Christie’s hosts both live auctions, taking place at our auction houses across the globe, and online auctions. Visit our auction calendar to explore all ongoing and upcoming auctions.
Live auctions
In Person
Bidding in person offers a thrill like no other. You can register in advance by contacting Christie’s Client Services. Bring your photo ID and a proof of address to collect a paddle before the auction begins. New clients are encouraged to register 24 hours in advance of a sale to allow sufficient time for your information to be processed.
Online with Christie’s LIVE™
Christie’s online bidding platform has live streaming video of the auction to bring the excitement of the saleroom right to your computer or mobile device, meaning that you can bid directly in the sale from the comfort of your home, office or on the move from anywhere in the world.
Clients who wish to bid online with Christie’s LIVE™ should register at least 24 hours in advance of the sale. Once you’ve registered, you can enter the online saleroom 15 minutes before the start of the sale, or at any point during the sale. Just visit your online account, or the Auction Calendar, find the sale you want and select ‘Join auction’. For applicable sales, you may place your bid via Christie’s LIVE™ in one of two ways, by either submitting a “max bid” or submitting a “bid”. Please see Christie’s LIVE Terms of Use for further details.
Telephone bidding
If you prefer to bid by telephone, we can call you directly from the saleroom and bid on your behalf with the auctioneer.
If we cannot reach you whilst the sale is happening, to avoid disappointment, we recommend that you consider leaving an ‘emergency absentee bid’ too.
To register for a telephone bid, please contact Client Services for assistance.
Absentee Bid
If you are unable to attend an auction, simply place an absentee bid (also commonly referred to as a written or commission bid) at least 24 hours before the sale and the Christie’s auctioneer will bid on the item for you. An absentee bid left in advance takes priority over the same bid amount in the room or on the telephones. If your bid is more than the seller’s minimum reserve, the auctioneer will try to win the item for you at the lowest price they can.
You may place an absentee bid via your online account, or by calling Client Services. If you are logged into your account on the app or website, simply find the sale and items you wish to bid on, and enter the maximum bid amount you wish to go up to.
Online Auctions
Christie’s Online auctions offer selected works at an attractive price point, inviting to both new and established buyers.
Browsing, bidding and buying take place exclusively online, and sales are open to bidding for a fixed period over a number of days – perfect for bidding at your convenience from the comfort of your home, or on the move.
When registering to bid in an Online auction, you will be asked to register credit card information. Should you be successful in the sale, your credit card will not be automatically charged. Following the sale, you will receive a link to pay online. As an information security measure, Christie’s does not store your complete credit card information for future transactions.
Before you bid, you can use the ‘Estimated Cost Calculator’ on a lot page to see all costs associated with each lot, including Buyer’s Premium, estimated shipping, sales tax, VAT and any additional fees, excluding customs and import fees. The estimated costs are based on your shipping or collection preference as entered at registration.
Please note:
•You cannot cancel a bid once it has been submitted. Each bid you place enters you into a binding contract with Christie’s.
• Christie’s uses predetermined bidding increments – please refer to the Terms & Conditions of each sale.
•If a bid is placed within three minutes of the closing time of a lot, three additional minutes will be added to the designated closing time for that lot. Please note that the extension of one lot’s closing time does not affect other lots’ closing times.
• If a maximum bid amount is entered, Christie’s will attempt to execute your bid at the lowest possible amount as determined by competing bids for that lot. If two or more parties leave identical bids, the first bid received will take precedence. You can change your maximum bid amount if the current bid is lower than your maximum bid.
Note: Please always refer to the conditions of sale linked on the sale landing page.