Bonhams vs BDDW Auctions
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bonhams
Explore and bid on fine art, antiques, collectables, and motor cars from a global auction house. Discover valuations and sales advice across 60 specialist areas worldwide.
- Fine art auctions
- Antique auctions
- Collectables auctions
- Motor car auctions
- Valuation services
- Global sales network
Read full descriptionHide full description
Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers: auctioneers of art, pictures, collectables and motor cars. Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street and Knightsbridge; and a further three in the UK regions and Scotland. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Connecticut in the USA; and Germany, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Australia. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas.
BDDW Auctions
Access exclusive auctions for unique furniture, art, and design objects. Find one-offs, prototypes, and brand-new pieces directly from the designer. Receive notifications and streamline your bidding process on this user-friendly platform.
- Exclusive auction access
- Unique one-off pieces
- Prototypes and floor models
- Brand-new designer items
- Streamlined bidding
- Direct notifications
Read full descriptionHide full description
BDDW holds frequent auctions that are accessible through our very own auction platform, where great deals can be found on a range of select BDDW items: an eclectic mix of one-offs, prototypes, misfit floor models, and brand-new pieces designed by Tyler Hays. Our auctions are the only way to access our archival, collectable works, holiday puzzle batches, and auction-only pieces. This app makes our already popular auction platform more accessible and user-friendly: notifications sent directly to your iPhone, streamlined bidding, and more.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: BDDW Auctions at 100% against Bonhams's 19%. BDDW Auctions also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.1) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). Bonhams's advantage is ratings volume (149 vs 11) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
BDDW Auctions holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bonhams has 149 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 19% of Bonhams's written reviews are positive against 100% of BDDW Auctions's.
Bonhams ships an update monthly, BDDW Auctions weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bonhams | BDDW Auctions |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (149 ratings) | 5.0 (11 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 149 — better | 11 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bonhams 1793 Limited | IronDirect, a Liquidity Services, Inc. business. |
Customer experience
Bonhams
BDDW Auctions
Bugs and requests
Bonhams
Reported bugs
72 issues- App fails constantly
- Does not connect with website
- Requires constant re-login
- Does not work with facial recognition
- Lost connection frequently
Show 67 moreShow fewer
- Missed lots due to poor UX
- Hard to follow items
- Logged out everyday
- Not showing historical bids
- Constantly 'unable to connect'
- Photos not loading
- App keeps trying to load after update
- Error loading more auctions
- Spinning progress arrows annoying
- Laggy and unstable
- Impossible to follow lots
- Every lot shown from beginning of time
- Forces email account for condition report
- App doesn't update with upcoming auctions
- No customer service responses
- No invoice available on app
- Tedious scrolling for auctions
- No way to search auction location
- No filter for item category
- App is unusable
- Many functions unusable
- Get stuck in search screen
- Login difficult
- Requires re-creating account
- Cannot enter app with iOS 17.4.1
- Rubbish app
- Never get reply
- No longer select sales by location
- No Italian language option
- Bad customer support replies
- High user charge (28%)
- Telephone support on hold/hangs up
- No digital payment interface
- Icons too small
- Bidding not fit for purpose
- Fails to send bids
- Cannot save favorite artists
- No notification for favorite artists
- Malfunctioning watch sold
- App does not show current bid
- Not notified when outbid
- No filter to exclude US auctions
- Insensitive customer service for pickup
- No obvious way to sort auctions by location
- Location not shown upfront
- Cannot create account on iPhone (button hidden)
- App initializing for over a month
- Constantly crashing and unreliable
- Can't find specific auctions (NY, type)
- Outrageous buyer's premium (30%)
- Difficulty changing password/account issues
- Wrong descriptions and bottles shown
- Slide bar wouldn't work for bidding
- Always lag, lose for the lot
- Misrepresented lot with wrong registration mark
- Difficult to navigate
- Impossible to sign off
- Keeps asking to sign up for newsletter
- No one responds to email
- Password doesn't work / account doesn't exist
- Unorganized and poorly run business
- Terrible, temperamental, unreliable, confusing
- Not user friendly
- Browsing auctions almost impossible
- No search function
- Cannot access today's sale results
- Cannot get auction details
Requested features
17 requests- Most recent followed lots on top
- Embed condition report in app
- Search for auction location
- Filter by item category
- Sort auctions by location
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- Save favorite artists and get notifications
- Filter available auctions to exclude specific regions
- Italian language option
- Ability to sort auctions by location
- Display auction location upfront
- Functionality to register for auction via app
- Functionality to bid through the app
- Load online auctions onto the app
- Search function for artists
- Improved UI for viewing artworks (like Christie's)
- Dark mode option
- Advanced analytics dashboard
BDDW Auctions
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Bonhams
No in-app purchases
BDDW Auctions
No in-app purchases
