Conditions of Sale
CONDITIONS OF SALE
1.The highest accepted bidder for each lot shall be, subject to the Vendor's reserve (if any), the purchaser thereof. If any dispute shall arise as to any bidding the lot in dispute shall be immediately put up for sale again at the last undisputed bidding, or the dispute may be determined by the Auctioneers. The Auctioneer's reserve the right of bidding for, withdrawing from, consolidating or dividing any lots, or varying the order of the sale.
2. No person shall advance less at a bid than a sum to be named from time to time by the Auctioneers and no bid shall be retracted. The Auctioneers may, without giving any reason therefore, refuse to accept the bidding of any person or persons.
3. The purchaser of each lot shall give his name and address and shall (if required) pay the Auctioneers 25 per cent of the purchase money as earnest and in part payment. If any purchaser fails to comply with any of these conditions the lot or lots in question may, if the Auctioneers think fit, be put up again and resold. If upon resale a lower price is obtained for any lots than were obtained from the first sale the difference in price shall be a debt due from the defaulter at the first sale.
4. Every care is taken to ensure accuracy concerning authorship, origin, age, condition, etc., but all such statements represent opinion and are not to be taken as statements or representations of fact. The Auctioneers reserve the right in forming their opinion to consult and rely upon any expert or authority reasonably considered by them to be reliable.
5. Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, as stated in para 4 above, no warranty is given with any lots and the Auctioneers are not responsible for the correct description, genuineness or sufficiency of, or any fault or defect in any lot. Any purchaser (home or overseas) who is represented by an Agent in the room and who feels dissatisfied with purchase(s) shall claim against his agent and shall have no claim whatsoever upon the Auctioneers. No sale shall be invalidated by reason of any defect or faults in any of the lots by reason of the lots being incorrectly described in the catalogue, and no compensation shall be paid in respect of any faults or errors of description.
6. Notwithstanding the preceding condition, if within seven days of the receipt of any lot the buyer gives notice in writing to the Auctioneer that the lot sold is a forgery and he returns the lot (within 48 hours, overseas 7 days) in the same condition as it was at the time of the sale to the premises of the Auctioneer and there shows that considered in the light of the terms of the catalogue the lot sold is a forgery, the Auctioneers are authorised to, and will rescind the sale and approach the vendor (if already paid) for the return of the proceeds paid to him.
7. Each lot shall be at the Purchaser's risk from the fall of the hammer, and except in the case of postal bidders shall be cleared away by the purchaser at his or her own expense, within one day of the conclusion of the sale. Each lot must be paid in full before delivery and in the event of any person purchasing more than one lot the whole must be paid for in full before delivery of any part thereof. No lot shall be removed without a delivery order signed by the Auctioneers or their Clerk. On no account will the assignment or transfer of any lot by the purchaser there be allowed.
8. Purchasers shall be answerable for any damage or loss occasioned by the removal of their respective lots either to the lots or the premises, the amounts of such damage to be assessed by the Auctioneers. After the conclusion of the sale the Auctioneers will not hold themselves responsible if the lots be lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, but they will be left at the sole risk of the purchasers. No lot on any account may be removed during the time of the sale.
9. No cheque will be accepted from any person unknown to the Auctioneers without a bankers guarantee.
10. Upon failure of any purchaser to comply with any of the above conditions any money deposited by him or her in part payments shall be forfeited to the owner of the lot, he paying thereout all just expenses. Any lot not paid for within two months of the purchase date shall be resold by public auction or private contract and the deficiency (if any) arising from such a resale together with all expenses attending the same shall be made good by the defaulter at this sale who shall have no claim to any surplus which may arise on a resale.
11. The Auctioneers' description of conditions of antique and modern firearms is for guidance as collectors' pieces only and does not refer to their suitability for use. The Auctioneers can accept no responsibility if these weapons are fired.
12. The above applies to all postal bidders, and where an agent purchases on behalf of an undisclosed client such an agent shall be personally liable for payment of the purchase price to the Auctioneers and for safe delivery of the lot to the said client.
13. Vendors who send for sale by auction any goods that are an asset of their business must inform the auctioneers if they are registered for VAT purposes and, if so, the registration number must be given.
14. Bids are accepted on the understanding that a 20% buying premium will be added to the purchase price and the Auctioneers are NOT responsible for any bids submitted which inadvertently include this 20% buying premium. The buying premium is subject to VAT at the current added to the "knock-down" price in addition, any lots purchased through internet bidding services will be liable to an additional 3% + VAT charge on top of the hammer price.
15. Wallis & Wallis reserve the right, if necessary, to delay payment to Vendors, pending receipt of moneys to complete overseas and home transactions.
IMPORTANT NOTICES
ENTRIES FOR SALE. Entries can be accepted at any time. The closing date for any particular sale is the Friday afternoon following the preceding sale. All items submitted should have tickets or labels attached, bearing name of owner and numbered, complete with corresponding list. Entry forms can be had on request.
CATALOGUE ILLUSTRATIONS. Selection is made at the time of cataloguing. Should any vendor object to an illustration please state so when submitting lots for auction. We do not charge for having a lot professionally photographed, although a nominal charge is made for inserting it in the catalogue. Minimum charge £5.00, maximum £80.00 (whole page coverage).
RESERVES must be given when entering items for auction. We will be pleased to offer advice if reserves are required. If reserves have not been placed when entering items, please remember that late reserves must not exceed our lower estimate printed in the catalogue.
UNSOLD LOTS. When items remain unsold for a client, they are re-offered two sales later. Will vendors kindly note that RESERVE PRICES ARE NOT CARRIED FORWARD.
If RESERVES are desired, notification is necessary, in writing. Should any client not wish to have his lots re-offered, immediate notification must be made to the auctioneer IN WRITING upon receipt of the "Owners Prices Realised List" which is sent out after the Sale. Re-offered lots remaining unsold will incur storage charges at £1.00 per £100 on the reserve value per month (minimum charge £10.00 per lot).
INSURANCE. A charge is made to cover clients' goods in our custody, the premium being 50p per £100 (minimum charge 50p), estimated on the price realised, or if unsold, the reserve price plus vat.
POSTAL DESPATCHES. All purchased lots are handled by Global Services, 9 West Street, Lewes, Sussex, unless other instructions are received on the Bidding Form.
STORAGE. Charges for storage are made by Global Services, £5.00 + VAT per lot per week or part thereof, which commences three weeks after the sale (UK), four weeks (overseas). Insurance whilst in storage: 50p per £100 per month or part thereof.
CHEQUES. Cheques will not be accepted in payment for lots purchased by those attending the sale (see note 9 - Conditions of Sale).
VISA, MASTERCARD AND JCB CARDS. For your convenience we have adopted the VISA and MASTERCARD card payment systems. Should any buyers by post or in the room wish to avail themselves of this facility, please refer to the bidding form. Please note: we accept payment by UK buyers using a debit/credit card up to £2000 only. Payments above this must be made by Bank Transfer. Lots purchased by postal bidders using their debit or credit card must be dispatched by Global Services.
CATALOGUE BACK NUMBERS. Back numbers of many of our catalogues can still be made available, £4.00 post free, overseas £5.00(some 10 to 20 sales are completely out of print). If you have any missing numbers, please send us a list and we will help you all we can. Back numbers Connoisseur Catalogues £5.00 each (overeas £6.00).
PAYMENT OF PROCEEDS TO OVERSEAS VENDORS. Clients resident outside the United Kingdom may be paid in any currency of their choice. Alternatively proceeds can be paid into a bank account in the UK, if this facility is available. We can help to arrange this if required. It may be well to remember, no taxes are required to be paid by overseas owners on antique articles imported and sold through our sales in England.
PAYMENT FOR SUCCESSFUL LOTS BY OVERSEAS BUYERS. May be effected through your bank by STERLING MAIL TRANSFER or STERLING TELEGRAPHIC TRANSFER. Clearance of your national currency cheques can delay despatch. Our bankers, Barclays Bank Ltd., Lewes, account number 30913162. To avoid extra expense in these days of high bank charges, payments to Wallis & Wallis and Global Services can be combined in one payment.
THIRD REICH GERMAN ITEMS. Owing to the large number of Third Reich uniforms and accoutrements being used for films, television and plays, it becomes increasingly difficult to ascertain the authenticity of certain pieces. We catalogue all Third Reich items believing them to be genuine unless otherwise stated. The terms 'bronze', 'silver' and 'gold' refer to the grades in which medals, badges, etc., were awarded and not to their composition.
All items sold, whether in the room or by post, are considered "As viewed", and not subject to our Conditions of Sale, paragraph 6.
VALUE ADDED TAX. All items subject to VAT are sold on a tax inclusive basis in this sale. Vendors registered for VAT must include the tax when considering reserve price on Vatable items.
BUYING PREMIUM = 20% plus VAT at the current rate. Live online bidding through internet bidding will incur an extra 3% plus VAT in addition to the standard charge.
IMPORTED LOTS FROM NON-EEC COUNTRIES are prefixed with a dagger in the catalogue.
Legislation introduced in 1999 requires an additional 5% VAT on the hammer and combined premium price for these lots.
IMPORT INFORMATION. Our Brokers at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports are: Messrs. J. Gardiner (Air Freight) Ltd., Unit 4 Mount Road, Hanworth, Feltham, Middlesex, TW13 6AR. Telephone 020 8894 7277. Fax 020 8943542.
LICENSED FIREARMS. Lots marked ** require a Part 1 Firearm Licence. Lots marked * require a Shotgun Licence.
UNPROVED FIREARMS. Will clients kindly note that we cannot offer unproved modern firearms in our sale. We will be pleased to lodge for proof suitable weapons submitted to us. A small charge is made for this service.
"UNPROVABILITY CERTIFICATES." For certain obsolete firearms for which cartridges are no longer available we can obtain from the Proof House, a "Certificate of unprovability." These can then be offered as "Collectors items only," but must still be sold to buyers possessing a firearms certificate.
EARLY BREECH LOADING WEAPONS, PINFIRE, NEEDLEFIRE AND RIMFIRE. Due to a change in policy by the Home Office, Wallis and Wallis can now offer certain types of breech-loading antique firearms as collectors pieces without registration as Part I firearms. This applies to pinfire and needlefire weapons also rimfire with cartridges exceeding .23in. calibre (or its metric equivalent). Such weapons taking 9mm ammunition are excluded and continue to be classed as Part I Firearms. However, it must be realised that if the above mentioned weapons were required for firing purposes, they would need to be registered with the Police as with other Part I weapons.
AMMUNITION. We have found that it is not practicable to sell modern ammunition, however, we do accept ammunition for sale over 100 years old. The buyer must collect and be in possession of a collector's certificate.
JAPANESE SWORDS, ETC. A nominal charge of £5.00 (plus VAT) is made to translate the inscription on Japanese weapons. Translations of signatures do not imply warranty of autograph, authorship or authenticity.
ACCEPTANCE OF BIDS. Bids cannot be accepted from persons under the age of 18, for any lots in this Auction.
BIDS BY EMAIL. Please note that we cannot guarentee bids sent in by email, post or fax and all bids must include full address, telephone and card details.
ESTIMATES. For the auction are included in the lot description, they are also available from the reception clerk, ring +44(0)1273480208.
CHARITIES. No commission is charged for lots entered on behalf of charities. Cheques for proceeds must be made payable to organisations stated.
Grades of Condition
Excellent - Virtually original state.
VGC - (Very Good Condition) a fine item.
GC - (Good Condition) a sound item.
QGC - (Quite Good Condition) some wear and/or damage.
FC - (Fair Condition) much wear and/or damage, or parts missing.
POOR - Items seldom catalogued in this state unless rarity or historical value makes them nevertheless worthy of collection.
AF - (At Fault or As Found)
WO - (Working Order) is used to describe functioning items in conjunction with grades of condition, eg VGWO&C - (Very Good Working Order and Condition),
GWO&QGC - (Good Working Order and Quite Good Condition), etc.. NOTE: In the catalogue descriptions, these grades may be qualified by additional remarks.
Lots with descriptions below GC are not recommended for the postal bidder, unless previously viewed or advice taken."Decorative" indicates an item made up from parts for ornamental purposes; not for the serious collector. All pictures and prints are offered "by, after or attributed to" the artist named.
The following grades apply to Orders, Decorations, Medals and Coins:
Unc Uncirculated
EF Extremely Fine
NEF Nearly Extremely Fine
VF Very Fine
GF Good Fine
F Fine
VG Very Good
G Good
