World’s Most Expensive Bets: Betting on Luxury Items

We’re taking a slight detour from our usual betting topics for the blog today to discuss a very different kind of betting that should not be forgotten about! Betting on luxury items is, for many, something only seen in TV and films. However, it might be more accessible than you think! Read on to learn all about this entertaining (and pricey) pastime.

In this article, we will explain what high end auctions are and how they work. We’ll also go over useful information for how to participate in betting on luxury items if that is something you are interested in. You’ll learn about the more accessible auctions, as well as those that are strictly for high rollers and the well-connected of the world.

At any point, you can use our navigation links to speed up the reading process and go directly to relevant sections for yourself. If you’d rather bet on something less expensive, check out our guide to betting on sports.

• High End Auctions: What Are They and How to Participate
• Luxury Betting Auctions Around the World
• Most Expensive Bets in History
• Conclusion: Luxury Bets for All

High End Auctions: What Are They and How to Participate

Betting on luxury items goes hand in hand with visiting high end auctions. But how exactly do you find such events and what does it take to participate? The first thing to know is that there are different types of luxury auctions out there, covering different topics. The most well-known types are real estate auctions and art/antique auctions.

Real Estate Auctions

Real estate auctions of course deal with property. This could be either residential or commercial; both property types can be found in auctions. Within real estate auctions there are at least six different auction types that participants should be aware of. Each type has its own benefits or downfalls, and you might greatly prefer one over another.

In an absolute auction, a property is put on offer with no minimum price. Whatever the amount generated in the auction, the highest bidder will win – that is an “absolute” promise. By contrast, a reserve auction is one where there is a minimum price that must be met in order for the bidding to be successful.

Similar to a reserve auction is the minimum bid auction. This also has a set minimum price, which is obvious from the name, but there is one difference. In minimum bid auctions, that price is known publicly, so there is no chance of anyone betting underneath the minimum to start. All bettors must bet above the minimum in order to participate at all.

There are also online auctions and open-cry (or live) auctions. Online auctions have become increasingly popular as access to technology grows throughout the world. They are favored because they allow for a much wider pool of bettors to participate, including people who are across the world from one another. The only disadvantage is for the buyer, who may not be able to see a property in person before making their bet and must trust the auctioneers. On the other hand, the auctioneers also must trust that these bets are to be taken seriously.

Open-cry or live auctions are the ones we know from TV and cinema. In these, an auctioneer calls out the bets being placed by people holding up their paddles. The auctioneer signifies the end of the betting by hitting their gavel. This in-person event holds inherent excitement and dramatic tension as bidders try to outdo one another, and high bids can come in at the last possible second. But, they do limit who can attend, unless of course you hire someone to act as your surrogate and make an absentee bid on your behalf.

In the last type of auction, a sealed bid auction, no event takes place online or offline. Instead, every bidder makes their bet in a “sealed” envelope and gives it to the auction house. The bids are compared and the highest bidder wins. This means bids can not be influenced by one another. These types of auctions are most commonly associated with commercial property sales.

Art, Antique and Luxury Auctions

This category of auction is the other famous kind that most often springs to mind when we talk about luxury auctions. There are auction houses, like Sotheby’s or Christie’s, which facilitate the sale of items through a bidding process. These are where the most exclusive auctions for the world’s rarest and most expensive items take place.

There are also online auction platforms (the most famous being eBay), where people can bid on items from all around the world. You can of course also find quite high value goods on online auction sites and get great deals, all from home, which is part of the appeal!

Famous artworks by both deceased and living artists, rare jewelry, antiques ranging from decades to centuries old, finely aged wine, and all manner of finely crafted items can be found at these types of auctions. You might be surprised to know that it is not so hard to attend such an auction. Viewings of the work are held publicly. You must simply register in order to view the work or attend the bidding.

Of course, being able to afford the work is another matter. Some bidders even secure financing from other sources in order to buy certain works. Why do people do this? This is because artworks and luxury antiques are often seen as investments. Since they are not necessarily put up for sale every year, an interested buyer must grab the opportunity when they can. This might require getting a sizable loan in order to bid on a certain work.

Estate Sale vs. Estate Auction

You may have heard these terms before: estate sale and estate auction. They are closely related to the other types of auctions we’ve looked at above but there are also key differences here that you should know about if you want to participate in one in the future.

At both estate sales and estate auctions, it is mainly the items within a property that are up for grabs due to liquidation of some kind. However, the property itself might also be sold in some cases, but not all. This differs on a case-by-case basis.

There is also a big difference between a sale and an auction. At an estate sale, items are already priced and potential buyers can visit the property, see the items for themselves, and decide to buy or not: there is no bidding involved. It is not an auction. However, at an estate auction, every item in the property is put on auction separately. Bidders have their chance to bet on each individual item as there is no set price for them beforehand.

Estate sales and auctions are also quite different from the other categories above because they usually deal with more average value items. Though higher worth items might be involved, too, they are not as focused on luxury as real estate auctions or art and antiques auctions. This is because they deal with items owned by a wide range of people.

These sales usually happen when there is no clear owner for a house and its contents, for example, as specified in a will after death. They might also happen in the case of police activity; if items are seized as part of an investigation, from someone going to prison, or in a debt collection situation, these items may be auctioned off or sold in public sales.

Though you can get great deals on a huge variety of items – from homes, to cars, to appliances, furniture, jewelry and much smaller day-to-day things – from these sales and auctions, they are not the place to go for luxury items.

Luxury Betting Auctions Around the World

If you want to be in the know when it comes to luxury betting auctions, there are five names you absolutely must know. They are: Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Phillips, Bonhams, and Heritage Auctions. The first four were founded in London in the 1700s, with Heritage being the top auction house started in the U.S. (it was founded in Dallas, Texas in the ’70s). These auction houses also have international branches in hotspots like New York City, Paris, Milan, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Tokyo and more.

Each of these houses facilitates luxury betting auctions in a variety of categories, though they have their unique specialities in some cases as well. They usually put on auctions semi-regularly throughout the year and with specified categories, for example Impressionist Paintings or American Abstractionism. This way, bettors can keep an eye on the auctions that most interest them based on their taste and investing plans.

A themed auction may in fact consist of a series of auctions within that theme, lasting from anywhere between a week to a month in length. Some auctions are only available in specific locations, though more and more luxury auction houses, including the big five named here, also offer online auctions. For example, Christie’s is currently running online sales for high end jewelry, available as individual items or lots.

Most Expensive Bets in History

As you can imagine, there have been some extraordinary auction sales throughout history. These range from luxury items like yachts and cars, to famous artworks, celebrity items and more. In the world of art, the most expensive painting ever sold was ‘Salvator Mundi’ by Leonardo da Vinci. This obscure artwork was purchased by Mohammed bin Salman for a stunning $450 million in 2017. Funnily, there are even doubts about whether the work is authentic.

Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Jeff Koons, Georgia O’Keefe, Alberto Giacometti and David Hockney are among the other artists that have fetched the highest prices for their works at auction. As you’ll note, only two of these artists are still alive. That is because most art does not sell for the first time at auction. In order to prove it has value on the secondary market (as in a private second sale or at an auction house), it must first have noted value in the primary market (by receiving a high price when it is initially sold by the artist or their gallery).

Another famous, high-ranking item sold in auction is the Gigayacht, a 405-feet luxury yacht that sold on eBay for $168 million. The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta is the highest priced car ever sold at auction due to the limited number – 39 cars – that were produced of this model. It sold at Sotheby’s for $48 million.

In the world of celebrity, you probably will already know something about the item that received the highest price in the history of all celebrity auctions. That is because a huge stir was caused when Kim Kardashian had the audacity to wear the thing herself in 2022! That’s right, the item is Marilyn Monroe’s rhinestone-covered dress, the one she famously wore to sing “Happy Birthday” to JFK. The dress was bought by Ripley’s at an auction in Los Angeles in 2016, for a sum of $4.8 million. Ripley’s loaned the dress to Kardashian, and all parties have been slammed for purportedly ruining such a valuable and historic item.

Conclusion: Luxury Bets for All

Though luxury auctions are perhaps not available for people of all budgets, they can provide entertainment and interesting information for every person. They are a place to go to learn about art history, for example. Auctions can also be attended by a wide range of people, provided that they register in advance, which means that some of the world’s rarest items can be seen for oneself, as long as one is in the right city at the right time!