Ask ten art advisors what they charge and you will get ten different answers, often wrapped in some vagueness. That is not a coincidence. The way an advisor is paid determines what they are rewarded for, and that in turn shapes the advice. Before comparing advisors on taste, reputation or access, it is worth understanding the three basic models and what each one quietly encourages.

Commission on purchases

The most common arrangement is a percentage of what the client spends. Typical rates run between 5 and 20 percent of each acquisition, usually on a sliding scale where the percentage falls as the price rises.

The appeal is obvious. There is no cost until something is bought, so a collector who is unsure how active they will be risks nothing by starting. For occasional buyers it can look like the cheapest option.

The problem is structural. An advisor on commission earns more when you buy more, and more again when you buy expensively. Telling you to wait, to pass, or to choose the cheaper of two works costs them money. Most advisors on this model are professional and well-intentioned, but the incentive is always there, and it points in one direction.

There is a second, less visible issue. Commission is sometimes collected from both sides. An advisor may charge the buyer a percentage while also receiving a discount or introduction fee from the gallery. Unless the arrangement is disclosed in writing, a collector has no way of knowing who else is paying the person advising them.

Retainers

A retainer is a regular fee, usually monthly or annual, for an agreed scope of work. It covers the time between purchases as well as the purchases themselves: research, viewing, market tracking, price checking, fair preparation and the ongoing care of a collection.

This model separates the advisor’s income from the volume of buying. The fee is the same in a quiet year as in a busy one, which means there is no financial pressure to fill the quiet years with acquisitions.

Retainers suit collectors who buy regularly, who want someone actively looking on their behalf, who want to learn and be kept informed, or whose collections need ongoing attention. They also reflect the reality that much of an advisor’s useful work happens when nothing is being bought at all.

Project fees

Some work has a clear beginning and end. A collection audit, a valuation review, the sale of a group of works, a commission for a new building, or the documentation of an inherited collection. These are often priced as a single project fee agreed in advance.

Project fees work well when the scope is defined. They are less suited to open-ended collecting, where the right work may take eighteen months to appear and nobody can predict the hours in advance.

Hybrid arrangements

Many advisors combine models: a reduced retainer plus a smaller commission, or a project fee with a success bonus on a sale. These can be perfectly reasonable, but they bring back the incentive the retainer was meant to remove. Any arrangement that pays more when you buy more should be read as a commission arrangement, whatever else it includes.

What else to check in the fee

The headline rate is only part of the cost. Before signing anything, it is worth asking a few direct questions.

  • Who else pays you? Galleries, auction houses, dealers, artists or service providers.
  • Do you hold or sell inventory? An advisor who owns art has a reason to place it.
  • How are expenses billed? Travel to fairs, shipping coordination and third-party reports are normally charged on top of the fee, so it helps to know in advance how they are recorded and approved.
  • Is the commission calculated before or after the negotiated discount? On a reduced price, a percentage of the original asking price costs you more than a percentage of what you actually pay.
  • Is it in writing? A clear engagement letter protects both sides.

An honest advisor will answer all of these without hesitation. Discomfort with the questions is itself an answer.

Comparing the true cost

The cheapest-looking model is not always the cheapest. Consider a collector spending a substantial sum over three years. At a 10 percent commission, the advisory cost rises in direct proportion to the spending, and it is invisible inside each purchase. A flat fee may look higher at first glance but is fixed, predictable and unaffected by whether the collector buys one major work or ten smaller ones.

More importantly, the comparison is not only about money. It is about what the advice is worth. Advice that might be shaded by the advisor’s income is worth less than advice that is not, even if it costs the same.

How we charge

We work on a flat fee, either as a monthly retainer or a project fee, agreed in advance. We take no commission from galleries, auction houses or any other third party, we do not sell art and we do not represent artists. The fee is the same whether a client buys something or we recommend they wait, which is the only way we can say the most useful thing an advisor can say: not this one.

For collectors at the start, the start collecting page sets out what each level of retainer includes. For established collections and families, the scope is described under private clients. And for the wider question of what the role involves day to day, see what an art advisor actually does.