Terms and Conditions
Conditions of Sale and Business
1. The Seller warrants to the Auctioneer and the buyer that he is the true owner or is properly authorised to sell the property by the true owner and is able to
transfer good and marketable title to the property free from any third party claims.
2. (a) The highest bidder to be the buyer. If during the auction the Auctioneer considers that a dispute has arisen he has absolute authority to settle it or re-offer the lot. The Auctioneer may at his sole discretion determine the advance of bidding or refuse a bid, divide any lot, combine any two or more lots or withdraw any lot without prior notice.
(b) Where goods are bought at auction by a buyer who has entered into an agreement with another or others that the other or others (or some of them) shall abstain from bidding for the goods and the buyer or other party or one of the other parties is a dealer (as defined in the Auction Biddings Agreement Act 1927) the buyer warrants that the goods are bought bona fide on joint account.
3. The buyer shall pay the price at which a lot is knocked down by the
Auctioneer to the buyer ("the hammer price") together with a premium of 19.5% of the hammer price. Where the lot is marked by an asterisk the
premium will be subject to VAT at 20% which under the Auctioneer's
Margin Scheme will form part of the buyer's premium on our invoice and will not be separately identified (the premium added to the hammer price will hereafter collectively be referred to as "the total sum due"). By making any bid the buyer acknowledges that his attention has been drawn to the fact that on the sale of any lot the Auctioneer will receive from the seller commission at its usual rates in addition to the said premium of 19.5% and assents to the Auctioneer receiving the said commission.
4. (a) The buyer shall forthwith upon the purchase give in his name and
permanent address and pay to the Auctioneer immediately after the conclusion of the auction the total sum due.
(b) The buyer may be required to pay down during the course of the sale the whole or any part of the total sum due, and if he fails to do so after such request the lot or lots may at the Auctioneer's absolute discretion be put up again and resold immediately.
(c) The buyer shall at his own expense take away any lot or lots purchased no later than five working days after the auction day.
(d) The Auctioneer may at his own discretion agree credit terms with a buyer and extend the time limits for collection in special cases but
otherwise payment shall be deemed to have been made only after the Auctioneer has received cash or a sterling banker's draft or the buyer's cheque has been cleared.
5. (a) If the buyer fails to pay for or take away any lot or lots pursuant to clause 4 or breaches any other condition of that clause the Auctioneer as agent for the seller shall be entitled after consultation with the seller to exercise one or other of the following rights:
(i) Rescind the sale of that or any other lots sold to the buyer who defaults and re-sell the lot or lots whereupon the defaulting buyer shall pay to the Auctioneer any shortfall between the proceeds of that sale after
deduction of costs of re-sale and the total sum due. Any surplus shall belong to the seller.
(ii) Proceed for damages for breach of contract.
(b) Without prejudice to the Auctioneer's rights hereunder if any lots or lots are not collected within five days or such longer period as the
Auctioneer may have agreed otherwise, the Auctioneer may charge the buyer a storage charge of £1.00 + VAT at the current rate per lot per day.
(c) Ownership of the lot purchased shall not pass to the buyer until he has paid to the Auctioneer the total sum due.
6. (a) The seller shall be entitled to place a reserve on any lot and the
Auctioneer shall have the right to bid on behalf of the seller for any lot on which a reserve has been placed. A seller may not bid on any lot on which a reserve has been placed.
(b) Where any lot fails to sell, the Auctioneer shall notify the seller
accordingly. The seller shall make arrangements either to re-offer the lot for sale or to collect the lot and may be asked to pay a commission not exceeding 50% of the selling commission and any special expenses incurred in cataloguing the lot.
(c) If such arrangements are not made within seven days of the notification the Auctioneer is empowered to sell the lot by auction or by private treaty at not less than the reserve price and to receive from the seller the normal selling commission and special expenses.
7. Any representation or statement by the Auctioneer in any catalogue, brochure or advertisement of forthcoming sales as to authorship, attribution, genuineness, origin, date, age, provenance, condition or estimated selling price is a statement of opinion only. Every person interested should
exercise and rely on his own judgement as to such matters and neither the Auctioneer nor his servants or agents are responsible for the correctness of such opinions. No warranty whatsoever is given by the Auctioneer or
the seller in respect of any lot and any express or implied warranties are hereby excluded.
8. (a) Notwithstanding any other terms of these conditions, if within fourteen days of the sale the Auctioneer has received from the buyer of any lot notice in writing that in his view the lot is a deliberate forgery and within fourteen days after such notification the buyer returns the same to the Auctioneer in the same condition as at the time of the sale and
satisfies the Auctioneer that considered in the light of the entry in the catalogue the lot is a deliberate forgery then the sale of the lot will be rescinded and the purchase price of the same refunded. "A deliberate forgery" means a lot made with intention to deceive.
(b) A buyer's claim under this condition shall be limited to any amount paid to the Auctioneer for the lot and for the purpose of this condition the buyer shall be the person to whom the original invoice was made out by the Auctioneer.
9. Lots may be removed during the sale after full settlement in accordance with 4(d) hereof.
10. All goods delivered to the Auctioneer's premises will be deemed to be delivered for sale by auction unless otherwise stated in writing and will be catalogued and sold at the Auctioneer's discretion and accepted by the Auctioneer subject to all these conditions. In the case of miscellaneous books, the Auctioneer reserves the right to extract and dispose of books that, in the opinion of the Auctioneer at his absolute discretion, have no saleable value and, therefore, might detract from the saleability of the rest of the lot and the Auctioneer shall incur no liability to the seller, in respect of the books disposed of. By delivering the goods to the
Auctioneer for inclusion in his auction sales each seller acknowledges that he/she accepts and agrees to all the conditions.
11. (a) Unless otherwise instructed in writing all goods on the Auctioneer's premises and in their custody will be held insured against the risks of fire, burglary, water damage and accidental breakage or damage.
The value of the goods so covered will be the hammer price, or in the case of unsold lots the best bid, or in the case of loss or damage prior to the sale that which the specialised staff of the Auctioneer shall in their absolute discretion estimate to be the auction value of such goods.
(b) The Auctioneer shall not be responsible for damage to or the loss, theft, or destruction of any goods not so insured because of the owner's
written instructions.
12. The Auctioneer shall remit the proceeds of the sale to the seller thirty days after the day of the auction provided that the Auctioneer has received the total sum due from the buyer. In all other cases the Auctioneer will remit the proceeds of the sale to the seller within seven days of the
receipt by the Auctioneer of the total sum due. The Auctioneer will not be deemed to have received the total sum due until after any cheque
delivered by the buyer has been cleared. In the event of the Auctioneer
exercising his right to rescind the sale his obligation to the seller
hereunder lapses.
13. In the case of the seller withdrawing instructions to the Auctioneer to sell any lot or lots, the Auctioneer may charge a fee of 12.5% of the Auctioneer's middle estimate of the auction price of the lot withdrawn together with Value Added Tax thereon and any expenses incurred in respect of the lot or lots.
14. The Auctioneer's current standard notices and information (i.e. Collation and Amendments) will apply to any contract with the Auctioneer as if
incorporated herein.
15. These conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law.
