsibility, so you may also have shipping or courier costs.
Cheffins says nearly 70% of its winning bids are typically placed online. But Chris Johnson, 76, who has been buying at auction for 20 years, says he would only ever buy in person.
He knew, when he bought a Jakob Bengel art deco pendant brooch for £200 (against an estimate of £150 to £250), that he was getting good value for money. Before the auction he found out that similar items had sold for £345.
But the financial value is only one factor. It is his judgment of the item’s inherent value that is vital. “My first priority is: I have to like it,” he says.
He admits that often – especially after being urged on by the auctioneer – he has paid far more than he intended: sometimes double. “You often find that you keep bidding. You go above what you said, because the auctioneers are experts at egging you on, and because you want it. And there’s also a macho thing: ‘I’m going to get this’.”
His top tip for buying at auction is to wait as long as possible before starting to bid. “Auctioneers will drop the price 30% if no one bids, to get people bidding. So let the auctioneer come down at the start. Hold your fire until they are virtually about to say ‘not sold’.”
Johnson’s art deco brooch is a 50th wedding anniversary gift for his wife, Pam, 71. “We’re going to Milan, to the opera, and I felt she could cut a bit of a dash in that,” he says.
The end of the auction day is not necessarily the end of your chance to grab a bargain. Since the cost of living crisis began, auction houses have “not been short of things to sell”, according to Millard.
This increase in supply suggests some people are selling valuables due to financial pressures, and may be willing to accept a low price for an unsold item after the sale finishes.
All you need to do is approach the auctioneer and make a reasonable offer. For example, a Sarah Cox blue glazed model of a schnauzer, estimated at £100 to £150, failed to sell in the auction room. It was sold “post sale” for £70.
Joanna Woodger, a consultant psychiatrist who is in her late 40s, bought an early 20th-century size 16 Stockman mannequin with leather breast pads – which was estimated to fetch £100 to £150 – for £120. She is a regular buyer at auctions, particularly of paintings.
“A lot of research is done by auction houses – you can rely on their expertise. You know what you’re buying is what you’re buying,” she says. “Even coming to auctions is a joy. It’s a rare experience to be so close to pieces of art that you aren’t going to find anywhere else. You gain knowledge, almost subconsciously, that you can’t get very easily from another source – and occasionally, you find something that is very unusual. And then you think ‘Oh wow.’”
Keith Gosnell, a 63-year-old carpet fitter, likes modern design and has been a collector of 20th-century pieces since he was a child. He enjoys going to auctions to buy things he has never seen before – “whatever catches my eye”.
“It’s like a hunt. And if you like it, buy it – because nine times out of 10, you’ll never see it again.” He came to the auction hoping to buy a door that used to open Jonathan Rowlands’ music studio in Chelsea, London, and was valued at £1,000 to £1,500. In the 1980s, Rowlands, a music producer, asked the singer Ian Dury if he knew any artists who could make his door easier to spot. Dury recommended his friend, the artist Humphrey Ocean, who then painted a teddy bear on the door.
“I’ve never heard of Humphrey Ocean – I’ll have to swot up on him – but I just thought: I like music and it will fit my toilet doorframe,” says Gosnell, who won the door with a bid of £900. “I don’t know what my missus is going to say when I rock up home with it.”
