Aguttes
Aguttes is an independent, family-owned French auction house founded in 1974, operating 19 specialty departments and serving private collectors, estates, sellers, and institutions across France, Belgium, and Switzerland via live, online, and private sales.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1974
- HeadquartersNeuilly-sur-seine, France
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Aguttes does
Aguttes is an independent, family-owned French auction house founded in 1974 by Claude Aguttes in Clermont-Ferrand and headquartered since 1995 at 164 bis avenue Charles de Gaulle in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The firm serves private collectors, families and notaries handling estates and successions, sellers of art and collectibles, and institutional buyers across France, Belgium, and Switzerland. It operates 19 internalized specialty departments covering impressionist and modern art, Asian arts, jewelry, watches, collector automobiles, design, contemporary art, rare books and manuscripts, fine wines and spirits, and emerging categories such as trading cards and pop culture memorabilia.
The core platform is Live Aguttes, a proprietary real-time online bidding system that enables global participation in live auctions without platform fees, complemented by timed online auctions, a customer account portal (Artisio) for managing bids and payments, and physical auction rooms at the Neuilly salesroom. Supporting services include expertise days across regional offices, Inventory & Heritage Advisory (Inventaires & Conseils patrimoniaux) for estate valuation and succession planning, and discreet private sale intermediation (Ventes Privées) including the Aguttes on Wheels collector automobile service.
Aguttes generates revenue from transaction-based fees applied to each auction: a buyer's premium added to the hammer price, a seller's commission deducted from the hammer price covering expertise, sale preparation, promotion, transport and insurance, private sale commissions, and collection of the 6.5% capital gains tax on private seller items above €5,001. Pricing varies by sale and is disclosed in each sale's general conditions. Go-to-market combines live auctions (four per department per year), online auctions, private sales, and recurring expertise days across French regional offices plus Brussels and Geneva, supported by a 60-person expert team.
Aguttes firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Aguttes
- Legal name
- Aguttes
- Website
- https://aguttes.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1974
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Aguttes is an independent, family-owned French auction house founded in 1974, operating 19 specialty departments and serving private collectors, estates, sellers, and institutions across France, Belgium, and Switzerland via live, online, and private sales.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Aguttes is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Neuilly-sur-seine
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices8 records
Markets served
Aguttes business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Buyer's Premium (Frais acheteurs): Fees added to the hammer price, charged to the buyer. Covers auction organization and sale services, specified in general conditions of each sale.
- Seller's Commission (Frais vendeur): Commission deducted from the hammer price, covering expertise, sale preparation, promotion, transport, and insurance. Amount specified in the sale mandate.
- Private Sales (Ventes Privées): Discreet intermediary services for buying or selling exceptional items outside of public auction calendar, for high-value works and objects
- Capital Gains Tax Collection: Collection of 6.5% capital gains tax on items sold above €5,001 for private sellers, deducted at source
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Buyer's premium applied to hammer price |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Seller's commission based on sale mandate |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels6 records
Aguttes product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Aguttes is an independent French auction house that conducts live auctions, online auctions (via the Live Aguttes platform), and private sales of fine art, collectibles, jewelry, watches, automobiles, and luxury goods across 19 specialty departments. The company provides professional valuation, authentication, and heritage advisory services, generating revenue through buyer's premiums and seller's commissions on each transaction.
Product overview
Aguttes is an independent French auction house founded in 1974, operating a multi-channel auction platform alongside specialized private sale services. The core product portfolio consists of Live Aguttes (live streaming auction platform with no platform fees), Online Auctions (digital timed sales with countdown), and Ventes Privées (confidential private sales including 'Aguttes on Wheels' for automobiles). The company offers 19 specialty departments covering fine art, collectibles, luxury goods, and heritage advisory services including Inventaires & Conseils patrimoniaux. The specialty departments include Art impressionniste & moderne, Arts d'Asie, Peintres d'Asie, Bijoux (with Perles fines sub-specialty), Montres de collection, Automobiles de collection, Design, Post-war & Art contemporain, Mobilier & Objets d'art, Livres rares & Manuscrits anciens, Tableaux & Dessins anciens, Haute époque, Grands vins & Spiritueux, Instruments de musique & Archets, Mode & Maroquinerie, Cartes de collection & TCG, Pop Culture & Memorabilia, and additional categories such as Numismatique, Sports, Argenterie, Art urbain, Photographie, Armes de collection, Tapis & Tapisseries, Époque Empire, Motos de collection, Automobilia, Art contemporain africain, Art contemporain asiatique, Art moderne chinois, and Art moderne vietnamien. The company operates Expertise Services through expert days held across regional offices.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Aguttes on Wheels: Private sale service for collector automobiles, operational since 2018.
Quantifiable outcome
- First independent French auction house to exceed €50 million in adjudications
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Aguttes
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Aguttes technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Aguttes partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major and minor.
- PSG for CommunitiesmajorAguttes orchestrated the charity auction at the Paris for Good gala benefiting PSG for Communities (celebrating 25 years) and Naked Heart France. The event at Parc des Princes raised €4 million for autism support projects.
- Naked Heart FrancemajorCharity partner receiving proceeds from Paris for Good gala auction, supporting projects for young people with autism spectrum disorder and their families.
- SOS Chrétiens d'OrientminorCharity evening and auction in support of Christians in Iraq, April 2024
- AFSA (Association Française du Syndrome d'Angelman)minorCharity auction on occasion of 30th anniversary of French Angelman Syndrome Association
- Emmaüs AlternativesminorSolidarity auction collaboration with MADE.COM and Les Résilientes for social impact
- Apprentis d'AuteuilminorGala dinner and charity auction supporting youth apprenticeship insertion programs
- Muséum National d'Histoire NaturelleminorGala dinner and charity auction 'Biodiversity in Danger' benefiting the 'grands singes' program
- Vendanges SolitairesminorCharity auction events supporting wine estates facing climate change difficulties, December 2018 and 2019 editions
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Aguttes competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Cornette de Saint-Cyr: Paris-based independent auction house covering modern, contemporary, and Asian art, with comparable specialty coverage and consigner base to Aguttes' fine art divisions.
- Piasa: Paris-based independent French auction house operating across modern art, contemporary art, design, and collectibles; comparable in size and structure to Aguttes and a direct competitor for French consigner business.
- Artcurial: Leading independent French auction house headquartered in Paris, operating across fine art, luxury, automobiles, and collectibles with comparable multi-specialty department structure and similar target buyer/seller base to Aguttes.
- Millon: French auction house with broad coverage of fine art, antiques, jewelry, and collectibles; comparable mid-sized independent competitor to Aguttes within the French auction market.
- Binoche et Giquello: Paris-based independent auction house focused on fine art, manuscripts, and rare books; directly comparable to Aguttes' Books & Manuscripts department and competes for similar high-value consignments in those categories.
- Tajan: Paris-based independent French auction house offering fine art, jewelry, and luxury auctions; competes with Aguttes for French and European consignors and bidders across overlapping specialties.
Broad incumbents
- Christie's: Global incumbent auction house operating across all major fine art, luxury, and collectible categories with a much larger international catalog, marketing footprint, and buyer network than Aguttes.
- Sotheby's: Global incumbent auction house covering fine art, luxury goods, watches, automobiles, and collectibles; competes directly with Aguttes in higher-value consignments and shares the same consigner and bidder pool.
- Bonhams: International auction house with strong presence in European art, watches, jewelry, and collector cars, overlapping with several of Aguttes' specialty departments and competing for similar mid- and high-end consignments.
- Phillips: Global auction house focused on contemporary art, watches, and design; competes with Aguttes in the post-war/contemporary, design, and watch specialty segments and overlaps in collector buyer base.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Aguttes social profiles
Digital presenceAguttes financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Aguttes leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Aguttes funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Aguttes M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Aguttes
What does Aguttes do?
Aguttes is an independent French auction house that conducts live auctions, online auctions (via the Live Aguttes platform), and private sales of fine art, collectibles, jewelry, watches, automobiles, and luxury goods across 19 specialty departments. The company provides professional valuation, authentication, and heritage advisory services, generating revenue through buyer's premiums and seller's commissions on each transaction.
Is Aguttes a public or private company?
Aguttes is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Aguttes founded?
Aguttes was founded in 1974. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Aguttes based?
Aguttes is headquartered in Neuilly-sur-seine, France, in the Europe region.
How does Aguttes make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Buyer's Premium (Frais acheteurs) is the primary driver. The others are seller's Commission (Frais vendeur), private Sales (Ventes Privées) and capital Gains Tax Collection.
Who are Aguttes's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Cornette de Saint-Cyr, Piasa, Artcurial, Millon, Binoche et Giquello and Tajan. Broad incumbents are Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams and Phillips.
Does Aguttes have an API?
No public API is recorded for Aguttes.