Unless the seller is registered for VAT, you won’t pay that in addition to the hammer price and there’s no mention of this seller (I haven’t looked at all the hyperlinks but I’m assuming that all items are from the same seller as for the first listing) being VAT registered. However as the auctioneer is registered for VAT, you will pay that on its commission. Thus according to the website you’ll pay 28.2% in addition to the hammer price by way of the VAT inclusive buyer’s commission. So if you bid £100 for a control column and that’s the highest bid, you’ll have to stump up £128.20 before you get it. And when you add that to what, presumably, the seller will have to pay by way of commission (incuding VAT), you’ll see why auctioneeers are the only guaranteed winners when items are sold and bought through this medium!