Lotting is the process of dividing consigned items into the individual units that will be sold - the lots. Each lot gets a number, a description, photos, and an estimate, and each one is bid on separately. Lotting is the decision layer that comes before cataloging: cataloging describes the lots, but lotting decides what a lot is in the first place.
Single lots vs box lots
The core choice in lotting is granularity. A single lot is one item - a signed print, a piece of jewelry, a working power tool - sold on its own because it has enough individual value to justify its own listing. A box lot groups many low-value items into one unit - a carton of kitchenware, a tote of hand tools, a shelf of paperbacks - because describing and selling each piece separately would cost more in labor than the items would return. Getting this split right is the difference between a sale that flows and one that either buries a valuable item in a box or wastes an hour lotting a dollar's worth of goods.
How lotting maps onto value tiers
That granularity maps directly onto value tiers. In Gavelist, feature lots - recognized brands, certified or rare and collectible items - are $200 and up; standard lots run $20 to under $200; box lots fall under $20. Sorting an estate this way is the practical output of good lotting: the pieces worth a single listing get one, and the rest get grouped.
Lotting is where the labor lives
According to Estimint's cataloging analysis, manual cataloging of a 200-lot sale takes 46-64 hours - roughly 14-19 minutes per lot including photography, description writing, and data entry. According to AIM (2025), manual auction cataloging throughput runs 15-25 lots per hour depending on item complexity and operator experience, at labor rates of $14-$28/hour. Most of that time is the listing work that follows the lotting decision - the writing, the data entry, the upload.
Where AI compresses the work
That is the step AI compresses. Once a lot is physically staged and photographed, Gavelist generates its title, description, and value estimate in a single pass at about 1,000 lots in 10 minutes, turning the slow lotting-to-listing handoff into a fast one. The human still decides what goes in the box; the software handles the part that used to eat the afternoon. See the auction catalog glossary entry and the value tier definition for how the finished lots are organized.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a single lot and a box lot? A single lot is one item sold on its own because it carries enough value to justify an individual listing; a box lot groups several low-value items into one unit because describing them separately would cost more than they would return.
Is lotting the same as cataloging? No. Lotting decides how items are grouped into lots; cataloging is the describing, photographing, and listing of those lots. Lotting comes first.
How long does lotting an auction take? The lotting decision itself is quick; the listing work that follows is the time sink - manual cataloging of a 200-lot sale runs 46-64 hours, or roughly 14-19 minutes per lot.
Sources
- Estimint, "AI Auction Cataloging for Auction Houses." estimint.com
- Auction Item Manager, "Tracking Cost Per Lot." aimhq.com