Posted By:
Rob DewolfMatt,
In most auctions the winning bidder pays a percentage of the winning bid, a "buyer's premium" as it's come to be known. The consignor's fee, which is what I think Al was referring to and what I was referring to, is the percentage that the person who owns the item pays to the auction house for selling the item. So if I'm reading your question right, yes, these are two different things.
Basically, the auction house gets paid a percentage from both the buyer and seller. While the buyer's penalty -- I mean "premium" -- isn't negotiable, if a seller has some really choice items, the percentage he pays certainly is negotiable. That's why I speculated that Skydash didn't pay a 20 percent consignor's fee.
Rob