I recently submitted an item to a local saleroom for a sale held over a month ago. To date I have not a sale notification or any payment. Having checked on thesaleroom.com, I can see that the item did sell.
However, I am not unduly perturbed as it has been standard procedure for many years for vendors to wait often over a month for payment for items consigned for sale.
But one wonders whether the timeframe for vendor pay-outs should get a more prominent mention when commissions, insurance, photography, surcharges and VAT are cited in auctioneer fees.
Christopher Napier
Bournemouth, Dorset
PS: They may say the cheque is dead but in my experience, payment by auction houses to vendors is still often in this manner.
