CONDITIONS OF SALE
Grand Auctions carries on business with bidders, buyers and all those present in the auction room prior to or in connection with a sale on the following General Conditions and on such other terms, conditions and notices as may be referred to herein. These conditions of Sale and Business constitute the contract between Grand Auctions (The Auctioneer) and the seller on the one hand and the buyer on the other. By bidding at the auction you agree to these terms.
1. DEFINITIONS
In these Conditions:
(a) “auctioneer” means the firm of Grand Auctions or its authorised auctioneer, as appropriate;
(b) “deliberate forgery” means an imitation made with the intention of deceiving as to authorship, origin, date, age, period, culture or source but which is unequivocally described in the catalogue as being the work of a particular creator and which at the date of the sale had a value materially less than it would have had if it had been in accordance with the description;
(c) “hammer price” means the level of bidding reached (at or above any reserve) when the auctioneer brings down the hammer;
(d) “terms of consignment” means the stipulated terms and rates of commission on which Grand Auctions accepts instructions from sellers or their agents;
(e) “total amount due” means the hammer price in respect of the lot sold together with any premium. Value Added Tax chargeable and any additional charges payable by a defaulting buyer under these Conditions;
(f) “sale proceeds” means the net amount due to the seller, being the hammer price of the lot sold less commission at the stated rate. Value Added Tax chargeable and any other amounts due to us by the seller in whatever capacity and however arising;
(g) “You”, “Your”, etc. refer to the buyer as identified in Condition 2.
(h) The singular includes the plural and vice versa as appropriate.
2. BIDDING PROCEDURES AND THE BUYER
(a) Bidders are required to register their particulars and show proof of identity with a driving licence or passport before bidding and to satisfy any security arrangements before entering the auction room to view or bid;
(b) the maker of the highest bid accepted by the auctioneer conducting the sale shall be the buyer at the hammer price and any dispute about a bid shall be settled at the auctioneer’s absolute discretion by reoffering the Lot during the course of the auction or otherwise. The auctioneer shall act reasonably in exercising this discretion.
(c) Bidders shall be deemed to act as principals.
(d) Our right to bid on behalf of the seller is expressly reserved up to the amount of any reserve and the right to refuse any bid is also reserved.
3. INCREMENTS
Bidding increments shall be at the auctioneer’s sole discretion.
4. THE PURCHASE PRICE
The buyer shall pay the hammer price together with a premium thereon of 20%. This premium is subject to VAT at the rate imposed by law.
5. VALUE ADDED TAX – items marked with * or **
Value Added Tax on the hammer price and the buyer’s premium is imposed by law on all items affixed with an asterisk or double asterisk. Value Added Tax is charged at the appropriate rate prevailing by law at the date of sale and is payable by buyers of relevant Lots. Lots imported from outside the EU and certain lots owned by businesses are marked ** and full VAT is payable on the Hammer Price and Buyer’s Premium. Certain lots imported at a preferential rate are marked * and VAT is payable currently at 5% on the Hammer Price and Buyer’s Premium.
6. LOTS MARKED AR
From 14th February 2006 all UK art market professionals are required to collect a royalty payment for all works of art that have been produced by living artists. This payment is only calculated on qualifying works of art, which are sold for a hammer price more than the UK sterling equivalent of EURO 1,000 – the UK sterling equivalent will fluctuate in line with prevailing exchange rates.
It is entirely the responsibility of the buyer to acquaint himself with the precise EURO to UK Sterling exchange rate on the day of the sale in this regard, and the auctioneer accepts no responsibility whatsoever if the qualifying rate is different to the rate indicated. All items in the catalogue that are marked with AR are potentially qualifying items, and the royalty charge will be applied if the hammer price achieved is more than the UK sterling equivalent of EURO 1,000. The royalty charge will be added to all relevant buyers’ invoices, and must be paid before items can be cleared. All royalty charges are passed on to the Design and Artists Copyright Society (‘DAGS’), no handling costs or additional fees with respect ro these charges will be retained by the auctioneers. The royalty charge that will be applied to qualifying items which achieve a hammer price of more than the UK sterling equivalent of EURO 1,000, but less than the UK sterling, equivalent of EURO 50,000 is 4%. For qualifying items that sell for more than the UK sterling equivalent of EURO 50,000 a sliding scale of royalty charges will apply – for a complete list of the royalty charges and threshold levels, please see www.dacs.org.uk. there is no VAT payable on this royalty charge.
7. PAYMENT
(1) Immediately a Lot is sold you will:
(a) give to us, if requested, proof of identity, and
(b) pay to us the total amount due in such other way as is agreed by us.
(2) Any payments by you to us may be applied by us towards any sums owing from you to us on any account whatever without regard to any directions of you or your agent, whether express or implied.
8. TITLE AND COLLECTION OF PURCHASES
(1) The ownership of any Lots purchased shall not pass to you until you have made payment in full to us of the total amount due.
(2) You shall at your own risk and expense take away any lots that you have purchased and paid for not later than 3 working days following the day of the auction or upon the clearance of any cheque used for payment after which you shall be responsible for any removal, storage and insurance charges.
(3) No purchase can be claimed or removed until it has been paid for.
9. REMEDIES FOR NON-PAYMENT OR FAILURE TO COLLECT PURCHASES
(1) If any Lot is not paid for in full and / or not taken away in accordance with these Conditions or if there is any other breach of these Conditions, we, as agent for the seller and on our own behalf, shall at our absolute discretion and without prejudice to any other rights we may have, be entitled to exercise one or more of the following rights and remedies:
(a) to proceed against you for damages for breach of contract;
(b) to rescind the sale of that Lot and/or any other Lots sold by us to you;
(c) to resell the Lot (by auction or private treaty) in which case you shall be responsible for any resulting deficiency in the total amount due (after crediting any part payment and adding any resale costs). Any surplus so arising shall belong to the vendor;
(d) to remove, store and insure the Lot at your expense and, in the case of storage, either at our premises or elsewhere; if that proves impractical, Grand Auctions reserves the right to sell the lot by private treaty or auction without reserve. Any funds raised will be returned to the buyer less Grand Auctions’ expenses and charges; if any surplus is raised, it shall belong to the vendor.
(e) to charge interest at a rate not exceeding 1.5% per month on the total amount due to the extent it remains unpaid for more than 3 working days after the sale;
(f) to retain that or any other Lot sold to you until you pay the total amount due;
(g) to reject or ignore bids from you or your agent at future auctions or to impose conditions before any such bids shall be accepted;
(h) to apply any proceeds of sale of other Lots due or in future becoming due to you towards the settlement of the total amount due and to exercise a lien (that is a right to retain possession of) any of your property in our possession for any purpose until the debt due is satisfied.
(2) We shall, as agent for the seller and on our own behalf pursue these rights and remedies only so far as is reasonable to make appropriate recovery in respect of breach of these conditions
10. PAYMENT OF PROCEEDS
Grand Auctions will remit the proceeds of the sale to the vendor 28 working days after the date of the sale provided that Grand Auctions has received the total amount due from the buyer.
11. THIRD PARTY LIABILITY
All members of the public on our premises are there at their own risk and must note the lay-out of the accommodation and security arrangements. Accordingly neither the auctioneer nor our employees or agents shall incur liability for death or personal injury (except as required by law by reason of our negligence) or similarly for the safety of the property of persons visiting prior to or at a sale.
12. COMMISSION AND TELEPHONE BIDS
Whilst prospective buyers are strongly advised to attend the auction and are always responsible for any decision to bid for a particular Lot and shall be assumed to have carefully inspected and satisfied themselves as to its condition we will if so instructed clearly and in writing execute bids on their behalf or by telephone. Neither the auctioneer nor our employees or agents shall be responsible for any failure to do so save where such failure is unreasonable. Where two or more commission bids at the same level are recorded we reserve the right in our absolute discretion to prefer the first bid so made.
13. WARRANTY OF TITLE AND AVAILABILITY
The seller warrants to the auctioneer and you that the seller is the true owner of the property consigned or is properly authorised by the true owner to consign it for sale and is able to transfer good and marketable title to the property free from any third party claims.
14. AGENCY
The auctioneer normally acts as agent only and disclaims any responsibility for default by sellers or buyers.
15. TERMS OF SALE
The seller acknowledges that Lots are sold subject to the stipulations of these Conditions in their entirety and on the Terms of Sale on the consignment form as notified to the consignor at the time of the entry of the Lot.
