The lot is written where the lot is.
You are in a barn, a garage, a back bedroom, with the piece in front of you and a phone in your hand: its photograph, the words you write about it and the condition note go down there and then, on one record against its number. Half those places have no signal, so every lot is saved on the phone first and leaves when the bars come back — the outbox on the screen tells you how much has not gone yet. When the sale closes for cataloguing, the catalogue is ready to print and the whole thing comes out as one CSV for the software your house already runs.
The work, as it goes at the lot
- The lot record itself: the photograph of the piece, the description in your words, and the condition noted against it — one entry, one lot number.
- Consignment intake: the vendor arrives with the goods and you take their name, their consignment reference and their terms — the commission, what they pay, when they are settled.
- The lot: its number, its title, the section it sits in and the estimate you put on it. The number is the lot's identity in the sale, and two lots in one sale never share one.
- Condition and grading written the way the trade writes it — Good, Fair, With faults, Restored, As found, Poor — with the faults spelled out and photographs on the lot they belong to.
- The catalogue: the whole sale laid out lot by lot, section by section, in the order the room will be worked, ready to print and hand over.
- One CSV for the cataloguing software you already run, in the columns it imports: lot no., section, title, description, condition, grade, low estimate, high estimate, currency, consignor, photos, state.
The sample sale, lot by lot
Straight off the sample house's own book — Ashcombe Auction Rooms cataloguing Winter Antiques & Interiors, 17 Oct 2026. Four of its lots as the catalogue carries them.
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draft £120.00–£180.00
Rectangular, the lid inlaid with a shield, brass escutcheon and a vacant brass plate to the front.
Condition Sound; one small chip to the back left corner, the lining replaced. · Good
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in catalogue £120.00–£180.00
Cabbage rose pattern, marked, 17 cm.
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draft no estimate yet
Twelve pieces, various makers, sold as one.
Condition Some af, some useful. · As found
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in catalogue £40.00–£60.00
Salt-glazed, 19th century, with a lid.
Condition Lid with an old chip; body sound. · Fair
- The sample saleThe rooms it is laid out in, the numbers, the estimates, the lots already written and the ones still coming in.
- The consignorsWho brought the goods in — 10 of them, their references and their terms.
- The catalogue, ready to printThe sale as the printer sees it: every lot in its section, with its condition and its estimate.
- The CSVOne file per sale, the 12 columns named above, straight out of the sample sale — no account needed.
One price for the house
$79 / auction house / month
One price for the house — every lot, every cataloguer, both sales in the diary. Not a charge per lot. Cancel any time. Billed monthly by card through Stripe's own checkout page.
Where it stops
- It is lot intake and the catalogue: consignment, lots, descriptions, condition, photographs, estimates and the CSV.
- It is not a full auction management system — it does not take bids, settle payment, or run the sale.
- It does not post into your cataloguing software for you: it hands you the CSV that software imports.
- It is not a marketplace: nothing here lists your sale or touches a bidder's account.
- One photograph is capped at 3 MB so a lot goes through on a phone signal, and one house's book is nobody else's.
What an auctioneer asks
What runs on the phone?
The browser you already have, opened on the sale. There is nothing to install from a store, and the same login works on the desk in the office — one book, however many people are out on intake.
What happens where there is no signal?
The lot is written to the phone before anything is sent: the photograph, the description, the condition, the estimate. The outbox on the screen counts what has not gone, and it goes by itself when there is signal. A batch that goes twice does not make a second lot.
Which cataloguing software does the CSV go into?
Whatever imports a CSV. The columns are fixed and printed above; there is no integration claimed with any particular package, and nothing is posted into one.
Do bidders see any of this?
No. It is the house's own book until you print the catalogue or hand over the CSV. Bidders, invoices and the rostrum are not here.
What does the house get for the money?
Every sale, every lot, every cataloguer. One price for the house — every lot, every cataloguer, both sales in the diary. Not a charge per lot.
Can we try it with the real sale?
Yes — the sample sale is open above, and an account is one form. If it is not for your house, cancel and the current month comes back.