The only way for an auction house to make money:

Here is the only way Sothebys was ever truly able to make serious money. It occured 35 years ago: "NEW YORK — Sotheby’s auction house has announced that it will buy the contents of a Manhattan gallery for $142.8 million in what may be the biggest art deal ever, both because of the number of paintings and their value. Sotheby’s will acquire one of the great inventories of 20th-Century art when it buys the 2,300 works from the Pierre Matisse Gallery in a joint venture with William Acquavella, a New York art dealer. Until now, Sotheby’s has represented art sellers, putting up for auction works owned by others and taking a commission from the sale." They realized over 600m!! No way a good auction house can make money because the cost of sales runs 32%. Buying a big collection and marking up 4 times does work. An auction house in Texas bought a great collection of illustration art and did very well. Barney Osher was willing to sell Butterfields and Butterfields for 5m. Ebay offered him 400m when he refused to name his price. This was the best mark up EVER in the art world known to me. That is how Barney made money in the auction business. Plus his collection of American paintings bought directly from estates and never put up for auction was worth 300m at least. I remember Dede Brooks, CEO of Sothebys, slapping her forehead in frustration 35 years ago when the 32% cost of sales was mentioned. She agreed that this metric was imutable and that she brought it up with her team at Sothebys often. If your cost of sales runs 32% and your gross profit is 20% from the buyer and 10% from the seller, there is NO WAY possible for an auction house to make money in the long run. Buying collections privately and selling them for a 400% mark up DOES work. Arader Galleries collection of the works of Maria Sibylla Merian is the second finest in the world. We have over 400 masterpieces. She was the first European Natural history artist of the Western Hemisphere and the first great woman natural history artist ever visiting Surinam 1699 with her daughter. This collection will increase in value 100 times when the $3 tillion oil discovery off the coast in Surinam starts producing. Let me know if you would have interest in participating in this opportunity. My email is grahamarader@gmail.com