It was fascinating to discover that the latest Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded for work on auction theory. Not so concerned with chattels auctions as those for broadcast and phone bandwidth licensing, the theorists who scooped the prize needed to solve problems that arose for organisations setting out to bid hundreds of millions of pounds in what is ultimately an uncertain market.

I won’t bore you with the nuts and bolts of this; suffice to say that uncertainty tends to blunt the appetite in this sort of setting, which can mean that all interested parties lose out, so the challenge is to come up with a new type of auction that gets round this.

Ultimately, though, whatever you are selling, auctions depend on supply, demand, expert knowledge of what is being sold and a deep understanding of human nature. You don’t need a Nobel Prize to work that out, but you do need a great deal of experience to be effective as an auctioneer.

As someone who has been on the rostrum for more years than I care to remember, my first objective is to secure as good a price as I can for the consignor, but it is also important to ensure that the buyer gets what they pay for.

The best way to create demand, as a marketing guru once told me, is to show a group of people something wonderful and then tell them they can’t have it.

I’m often asked what the antiques of the future will be; what things people generally discard or fail to take care of today that they should really be keeping hold of.

While there are no guarantees of what will become collectable, you can narrow the odds by following a few rules.

Firstly, what is there around today that the public is likely to feel nostalgic about in 20 years’ time? TV programmes, music, clothing and toys are a good place to start. But while you can now collect vinyl and CDs from a couple of decades ago, these days music tends to be delivered by streaming, so what will there be to collect in 2040 on that front? Certainly well-preserved posters, limited edition memorabilia and such like.

We are already seeing branded clothing from as little as ten years ago making decent money at auction and via sites like eBay; that trend is likely to continue.

Anything deliberately issued in a limited edition or withdrawn from sale early, thereby effectively creating a limited edition, could well be a candidate, as well as technology, because it updates and moves onto the next generation so quickly. A market in old iPhones already exists.

Whatever takes your fancy, remember this: original condition is all. If you want to keep something back as an investment, where possible keep it in its original box or wrapping and as undamaged as possible. If you have the original sales paperwork – receipt, guarantee etc – to go with it, then keep that too.

When most people think about antiques and auctions, the old cliché of a dusty saleroom staffed by crusty retainers comes to mind. However, the reality is that it is our industry that has often led the way in innovation, especially with technology.

It may have something to do with the incredible ability of auction houses and dealers to adapt and survive, an attribute that has come into ever sharper focus during the pandemic.

Online bidding, in some shape, has been around for the best part of 20 years now, and has reached a level of sophistication that brings comfort to the least initiated when dipping their toe in the water. Galleries that previously depended on footfall are doing rather nicely, thank you, after swiftly moving planned exhibitions online, even adopting newly developed virtual viewing rooms that grant easy access and help boost sales.

As a longstanding member of our profession, for me nothing will ever replace the thrill and buzz of the live saleroom, with ranks of bidders seated before me as I conduct proceedings from the rostrum. But technology has proved a boon, not just in helping us continue in these dark times, but in extending our geographical reach well beyond the limits of our region to penetrate the furthest corners of the globe.

It has also brought us a new younger audience, who have been getting their first glimpse of antiques. The word ‘antique’ may not be for them, but what they see certainly is, as I can vouch.

As soon as the auctioneer has handed over the sales record from the rostrum – which they will do at regular intervals throughout the sale – and passed it to the office, payment will be processed via your online registration.

You will receive confirmation of payment and, together with the catalogue description and any condition report you may have applied for prior to the sale, this is an important document as it forms part of the item’s history or provenance, showing that title has passed to you and what condition the item was in when you purchased it.

One of the reasons that this is important is that, unlike buying from a shop or in a retail situation, at auction there is no automatic right of return on goods once you have bought them. Once the hammer comes down, as long as the item is sold as described, it becomes the property of the successful bidder.

This is another reason why inspecting the item carefully before the auction is so important. Auction houses understand this, which is why online images and condition reports are now so clear and detailed.

Don’t forget to file the paperwork safely as it can be of enormous help should you ever wish to sell the item on. A clear provenance not only makes an object easier to sell on, it can, in certain circumstances, even add to its value.

Once payment has cleared, there should also no bar to you removing your purchase from the saleroom, provided you do not disrupt the ongoing sale in the process. So before bidding on something large or delicate, think about how it is going to be delivered to you if you succeed in buying it. Check out the cost of delivery too.

Once you take possession of the goods, you will be responsible for their safe transport.