Auction Update Review
One Sale Archived August 23-29
With August behind us there is hope, and increasingly expectation, for the fall that the book business which has been stalled since the economy went into free fall, is recovering. Auction houses continue to report that consignments are slow and they are responding, in some cases, with lower consignment commissions on a negotiated basis. Estimates, as well, are falling although consignors continue to be reluctant to offer material for less than they paid. This fall, if they wish to sell, they may have no choice. Auction houses are looking for realistic estimates and there is every evidence buyers will bid aggressively if the estimates make sense.
For the month just past there were 22 sales. That's twice the number of events held in August 2008 when 3,746 lots were offered. This year 5,609 were on the block.
The only sale archived this past week is Australian Book Auctions Sale 42 which sold 822 of 857 lots, a robust 96%. The average lot price was A$754 or US$634. The other six sales during the final week should be posted during the first week of September and we'll then update the three tracking graphs we maintain on the Upcoming Auctions page.
Bruce McKinney
AE
August 30, 2009
