Consigning a watch to Sotheby's: premium, commission, and settlement
The buyer's premium is published in full and dated to the day. The seller's side is not: there is no public Conditions of Business for Sellers, and Sotheby's own dated guidance says terms are agreed case-by-case rather than fixed to a published figure.
Schedules read 2026-09-22. Platforms change their fees without much notice — check against your own invoice before you rely on a figure.
What it charges a seller
A fully published buyer's premium, and a seller's commission that Sotheby's describes as agreed case-by-case
| Buyer's premium — first tier (New York)Paid by the buyer, not you — but it sits between what a bidder spends and what you are credited, so it shapes what a lot can realistically fetch. | 28% of the hammer price up to and including $2,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Buyer's premium — second tier | 22% of the amount above $2,000,000 up to and including $8,000,000 |
| Buyer's premium — third tierSame three rates apply in London, Paris, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore at their own local thresholds. | 15% of the amount above $8,000,000 |
| Seller's commissionSotheby's glossary states a standard seller's commission of 10% of the hammer price, with a minimum $500 on any lot with a low estimate of $5,000 or less, whether sold or unsold. Its dated selling guide says terms including any commission are agreed case-by-case rather than fixed to a single published figure. Both are Sotheby's own words; treat the rate as negotiable. | Not reliably published |
| Overhead premiumThe 1% overhead premium is defined as a Wine and Spirits charge. It is easy to misread the premium chart as applying it across the board. | Not charged on a watch |
- Listing fee
- None published. Specialists review a submission at no cost.
- Minimum fee
- No minimum consignment value is published. The glossary's $500 minimum commission on lots estimated at $5,000 or less implies such lots are accepted, but is not stated as a threshold.
Getting paid, and what's required of you
- Payout timing
- For sold lots, payment within 45 days of the sale date, provided Sotheby's has received the buyer's payment. Payment is based on the hammer price less commission and any agreed expenses.
- Paid to
- Remitted by Sotheby's after the buyer settles.
- Holds
- Certain European and UK buyers at European or UK online-only auctions may have cancellation rights, and payment is held until that period passes.
- Account
- Submit the watch through Sotheby's online portal with images and what you know about it. A specialist in the category reviews it, and a non-binding estimate follows in roughly 15 to 20 days.
- Verification
- If you proceed, you sign a consignment agreement setting out the terms of sale before the watch is catalogued and marketed.
- Authentication
- Not established by the sources read for this page.Sotheby's catalogues a lot — photographed, researched and written up — and a specialist reviews the submission before an estimate is given. The sources read here describe that as cataloguing and expertise rather than a published authentication programme with a stated pass or fail outcome, so this page does not claim one.
- Buyer protection
- Conditions of Business for Buyers
- What it covers
- Every Conditions of Business document Sotheby's publishes, across every region, is a buyer document. There is no public Conditions of Business for Sellers — the consignor's terms live in the private consignment agreement.
What it's good at
- Watches where the result depends on reaching collectors who compete, rather than on a fast, certain sale.
- Pieces with a story worth cataloguing — provenance, rarity, condition that a specialist can research and present.
- Sellers who can wait: the calendar is the auction's, not yours, and settlement follows the sale rather than the hammer.
What to watch out for
- The seller's commission is the number you cannot look up. Sotheby's publishes one figure in a glossary and disclaims a fixed figure in its dated selling guide, so assume it is negotiated and get it in writing before you commit.
- The consignor pays packing, shipping and insurance. Those are your costs, and they arrive whether or not the lot sells.
- The glossary's minimum commission applies on a lot estimated at $5,000 or less whether sold or unsold — the one seller-side charge on an unsold lot that Sotheby's puts a number on anywhere.
- The reserve must be at or below the low estimate, so the estimate conversation is the one that decides your downside, not the reserve conversation.
- A buyer paying a 28% premium on top of the hammer is spending materially more than you receive. That gap is the auction's, and it constrains what bidders will hammer at.
Sotheby's is the most transparent venue on this site about what the buyer pays and the least transparent about what the seller pays. Both facts are worth understanding before you consign anything.
The buyer's premium, in full
Three rates, applied in tiers to the hammer price, effective 13 February 2026. In New York: 28% up to and including $2,000,000, 22% on the amount above that up to and including $8,000,000, and 15% above $8,000,000. London, Paris, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore use the same three rates at their own thresholds.
You do not pay this — the buyer does. It still matters to you, because it sits between what a bidder is willing to spend and what you are credited. A bidder with a fixed budget is bidding a hammer price well below it.
One correction worth carrying: the 1% overhead premium on the same chart is a Wine and Spirits charge. The Conditions of Business define it that way explicitly. A watch lot does not attract it, and the chart's layout invites the opposite reading.
The number you cannot look up
Sotheby's says two different things about the seller's commission, and both are its own words.
Its glossary states a standard seller's commission of 10% of the hammer price, with a minimum $500 on any lot estimated at $5,000 or less, whether sold or unsold. Its dated selling guide says the opposite in substance:
Because they depend on the object, the category and the specifics of the sale, they're agreed case-by-case rather than fixed to a single published figure.
This page does not resolve that, because it is not resolvable from outside. The structural fact underneath it is the useful one: every Conditions of Business document Sotheby's publishes is a buyer document. There is no public Conditions of Business for Sellers in any region. The consignor's economics live entirely in a private consignment agreement.
So treat the rate as negotiable, ask for it in writing, and read the agreement as the only document that governs you.
What you pay for regardless
Packing, shipping and insurance are the consignor's responsibility. Those are real costs on a valuable watch, they are incurred to get the piece to the saleroom, and they do not depend on the lot selling.
Add the glossary's minimum commission on a modest lot — payable whether sold or unsold — and a low-value watch that fails to sell can cost money to have tried.
The reserve conversation is the estimate conversation
The reserve is the confidential minimum you and Sotheby's agree, and it must be set at or below the low estimate. That single rule is why the estimate matters more than it looks: the estimate caps how much protection you can negotiate. A low estimate you accept casually becomes the ceiling on your floor.
The timeline
A submission is reviewed at no cost, with a non-binding estimate in roughly 15 to 20 days. If you proceed you sign a consignment agreement, and the watch is catalogued, photographed, researched and marketed ahead of the sale.
After a sale, payment follows within 45 days, provided Sotheby's has been paid by the buyer. Certain European and UK buyers at online-only auctions have cancellation rights, and payment is held until that period passes.
For a dealer, that is the real cost of this route — not the commission, but the months between deciding to sell and being paid. The holding cost calculator will tell you what that wait is worth against the premium an auction might add.
Sources
- Sotheby's Buyer's Premium Chart (rates as of 13 February 2026) - the chart states PLEASE NOTE THESE RATES EXCLUDE LOCAL TAXES AND ANY APPLICABLE ARTIST RESALE RATES; and gives the same three-rate structure of 28%; 22% and 15% across New York; London; Paris; Switzerland; Hong Kong and Singapore; with the New York thresholds at a hammer price up to and including $2000000; then between $2000000 and $8000000; then above $8000000; London at £1500000 and £6000000; Paris at €1750000 and €7000000; Switzerland at CHF1600000 and CHF7000000; Hong Kong at HKD15000000 and HKD60000000 and Singapore at SGD2600000 and SGD10000000; the UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia follow New York and Milan and Cologne follow Paris; Global Wine and Spirits is charged separately at 24% on all hammer prices plus a 1% Overhead Premium on all hammer prices; there is no watch-specific buyer's premium and watches take the standard non-wine schedule for the sale's location — retrieved 2026-09-22 · rates as of 2026-02-13
- Sotheby's New York Conditions of Business for Buyers - effective as of February 13 2026 the buyer's premium for all auctions except Wine and Spirits is 28% of the hammer price for a hammer price up to and including $2000000; 22% of any amount of the hammer price in excess of $2000000 and up to and including $8000000; and 15% of any amount of the hammer price in excess of $8000000; and the Overhead Premium is defined as the fee the Buyer must pay as part of the Purchase Price for Wine and Spirits Lots as an allocation of overhead costs relating to facilities; property handling and other administrative expenses; so it does not reach a watch lot — retrieved 2026-09-22 · effective 2026-02-13
- Sotheby's Buy and Sell page including its glossary - the glossary states that a Seller's Commission is a commission paid by the seller to Sotheby's which is deducted from the hammer price; that Sotheby's standard seller's commission is 10% of the hammer price; and that a minimum $500 seller's commission is applicable to any lot with a low estimate of $5000 or less whether sold or unsold; the glossary defines the Reserve as the confidential minimum price agreed between the consignor and Sotheby's; never formally disclosed; which must be set at or below the low estimate; with the property not sold if bidding ends before the reserve is reached; the selling steps state that for sold lots Sotheby's will send payment within 45 days from the sale date provided it is in receipt of the buyer's payment and that payment is based on the hammer price less a commission and any agreed-upon expenses; that the seller's contract sets the reserve price and the seller's commission; and that as the consignor the seller is responsible for packing; shipping and insurance charges; the Conditions of Business documents listed on the page are published for Buyers only across every region — retrieved 2026-09-22 · current as displayed
- Sotheby's editorial guide - How to sell with Sotheby's; a step-by-step guide - states that on the seller's side the terms including any commission are set out in the consignment agreement and discussed with a specialist when the seller decides to sell; and that because they depend on the object; the category and the specifics of the sale they are agreed case-by-case rather than fixed to a single published figure; and describes the process as a submission through the online portal; review by a specialist in the relevant category; an auction estimate; then a signed consignment agreement setting out the terms of sale before the object is catalogued; photographed; researched and marketed — retrieved 2026-09-22 · current as displayed
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