I Lost Almost Everything in My Auction Experiment

This video documents my personal experience and opinions after consigning 13 lots (listed as 15) to a UK auction house. I share the full catalogue listings, hammer prices, and what really happened when my antiques — including Persian rugs and a hand-carved rocking horse — were placed in a general house-clearance sale instead of the antique sale the following day.

Everything shown is based on emails, catalogue screenshots, and sale data from the week of the auction. My goal isn’t to attack anyone, but to give an honest review of how the process worked from a seller’s point of view, and what I learned from it.

If you’ve ever thought about selling at auction, this will be an eye-opener.
Would you have been happy with these results? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Correction: In the video I mention roughly £2,000 in bids I placed — that figure was an estimate made before I later withdrew those bids.

🕒 Suggested Timestamps

0:00 – Introduction
0:20 – Background: my day at Malvern and poor sales
1:30 – Why I decided to try auction instead of another fair
2:40 – Submitting lots and expectations
3:20 – Discovering issues in the auction catalogue (titles, missing photos)
5:00 – Emailing the auction house to fix missing images
6:40 – My thoughts before the sale — concerns and hopes
8:10 – Review of my lots and catalogue listings
10:00 – The rocking horse: description, price expectations
11:00 – The rugs and how they were listed
12:20 – Petrol pump covers and mis-titles
13:30 – How lots were split and fees increased
15:00 – More examples from the catalogue
17:00 – Estimating my costs and what’s at stake
22:20 – Day of the auction: realising my antiques were in the general sale
23:30 – Hammer prices achieved for each lot
27:00 – Comparing prices with expectations
30:00 – What was sold alongside my antiques
33:00 – My reaction and analysis
35:00 – Thoughts on how the auction was handled
38:00 – Past auction experiences and comparisons
41:00 – What I’ve learned from this experiment
43:00 – Advice for anyone selling at auction
45:00 – Closing thoughts and invitation for viewer opinions

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