Fees

How our fees will work.

We will publish every fee before launch. Here is the structure we are committing to: what each fee covers, and that you see it before you bid or list.

Draft — final before launch

For buyers

Hammer or asking priceSet by bidding or by the seller
Buyer’s premiumPublished before launch
Sales tax / VATCalculated by destination
Shipping, crating & insuranceQuoted on the lot page
All-in priceShown before you bid

For sellers

ListingPublished before launch
Commission on saleTiers published before launch
Payment processing & escrowPublished before launch

Why we wait to publish numbers

We would rather publish a fee once and keep it than announce a number and change it. Until then, read what a buyer’s premium really costs elsewhere.

All-in pricing

What you actually pay, side by side.

Estimated all-in total

Illustrative only. The default 28% is a premium one Japanese art house published for a September 2021 sale on another platform. Not a Curated Hammer fee.

Hammer—
Premium—
Tax—
Shipping—
Estimated all-in—
CostCurated HammerLiveAuctioneersInvaluable
Buyer’s premiumPublished before launch, shown on every lotSet by each auction houseSet by each auction house; for non-Parity houses it includes an online fee (source)
Online / payment feeNone planned on top of the premium; final terms before launchIts rate card lists card processing at 3.99% + $0.25 for houses using LivePayments; buyers report an “online payment fee” (rate card)Parity houses drop the online surcharge; others add it, with a $10 minimum on most such sales (source)
ShippingQuote by ZIP beside the bid buttonPer house, or LiveShipping; often a major complaint in reviewsInvaluable Shipping (with Arta): instant quotes at checkout (source)
When you see the totalBefore you bidVaries by house; often on the invoicePremium shown when you set a max bid; shipping at checkout
Payment protectionEscrow until inspection; window in our Buyer TermsPaid to the house48-hour rescission for forged or misrepresented lots (source)

Competitor details are from their own published pages, checked October 2026, and can change. Curated Hammer fees and terms will be published before launch.