Consigning your Work
Consignment Agreement
After your work has been appraised by a Menzies specialist, and you would like to proceed to auction we need to issue you with a Consignment Agreement form which outlines the estimate & reserve for each work of art and our conditions of sale including fees and charges. Each consignment is subject to a seller's commission which is calculated as a percentage of the hammer price of each work of art and is therefore payable only if the work is sold. Additionally, the consignment may include one-off fees associated with a third party or service – e.g. reframing, a copyright fee or resale royalty payable to the artist or their estate. These charges are applicable regardless of the sale outcome. To sell your work of art you will need to sign your agreement to sell with Menzies.
How do I get my work to Menzies?
Your Menzies specialist can help you make arrangements with reputable specialist packers and carriers to get your work of art to our offices. Alternatively, you may use your own shipper, or bring it in person to our premises.
Your Christie's sale contact can assist you with your packing and shipping arrangements in order to get your item to our saleroom or warehouse, or you may use your own shipper.
Presale Advice
During the exhibition preceding the auction, you will receive a pre-sale advice. This document provides the vendor the option to authorise Menzies to reduce (not increase) the reserve price of a work of art consigned to the sale. The vendor is under no obligation to agree to any alteration of the existing terms of their consignment agreement, but in some instances, a modest reduction may increase the likelihood of the work selling on auction night.
Can a work of art be withdrawn?
Without any prior notice to the Vendor, Menzies reserves the right to withdraw from sale the property or to have the property listed at any auction. This could be simply due to a change of sale date and venue, or our due diligence has raised some questions around the work that requires further investigation before proceeding to sale.
While a vendor may withdraw a work of art from sale, we strongly discourage such action. The work has been displayed to market at this point, and it's withdrawal could influence opinions of the work going to market in the future. Under our conditions of sale once the work has been published to the internet, the vendor is liable for all costs incurred to present the work for sale, including copyright fees, and additionally loss of earnings based on the mean of the estimate (i.e. mid-estimate) including vendor commission and buyer's premium.
Does Australia have Resale Royalty (Droit de Suite)?
Yes, an Australian artists' work can be subject to Resale Royalty. While not present at the time of this publication, reciprocal arrangements could be made for artists of other national jurisdictions if a work of theirs is sold in Australia.
In accordance with the Commonwealth Resale Royalty Right for Visual Artists Act, 2009 Australian artists and their beneficiaries are entitled to a royalty in the event that an applicable artwork is commercially resold.
The royalty equates to 5% of the hammer price of works of art sold for in excess of $1000 and only applies to artworks acquired after 9 June 2010, when the legislation came into effect. In accordance with the legislation, Menzies charges the Resale Royalty to the vendor.
Resale royalties are only applicable to works by living Australian artists or an artist's estate for a duration of 70-years after their death.
To determine whether a resale royalty may apply to your work of art, you may be required to complete a Resale Royalty Declaration form which will be provided at the time of consignment. This declaration is a legal document, and if Menzies finds that a work of art has been incorrectly reported, the vendor is liable for any monies owing. The resale royalty scheme is administered on behalf of the Commonwealth by Copyright Agency, and further information may be found on their website.