How to Sell a Painting: Channels, Fees and What You Keep

Everybody plans a sale around the price and discovers the fees afterwards. The number that gets quoted — the hammer, the asking price, the estimate — is a gross figure that several other people have a claim on before it reaches you. Selling well is not really about finding a higher number; it is about understanding which channel converts a given buyer's enthusiasm into the most money in your account, and then arriving with the paperwork that lets that channel do its job.

Four things to have ready before you speak to anyone

Every specialist you approach will ask for the same material, and the ones who get it answer faster and value higher, because you have removed their uncertainty.

1. Photographs that actually help. The whole picture square on in daylight without flash, a raking shot across the surface to show texture and any distortion, close-ups of the signature and any inscription, the four frame corners, and — this is the one people forget — the entire back. Labels, stencils, stamps and old auction lot numbers on the verso are frequently worth more than anything on the front.
2. Measurements, both of them. The image or canvas size unframed, and the framed size. Give them in centimetres, height before width, and say which is which.
3. An honest read of the condition. Craquelure, cupping, tears, retouching, a relined canvas, a replaced stretcher. Hiding it does not work — a condition report will surface it — and disclosing it up front makes your estimate credible. Start with reading a painting's condition.
4. Whatever paper trail exists. Receipts, probate valuations, letters, exhibition labels, insurance schedules, a family photograph with the picture on the wall in 1958. See why provenance drives value and how to read an artist's signature.

What each channel actually pays you

Here is the model most fee calculators get wrong. A buyer does not decide to pay a hammer price; they decide what the picture is worth to them in total, and then bid backwards from that. So put in the buyer's whole budget and see what reaches you.

Rates are the published or widely reported mid-2026 norms and every one of them is negotiable at value. Christie's publishes a buyer's premium of 27% up to £1m/$1.5m, 22% to $8m and 15% above; Sotheby's raised its lowest tier to 28% in 2026 and Bonhams charges 30% on the first tranche. Vendor commission commonly sits near 15% for a standard consignment and is routinely waived on important property. The resale-royalty line applies the UK's sterling bands to whatever figure you type, which is close enough to show the shape and not a substitute for your own territory's rates. Treat the whole output as a shape, not a quote — and get every rate in writing before you sign.

The buyer's premium is your problem too

Sellers are often told the premium does not concern them because the buyer pays it. Arithmetically true, commercially misleading. A bidder with $12,000 to spend and a 28% premium in front of them can bid a hammer of about $9,375 — the premium has quietly removed $2,625 from the number your commission is calculated on. It is the single biggest reason a private sale at the same headline price nets more.

Nobody bids a hammer price. They bid the most they are willing to pay, minus the fees they know are coming. Every percentage point of premium comes out of your side of the ledger, whoever writes the cheque.

Reserve, estimate, and what an unsold lot costs

The estimate is a marketing instrument as much as an opinion: pitched low it attracts bidders, pitched high it repels them and the lot dies in silence. The reserve is the confidential floor, normally set at or below the low estimate — the major houses will not let it exceed the low estimate, which is a protection worth understanding rather than resenting.

Failing to sell is not free. A bought-in lot is publicly visible in the results, and the trade reads an unsold picture as a picture the market has already refused; conventional wisdom is to rest it for a few years before re-offering. Ask three questions before signing: what is charged on an unsold lot, what does withdrawal cost once the catalogue is printed, and who pays for storage and return shipping.

Channel by channel, honestly

Timing is a calendar, not a mood

The serious sales cluster: New York in May and November, London in late June and early July with a second run in late winter, and consignment deadlines fall three to four months ahead of the sale date. That means a picture you decide to sell in September is realistically money in the spring. August is dead everywhere. If a specialist tells you to wait for a themed sale six months out, that is usually good advice rather than a stall — a Scottish landscape in a Scottish art sale finds three interested bidders instead of one.

Restoration: when it pays and when it destroys the value

Removing a discoloured varnish can transform a picture and pay for itself several times over. Repainting losses, aggressive cleaning, and relining a canvas that did not need it all reduce value, sometimes drastically, because the market pays for original surface. The order of operations matters: get a specialist's opinion on whether the market rewards the work before you commission a conservator, get a written treatment proposal and a quote, and never do anything yourself — the limits of safe home care are covered in how to clean an oil painting.

Frames follow a different logic. A period frame can be part of the value and should be offered with the picture; a bad modern frame is worth replacing only if it is actively putting buyers off.

Royalties and tax, briefly

• The artist's resale right. In the UK and across the EU a royalty is payable when a work is resold through an art market professional. The UK version starts at £1,000, runs at 4% on the first £50,000, 3% on the next £150,000 and less above that, and is capped at £12,500 per work. It applies to living artists and for 70 years after death, and in practice it comes out of the seller's proceeds. There is no federal equivalent in the United States.
• Capital gains. US collectors face a maximum long-term rate on collectibles of 28%, plus the 3.8% net investment income tax where it applies — higher than the rate on shares, which surprises people. Your gain is measured against your cost basis, so the receipt or the probate valuation is a financial document, not a souvenir.
• Inherited work is usually valued at the date of death rather than at what the original owner paid, which can change the tax picture entirely. Get the date-of-death valuation in writing while it is still easy to obtain.

General information, not tax or legal advice — thresholds and rates differ by country and change, so confirm your own position with an accountant before you sell anything substantial.

Score how ready you actually are

Tick only what you can put your hands on today. Specialists price certainty, and this is the list they are mentally working through while they look at your photographs.

Buyer's premium

27–30% at the majors' lowest tier

Vendor commission

Around 15%, negotiable at value

Gallery consignment

40–50% of the retail price

Reserve

Confidential, at or below the low estimate

Unsold lot

Publicly recorded; rest it before re-offering

UK resale royalty

From £1,000, capped at £12,500

Lead time

Three to four months to the right sale

Highest net

A buyer you found yourself

The takeaway

Work out your net before you fall for a headline. Get the photographs, the measurements, the condition and whatever paperwork exists into one folder, then ask two or three channels what they would do with it and on what terms — in writing, including the charge if it does not sell. Match the picture to the room that wants it rather than to the most famous name on the letterhead, and remember that the cheapest sale you will ever make is the one where you already know who the buyer is.

At a glance

Ways to sell a painting

Channel	Best for	Typical cost to seller
Major auction house	Named artists, roughly $20,000+	Commission around 15%, negotiable; buyer’s premium depresses bids
Regional auction	About $500–$20,000	Commission plus fees
Online-only auction	Lower values, fast sales	Lower fees, less reach for top works
Dealer / gallery consignment	Artists with an established dealer market	40–50% of retail price
Online marketplace	Decorative and emerging work	Listing and sales fees
Private sale / broker	High-value works, discretion	Negotiated

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to sell a painting at auction or to a dealer?

Auction gives public price discovery and competition; a dealer can match the work with the right collector but takes a larger share. For well-known artists, get both an auction estimate and a dealer offer.

Should I restore a painting before selling it?

Usually not without advice. Buyers and auction houses often prefer untouched works, and poor restoration destroys value. Minor cleaning may help decorative pictures.

Do I pay tax when I sell a painting?

Often. In the US, long-term gains on collectibles are taxed at up to 28% plus the 3.8% net investment income tax where it applies. Rules vary by country — ask a tax adviser.

What is the artist’s resale right?

In the UK, EU and some other countries, a royalty is owed to living artists (and heirs for 70 years after death) when their work is resold through the art market above a threshold — £1,000 in the UK.

Sources and further reading

1. Buyer's premium — Wikipedia
2. Artist's resale right — Wikipedia
3. American Society of Appraisers — American Society of Appraisers

Links checked September 14, 2026.