Technical article
Art: Resale Royalty, Sell-through and What a Sale Takes
The right lasts for the artist's life plus 70 years.
Imagine a retired couple in London who sell a painting at auction. The hammer price, as an example, is GBP 200,000 (about US$260,000). A few weeks later the auction house tells them an artist's resale right of GBP 6,500 applies. They had not heard of it.
The UK rule
The UK Intellectual Property Office says the Artist's Resale Right adds a royalty on resales of GBP 1,000 or more made through art market professionals, such as auction houses and galleries. It is capped at GBP 12,500 per sale. Since 1 April 2024 the scale is in pounds and slides down as the price goes up. The right lasts for the artist's life plus 70 years.
Private sales made without a professional are exempt. So are sales to non-profit public museums. There is also an exception for a work bought directly from the artist within three years and resold for GBP 10,000 or less.
On the example above, 4% of the first GBP 50,000 and 3% of the next GBP 150,000 make GBP 6,500. That is the figure the government page gives for a GBP 200,000 sale.
The EU rule
An EU directive from 2001 sets the same shape in euros. Member states may set a minimum price, but not above EUR 3,000 (about US$3,300). The right also lasts 70 years after the artist's death.
| Part of the sale price | UK (GBP) | EU (EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 50,000 | 4% | 4% |
| 50,000 to 200,000 | 3% | 3% |
| 200,000 to 350,000 | 1% | 1% |
| 350,000 to 500,000 | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Above 500,000 | 0.25% | 0.25% |
| Cap per sale | 12,500 | 12,500 |
Australia and the reciprocal deals
The Australian government says its resale royalty is 5% of the sale price on commercial resales of AUD 1,000 or more (about US$650), collected by the Copyright Agency. The right can pass to heirs. The UK has reciprocal arrangements with the European Economic Area, with Australia from 31 March 2024 and with New Zealand from 1 December 2024.
The market itself
The 2026 Art Basel market report says global art sales rose 4% in 2025 to US$59.6 billion. Of the fine-art lots offered at auction in 2025, 70% sold and 30% did not. That was the lowest unsold share in six years. At Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips, buy-ins were 13% or lower.
A major house also charges separately for insurance, photography and shipping, according to one fee directory, and a lot that does not sell can still cost money.
The objection
You might say a royalty is the artist's business, not yours. That may be how it feels at the sale. In the sources the right belongs to the artist and, where the law allows, to heirs. The sums are small next to the price, and they are fixed by the scale.
Doors you could open
You could ask an auction house for its full list of seller charges before you consign. You could ask who bears the royalty in that house's terms. You could check the artist's name and dates, because the right ends 70 years after death in the UK and EU sources.
Have you sold a work and met a charge you did not expect? Share it here. Someone about to consign may find it useful.
Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Date read: October 2026.
Sources
- UK Intellectual Property Office on GOV.UK (A)
- EUR-Lex Directive 2001/84/EC (A)
- Australian Government arts department (A)
- Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2026 (B)
- Estimonia fee directory (U)
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