Consignment auctions in Middle Tennessee
A consignment auction in Middle Tennessee sells your piece or small collection to competing bidders, and you stay the owner until it sells. We catalogue it, market it nationally and run the sale, mostly online on a timed schedule and in person when the item calls for it. After the buyer's payment clears, Common Hour settles up with you.
Is this the right fit?
Consignment fits a single piece or a small group with real collector interest: coins, stamps, advertising signs, pottery with a maker's mark, sports memorabilia, militaria, art with a name attached or mid-century furniture. If you can buy it new online today, or a hundred are listed right now, it is probably not an auction item. Ask first anyway. A whole household is a different job, and an estate sale or liquidation will serve it better.
How it works.
Ask first
Send a few photos, including any marks, signatures and labels. If it belongs with another auction house or a specialist instead, we will tell you that too.
Let us see it
Leave the item as it is until we come take a look. Polishing a coin or scrubbing an old sign can hurt what a collector will pay.
Agree on the terms
Before you commit, we go over the sale format and whether a reserve makes sense. All of it goes in writing.
Catalogue and market
Your items become lots with photos and descriptions, and the sale is marketed nationally. Bidders are pre-qualified before they can bid. Auctions normally close in 30 to 45 days, and your dates go in the plan.
Bidding closes
Bids are binding. Under Common Hour's auction terms, an online close may extend when bids land near the end, so others can respond. The market sets the price.
Payment, pickup and settling up
Buyers have 24 hours from the close to pay the escrow agent in full under Common Hour's auction terms, and lots are released after payment clears. The firm does not take direct payment. We settle up with you after that.
Who handles what.
Common Hour handles
- Telling you whether an item is a fit for auction
- Photographing and describing each lot
- Marketing the sale nationally
- Pre-qualifying bidders
- Running the timed close or the live sale
- Releasing lots once payment clears
- Referring pieces to other auction houses or specialists when they belong elsewhere
You handle
- Sending clear photos of the piece and any marks
- Sharing receipts, letters or anything that shows where it came from
- Confirming the item is yours to sell
- Leaving it as found, with no polishing or repairs
How fees work.
Your seller's commission depends on what you have, where it is and what the job takes, and it is disclosed in writing before you commit. Under Common Hour's auction terms, the buyer pays a standard buyer's premium of twelve percent of the hammer price, added to the hammer price, unless modified in writing for a particular auction.
Commissions and fees are not set by law and are fully negotiable.
Questions about consignment.
What is a consignment auction?
Owners place items with an auction firm, and the firm sells them on the owners' behalf. You keep title until the sale. The firm does the cataloguing, marketing and bidding, then pays you what is due under your agreement.
How does a consignment auction work with Common Hour?
You ask first with a few photos. If the item fits, we agree on terms, catalogue it and put it in a timed or live sale. Pre-qualified bidders compete, the high bidder pays the escrow agent, and we settle up with you once payment clears.
What should I look for in a consignment auction house near me?
Ask how bidders are screened, who decides on a reserve and who holds the money. At Common Hour, bidders are pre-qualified, terms are in writing and buyers pay an escrow agent, not us. Done well, an auction is the most honest kind of transaction available.
Is there a consignment auction in Franklin TN?
We take consignments from Franklin and across Middle Tennessee by appointment. Consignment auctions near me used to mean a drive to the sale barn. Bidding now runs mostly online, so buyers nationwide can reach your items.
Can I set a minimum price?
Ask about a reserve. An item with a reserve will not sell unless bidding meets it, and each sale's Special Terms say whether that reserve is published or confidential. A reserve set too high can leave an item unsold, so we will talk it through with you.
Can I bid on my own item?
No. Common Hour's auction terms bar shill bidding by a seller, agent, auctioneer or related party unless it is disclosed in the sale's Special Terms. A reserve is the honest way to set a floor.
