For auction houses & art dealers

Valuation enquiries with usable photos instead of blurry e-mails

Consignors describe object, provenance and dimensions in structure and upload photos of front, back and signature — your experts give a well-founded preliminary assessment without asking three times.

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Recognise these consignment enquiries?

One blurry photo, no dimensions

"What is this painting worth?" — accompanied by one shaky phone photo under ceiling light, taken at an angle, with reflections. The back? Signature? Dimensions? Absent. An assessment is impossible like this.

Three e-mail rounds per enquiry

The expert requests a photo of the back, then the dimensions, then the provenance. Each round takes days — some consignors drop off along the way and go to a competitor.

Provenance never arrives unprompted

Where does the piece come from, how long in family ownership, are there receipts or appraisals? Precisely the details that matter for valuation and cataloguing are almost always missing from informal enquiries.

How enquiries reach you from now on

  1. 1

    Build the enquiry form around your departments

    Object category (paintings, jewellery, furniture, watches ...), description, dimensions, condition, provenance and targeted photo uploads: full view, back, signature, details. Conditional logic gives each category its own specialist questions.

  2. 2

    Consignors are guided into taking good photos

    The form requests each photo individually — with guidance ("daylight please, straight on, no flash"). One question per screen guides even non-technical heirs safely through; saving a draft works at any time.

  3. 3

    A well-founded preliminary view, clearly communicated

    Your experts see complete dossiers: photos, dimensions, provenance in one place. They reply with a preliminary view and invite promising objects for inspection — where the binding valuation takes place.

Made for the valuations department

Multiple photo uploads

Full view, back, signature, detail shots — each image as its own guided upload step.

Specialist questions per category

Jewellery asks about hallmarks and stones, paintings about technique and frame — conditional logic makes it possible.

Provenance captured in structure

Origin, length of ownership, receipts and earlier appraisals as dedicated required fields — nothing slips through.

Draft saving

Anyone who first needs to fetch the piece from the attic or measure it continues the enquiry later.

E-mail notification

Every enquiry reaches the responsible department instantly — complete instead of in e-mail fragments.

GDPR & hosted in Germany

Consignor data and object photos on German servers, DPA included — discretion is your business.

A fraction of a single consignment commission

Free to trial (3 forms, 100 responses/month). Pro at 12€/month (9€ annually) with house branding and unlimited forms.

Free

3 forms, 250 responses/month

Pro

Unlimited, 10,000 responses/month, AI included

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Questions from auction practice

Does the online enquiry replace inspecting the original?
No — and the form should say so clearly. The online enquiry provides the basis for a non-binding preliminary assessment; the binding valuation only follows your experts' inspection of the original. A corresponding notice belongs prominently in the form — protecting your house from misunderstandings and consignors' false expectations.
How do we get better photos from consignors?
By having the form request each photo individually and with instructions: "full view in daylight", "back with labels and stamps", "signature close and sharp". People guided step by step deliver far better images than after a generic "send some photos". Required uploads ensure no view is missing.
What provenance details should the form ask for?
A proven set: how the object came into their possession (inheritance, purchase, gift), since when, from whose prior ownership, whether invoices, certificates or earlier appraisals exist (with upload option), and any notable history. These details not only speed up valuation — they are valuable for later cataloguing and your house's due-diligence obligations.
Are object photos and consignor data stored confidentially?
Yes — encrypted transfer, hosting exclusively in Germany, tenant-isolated storage and an Art. 28 GDPR DPA. Owners of valuable objects expect discretion: photos and addresses do not belong in open mail distribution lists or US clouds. You control access to incoming enquiries via your account.
Why not just an e-mail address for valuation requests?
That is presumably what you have today — along with the blurry single photos without dimensions. E-mail gives the consignor no structure; the form enforces completeness: every view, every measurement, required provenance fields. Three follow-up rounds per object become one well-founded reply. Your experts appraise instead of sorting e-mails.
Can we allow several objects in one enquiry?
For assessment quality, one object per enquiry is advisable — keeping photos and details unambiguous. For estates with many items, an upfront question works well ("single object or estate/collection?"): collections describe the overall scope with overview photos, and your house arranges an on-site inspection directly.
How quickly is the form ready for use?
The AI draft is ready in 30 seconds; tailoring it to your departments and photo requirements takes perhaps an hour — once, with no IT contractor. You then link the form on your website under "consign" or "have an object valued" and receive enquiries in structure.

Your next consignment arrives as a complete dossier

Build the form, link it on your website, assess soundly in advance — it becomes binding at inspection. Start free, no contract.

Build your enquiry form