Buying the Constitution at $20 Mil? More Like $25 Mil

While crypto fans rally to hit a $20 million fundraising target in order to make a competitive bid for a copy of the United States Constitution on Thursday, lurking in the background is another cost, the auction house fees.

Known as the “Buyer’s Premium,” Sotheby’s charges 25% on the first $400k, 20% on the next $3.6M and $13.9% on the amount over $4 million, according to the auction terms.

That would mean that a $20 million winning bid would generate $3,044,000 in Buyer’s Premium Fees. And that’s before an additional 1% overhead premium equivalent to $200,000, bringing the house fees to $3,244,000.

Oh, and that’s not inclusive of the upfront sales tax of $1,775,000 (8.875% of the sales price).

All combined, the fees and taxes to take the $20 million haul off the premises, before transport, preservation, and security is: $4,819,000.

That means that the ConstitutionDAO would really need at least $25 million in its coffers in order to place a legitimate $20 million bid.

On Tuesday at 5pm EST, approximately 48 hours before auction time, the DAO had only raised 1,382 ETH, equal to about $5.87M. Sotheby’s starts the bidding at 6:30pm on Thursday at its location in NYC.

Time will tell if it is able to muster up the rest in time.