Whether you're bidding for the first time or preparing to consign a collection, wine auctions come with their own vocabulary. Here are the key terms you'll come across when buying or selling with Iron Gate.
Consignment is the process of submitting your wine or spirits collection to an auction house to be sold on your behalf. Iron Gate evaluates each consignment, sets pre-sale estimates, and manages the entire sale process, from listing through to payment.
An estimate is a value range assigned to a lot ahead of auction, based on recent comparable sales, market demand, rarity, and condition. Estimates are a guide for bidders, not a guaranteed sale price. If you're curious what your own collection might be worth, you can request a wine estimate from Iron Gate.
The reserve is a confidential minimum price agreed between the consignor and the auction house. If bidding doesn't reach the reserve, the lot doesn't sell. By law and standard practice, a reserve is never set higher than the low end of the published estimate.
The hammer price is the final winning bid at the close of an auction, before the buyer's premium is added. It's the number bidders compete to set, and the base figure the seller's proceeds are calculated from.
The buyer's premium is a percentage fee added to the hammer price and paid by the winning bidder, on top of the price of the lot itself. It's one of the most important numbers to compare between auction houses — Iron Gate offers the lowest buyer premium in Canada, which means more of the final price goes toward the wine itself rather than fees.
A lot is a single item or grouped set of bottles offered together as one unit in an auction. Lots are assembled by the auction house, so bidders purchase the lot as listed rather than selecting individual bottles from within it.
Provenance is the documented ownership and storage history of a bottle or collection. Strong provenance, such as records showing proper temperature-controlled storage, gives bidders confidence and can meaningfully increase a wine's value, especially for older or rarer bottles.
An absentee bid is a maximum bid submitted in advance by a bidder who can't participate live. The auction house bids on that person's behalf up to their specified limit, ensuring they can compete for a lot without being present when it closes.
Have more questions about buying or selling at auction? Get in touch with Iron Gate, or browse our current wine auctions.
