Curious about whisky auctions

@PeterG7 I've never attended a live auction, but have bid online at a number of McTear's events, live as if in the room but just at my desk instead.

I know of many people who have put bottles in auctions and most offer reserves. They will charge you to put on a reserve, but that's part of how they make money :)

My advice for bidding: Research the catalogue before bidding. Choose what you are interested in and read up on those lots. Work out what you think is a fair price for the bottles you want and how much your maximum is. And what your real maximum is :) Make sure you don't bid over your real maximum... Work out what the buyer fees are before bidding - factor that in to your price. For UK auction houses it normally works out to about 25% on top of the hammer price (buyers fees, internet premium, credit card fees, sales tax, etc...).

@cowfish Thanks for your advice. Bonhams has sent me a couple of emails recently enquiring if I'd be interested in putting one of my bottles into their auction. I had contacted them about a year ago and I suspect they keep a file and were just following up. With the information you provided, I can now ask more specific questions before considering it

I've purchased off whisky auctions in the past, however I have yet to pick up my bottles as they've been waiting 9 months for me in Scotland. However I should be picking them up in about 3 weeks time so I'll let you know how it goes!!