Terms ans Conditions of Sale
By bidding at our auction, whether in person, by phone, absentee bid, or on the internet, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions. As used in the following terms and conditions, MMA, We,and Us refers to Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, LLC.
1. There is a 20% buyer's premium added to the successful hammer price of every lot, which the purchaser of the lot agrees to pay along with applicable taxes as part of the total purchase price.
2. Payment for auction lots and premiums, can only be made by cash, check, bank wire transfer (domestic or international) or money order. Credit cards can only be accepted by special arrangement; the prospective buyer should contact us in advance. We reserve the right to hold items paid by check from unknown buyers until payment has cleared.
3. Lots purchased online may be subject to a different buyer's premium, as specified in the online version of the catalog as posted on the site through which the lot is purchased.
4. MMA is required by law to collect and remit the appropriate sales tax in the State of New Jersey. Unless exempted by the law, the purchaser will be required to pay state, and local sales taxes, any applicable compensating use taxes of another state, and if applicable, any federal luxury or other tax, on the total purchase price including buyer's premium. Purchases picked up or delivered to locations in New Jersey are subject to sales or compensating use tax of corresponding jurisdiction. Buyers claiming exemption from sales tax must have the appropriate documentation on file with MMA prior to the release of the property. If property is delivered to a state where MMA is not required to collect sales tax, it is the responsibility of the purchaser to self-assess any sales or use tax and remit it to taxing authorities in that state. MMA is not required to collect sales tax for property delivered to the purchaser outside of the United States.
5. If the auction is conducted outside our premises in New Jersey, purchaser is expected to pay all applicable sales and use taxes as governed by the law of the state in which the auction is conducted.
6. Any items bought by phone, absentee bid, or online, or otherwise not picked up in person on the auction day, will be stored by MMA and will be made available for shipment or pick-up by appointment only. Purchaser should contact MMA at the time of payment if they have specific preferences with regard to shipment.
7. The items offered for sale by Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, LLC. are offered either as agent for consignors or by us as owner. The contract for sale of the items is made therefore between the consignor of the property and the buyer. In cases where we own the property, the contract for sale is made between us and the buyer.
8. Bidders should personally examine each lot on which they will be bidding, in order to determine condition, size, and restoration or repair. All items are sold as-is and where-is. Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, LLC. disclaims any express or implied warranties or guarantees as to the authenticity, condition, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, correctness of the catalog or supplemental material, or other description of the physical condition, size, quality, rarity, importance, medium, provenance, exhibitions, literature or historical relevance of any property. No statement made anywhere, by us, our employees, officers, or agents, whether written or verbal, shall be deemed such a warranty or assumption of liability. Estimates of the selling price should not be relied on as a statement that this is the price at which the item will sell or its value for any other purposes. Photographic images of items being offered, whether provided in print or online, as well as references in the catalogue entry or condition report to damage or restoration are for guidance only and are provided as a convenience to prospective bidders. The absence of any reference in a condition report or photograph does not imply that an item is free from defect or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Neither MMA nor its consignors are responsible in any way for errors and omissions in the catalogue, condition reports, or any other supplemental material. All sales are considered final with the following exception: MMA will agree to a refund of the purchase price if within twenty-eight (28) days of purchase, the purchaser obtains and sends to MMA a signed written letter from a mutually recognized expert stating unequivocally that the auctioned item is a forgery.
9. A prospective buyer must complete and sign a registration form before bidding. MMA reserves the right to require bank or other financial references for participation in the auction or bidding on a specific lot. MMA has the right at our complete discretion to refuse any individual bidder's participation in any auction. When making a bid, a bidder is accepting personal liability to pay the purchase price, including the buyer's premium and all applicable taxes, plus all other applicable charges, unless it has been explicitly agreed in writing with Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, LLC. before the commencement of the sale that the bidder is acting as agent on behalf of an identified third party acceptable to us, and that we will only look to the principal for payment.
10. We reserve the right to withdraw any property before or during the sale and shall have no liability whatsoever for such withdrawal.
11. Unless otherwise announced by the auctioneer, all bids are per lot as numbered in the catalogue.
12. Mercer and Middlesex Auctions, LLC. and its auctioneer have the right at our absolute and sole discretion to refuse any bid, to advance the bidding in such a manner as we may decide, to withdraw or divide any lot, to combine any two or more lots and, in the case of error or dispute, and whether during or after the sale, to determine the successful bidder, to continue the bidding, to cancel the sale or to reoffer and resell the item in dispute. We reserve the right to reject any bid. Subject to our discretion, the highest bidder accepted by the auctioneer will be the buyer and the striking of his hammer marks the acceptance of the highest bid and conclusion of a contract for sale between the seller and buyer.
13. All lots in this catalogue are offered subject to a reserve, which is the confidential minimum hammer price at which a lot will be sold. Reserves are agreed upon with consignors or, the absence thereof, in the absolute discretion of MMA. We may implement reserves by opening the bidding on behalf of the consignor and may bid up to the amount of the reserve, by placing successive or consecutive bids for a lot, or bids in response to other bidders. In certain instances, the consignor may pay us less than the standard commission rate where a lot is "bought-in"to protect its reserve. If the auctioneer decides that any opening bid is below the reserve of the article offered, he may reject the same and withdraw the article.
14. Subject to fulfillment of all of the conditions set forth herein, on the fall of the auctioneer's hammer, title to the offered lot will pass to the highest bidder acknowledged by the auctioneer, and such bidder thereupon (a) assumes full risk and responsibility therefore and (b) will immediately pay the full purchase price or such part as we may require. In addition to other remedies available to us by law, we reserve the right to impose from the date of sale a late charge of the annual percentage rate of 12%, of the total purchase if payment is not made within seven days of the sale. All property must be removed from our premises by the purchaser at his expense not later than 10 business days following its sale and, if it is not so removed (i) a handling charge of 1% of the total purchase price per month from the tenth day after the sale until its removal will be payable to us by the purchaser, with a minimum of 5% of the total purchase price for any property not so removed within 60 days after the sale, and (ii) we may send the purchased property to a public warehouse for the account, at the risk and expense of the purchaser. If any applicable conditions herein are not complied with by the purchaser, the purchaser will be in default and in addition to any and all other remedies available to us and the Consignor by law, including, without limitation, the right to hold the purchaser liable for the total purchase price, including all fees, charges and expenses more fully set forth herein, we, at our option, may (x) cancel the sale of that, or any other lot or lots sold to the defaulting purchaser at the same or any other auction, retaining as liquidated damages all payments made by the purchaser, or (y) resell the purchased property, whether at public auction or by private sale, or (z) effect any combination thereof. In any case, the purchaser will be liable for any deficiency, any and all handling charges, late charges, expenses of both sales, our commissions on both sales at our regular rates, legal fees and expenses, collection fees and incidental damages. We may, in our sole discretion, apply any proceeds of sale then due or thereafter becoming due to the purchaser from us, or any payment made by the purchaser to us, whether or not intended to reduce the purchaser's obligations with respect to the unpaid lot or lots, to the deficiency and any other amounts due to us. In addition, a defaulting purchaser will be deemed to have granted and assigned to us a continuing security interest of first priority in any property or money of or owing to such purchaser in our possession, and we may retain and apply such property or money as collateral security for the obligations due to us. We shall have all of the rights accorded a secured party under the applicable Uniform Commercial Code. Payment will not be deemed to have been made in full until we have collected good funds, and we shall be entitled to retain items sold until all amounts due to us have been received in full in good cleared funds or until the buyer has satisfied such other terms as we, in our sole discretion, shall require. In the event the purchaser fails to pay any or all of the total purchase price for any lot and MMA nonetheless elects to pay the Consignor any portion of the sale proceeds, the purchaser acknowledges that MMA shall have all of the rights of the Consignor to pursue the purchaser for any amounts paid to the Consignor, whether at law, in equity, or under these Conditions of Sale.
15. MMA is under no obligation, but may agree, to package and ship an item at the request of the purchaser. The purchaser agrees that packaging, shipping and handling is the absolute risk of the purchaser. The purchaser will pay all costs including, but not limited to, the handling and insurance associated with shipping. MMA will be held harmless from any claim and any rights of subrogation from an insurance carrier are waived against MMA. We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of third parties whom we might retain for the purposes of handling, packing and shipping. Similarly, where we may suggest handlers, packers or carriers, we do not accept responsibility for their acts or omissions.
16. We are under no obligation to assist in applying for an export license, but if the buyer requests us to apply for an export license on his or her behalf, we shall be entitled to make a charge for this service. We shall not be obliged to rescind a sale nor to refund any interest or other expenses incurred by the buyer where payment is made by the buyer in circumstances where an export license is required.
17. We will use reasonable efforts to carry out written bids delivered to us prior to the sale for the convenience of clients who are not present at the auction in person, by an agent or by telephone. If we receive written bids on a particular lot for identical amounts, and at the auction these are the highest bids on the lot, it will be sold to the person whose written bid was received and accepted first. Execution of written bids is a free service undertaken subject to other commitments at the time of the sale and we do not accept liability for failing to execute a written bid or for errors and omissions in connection with it. With regards to telephone bids, if a prospective buyer makes arrangements with us prior to the sale we will use reasonable efforts to contact them to enable them to participate in the bidding by telephone but we do not accept liability for failure to do so or for errors and omissions in connection with telephone bidding. We are also not liable for any failure or execution to take bids submitted to us via third party internet sites, nor are we liable for any technical difficulties involved in receiving those bids.
18. In no event will our liability to a purchaser exceed the purchase price actually paid.
19. We reserve the right to retain, publicize, and publish any photographs and descriptions of property we offer both prior to the auction and afterwards. We reserve the right to publicize and provide the results of any sale, including images, on our own website as well as to any third party we choose, including online auction-result databases. All images, text, photographic reproductions, and design in this catalogue are subject to copyright and may not be reproduced without our explicit written permission. We and the consignor make no representations and warranties, express or implied, as to whether the purchaser acquires any copyrights, including but not limited to, any reproduction rights in any property.
20. If any part of these terms and conditions of sale is found by any court to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that part shall be discounted and the rest of the conditions shall continue to be valid to the fullest extent permitted by law. These conditions of sale, as well as the purchaser's and our respective rights and obligations hereunder, shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey. By bidding at an auction, whether present in person or by agent, order bid, telephone or other means, the purchaser shall be deemed to have consented to the jurisdiction of the state courts of, and the federal courts sitting in, the State of New Jersey.
21. Due to limitations of the on-line catalog's technology, users of the on-line catalogs are unable to see immediately the full item description, and are initially presented with a truncated description that in many cases is lacking important information. To alleviate this problem, descriptions in the on-line catalog for this auction that may be posted on the LiveAuctioneers website (www.LiveAuctioneers.com), have been expanded to include a simplified heading (of 50 characters or less) that is not included into the catalog published in the pdf or printed format. Such headings are not the part of the lot description, and are provided for ease of use only, as are the Search expansion words found in the end of detailed on-line lot descriptions. Users of the on-line catalogs should make sure that they read the full lot descriptions, and not just the simplified headings. In the full lot descriptions on-line, simplified headings can be easily distinguished, as they appear immediately after the lot number and are in different color and/or font size from the description to follow. Search expansion section starts with the "Search expansion words" phrase. MMA may also post an on-line catalog on its website, using different conventions. All bidding in this auction is per lot number and according to the descriptions that appear in the auction catalog as printed or as published in the pdf format on the MMA website.
22. MMA reserves the right to waive or modify the conditions and terms of sale by written agreement.
Bidding on any item indicates your acceptance of these terms and conditions, as outlined above
