Auction Consignment Software: From Intake to Settlement
Agreements, lots, commissions, statements and payouts on one consignor record.
Circuit Auction's consignment management is built into the platform that catalogs the lots, runs the sale and invoices the buyers, so the settlement statement is produced from the sale, not reconciled after it.
Why Consignment Belongs Inside the Auction Platform
Settlement is the last thing a consignor sees before deciding whether to send the next collection. At most auction houses it is also the slowest document produced, because the agreement is in a drawer, the hammer prices are in the clerking system, the buyer payments are in a spreadsheet and the consignor is in a CRM. Circuit keeps all four on one record.
Consignment Management Features
Everything between "we would like to consign" and "payment sent"
Consignor Settlement in Days, Not Weeks
The major houses pay consignors 35 to 45 days after the sale, and only once the buyer has paid. A smaller auction house that pays in two weeks has a selling point they cannot match. Circuit is built for that: read how fast auction houses pay and what the law requires.
How Consignment Works in Circuit
1. Intake
A consignment is opened on the consignor's record, the agreement is generated with its commission structure, charges and settlement terms, and lots are received against it, by barcode for large collections.
2. Cataloging and Sale
Lots are catalogued with AI-drafted descriptions and estimates, reserves are checked against the agreement, and the consignor is kept informed. The sale runs as a timed or live auction on your own website.
3. Invoicing and Collection
Buyer invoices go out at the hammer. As buyers pay, each lot on the consignor's statement is marked settled, and the dashboard shows what is still outstanding.
4. Statement and Payout
The statement is generated from the sale, sent from the consignor's record with its open status logged, the payout is recorded and the figures export to accounting. Unsold lots are re-offered, returned or moved to private sale from the same consignment.
Consignment in the Platform vs. a Back Office and a Spreadsheet
Most auction houses settle consignors from a back-office system that does not run the bidding, plus a spreadsheet that bridges the gap. Here is what changes when the consignment, the sale and the invoices are one system.
Auction Consignment Software FAQ
It manages the seller side of an auction house: consignment intake, the consignment agreement, the lots received against it, commission and charge structures, status updates to the consignor, the settlement statement after the sale and the payout. In Circuit all of this sits on the consignor's record inside the same platform that catalogs the lots, runs the bidding and invoices the buyers, so the statement is produced from the sale itself rather than reconciled afterwards.
From the consignor's record, with terms drawn from your templates and adjusted for the collection value and the consignor's history. The commission rate, tiered rates by lot value, photography, insurance and unsold charges, reserves and the settlement terms are stored on the agreement and applied automatically to every lot received under it.
Yes. Circuit supports flat and tiered commission structures set at the consignor, collection or lot level, calculated from the hammer price at settlement. Special arrangements for dealers, estates and repeat consignors are recorded on the agreement rather than remembered at statement time.
As soon as the buyers of their lots have paid. Circuit tracks buyer payment status per lot, so a consignor statement can be settled lot by lot rather than held for a whole sale. Auction houses using this approach settle most consignors inside two weeks of the sale. See our guide to consignor settlement timelines for what the major houses and US state rules require.
For every lot: the hammer price, the commission rate and amount, each agreed charge, the net proceeds, and the buyer's payment status. Unsold lots are listed with their reserve and the agreed next step. Totals show gross hammer, deductions, net due, paid to date and balance outstanding, with the payout date and method.
Yes. Bought-in lots stay on the consignment with their reserve and can be re-offered in a later sale, returned to the consignor or moved to a private sale, with any unsold charge from the agreement applied to the statement.
Yes. Settlement statements, payouts and buyer invoices export in formats compatible with standard accounting systems, so the ledger is updated without re-keying.
Yes. A consignor is a client record in Circuit's auction house CRM, with their consignments, statements, bids and purchases side by side, and every email sent to them, including the statement, logged with its open status. Many clients are both bidders and consignors, and Circuit keeps one record for both roles.
Ready to Settle Consignors in Days?
Book a demo and bring a recent consignment agreement. We will set up its commission structure and show the statement it produces from a real sale.
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