Dear Lee,

Are you thinking about bidding or buying online? Just be careful. There is growing confusion about the “realized prices” posted online for antiques and collectibles. Although online information about prices taken from auctions and ads can be very useful, some is misleading.

            While an online auction is in progress, the gallery’s staff records each bid until the end of bidding on each lot. The final price is posted immediately. This price remains in the archives of the auction’s online hosting service. A few days later, updated auction results are often posted on the auction’s own website, then printed and mailed to those who bought printed catalogs. But are the prices online or even on the printed list really the prices the winning bidders paid?

            Check the top of the price list published by an auction. There should be an explanation telling you if the prices include the buyer’s premium—the extra 10 or 20 percent (or more) of the winning bid that must be paid by the buyer. Sometimes the buyer also has to pay sales tax as well as extra charges for using a credit card or bidding online instead of in person. And the buyer has to pay for shipping, too.

            Sometimes there is an even bigger problem. Some lots listed in online auctions as “sold” did not really sell. Some did not meet reserve (the lowest price that will be accepted for the item), and some were not paid for even though the winning bidder was legally required to pay. In printed lists of realized prices, most auctions just skip those lot numbers, but some report the last valid bid even if it did not meet reserve. The list published after a recent sale of carousels reported “$0” (no bids) or “unverified” next to lots that were not paid for after a few days. And according to a recent New York Times article, auctions in mainland China are selling only about half of their lots because many bidders renege.

            The prices posted on Internet shop sites may also be wrong. Many sellers and shops will negotiate a price, so the asking price you see online is not necessarily the final sale price.

            Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide adds the buyer’s premium to auction prices, if possible. We use printed final price lists from auction houses, not daily online reports. If a price seems unreasonable, we check with the auction or seller or omit the price.

            If you are not a regular auction bidder, be sure to study every auction’s rules, the buying habits of its customers, pre- and post-auction sale reports. If you are really interested in a particular item, call or email the auction house to get a complete condition report. If a presale estimate or “suggested” price is too good to be true, there’s probably a good reason.