A website for fine art, antiques and collectibles auction houses that presents provenance and condition the way collectors expect
A fine art and antiques auction website earns its keep by presenting each lot with the depth a collector expects: provenance, condition notes, dimensions and a gallery of photos, not a single thumbnail and a one-line title.
- 8pages built for you
- 7 daysto launch
- 5 / morevisions included
The problem
What usually goes wrong for fine art, antiques and collectibles auction houses
- 01
Lot pages show one photo and a short title, with no room for provenance, condition report or dimensions.
- 02
Absentee and phone bid forms are a downloadable PDF instead of a page a collector can fill in directly.
- 03
There is no way to browse by category, period or medium across past and current sales.
- 04
Specialist departments, such as fine art versus silver versus jewelry, are not separated anywhere on the site.
The build
The pages your site will carry
- 01Home with upcoming sales by department
- 02Sale catalog by category, period or medium
- 03Lot pages with provenance and condition reports
- 04Absentee and phone bid registration
- 05Specialist departments
- 06Past sale results and price archive
- 07Consign a piece
- 08Contact
Not part of the build
- Condition reports, authentication or valuations; your specialists write those.
- Lot photography.
- Taking bids, holding funds or giving auction, licensing or legal advice.
Configured for you
Provenance and condition layout
A lot page template with dedicated fields for provenance, condition notes, dimensions and a multi-photo gallery, laid out the way a collector reads a catalog entry.
After launch
What this looks like once it is live
- 90+ PageSpeed, checked as part of the build, so catalog pages hold up under a closing-sale traffic spike.
- 5 revisions a month included, so the site keeps pace with fine art and antiques auctions as your sale calendar changes.
- A client portal from the day the site goes live, for revisions, support tickets and files, in one place.
From the sale room
What fine art and antiques auctions say about the switch
They asked to see the questions customers genuinely ask us about auction consignments, which I respected. They identified which questions belonged on the site and we checked every answer before launch. I now share a link instead of digging through the outbox.
Pradeep NarayanVendor liaison, collectables and memorabilia saleroomSanta Rosa, CA Got, on Paddle FAQ research and editorial review for auction consignments
The preparation page for auction consignments works because it keeps its focus. It tells people what to have ready before we speak, without demanding everything up front. First conversations are shorter and better because of it.
Matthew CopperfieldAccounts administrator, furniture and interiors saleroomReno, NV Got, on Paddle Preparation guide and inquiry support for auction consignments
Case studies
Builds for sale rooms like yours
Each one names the kind of auction house, where it sells, what we built, how long it took and what the team noticed afterwards. Business names stay private.
After you order
How your site goes from order to first sale
No mystery between paying and launching. This is the whole sequence, with what you do and what we do at each step.
- 01Day 0
You start a plan
You: Pay the first monthly invoice.
We: Nothing else is charged. The $697 build fee does not exist yet.
- 02Same day
The onboarding form
You: About 15 minutes: your sale types, registration process, brand, domain and where inquiries should go.
We: Missing something? Submit anyway. The rest can follow by email or portal ticket.
- 03Booked within a working day
One onboarding call
You: Walk us through how a sale runs, start to settlement.
We: We reach out within one working day to book it, fill the gaps and agree the launch date. The launch clock starts on this call.
- 047 to 15 days
We build it
You: Review the site on a preview link and ask for changes.
We: 7 days on Paddle, 10 days on Rostrum, 15 days on Block.
- 05Launch day
The site goes live
You: Approve it. Only then is the build fee invoiced.
We: We point the domain, put redirects live, check speed and schema, and open your client portal.
- 06Every week after
We keep it current
You: Send new sales and changes from the portal.
We: 5 revisions a month within 2 to 5 working days each, researched articles published, results archived.
Plans
Three ways to run it
- 01PaddleThe website, fully managedLive in 7 days
- 02RostrumEverything, plus the AI EngineLive in 10 days
- 03BlockEverything, plus the Content EngineLive in 15 days
Questions from fine art, antiques and collectibles auction houses
Can lot pages carry a full provenance and condition report?
Yes, the lot page template has dedicated sections for provenance, condition notes and dimensions alongside a full photo gallery, not a single image and caption.
Can we organize the site by specialist department?
Yes, departments such as fine art, silver, jewelry or furniture can each have their own section so a collector interested in one category is not browsing everything.
Can absentee and phone bidding be requested on the site?
The site can carry a registration page for absentee and phone bidding that collects the details your team needs; the bid itself is still placed and confirmed by your staff, not processed automatically by the website.
Can we show a price archive from past sales?
Yes, a past results archive by category is a standard page, which collectors and consignors both use to gauge value.
Can collectors request a condition report from the lot page?
Yes. A request form on each lot sends the lot number and the collector's details to your specialists, who reply directly.
Can the site show estimates on each lot?
Yes, if you publish them. Low and high estimates sit on the lot page as fields you supply with the catalog.
Can we separate departments such as silver, jewelry and fine art?
Yes. Each department gets its own section and catalog view, so a collector interested in one category can browse only that.
Which plan suits a specialist auction house?
Block suits houses with many departments, because its larger article program covers more categories. Paddle fits a smaller house with one or two sale types.
See it built for fine art and antiques auctions
A live 30-minute walk-through, on your screen, of the site you would get. Plans from $127 a month, build fee invoiced after launch.
Book a demo