CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Operating Activities:
Net loss attributable to Sotheby's	$ (6,522)	$ (11,325)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss attributable to Sotheby's to net cash used by operating activities:
Extinguishment of debt	10,855	0
Depreciation and amortization	7,100	5,384
Deferred income tax expense	97	12,910
Share-based payments	8,377	6,069
Net pension benefit	(822)	(1,204)
Inventory writedowns and bad debt provisions	3,141	3,359
Amortization of debt issuance costs	451	414
Equity in earnings of investees	(806)	(667)
Other	260	164
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	79,743	47,745
Client payables	(188,676)	11,146
Inventory	7,003	5,063
Changes in other operating assets and liabilities (see Note 12)	(75,804)	(98,658)
Net cash used by operating activities	(155,603)	(19,600)
Investing Activities:
Funding of notes receivable	(17,730)	(33,187)
Collections of notes receivable	96,919	46,104
Capital expenditures	(9,143)	(4,692)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired	(5,702)	0
Distributions from investees	1,684	1,700
Proceeds from company-owned life insurance	0	2,100
Settlement of net investment hedges (see Note 9)	0	29,210
Other	(64)	75
Net cash provided by investing activities	65,964	41,310
Financing Activities:
Proceeds from credit facility borrowings	45,000	5,500
Repayments of credit facility borrowings	(176,500)	(22,000)
Repayments of York Property Mortgage	(2,015)	(1,932)
Settlement of 2022 Senior Notes, including call premium	(307,875)	0
Debt issuance and other borrowing costs	(88)	(7)
Repurchases of common stock	(21,001)	0
Dividends paid	0	(2,367)
Funding of employee tax obligations upon the vesting of share-based payments	(9,163)	(13,587)
Net cash used by financing activities	(471,642)	(34,393)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	7,427	1,893
Decrease in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash	(553,854)	(10,790)
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period	923,926	556,201
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period	$ 370,072	$ 545,411