LiveAuctioneers is the default for antiques and collectibles, and defaults get expensive. Stacked buyer’s premiums frequently push total buyer cost past 28%, and for consignors the competition for attention among thousands of simultaneous sales is intense.
These eight alternatives each do something LiveAuctioneers does not.
Direct competitors
1. Invaluable
The closest equivalent, with a noticeably stronger European saleroom presence. If your material would sell better to a London or Paris audience than a US one, Invaluable frequently produces the better result. Many houses list on both and accept the double commission for the combined reach.
2. The Saleroom
The UK and European equivalent, with the deepest coverage of British and continental auction houses. Essential for anything with a European market — furniture, silver, ceramics, British art.
3. Bidsquare
A curated alternative founded by a group of established auction houses, with deliberately tighter standards on which houses can list. Smaller catalogue, better average material quality, and buyers who know that.
Curated marketplaces
4. Catawiki
Structurally different: every lot is reviewed by an in-house expert before it goes live, and individual sellers can consign directly rather than going through an auction house. For a private seller with one good object, this is often the best route available — you get expert vetting without needing a saleroom relationship.
5. 1stDibs
High-end design, furniture, jewellery and art, primarily fixed-price with some auction activity. The audience is interior designers and serious collectors, and the price expectations reflect that. Slower than an auction, generally higher realised prices on the right material.
Category specialists
6. Heritage Auctions
The dominant house for coins, comics, trading cards, sports memorabilia and Americana. For those categories specifically, Heritage’s buyer base is unmatched and their cataloguing and research standards are genuinely excellent.
7. Artsy
Fine art specifically, connecting galleries and auction houses with collectors. The right venue for contemporary and modern art, where the LiveAuctioneers audience is weaker.
8. Sotheby’s and Christie’s online
Both now run substantial online-only sales at price points well below their traditional flagship auctions. If your item has genuine provenance, the institutional name adds real value — and their online sales are more accessible than most people assume.
How to choose as a consignor
Three questions:
- Where does the specific buyer for this object already look? A Meissen figure and a 1952 Mickey Mantle card have nothing in common except that both are collectibles.
- Does the platform’s expertise add value? Curated venues charge more and earn it on material that needs explaining. On a straightforward object, that premium buys you nothing.
- What is the total cost to the buyer? High stacked premiums suppress bidding. A platform charging 28% all-in is effectively taking money out of your hammer price, not just the buyer’s pocket. See what a buyer’s premium is.
For auction houses: the third option
Houses that consistently sell good material eventually notice that the aggregator owns their buyer relationships. Every registration is a customer the platform can market to for someone else’s sale next month.
The response that works is a hybrid — your own branded bidding platform as the primary channel, with selective simulcast to one aggregator for lots that genuinely need international reach. You keep the internet commission on everything else and you build your own collector database.
See auctioneer software for the catalogue and clerking requirements, and our comparison of aggregator alternatives for how houses typically sequence the transition.
Frequently asked questions
Which platform is cheapest for buyers?
Curated marketplaces where you consign directly generally carry lower total premiums than aggregators, because you are not paying a house premium plus an online surcharge on top.
Can I sell a single item without an auction house?
Yes — Catawiki and 1stDibs both accept direct private consignment, subject to their vetting.
Do online-only sales get lower prices?
Not any more. Online-only sales at established houses now routinely match saleroom results, and for mid-market material they often exceed them because the audience is larger.
