The most common way to miss a lot you wanted is not being outbid. It is discovering, two days before the sale, that your bidding registration has not been approved.
Registration at a major house is a credit process, not a form. It takes time, it can require money up front, and it does not accelerate because a catalogue deadline is approaching. Here is how it actually works.
Start Two Weeks Out
For a marquee evening sale, begin the process a fortnight before. For a day sale or online auction, several days is usually sufficient. New clients take longer than returning ones, and international clients longer still.
You will need government photographic identification, proof of address, and bank details. Above certain thresholds the house will ask for a bank reference or a deposit — commonly a percentage of the amount you intend to bid, refunded if you are unsuccessful. On high-value lots a deposit is standard rather than exceptional.
This is anti-money-laundering compliance as much as credit control, and the checks have tightened considerably in recent years. Vagueness about the source of funds slows things down.
The Four Ways to Bid
The absentee bid deserves more respect than it gets. You set a ceiling in writing, the house executes up to it as economically as possible, and the whole apparatus designed to extract one more increment from you — the pace, the room, the specialist’s attention on the phone — never touches you. For a disciplined buyer it is frequently the best method available, and it costs nothing.
How the Bidding Actually Runs
The auctioneer opens below the reserve and takes bids in set increments — typically rising in steps of roughly ten per cent, though the auctioneer controls this and may split an increment to keep two bidders in.
Two things confuse newcomers. Chandelier bids are bids the auctioneer takes off the wall — not from any real person — to move the price up toward the reserve. This is legal, disclosed in the conditions of sale, and stops at the reserve. And a lot that fails to reach its reserve is bought in: the hammer falls, but nothing has been sold.
Do not read a hammer falling as a sale. Check the results.
Before You Register
Request the condition report and read it for what it omits rather than what it says — absence of comment is not reassurance. Ask for additional photographs, including the reverse.
Check the attribution language: only an unqualified full name asserts that the artist made the work. Run the provenance yourself rather than relying on the house, which earns commission on the sale it would be flagging. And calculate your true ceiling — premium and tax add roughly 35 to 40 per cent to the hammer.
Auction purchases are final. There is no cooling-off period and no return.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I register to bid at Christie’s or Sotheby’s?
Apply through the house website or a specialist, supplying photographic ID, proof of address and bank details. Allow up to two weeks for a marquee sale; deposits or bank references are common above certain values.
Do I need a deposit to bid?
Frequently, on higher-value lots. It is typically a percentage of your intended maximum and is refunded if you are unsuccessful.
What is a chandelier bid?
A bid taken by the auctioneer that does not come from a real bidder, used to advance the price toward the reserve. It is legal, disclosed in the conditions of sale, and must stop at the reserve.
Is an absentee bid a good idea?
For disciplined buyers, often the best option. You set a written maximum, the house executes up to it, and none of the saleroom pressure reaches you.
Can I return something I bought at auction?
No. Auction purchases are final, with no cooling-off period. All due diligence happens before the sale.
Part of our autumn 2026 auction season series. See also: the full season guide.
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