Buying at Auction

Amati sells violins, violas, cellos and bows for every budget and level of skill, from a child’s first violin to the fine instruments of the professional musician. Our experienced and friendly team is at hand to help throughout the buying process.

Amati holds viewing days where you can examine and try out the instruments we have on offer. If you wish, you can discuss your individual instrument requirements with our specialists or register your interest in a particular sort of instrument with us.

To bid on any of the items (known as Lots) you wish to buy, you need to register as a buyer. We recommend that you register in good time (at least an hour before a lot is due to end), as your registration must be processed before any bids are accepted.

Register to bid.

Once registered, you will be able to bid for items you want in Amati auctions. You can set your price by selecting a fixed increment from drop-down lists tailored to each lot. Bids can be placed from the time the live auction is published online until the auction closes. Each lot has a specific end time, as indicated by the ticking clock on each lot.

However, should bids be placed in the final 120 seconds, the end time will automatically extend by 5 minutes. This will continue to happen until there is just one bidder left, at which point bidding ceases on that lot.

If you wish, email notifications can sent be sent to you throughout the auction informing you of lots you have won or lots you’ve been outbid on.

Once the auction has finished, you will receive an email informing you if your bid was successful. An invoice will be emailed the day after the auction, or as soon as we have the shipping quotation. We will also include our commission (22% + VAT) on your final, successful bid (the hammer price).

A London collection day at The Langham Hotel is arranged after each auction. Lots for shipping are carefully packed in-house and collected by our shippers a fortnight after the auction end date.

Information on Amati Shipping

Occasionally, not all the lots in an auction are sold. If this is the case, we hold bidding open for the unsold lots.

Emails are sent out to the registered bidders straight after the auction is closed. The email lists which lots did not sell and what their estimates were. If you wish to make an offer on any of the remaining lots, contact [email protected] as soon as you can.