Remember, all these prices do not guarantee anything, they are just a guideline.

Why blindly using top auction sales is not advisable?

Why should you not rely on "Sotheby's" and other record sales to evaluate your own work?

First of all, you need to immediately discard approximately 30% of the price published in the top. Auction prices in the top are usually listed together with the buyer's commission. That means the "hammer price" was lower by approximately 15-35%. But that's not all. "Sotheby's" and "Christie's" charge a commission not only from the buyer but also from the seller. And not only a commission but also other fees. The seller is charged an additional approximately 10% of the hammer price, plus about $200 for insurance and $300 for catalog publication. So, if a work is sold at "Sotheby's" for $23,500, the owner will receive approximately $16,500 - $7,000 less than the price in the top. That is 30% less. The reader of the top usually forgets to make this adjustment. It seems to him that if a painting is sold in the top for $23,500, then the owner receives approximately the same amount or slightly less. This is a big misconception.

The purpose of these prices is primarily promotional: to show what heights they are capable of or have been capable of reaching.

But if you need to seriously determine the potential price of your work (not just to please yourself, but for actual sales in Russia), it is worth analyzing the sold works.

Do not forget about common sense and intuition.

If some result seems suspicious to you (too low or high), then your intuition is likely not failing you. You should find an explanation for this figure or ignore it. And certainly, you should not elevate pleasant results for you that significantly deviate from the average.

You can't deceive the market.