With a crowd that was wall to wall and out the door, Ebay live bidding available, and half dozen phone lines in play, the Rene Lalique 1919 Cire Perdue covered vase Frise Chiens was sold today at James D. Julia auction house in Maine. This one of a kind Cire Perdue, which was the pictured highlight item on our RLalique.com Home Page for the RLalique At Auction Section during the past 10 days, was hammered down for $52,000 plus a minimum buyer’s premium of 15% or $7,800 for a total sale price of $59,800 against a pre sale estimate of $25K to 30K. The buyer’s premium and total sale price may be higher than stated here, depending on the buyer’s payment method. The 5 and 1/2 inch vase showed several small chips to the top rim of the vase and the edge of the cover, as well as a larger chip which removed a “Chien’s” (dog’s) head (see photo below). This vase had previously been shown in the Catalogue Raisonne only by the original Rene Lalique drawing, a photo of it not having been previously available. All things considered, a good price for a one of kind unique work of art by the great Rene Lalique. And we can only hope that the buyer remembered to tell them what is becoming an increasingly familiar phrase at auction houses around the world: “I saw it at RLalique.com!”
For more information, see the Rene Lalique Biography section on Lalique Cire Perdue.
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Well, the 20% would be true for Ebay Live bidders. But generally, as discussed in our Rene Lalique Buying Guide, the premium is almost always higher for Ebay Live bidders than if you bid directly with the auction house. Here is the paragraph concerning the buyer’s premium from the James D Julia Terms and Conditions on their website:
BUYER’S PREMIUM – Shall be reduced to 15% of the final bid price, to be paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. This is assuming the account is paid by check, cash or any equivalent of cash. If you settle your account by credit card the buyer’s premium then shall be the standard 17% of the final bid price which will be applied to each lot sold to be paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price.
Here is the Ebay Live Auction Item Page Terms and Conditions paragraph for the buyer’s premium:
BUYER’S PREMIUM Shall be reduced to 20% of the final bid price, to be paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. This is assuming the account is paid by check, cash or any equivalent of cash. If you settle your account by credit card the buyer’s premium then shall be the standard 22% of the final bid price which will be applied to each lot sold to be paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price.
The 5% difference in this case is $2500, which is one of several reasons we recommend that bidders bid directly with the auction house if at all possible. We also highly recommend that everyone read the Rene Lalique Buying Guide, as there are at least 2 million helpful tips in there just like this one:).
I thought premium was minimum of 20%?