A marketplace, or your own house online

Both put your lots in front of bidders online. They differ in whose name the bidder sees, who keeps the bidder, and how the sale is paid for.

Talk to us How pricing works

The homepage of Alderwick Fine Art Auctioneers, a demonstration house built on Auctionomy, in its own colours and under its own name — Alderwick Fine Art Auctioneers, Bath, a demonstration house on its own address; in front of it, a marketplace (drawn), where its lots sit among everyone else's.

A drawing of a marketplace's listing page: a grid of lots from many sellers, no house named — Alderwick Fine Art Auctioneers, Bath, a demonstration house on its own address; in front of it, a marketplace (drawn), where its lots sit among everyone else's.

Two different ways to pay for online bidding

A marketplace charges a commission on your hammer price, then stacks per-event and per-lot fees on top of it. We charge a flat subscription. That is the whole difference, and it is why a good sale costs you nothing extra here.

Listing on a marketplace

Priced as a share of your sale

A commission on the hammer price of everything you sell through them
A fee for each sale event, and often for each lot and each bid
Card and payment processing charged again on top
Billed in their currency, which may not be the one you bank in
The better your sale, the larger the bill

Running it on Auctionomy

Priced as fixed software

A flat subscription, agreed with you before you start
No commission on hammer price or buyer's premium, ever
No per-event, per-lot or per-bid charge
The same monthly figure whether you sell one lot or a thousand
Bidders register with you, on your own domain

Side by side

Selling through a marketplace compared with running your own house on Auctionomy
	A marketplace	Auctionomy
Whose name does the bidder see?	A marketplace: The marketplace's. Your lots are listed under its name.	Auctionomy: Yours, on your own domain, in your own colours and type.
Who keeps the bidder?	A marketplace: The marketplace holds the bidder's account.	Auctionomy: You do. Bidders register with you, and their records stay yours.
How is the sale paid for?	A marketplace: A commission on the hammer price, with fees for each sale and lot on top.	Auctionomy: A flat subscription, agreed with you before you start.
What does a strong sale cost?	A marketplace: More than a quiet one: the bill grows with the hammer.	Auctionomy: Nothing more than a quiet one.
Where do the bidders come from?	A marketplace: Your own bidders, and the marketplace's audience as well.	Auctionomy: Your own: repeat buyers, your mailing list and your reputation.

Where a marketplace helps

A marketplace can introduce bidders who have not found you yet. Auctionomy serves the bidders who already know your name: your regulars, your mailing list, your reputation. If much of your trade arrives through a marketplace, weigh that first. We will gladly think it through with you.

We compare how the two charge, not any one marketplace's bill: published rates vary by trade, lot and country, and change without notice. Fee structures checked against marketplaces' own rate cards in August 2026.

Bring your own figures

Tell us what you sell and how, and we will work through your own numbers with you, rather than someone else's average.

Talk to us

How pricing works