Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots
By A Mystery Man Writer
Description
Business models are nowhere near as plush as their carpets
![Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F3bbc3451-3356-4030-966a-cf3b8d23b41f.jpg?source=next&fit=scale-down&dpr=2&width=340)
Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots
Business diary: Giovanna Bertazzoni
![Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F05254595-cf21-4c2b-aced-f14f0b08c77e.jpg?source=next&fit=scale-down&dpr=2&width=340)
Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots
![Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2Faacc7d6a-9326-42f2-a296-f1f3f5d86ab4.jpg?source=next&fit=scale-down&dpr=2&width=240)
Opinion
![Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F0e7e42fc-4689-4828-a497-5e7cfc4e02a0.jpg?source=next&fit=scale-down&dpr=2&width=240)
Opinion
![Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2F__origami%2Fservice%2Fimage%2Fv2%2Fimages%2Fraw%2Fhttps%253A%252F%252Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%252Fproduction%252F4fbe27ba-bf42-4bf4-9ce0-929ba82cf214.jpg%3Fsource%3Dnext-article%26fit%3Dscale-down%26quality%3Dhighest%26width%3D700%26dpr%3D1?source=next-opengraph&fit=scale-down&width=900&overlay=https://www.ft.com/__assets/creatives/x/ft-overlay.png&overlay_height=0.15&overlay_y=30&overlay_gravity=south_east)
Sotheby's cleared of art fraud in Russian billionaire's lawsuit
Mystery investor eyes 10% Sotheby's stake
![Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F966d0254-251e-40f4-8320-ab8959befab5.jpg?source=next&fit=scale-down&dpr=2&width=240)
Opinion
![Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9d43b37c-f996-4634-ac56-9e82934b18c6_1200x1200.png)
What We Learned this Week (2350) - by Marion Maneker
![Auction houses: fees hit by competition for blockbuster lots](https://www.ft.com/__origami/service/image/v2/images/raw/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2Fb491573e-5bd7-4976-8f7d-6e8feb7d9830.jpg?source=next&fit=scale-down&dpr=2&width=240)
Opinion
from
per adult (price varies by group size)