Phillips buyer's premium in 2026: the 29% first tier, and what it adds to the hammer price

Phillips charges a buyer's premium of 29% on the hammer price up to US$2 million (£1.5 million), 22% to US$8 million (£6 million), and 15% above that, per its rate sheet effective 12 April 2026. Bidders meeting its Priority Bidding conditions at live auctions pay 25%, 20% and 14%. The buyer pays it on top of the hammer price.

Veil of Light (70 x 110 cm), mixed media on canvas with sculpted texture and acrylic: a tall blue painting with a dark vertical column, hung on a white gallery-style wall with recessed ceiling lights above a long wooden bench — Alyne Perfeito, Perfeito Studio — Veil of Light (Luminous Rebirth, 2026), 70 × 110 cm, on a white wall above a long wooden bench. Digital visualisation, purely illustrative; it does not depict any auction room or sale. Perfeito Studio

What the 29% is, and what it adds to the hammer

Veil of Light (Luminous Rebirth, 2026, 70 × 110 cm) is mixed media on canvas with sculpted texture and acrylic. A single column of darkness runs down the canvas, and the studio's catalogue text calls the textured ridge at its centre both an anchor and a threshold, with pale light rising through deep indigo. Its price is one figure, BRL 4,700, stated on its page.

A purchase at auction is built from two numbers. The first is the hammer price, the final bid. The second is the buyer's premium, which Phillips's own rate sheet sets as a percentage of the hammer price in three bands. Under the sheet headed "Effective 12 April 2026", the standard rates for New York, which apply to live and timed online auctions, are:

29% on the hammer price up to and including US$2,000,000
22% on the portion above US$2,000,000, up to and including US$8,000,000
15% on the portion above US$8,000,000

The same percentages apply in London at £1,500,000 and £6,000,000, in Paris at €1,750,000 and €7,000,000, and in Hong Kong at HK$15,000,000 and HK$60,000,000. Each rate applies only to the part of the hammer price inside its band. The sheet states that the rates exclude local taxes, which may be payable on the premium. Where VAT is payable on the premium in London, the sheet gives VAT-inclusive standard rates of 34.8%, 26.4% and 18%.

Close detail of Veil of Light: a vertical band of thick paint, thin raised curls of texture and a fine pale horizontal line across a dark teal ground, with the canvas weave visible — Alyne Perfeito, Perfeito Studio — Veil of Light, surface detail: a vertical band of thick paint with thin raised curls of texture.

Works cited in this text

Why the first tier is 29%: standard rates and Priority Bidding

The 29% is the standard rate, and it sits above a lower alternative. The same rate sheet lists Priority Bidding rates of 25%, 20% and 14% in the same three bands, for live auctions only, and says that only bidders who satisfy the Priority Bidding conditions benefit from them. The conditions are not printed on the sheet: it refers the reader to the applicable Conditions of Sale.

The origin of the split is documented by an independent appraiser. On 23 July 2025 the appraisal firm David Shapiro Fine Art wrote on its blog that Phillips had announced a tiered structure under which advance bids, placed more than 48 hours before the auction, would carry lower fees than bids placed during the auction or closer to it, with a 29% rate in the lowest value tier for non-advance bids. That 2025 description is the source for the 48-hour condition. The 2026 rate sheet does not restate it, so the Conditions of Sale of the specific auction are what count.

The current sheet dates from 12 April 2026. A Phillips press release of 10 April 2026 announced the new structure with effect from 12 April 2026. This page does not state the band thresholds that applied before it, because no source opened for it gives them. Phillips's separate rate sheets for watch auctions, at 27%, 21% and 14.5% in New York, are not the rates for paintings.

What it adds to a hammer price: three worked examples

Arithmetic on the sheet's New York rates, for illustration only, with no sale implied and before taxes, shipping and any artist's resale right:

Hammer price US$50,000. Standard: 29% is US$14,500, for a total of US$64,500. With Priority Bidding: 25% is US$12,500, for US$62,500.
Hammer price US$1,000,000. Standard: 29% is US$290,000, for US$1,290,000. Priority Bidding: 25% is US$250,000, for US$1,250,000.
Hammer price US$3,000,000. Standard: 29% of the first US$2,000,000 is US$580,000, plus 22% of the remaining US$1,000,000, which is US$220,000. The premium is US$800,000, for a total of US$3,800,000, or about 26.7% of the hammer price. Priority Bidding: US$500,000 plus US$200,000 is US$700,000, for US$3,700,000.

Phillips's own press release carries the footnote that estimates do not include the buyer's premium and that prices achieved include the hammer price plus the buyer's premium. The hammer price and the price achieved are therefore two different numbers.

Against Christie's and Sotheby's on a mid-priced lot

For New York, in US dollars, the three published scales read:

Phillips: 29% to US$2 million, 22% to US$8 million, 15% above (rate sheet effective 12 April 2026); 25%, 20% and 14% with Priority Bidding.
Christie's: 28% to US$2 million, 22% to US$8 million, 15% above (buying guide, effective 1 September 2026).
Sotheby's: 28% to US$2 million, 22% to US$8 million, 15% above (Help Center page updated on 9 September 2026).

On a hammer price of US$50,000, Christie's and Sotheby's charge US$14,000, for US$64,000. Phillips's standard rate is US$500 higher, one percentage point on the first band, and its Priority Bidding rate is US$1,500 lower, for those who qualify. For any hammer price above US$2 million the standard-rate gap stays at US$20,000, one point on the first band. For each house in detail, see Christie's buyer's premium in 2026 and Sotheby's buyer's premium in 2026.

One caution covers every figure here: all three houses have changed their scales within the past twelve months, so the conditions of the specific sale are the final word. This page compares published fee structures. It says nothing about any sale or result. For how the premium fits into the wider process, see how art auctions work.

For those acquiring directly from the artist

Perfeito Studio is not an auction house and has no affiliation with Phillips. There is no bidding and no hammer price: the price on a work's page, in Brazilian real, is the price of the work. What the studio's published terms add is freight to the destination and any import duties or taxes there, both paid by the buyer. Professional packaging is included and transit insurance is available.

Scale. Veil of Light measures 70 × 110 cm (27.6 × 43.3 in), a vertical format; in the visualisation at the top, the long bench below it gives the scale against furniture. Echo of Silence is smaller at 50 × 70 cm (19.7 × 27.6 in), sculpted texture on canvas, BRL 2,400. Silent Interval measures 120 × 160 cm (47.2 × 63 in), BRL 7,900.

Light. Veil of Light and Echo of Silence both carry sculpted texture. A relief surface is best judged in detail. For buyers outside Brasília, additional detail photographs and video of a specific work are available on request; in Brasília, parts of the collection can be seen in person by appointment arranged over WhatsApp.

Documents. Every acquisition is direct from the artist and includes the original, unique painting; a signed Certificate of Authenticity with the technical record and the internal Archive ID; a fiscal invoice or official receipt; an Artwork Acquisition Agreement; an artist dossier; conservation and care guidance; and professional packaging. The certificate carries a QR code to the work's official page. The list is on the acquisition page.

Shipping. The studio ships within Brazil and internationally. Freight is quoted per destination, and international shipping is quoted on request, as set out on the shipping page. The full catalogue is in the gallery.

From the studio

From the studio: a price with no second number

Alyne Perfeito is an emerging Brazilian visual artist and trained architect based in Brasília. The works on this page belong to her first documented body of work, painted in 2025 and 2026. Each is unique and signed, and each is catalogued under an internal Archive ID and photographed in detail before it leaves the studio: AP-LMR-2026-004 for Veil of Light, AP-MAS-2025-002 for Echo of Silence and AP-MAS-2026-003 for Silent Interval.

Two of the three are built on relief, the concentric reliefs of Echo of Silence and the textured central ridge of Veil of Light, while Silent Interval keeps a worked and scored ground under a single dark gesture. The studio sets its own prices and does not set or quote secondary-market values. This page compares fee structures; it does not connect the studio to any auction house.

Frequently asked

What is the Phillips buyer's premium?

On the rate sheet effective 12 April 2026, Phillips charges 29% of the hammer price up to US$2,000,000 (£1,500,000 in London), 22% on the portion up to US$8,000,000 (£6,000,000), and 15% above that. Bidders who meet the Priority Bidding conditions at live auctions pay 25%, 20% and 14%. Rates exclude local taxes, which may be payable on the premium.

When did Phillips's current buyer's premium start?

The current rate sheet is effective 12 April 2026, announced on 10 April 2026. The 29% first-tier rate was reported on 23 July 2025 by the appraisal firm David Shapiro Fine Art, when Phillips announced its tiered structure. The band thresholds in force before April 2026 are not given in the sources used for this page, so it does not state them.

Is Phillips more expensive than Sotheby's or Christie's for a mid-priced lot?

On the published New York scales, Phillips's standard first-tier rate is 29% against 28% at Christie's and Sotheby's. On a US$50,000 hammer price that is US$14,500 against US$14,000. With Priority Bidding, Phillips charges 25%, or US$12,500, for bidders who qualify. All three houses changed their scales in the past twelve months.

What does the premium mean for a contemporary work?

It means the price paid is higher than the hammer price. Phillips states that estimates do not include the buyer's premium and that prices achieved include the hammer price plus the buyer's premium. A US$50,000 hammer price becomes US$64,500 at the standard rate, before taxes, shipping and any artist's resale right.

Is there a premium when buying from an artist's studio?

At Perfeito Studio there is no bidding and no hammer price. The price is the one on the work's page, set by the studio in Brazilian real. The published terms add freight, quoted per destination, and any import duties or taxes in the destination country, both paid by the buyer. Professional packaging is included and transit insurance is available.

Ships worldwide from Brasília, Brazil. Professional packaging included, insured transit available; shipping is quoted per destination. How it works →

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