Guaranteed vs. non-guaranteed sales value of art auctions worldwide 2015-H1 2023

In the first half of 2023, guaranteed sales accounted for roughly 65 percent of the global sales value of art auctions, generating approximately 1.3 billion U.S. dollars. Over the period considered, sales from guaranteed art auctions peaked at nearly four billion U.S. dollars in 2022. A guarantee is an agreement between auction houses and sellers to pay a certain amount for an auctioned lot even if it does not sell.