20/01/2026 General News
This business was born from a lifelong love of books — what makes them special, what makes them unique, and the quiet privilege of handling objects that have already lived many lives before reaching our hands. Creating Quire Auctions has been about finding a way to honour that love, while building something that feels fair, thoughtful, and genuinely enjoyable for the people who use it.
Well, the news has broken and it’s official and out there in the world – Quire Auctions is a go! We’ve worked hard over the last few months to create our collaborative vision for what Quire Auctions will be by asking ourselves one big question – where would you want to sell your books?
There are three core things we plan to align to make Quire Auctions a great success – books, people and technology. Books, because it’s why we all work in this line of work; we are united by a shared love for literature, knowledge, and books as objects. People, because as I’m sure we agree, book people are generally reserved in their nature and would rather be with books than other people, but you get them talking about books, and it’s a completely different ball game. A shared love for books can be such a unifying force, and in the digital age, retaining a customer-facing approach and ensuring that we all have a chance to speak to more than Alexa on a day-to-day basis is really important to us. And technology because, let’s face it, so much is done digitally these days without needing to pick up a phone or sometimes even leave the sofa; making our approach as easy and user-friendly as possible ensures that those who would rather work from their laptop.
But back to our big opening question, with those three things in mind. The books are of utmost importance to us, so they need to be taken care of – that means care taken in handling them, storing them and of course posting them out when the successful bidder instructs us to. We’ve considered, and tried and tested, an approach to postage in a way that is ethical as well as protecting the books to the highest standard, whilst offering a competitive pricing on it as we know from experience that contractors and auction houses can charge very highly.
Then, the people are of equal importance to us, so how best can we look after them and ensure that they have a good experience? By offering competitive commission fees which will work for them, ensuring that sale of their books and payment is prompt as it can be, and providing customed efficient communications throughout their experience; from initial consultation to pay-out. And for buyers, swift and cost-effective postage and a lower commission charge than they’d be used to seeing. And it goes without saying that if you come to our office, you’re always welcome to a coffee and a biscuit to natter about books with us – whether it’s ‘work books’ (she says in inverted commas, because what about this job ever felt like work!) or your to-be-read pile, we’re always all ears!
Finally, technology. We all know how frustrating it can be when the tech isn’t working for us (personally I see red fast!). From the offset of consulting various platforms, we’ve always sought to have the most efficient and straightforward user interface experience for all our clients, because at the heart, good technology makes life easy and keeps people on board. In the world of antiques, it’s in our very nature to be a little bit old fashioned about things, but by working with technology closely alongside us, we’re hoping to be part of the generation bringing old things to a new audience and a new way of doing things. But forgive me if it’s at least another few years until I move to using a digital notepad and calendar…old habits die hard!
Something else I personally am excited to achieve as part of our vision is creating a way of selling books that unifies the traditional rare book trade and the world of online auctions. Mostly, I’m excited to meet more like-minded people and nerd out about books, whilst introducing them to who we are and what we’re doing.
Mostly, I’m excited about what I’ve always been stupidly excited about – the books, and what makes them special and unique. Having a small part in their journey and sending them safely from one loving home to another is for me the most fulfilling career I could have, knowing that every precious book I handle has spent just a tiny portion of its life in my care. Plus, with a collector’s addictive personality, it’s definitely in the best interest of my wallet and my small house to spend a career riding the ocean wave of auction, that brings the books in with one tide and out with the next, so that I am perpetually stimulated and brought such pleasure by spending time with them, the books, the books.
If you’re interested in how Quire Auctions works in practice — from selling books at auction to buying — you can find more information on our Quire Auctions overview page.