STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS
– November 2009 Edition
·
These Standard Terms and all other
terms and conditions set out in our catalogues or announced by our
auctioneer or posted in our salesroom apply to all aspects of the
relationship between you (whether as a Seller or a Buyer) and us.
·
All sales are subject to these
Standard Terms and all Sellers and Buyers (actual and prospective) are
bound by them.
·
You should therefore read these
Standard Terms very carefully.
“We”, “our” and “us” means Three Counties Auctions Ltd. (company No. 07087312) Trading as Pippins Auctions. Office, 8 High Street, Old Town, Stevenage, Herts SG1 3EJ and includes our auctioneer;
;
“You”
and “your” means a Buyer or Seller (as appropriate);
“Buyer”
means the person who makes the highest bid accepted by our auctioneer;
“Buyer’s Premium” means the premium payable to us
by the Buyer calculated by reference to the Hammer Price at the rates
notified in our catalogues and/or in the salesroom at the time of the
relevant sale together with VAT (if applicable);
“Expenses”
means in relation to the sale of any Lot our charges (including but not
limited to) charges and expenses for insurance, catalogue illustration,
restoration of any Lots agreed with you in advance, framing, any
examination by external experts we believe necessary for catalogue
description, external expert opinions, costs of collecting from a
defaulting Buyer, storage and any applicable VAT;
“Hammer Price” means the price at which a
“
“Seller”
means the owner or the owner’s agent or the person in possession of a
relevant
“Seller’s Commission” means the commission
calculated by reference to the Hammer Price payable to us by a Seller at
the rates set out in any Schedule attached to these Standard Terms,
together with VAT if applicable;
“Withdrawal Fee” means a fee at the rate set out in any
Schedule attached to these Standard Terms.
BEFORE THE
Your instructions to sell: We shall sell the
VAT: You will give us all the relevant information about your VAT status
and that of the
Seller’s Commission,
Buyer’s Premium and Expenses: Following the sale you will be liable to
pay us the Seller’s Commission and the Expenses. We shall also collect and retain the
Buyer’s Premium. We shall be
entitled to deduct each of the Seller’s Commission, the Buyer’s
Premium and the Expenses from monies received from the Buyer.
Insurance: We will not insure any
Seller’s Warranties: You warrant to us and the Buyer in accordance with this Paragraph.
If any of the warranties is incorrect, you will indemnify us and/or the
Buyer in full on demand against all claims, costs or expenses incurred by
us or the Buyer as a result, whether arising in relation to the
·
Ownership: You
are the true owner of the
·
Alterations: You are unaware of any material alteration to the
·
Third Party claims: You have notified us in writing of any
concerns expressed by third parties in relation to the ownership,
condition, authenticity or attribution of the
·
Import/Export: You
have complied with all requirements, legal or otherwise relating to any
export or import of the
·
Electrical/Mechanical parts: Any
Our
discretion: We shall have complete discretion as to:
the way property may be combined or divided into Lots; the way a Lot is described and illustrated
in our catalogue or any salesroom literature; the date, place and manner
which persons shall be admitted to the auction; which bids should be accepted; and
whether expert advice should be sought.
Estimates: Any estimate given by us, orally or in
writing, is a matter of opinion only and is intended only as a guide.
Withdrawal: You may not withdraw a
Withdrawal
Fee: If either we or you withdraw a
Collection
of goods: We do not usually undertake the
collection of Lots but will, if you request in writing and we agree,
instruct a contractor on your behalf. We disclaim all responsibility for loss or damage to goods or for
unauthorised removal of goods and for damage to premises caused by the
contractor. Unless otherwise agreed,
any charge for these services will be deducted from the sale proceeds.
Disclaimer: We disclaim all responsibility for
accidental breakage, loss or damage to a
Telephone: Instructions given by telephone are
accepted at your risk and must be confirmed in writing forthwith.
Storage: We reserve the right to store or arrange
for the storage of goods delivered to us for sale either on our premises or
elsewhere at our sole discretion. Our charges for storage are as set out in
any Schedule to these Standard Terms.
AT THE
Reserve: A Lot will be put up for sale WITHOUT RESERVE at our discretion
unless we receive your written instructions as to reserve prior to the
commencement of the sale.
Bidding: You may not bid for your own
Lien: We shall be entitled to exercise a lien
over any
AFTER THE
Accounting: After the sale we shall require full
payment from the Buyer (including the Buyer’s Premium).
Payment: Provided payment has been received from
the Buyer, we shall remit to you an amount equal to the Hammer Price less
all charges due from you 14 days after the sale unless we have received notice
that the
Late
payment: If the Buyer is late in paying we shall
send you the Hammer Price less all charges due from you 7 days after
receipt from the Buyer of cleared funds.
Failure to
pay: If the Buyer fails to pay the full amount
due we shall not be obliged to remit the price due ourselves nor take any
legal proceedings on your behalf. We
shall discuss with you the appropriate course of action to be taken to
recover the purchase price from the Buyer.
Payment by
us: If for any reason we make payment to you
of the amount due from the Buyer, ownership of the relevant
Private
treaty: If any lot fails to sell at auction, we
are authorised to sell after auction for a period of 2 months, by private
treaty, at not less than the reserve price (or such lesser amount as you
shall agree) provided the
Unsold
Lots: Any unsold
C STANDARD TERMS PRINCIPALLY AFFECTING
BUYERS
Buyer’s
inspection: By making a bid for a Lot you acknowledge
that you have satisfied yourself fully before bidding by inspection or
otherwise as to the Standard Terms, the physical condition and description
of the Lot, including (but not limited to) whether or not the Lot is
damaged or has been repaired or restored.
Our
liability to a Buyer: We give no guarantees or
warranties to you and any implied warranties or conditions are excluded
unless such obligations cannot be excluded by statute.
Exclusion
of liability: Although we make every
effort to ensure the accuracy of our catalogue and the description of any
Lot we do not accept responsibility for the attribution, genuineness,
origin, authorship, date, age, period, condition or quality of any Lot
unless we have been instructed in writing by the Seller so to certify. In such cases we do so as the
Seller’s agents and are not ourselves responsible for such claims.
Exclusion
of warranties: All statements, whether
printed in the catalogue or made orally, as to any matters set out in the
preceding Paragraph are statements of opinion only and are not to be taken
as being or implying any warranties or representations of fact by us unless
we have been instructed in writing by the Seller so to certify. In such cases we do so as the
Seller’s agents and are not ourselves responsible for such claims.
AT THE
Participation: We have the right at our absolute
discretion to refuse to allow any person to participate in our auctions and
to refuse admission to our salesroom and premises.
Bidder’s
status: If you make a bid at auction you do so as
a principal and will be solely liable for that bid unless we have
previously agreed in writing with you that you are acting on behalf of a
named principal.
Telephone
bids: You may bid by telephone only if we agree
to allow you to do so. We reserve
the right to confirm relevant details in writing beforehand. We accept no responsibility for the
failure of any telephone bid for any reason.
Commission
bids: Provided we receive sufficient advance
notice, we may at our entire discretion be prepared to bid at an auction on
your behalf (a “Commission Bid”). We cannot accept liability for failure to
make a Commission Bid for any reason.
Auctioneer’s
discretion: Our auctioneer has absolute discretion to
divide any
Buyer: The highest bidder shall be the buyer
except in the case of a dispute. If
during the auction our auctioneer considers that a dispute has arisen, he
has absolute discretion to settle it or to re-offer the
Reserves: Each
Statements
from the rostrum: All conditions, statements
and other matters in the catalogue and elsewhere concerning any
AFTER THE
Purchase
price: Immediately after the sale you will pay
us the “Purchase Price” consisting of the Hammer Price plus the
Buyer’s Premium(together with any VAT if applicable)
Payment: Payment will not be deemed to have been
made until we are in receipt of cash, or certain credit or debit cards,
cleared funds or by cheque supported by banker’s card. We cannot
accept cheques drawn by third parties.
Payment by
debit or credit card: If you make payment by MasterCard,
Visa, Maestro or Solo credit/debit cards we shall levy a surcharge equal to
5% of the amount payable for credit cards or 2.5% for debit cards. We
regret we are not able to accept payment by other debit or credit cards.
Removal: You shall collect the purchased
Continued failure
to remove: If purchased Lots are not
paid for and removed within 7 days of the sale we may re-sell them by
auction or privately without notice to you. Any liability which we may have for any loss shall be restricted to
a maximum of the price paid by the buyer of the
Failure to
comply with Standard Terms: If you
fail to comply with these Standard Terms, the damages recoverable by the
Seller or us from you shall include any loss arising in any resale of the
Lot, together with the charges and expenses of both sales and together with
interest at 2% above National Westminster Bank plc base rate upon the
Purchase Price. Any money deposited
in part payment shall be held by us on account of your liability to us or
to the Seller.
Passing of
Title: Legal title will not pass to you until
the
Passing of
risk: Any
D STANDARD TERMS AFFECTING SELLERS AND
BUYERS
Third party
liability: Every
person at any time on premises where we hold auctions shall be deemed to be
there at his or her own risk. He or
she shall have no claim against us, our employees or agents in respect of
any accidents which may occur, or injury, damage or loss howsoever caused,
save insofar as the injury, damage or loss shall be caused by the direct
negligence of our employees.
Forgeries: Notwithstanding these Standard Terms, if
within 3 years after the sale we receive from the Buyer of any Lot notice
in writing that in the Buyer’s view the Lot is a deliberate forgery
and within one month after such notification the Buyer returns the Lot to
us in the same condition as at the time of sale and we are satisfied that
the Lot is a deliberate forgery, we shall rescind the sale. Within 10 days of the Seller’s
receipt of the rescission notice the Seller must return to us the amount
that we paid the Seller in respect of that
Law and
jurisdiction: These Standard Terms are
subject to English law and all parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction
of the English court. Any claim
under any statute must be received by us within 10 days of the date of the
sale.
VAT: Any obligation to make a payment under
these Standard Terms shall include an obligation to pay any VAT required by
law.
No
assignment: You may not assign your rights and
obligations under these Standard Terms unless we have given our prior
written consent.
Miscellaneous: Headings and introductory sections are not part of these Standard Terms and are for convenience only. Where the context requires, the singular includes the plural and vice versa. If any part of these Standard Terms is found by any court to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that part may be discounted and the remaining Standard Terms shall remain in full force and effect.