Auction catalogues are written in a compressed language designed to be accurate without being discouraging. Learning to read it properly is the difference between buying well at a sale and buying a problem.
The description is a legal document
Everything in a lot description has been chosen carefully, and the omissions carry as much weight as the statements. A house will describe what it is confident about and go quiet about the rest.
If a date is given without qualification, the house is standing behind it. If the wording softens to something like in the manner of, or of a later date, the claim has been stepped down deliberately, and the price should follow.
Condition notes are a starting point
Most catalogues state that condition reports are available on request and that absence of a note is not a statement of condition. This is the single most expensive sentence to ignore.
Always request the report, and read what it does not mention. A report that describes a repaired foot but says nothing about the carcass has usually been written by someone who looked at the foot.
Estimates are a marketing tool
The estimate range is set to attract bidding, not to predict a result. A low estimate can indicate an unreserved lot the house wants moved, or it can be an invitation.
Work out your own figure before the sale, add the buyer premium and any applicable tax, add transport, and treat the total as the number that matters. The premium in particular surprises people, and it is not negotiable.
Go to the view
Photographs are taken to sell. At the viewing, open every drawer, lift the piece slightly to feel whether the frame flexes, look at the back and the underside, and check whether the colour matches where the sun has not reached.
Ten minutes in the room tells you more than any amount of catalogue study, and the people who buy well are almost always the ones who turned up early.
Decide your limit and write it down
Salerooms are designed to produce momentum. Writing a maximum next to each lot before bidding starts is a crude device and it works.
The lots that get away are rarely the ones people regret. The regrets are almost always the ones won in the last thirty seconds for a third more than intended.