Sotheby's to raise charges for art buyers

Buying art at Sotheby's (BID.N) will soon become more expensive as the top international auction house announced it is increasing its buyer's premium, the rates it charges a successful bidder. Beginning on Sunday, anyone who purchases a work of art will pay 25 percent to the auction house on the first $200,000 of the hammer price, compared with the earlier threshold of $100,000. Bill Ruprecht, the chairman and president of Sotheby's, said the changes were needed to boost the New York-based auction house financially. A spokeswoman said it had no plans to follow the example of Sotheby's, a publicly traded company.

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