Buying inside India

The route with no corridor cost at all.

Last verified: not yet published. Rates box below is incomplete.

At a glance

Money out	None. Domestic payment in rupees.
At the sale	Buyer's premium plus tax. See the rates box.
Getting it out	Not applicable. The work stays in India.
Getting it in	No customs, no import duty, no clearance.

If you are resident in India and buying at an Indian sale, none of the machinery this site exists to explain applies to you. No remittance ceiling. No tax collected at source. No export licence. No customs entry. No currency risk between the hammer and settlement.

We publish this brief because it is true, and because most people arrive here assuming that buying art is complicated everywhere. For Indian modern and contemporary material bought domestically, it is not. It is the cheapest and simplest way into the category, and if you are new to bidding it is where to start.

What you actually pay

Two things sit on top of the hammer price: the auction house's buyer's premium, and tax.

Buyer's premium is a percentage added to the hammer, paid to the house. It varies between houses and usually steps down at higher price bands. It is set out in the conditions of sale for each individual auction, not on the house's general terms page, and it does change. Look it up for the specific sale, every time.

Tax applies both to the artwork and, separately, to the premium as a service. These are two different rates on two different bases. Get both from your accountant rather than assuming.

Then the ordinary costs: transport, insurance in transit, and framing or conservation if the work needs it. Domestic freight within India is inexpensive relative to anything crossing a border, but the condition report should tell you whether the work needs anything doing to it before you budget.

The one thing to check even domestically

Whether the lot is a non-exportable national art treasure does not stop you buying it, and it does not affect your use of it. But it does affect what it is worth later.

If a work by one of the nine Navratna artists, or an antiquity over a hundred years old, comes up, understand that its future buyer pool excludes anyone who wants to take it out of the country. That means no Gulf buyer, no diaspora buyer in London or New York, no international institution.

Domestic demand for these artists is real and deep. But the restriction narrows the market, and a work that cannot leave should not carry the same price as one that can.

What to look at instead of the estimate

The estimate is the house's view of what the work will fetch. It is not a valuation, and low estimates are frequently set to attract bidding.

More useful: what comparable works by the same artist, of similar size, medium and period, have actually sold for, and how often works by that artist fail to sell at all. A high unsold rate tells you the market is thin, and a thin market is one you may struggle to exit.

Deadlines

Registration closes before bidding opens, and Indian houses commonly ask for identification and, for higher value lots, a deposit. Do it a week ahead rather than on the day. Settlement is usually due within days of the sale. Have the funds available before you bid, not after you win.

Current rates

Before you bid

• Read the conditions of sale for that specific auction.
• Request the condition report and read it in full.
• Check whether the lot is a national art treasure and price the restriction in.
• Look at unsold rates for the artist, not just achieved prices.
• Register early.
• Set your walk-away number before the sale opens, and hold it.

Ask about a lot review