The percentage of lots in an auction that successfully sell. A healthy estate auction typically achieves 80–95% sell-through. Sell-through rate is the primary performance metric for auctioneers — it reflects catalog quality, pricing, marketing effectiveness, and audience match.
How It Works in Practice
Factors that increase sell-through: no-reserve pricing, accurate and detailed descriptions, multiple high-quality photos, effective marketing to the right audience, and reasonable opening bids. Factors that decrease sell-through: high reserves, poor descriptions, limited photos, wrong audience targeting, and oversized catalogs. AI cataloging tools improve sell-through by producing better descriptions and capturing identification details that attract specialist bidders who might otherwise skip poorly-described lots. The formula is (lots sold ÷ lots offered) × 100 — a 300-lot sale that sells 270 lots has a 90% sell-through rate. Breaking sell-through down by value tier (feature, standard, box lot) shows which band of inventory is actually moving.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good sell-through rate for estate auctions?
How can I improve my auction sell-through rate?
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