Ask an auction house which marketplaces it lists on and you will hear three or four names. Ask who owns them and the answer, for most of the English-speaking world, is one company: Auction Technology Group plc, listed on the London Stock Exchange, which began life in 1971 as the publisher of the Antiques Trade Gazette.
This is not a complaint. ATG has built or bought good products, and its marketplaces bring real bidders to real sales. But an auction house deciding where to list, or whether to run bidding on its own website instead, should know who it is dealing with and what that company reports earning from each hammer. ATG is a public company and publishes the numbers. This guide collects them. Every figure comes from ATG’s own reports, press releases and rate cards, or from the public filings of the companies named, and was checked on October 5, 2026. We build an alternative, so read the last section with that in mind.
The Brands Auction Technology Group Owns
ATG’s own brands page lists ten marketplaces, three value-added services, two software businesses and a magazine.
| Brand | What it is | How ATG came to own it |
|---|---|---|
| the-saleroom | UK arts and antiques marketplace | Built in-house; live bidding since 2006 |
| i-bidder | UK industrial and commercial marketplace | Launched 2007 |
| BidSpotter.co.uk and BidSpotter.com | Industrial and commercial, UK and US | Partnered 2010, acquired 2013 |
| Lot-tissimo | German-language arts and antiques marketplace | Acquired 2018 |
| Proxibid | US marketplace: equipment, vehicles, arts, firearms | Merged under ATG management in February 2020 when TA Associates bought both |
| Wavebid | Auction back-office and cataloging software | Bought by Proxibid in January 2019, came with it |
| Auction Mobility | White label bidding sites and apps | Acquired October 2020, “over 600 auction houses” at the time |
| LiveAuctioneers | Largest US arts, antiques and collectibles marketplace | Acquired for $525 million, completed September 2021 |
| EstateSales.NET | US estate sale listing site | Acquired for $40 million, July 2023 |
| Chairish | US vintage furniture and decor marketplace | Acquired for $85 million, August 2025 |
| Pamono | European design marketplace | Listed among ATG brands; came with Chairish |
| atgPay, atgShip, atgAMP | Payments, shipping and advertising services sold to auction houses | Built in-house |
| Antiques Trade Gazette | The trade’s weekly newspaper since 1971 | The original business |
Two of those rows matter more than they look. Wavebid and Auction Mobility are software, not marketplaces: an auction house that uses Auction Mobility for a “white label” bidding site, or Wavebid for cataloging, is an ATG customer even if it never lists on an ATG marketplace. And ATG owns the Antiques Trade Gazette, the paper in which UK auction houses read about the fees of the marketplace it also owns.
What ATG Does Not Own
Consolidation invites assumptions, so for the record:
- Invaluable is not ATG. Its parent, Auction Holdings, was bought by Liquidity Services on October 1, 2026. See Invaluable alternatives and fees.
- HiBid and AuctionFlex belong to Sandhills Global of Lincoln, Nebraska. See HiBid alternatives.
- GunBroker belongs to Outdoor Holding Company. See GunBroker alternatives.
- Bidsquare was founded in 2014 by a group of regional auction houses and remains independent.
- Catawiki is independent and venture-backed, and was reported in July 2026 to be exploring a sale.
- eBay is eBay.
What ATG Reports Earning
ATG’s financial year ends on September 30. Its results for the year to September 2025 and its interim results for the half year to March 2026 give the picture.
Scale. In its 2025 financial year ATG reported revenue of $190.2 million, up 9.2%, on gross merchandise value of $3.3 billion. It counted more than 3,900 auction houses, more than 99,000 auctions, 26.8 million lots and 85 million bids across its marketplaces. Arts and antiques accounted for $0.8 billion of merchandise value; industrial and commercial for $2.5 billion.
Where the revenue comes from. ATG breaks its 2025 revenue into commission ($92.2 million), subscription and fixed fees ($40.2 million), value-added services ($52.8 million) and other ($5.0 million). Value-added services means atgPay, atgShip and atgAMP: payments, shipping and advertising sold to the auction houses on top of commission. ATG reported that atgPay processed 67% of US transaction value on LiveAuctioneers, that atgShip revenue more than doubled, and that marketing revenue rose 15% on Proxibid and 16% on BidSpotter.
The take rate. This is the figure to remember. ATG defines take rate as marketplace revenue as a percentage of gross merchandise value, and reports it by segment.
| Period | Group take rate | Arts and antiques | Industrial and commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | 4.5% | ||
| FY2025 | 4.8% | 10.3% | 3.0% |
| H1 FY2026 (new definition, includes Chairish, EstateSales.NET, real estate and white label) | 7.1% | 17.7% | 2.9% |
In plain terms: for every $100 of hammer that passed through ATG’s arts and antiques marketplaces in its 2025 financial year, ATG kept $10.30, from the auction house’s commission, the buyer’s fee, payments, shipping and advertising combined. On the broader definition it adopted in 2026, the figure for arts and antiques is $17.70. ATG described crossing 10% in arts and antiques as a milestone. Industrial and commercial sales, where lots are larger and competition between marketplaces is stiffer, run at 3%.
ATG also told investors in May 2026 that it “took fixed fee and targeted pricing actions” in the half year, including “small rate card pricing updates on Proxibid and LiveAuctioneers”. The last widely reported step change was in 2018, when the-saleroom’s commission to UK auction houses rose from 3% to 4.95% plus VAT; that figure comes from trade press reports of the time rather than from a page we could fetch, so treat it as reported rather than verified.
What the Rate Cards Say in 2026
The take rate is the average. The rate cards are what an individual auction house signs.
LiveAuctioneers publishes a master rate card. Auction houses pay 5% commission on hammer in every category, including arts and antiques, estates and firearms. Live events carry a per-day fee of $895, $675 or $525 on the Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers; timed sales cost $275, $225 or $25. LivePayments, the atgPay product, charges 3.99% plus 25 cents per card transaction, 4.49% for high-risk categories, and 1% plus 50 cents for bank transfers. The Bronze tier requires LivePayments and LiveShipping to be switched on. Cross-listing a sale to Proxibid costs $585 plus $1.35 per lot, capped at $1,125, on Bronze. There is a $500 reactivation fee, and the card states that LiveAuctioneers “reserves the right to change its Fee Schedule at any time”. Bidders pay a separate fee on top of the auction house’s premium.
Proxibid publishes a 2026 rate card by category: 2% commission for farm, heavy equipment and trucks, 3% for vehicles, 3% for existing and 5% for new industrial and liquidation sellers, 5% for arts, antiques and firearms, and for real estate $60 per registered bidder plus $1,000 per event. Live event fees are $675 plus $2.25 per lot capped at $1,275 on Bronze, $675 on Silver and $525 on Gold; timed sales $275, $225 or $25. Cross-listing to BidSpotter costs $1,125, $465 or $160 for live sales and is waived for timed.
the-saleroom does not publish an auctioneer rate card. Its bidder terms state that ATG does not charge bidders and “is paid by auctioneers”, and its FAQ says auctioneers “typically add an additional 3%” to the buyer’s premium for lots bought online, which is how the commission reaches the bidder.
BidSpotter has no standalone public card beyond the cross-listing fees above and a marketing rate card for atgAMP.
Put the pieces together for a collectibles auction house on LiveAuctioneers with $1,200,000 of online hammer a year across 40 sales: $60,000 in commission, something between $10,000 and $35,000 in event fees depending on tier and format, card processing at 3.99% on whatever runs through LivePayments, and a buyer fee on every lot that your bidders pay and you answer for. Our LiveAuctioneers alternatives guide works through the arithmetic in full.
Why Consolidation Matters to an Auction House
Negotiating position. When LiveAuctioneers, Proxibid, the-saleroom and BidSpotter were four companies, an auction house unhappy with one could move to another. Today a move between them is a move between divisions, with a cross-listing fee attached. Invaluable, HiBid and Bidsquare are the remaining independent marketplaces of any size in arts and antiques, and Invaluable has just been bought.
The direction of the take rate. ATG’s reported take rate has risen every year it has been public, and its stated strategy is to grow value-added services: payments, shipping and advertising. Each is useful. Each is also a further percentage of the same hammer, and the Bronze tier on LiveAuctioneers already makes two of them compulsory.
The bidder belongs to the marketplace. A bidder registered on LiveAuctioneers has a LiveAuctioneers account. Their watch list, bid history and inbox belong to the platform, which markets every other auction house’s sales to them. ATG’s scale is precisely the reason it can do this well. Auction Mobility’s white label sites, which belong to the same group, put the auction house’s name on the front but do not change the economics of a group whose business is the bidder relationship.
The information channel. The Antiques Trade Gazette is a good newspaper, and it is owned by the company whose fees its readers pay. Worth knowing when reading its coverage of marketplace pricing.
The Alternative: Bidding on Your Own Website
None of this means an auction house should leave the marketplaces. ATG’s marketplaces reach bidders that no single auction house can, and for lots that need discovery that reach is worth paying for. It does mean the marketplace should not be the only place your sale exists.
An own-website platform runs the catalog, registration, bidding and back office on the auction house’s domain. Bidders who already know you register with you, bid without a marketplace fee on either side, and stay in your CRM. The marketplace listing becomes what it should have been all along: a channel for new bidders, measured by the share of hammer it actually brings, and paid for on that basis. Circuit runs this model for collectibles auction houses as a WordPress plugin with AI cataloging, timed and live bidding, invoicing and consignor settlement, priced as a subscription with a no-commission Enterprise option. Other own-website platforms are compared in Circuit vs BidJS, Circuit vs Auction Mobility and Circuit vs Bidsquare Cloud.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns LiveAuctioneers?
Auction Technology Group plc, a London-listed company, which completed its $525 million acquisition of LiveAuctioneers in September 2021.
Who owns Proxibid?
Auction Technology Group. Proxibid was merged under ATG’s management in February 2020 when TA Associates invested in both companies, and it brought Wavebid with it.
Which auction marketplaces does Auction Technology Group own?
the-saleroom, i-bidder, BidSpotter.co.uk, BidSpotter.com, Lot-tissimo, Proxibid, LiveAuctioneers, EstateSales.NET, Chairish and Pamono, plus the software businesses Wavebid and Auction Mobility, the services atgPay, atgShip and atgAMP, and the Antiques Trade Gazette.
Does Auction Technology Group own Invaluable?
No. Invaluable’s parent company was acquired by Liquidity Services on October 1, 2026.
What is Auction Technology Group’s take rate?
For its 2025 financial year ATG reported a group take rate of 4.8% of gross merchandise value, 10.3% in arts and antiques and 3.0% in industrial and commercial. On the broader definition adopted in 2026, the first-half figures were 7.1% for the group and 17.7% in arts and antiques.
How much does LiveAuctioneers charge auction houses in 2026?
Its master rate card lists 5% commission on hammer in all categories, live event fees of $895, $675 or $525 per day by tier, timed sale fees of $275, $225 or $25, and payment processing at 3.99% plus 25 cents per card transaction. Bidders pay a separate fee on top of the auction house’s premium.
Is Auction Mobility owned by Auction Technology Group?
Yes, since October 2020. An auction house running a white label bidding site on Auction Mobility is an ATG customer.
About Circuit Auction
Circuit Auction is an all-in-one auction management platform for professional auction houses specializing in collectibles. It runs on your own website under your own brand, with AI cataloging, live and timed bidding, a built-in CRM, automated invoicing and consignor settlement in one system.
Want to see what a sale looks like when the bidders register with you? Book a demo.
Sources (checked October 5, 2026): ATG brands and services, ATG history, ATG full year results FY2025, ATG FY2025 results statement (PDF), ATG interim results H1 FY2026, ATG welcomes Proxibid, 2020, Proxibid acquires Wavebid, 2019, ATG acquires Auction Mobility, 2020, Proposed acquisition of LiveAuctioneers, 2021, ATG completes LiveAuctioneers acquisition, ATG acquires Chairish, 2025, LiveAuctioneers master rate card, Proxibid master rate card, the-saleroom bidder terms, the-saleroom FAQs, Liquidity Services acquires Invaluable, Sandhills Global on HiBid.
