Signing example
Sign an auction consignment agreement online
A consignment agreement turns on one number the consignor has to choose, not the auctioneer: the reserve. This three page agreement for lot 214, a 1958 Danish rosewood sideboard, takes the reserve as a typed box on page 1, initials on the charges table, and a signature from the consignor before the saleroom manager countersigns.
The document, with its fields
The pages as a signer sees them, with the signature, name, title and date fields placed where each party has to complete them.
Auction Consignment Agreement
1. Parties and the consignment
Penrose and Vane Auctioneers Ltd, company number 5502881, of 40 Brunel Wharf, Bristol BS1 6QH, called the Auctioneer, agrees to offer the property described below for sale by public auction on behalf of Margaret Ilesanmi of 9 Colville Terrace, Bath BA1 5NQ, called the Consignor. The Consignor delivers the property to the Auctioneer's saleroom and the Auctioneer sells it as agent, in the Consignor's interest, on the terms set out here.
2. The lot
| Lot number | Lot 214, Design and Decorative Arts, 14 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Description | Danish rosewood sideboard, four doors over a shelved interior, tapered legs, circa 1958, attributed to the Odense workshop of Hald and Sons |
| Dimensions | 203 cm wide, 46 cm deep, 78 cm high |
| Condition on receipt | Two shallow ring marks to the top, one repaired hinge, original key present, no woodworm |
| Provenance given | Bought new by the Consignor's grandparents in Copenhagen, in the family since |
| Estimate | £3,000 to £4,500 |
| Insurance value while held | £4,500 |
The Consignor warrants that they own the lot outright, that nobody else has an interest in it, that it may be sold freely, and that everything they have told the Auctioneer about its age, maker and history is true so far as they know. The Auctioneer's catalogue description is its own opinion and is not a warranty to the buyer beyond what the conditions of sale say.
3. Reserve
The reserve is the lowest price at which the lot may be sold. It is set by the Consignor in the box below, may not be more than the low estimate without the Auctioneer's written agreement, and may be lowered but not raised after the catalogue is published. Below the reserve the lot is bought in and returned, and the Consignor pays the charges in clause 5.
4. Commission and charges
The Auctioneer's commission is 15 per cent of the hammer price, deducted from the proceeds before they are paid to the Consignor. The buyer pays a separate premium to the Auctioneer, which is not shared with the Consignor and is not part of the hammer price.
| Charge | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Seller's commission | 15% of hammer | On a sale |
| Illustration in the catalogue | £90 a lot | Whether or not the lot sells |
| Insurance while in the saleroom | 1% of the reserve | Whether or not the lot sells |
| Unsold lot fee | £60 | Only if the lot is bought in |
| Collection from the Consignor | £180, agreed in advance | Charged on the settlement statement |
| Storage after 21 days from the sale | £8 a day | On an unsold lot not collected |
A worked example on a hammer price of £3,800: commission £570, illustration £90, insurance £30 on a £3,000 reserve, collection £180, so the settlement is £2,930 before any charge the Consignor asks for separately.
5. Settlement
The Auctioneer pays the Consignor within 30 days of the sale, provided the buyer has paid in full. If the buyer does not pay, the Auctioneer will tell the Consignor within 35 days of the sale and will either pursue the buyer or, at the Consignor's written direction, cancel the sale and return the lot. The Auctioneer does not guarantee the buyer's payment.
6. Withdrawal
| Who withdraws | What is payable |
|---|---|
| Consignor, more than 28 days before the sale | Illustration and insurance charges only |
| Consignor, inside 28 days | The above plus 8 per cent of the low estimate |
| Auctioneer, for doubt about title, authenticity or condition | Nothing. The lot is returned and charges are waived |
7. Risk, insurance and care
The Auctioneer holds the lot at its saleroom and insures it at the value in clause 2 from the moment it is receipted until it is collected or delivered, against fire, theft and accidental damage, with the usual exclusions for inherent defect, gradual deterioration and damage caused by restoration the Consignor asked for. The Consignor's own household policy is not relied on. The Auctioneer may move the lot between its saleroom and its store, and will keep it away from direct sunlight and heat.
8. Photography and catalogue
The Auctioneer photographs the lot and may use those images in the catalogue, on its website, in advertising and in its archive, before and after the sale, without further permission and without payment. The images stay the Auctioneer's property. The Consignor's name is not printed in the catalogue unless the Consignor asks for it in writing.
9. Authenticity and the buyer's remedies
If, within five years of the sale, a buyer proves to the Auctioneer's reasonable satisfaction that the lot is a deliberate forgery, the Auctioneer may cancel the sale and refund the buyer. The Consignor then repays the settlement it received. This clause does not apply where the catalogue description matched the generally accepted view of scholars at the date of the sale, or where the only way to show the forgery was a process that was not generally available then.
10. General
This agreement, the Auctioneer's conditions of sale current at the date of the auction and the receipt issued on delivery of the lot are the whole agreement between the parties. Nothing said at a valuation day forms part of it. Notices go to the addresses on page 1 or to the email addresses the parties have used with each other. The agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales.
Execution
Signed in order: the Consignor first, then the Auctioneer's saleroom manager, who countersigns and by doing so accepts the lot into the 14 November sale.
Who signs what
- Margaret Ilesanmi, the consignor, first
- Typed reserve price on page 1 · Initials on the charges table, page 2 · Signature and stamped date on page 3 · Email link, no code
- Julian Fairhurst, for Penrose and Vane Auctioneers Ltd, second
- Signature block on page 3: Name, Title, Company, Date · Countersigning accepts the lot into the 14 November sale
The signing journey
Step 1
Five fields across three pages
The consignor gets the reserve box on page 1, initials on page 2 and a signature and date on page 3. The saleroom gets a four line block beside the signature.
Step 2
Sign in order goes on
The consignor is invited alone. The saleroom manager has no link until the reserve and the signature are stamped into the file.
Step 3
The consignor sets the number
The reserve is typed by the consignor in her own session. Nothing in the editor lets the saleroom put a figure into that box before sending.
Step 4
One drawing, two marks
A single drawing fills the page 2 initials and the page 3 signature, and the date stamps itself from the submission.
Step 5
The saleroom accepts the lot
The listener stamps the consignor's fields, invites the manager, and the countersignature completes the file and books lot 214 into the sale.
Every field, and who fills it
Five fields, four of them the consignor's. The reserve sits in its own box under clause 3, beside a printed line naming her as the person who sets it. The initials sit in the right margin under the withdrawal table on page 2. The signature and date sit on page 3 over the rules the agreement prints. The saleroom's block sits beside them with Name, Title, Company and Date, of which two lines are typed. The lot description, the estimate and the insurance value are already written, because those are the auctioneer's statements and the consignor is agreeing to them rather than supplying them.
How to adapt this envelope
Two consignors on one lot means two recipients, each with initials and a signature, and the reserve stays a single box assigned to one of them. A consignment of several lots takes one reserve box per lot, on the schedule page rather than in the clause. And where the saleroom wants the reserve confirmed again closer to the sale, that is a second short envelope rather than a change to this one, because a sent envelope cannot be edited.
What the signed agreement and certificate show
The completed PDF shows the consignor's reserve typed under clause 3, initials on the charges page and a dated signature on page 3, with the saleroom's block beside it reading the role heading in capitals over four lines. The certificate lists both signers on Email link with their IP addresses, consent timestamps and the document hash at the moment each signed, and its event log runs in order from Envelope created to the manager's Signed.
What makes this signing flow work
The reserve is the consignor's own typing
A reserve set by the auctioneer and confirmed by email is a weaker record than a figure the consignor typed into the agreement. The signed PDF shows the number inside the clause that defines it, above her own initials on the charges that follow if the lot is bought in.
Initials land on the charges, not the description
Illustration, insurance, the unsold fee and the withdrawal scale are the lines a consignor is surprised by later. Putting initials on that page marks it as read by the person who pays them, which the lot description never needs.
Acceptance comes after the reserve, not before
With Sign in order on, the saleroom manager cannot countersign until the reserve is in the file. So every accepted consignment out of this envelope was accepted at a known reserve rather than at one agreed afterwards.
Questions people ask
Can the reserve be changed after the agreement is signed?
The document allows it to be lowered but not raised once the catalogue is published, and that is a change to the agreement rather than to the envelope. A sent envelope is locked, so a new reserve is confirmed in writing or by a short second envelope carrying the amendment.
Why does the consignor sign before the auction house?
Because the countersignature is the acceptance. Sign in order on means the saleroom manager has no link until the reserve and the consignor's signature are stamped in, so the lot is never accepted into a sale before the seller has set the price it can sell at.
Can a consignor sign without coming into the saleroom?
Yes. The link goes to her own email address and the portal works on a phone, where the document goes read only below 560 pixels and the reserve box moves into a panel above it. The certificate records the IP address the signature came from.
Can the reserve be set above the low estimate?
Not without the auctioneer agreeing in writing. Clause 3 caps the reserve at the low estimate, because a reserve above it makes the lot unlikely to sell and costs both sides the catalogue and insurance charges. If the consignor wants a higher floor, the estimate itself is renegotiated before the envelope goes out, so the typed figure never contradicts the clause printed above it.
What happens if the consignor declines?
The envelope moves to declined, the saleroom manager is never invited, and the sender is emailed with whatever reason was typed. Nothing is stamped after that. A declined envelope can still be withdrawn with a note, and a revised agreement goes out fresh.
Does the initials spot mean the consignor agrees with the charges?
It records that the page was read by the person who pays them, which is the useful evidence if a withdrawal fee or an unsold fee is disputed later. Agreement to the whole agreement, charges included, comes from the signature on page 3.
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