Interpretation. In these Terms the words ‘you’, ‘yours’, etc. refer to the Seller and if the consignment of goods to us is made by an agent we assume that the Seller has authorised the consignment and that the consignor has the Seller’s authority to contract. Similarly the words ‘we’, ‘us’, etc. refer to the Auctioneers.
Commission and Lot Entry Fee. (a) Lot Entry Fee: A charge of £15 + VAT is made to each lot whether sold or unsold in addition to vendor’s commission. This charge covers our specialist research, catalogue description, photography, marketing on our website and other third party sites as well as live or timed bidding on various internet platforms. (b) Vendors Commission: Is charged on each lot at 15% + VAT.
Transportation costs Items for sale must be consigned to the sale room by any stated deadline and at your expense. We may be able to assist you with this process but any liability incurred to a carrier for haulage charges is solely your responsibility
Loss and Damage of Goods (a) C.A. Ltd is not authorised by the FSA to provide insurance to its clients, and does not so do. However C.A. Ltd, for its own protection, assumes liability for property consigned to it at the lower pre-sale estimate until title passes to the buyer. To justify accepting liability, C.A. Ltd makes a charge of 1.5% of the hammer price plus VAT. The liability assumed by C.A. Ltd shall be limited to the lower pre-sale estimate or to the reserve if the lot was unsold. Settlement in any claim arising shall be subject to commission as if the lot had sold in the normal manner. (b) If the owner of goods consigned instructs us in writing not to take such action, the goods then remain entirely at the owner’s risk unless and until the property in them passes to the Buyer or they are collected by or on behalf of the owner, and clause 4(a) is inapplicable. (c) C.A. Ltd will not be liable for the loss or damage to frames or glass covering prints, paintings or other works. Old frames are often fragile or subject to deterioration and whilst C.A. Ltd will do their upmost to ensure the safety and care of frames and glass we will not compensate for loss or damage to property caused by changes in humidity or temperature, normal wear and tear, gradual deterioration, inherent defect or errors in processing.
Lot Examination, description and estimates. (a) C.A. Ltd will provide a free standard examination of the seller’s lot which does not include tests or in depth investigation. C.A. Ltd may recommend further research and tests which may incur extra costs. Such undertakings by C.A. Ltd shall be at the seller’s expense. Identification and description of the lot is a statement of opinion by C.A . Ltd and is made for the purposes of the seller. Until the lot is entered for sale, the basic description given by C.A. Ltd is not binding. (b) Estimates. Estimates are made for indicative purposes only and are merely a statement of the auctioneer’s opinion based on a variety of factors such as the item’s market value at the time of the sale, quality, rarity, etc. The seller accepts that any estimate or valuation provided by C.A. Ltd is a genuinely held opinion only and can in no way be considered as a guarantee of the selling price or value of the item. Estimates do not include Seller’s Commission or VAT. C.A Ltd shall not be held responsible if a Lot does not sell within the range of the provided estimate and by no means can the sale be cancelled by the seller in such circumstances.
Minimum Bids and our Discretion. Goods will normally be offered subject to a reserve agreed between us before the sale in accordance with clause 7. If you specifically give us a “discretion” we may accept a bid of up to approximately 10% below the low estimate and “wide discretion” allows us to accept a bid of up to approximately 30% below the low estimate.
Reserves. (a) Vendors may place a reserve on any lot consigned (minimum estimate £80) prior to the auction, being the minimum hammer price at which that lot may be sold. Reserves must be reasonable and we may decline to offer goods which in our opinion would be subject to an unreasonably high reserve. If we are unable to offer goods they may be subject to storage charges if uncollected. (b) A reserve once set cannot be changed except with our consent, and confirmed by you in writing. (c) Where a reserve has been placed only we may bid on your behalf and only up to the reserve (if any) and you may in no circumstances bid personally.
Electrical Items. These are subject to detailed statutory safety controls. Where such items are accepted for sale you accept responsibility for the cost of testing by external contractors. Goods not certified as safe by an electrician (unless antiques) will not be accepted for sale. They must be removed at your expense on your being notified. We reserve the right to dispose of unsafe goods as refuse, at your expense.
Soft Furnishings. The sale of soft furnishings is strictly regulated by statute law in the interests of fire safety. Goods found to infringe safety regulations will not be offered and must be removed at your expense. We reserve the right to dispose of unsafe goods as refuse, at your expense. The rights of disposal referred to in clause 8 and 9 are subject to the provisions of The Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977, Schedule 1, a copy of which is available for inspection on request
Descriptions. Please assist us with accurate information as to the provenance etc. of goods where this is relevant. There is strict liability for the accuracy of descriptions under modern consumer legislation and in some circumstances responsibility lies with sellers if inaccuracies occur. We will assume that you have approved the catalogue description of your lots unless informed to the contrary. Where we are obliged to return the price to the buyer when the lot is a deliberate forgery under Condition 15 of the Conditions of Sale and we have accounted to you for the proceeds of sale you agree to reimburse us the sale proceeds. The liability to reimburse the sale proceeds shall not arise where you are acting reasonably and honestly and are unaware of the forgery or where we are or ought to have been aware of it. Marketing and any promotion of a lot(s) in any medium is at the sole discretion at C.A. Ltd. C.A. Ltd shall own the copyright on all images, illustrations and written material produced by or for C.A. Ltd relating to a Lot, including catalogue contents. The Seller shall not use the said materials without the prior consent of C.A. Ltd.
Unsold Items. (a) Unsold lots will be automatically re-offered into the next appropriate live or online auction with the low estimate reduced by 40% and if the revised estimate is £200 or below it will be offered without reserve. Where in our opinion an item is unsaleable we will contact you to collect such items from the saleroom. If you do not wish to re-enter the lots please notify C.A. Ltd in writing with collection instructions. (b) Storage fees: please note we reserve the right to charge for storage if lots are not collected within 10 working days, charges will be applied of £10 + VAT per lot per day. If a lot remains uncollected 21 days after the date of the auction, C.A. Ltd shall have the right to sell the lot at auction without reserve and to deduct from the ‘hammer price’ any sum owing to C.A. Ltd as well as expenses arising from all auctions in which the lot has been included, plus storage and loss and damage warranty charges.
Withdrawn Items. (a) If an item is withdrawn prior to the publication of the catalogue a minimum charge of £40 + VAT per lot is applicable. This fee covers administration, handling, storage and loss & damage of the lot whilst in our care. (b) If an item is withdrawn after the online or offline publication of the lots they will incur charges where applicable comprising the sum of the vendor’s commission, the entry fee, the illustration cost, the loss and damage warranty, the buyer’s premium, the marketing fees and other expenses in relation to the item. VAT is applicable on all charges. These commission and premium charges will be calculated upon C.A. Ltd published mid estimate. (c) In the cases of 12 (a) and (b) C.A. Ltd will store the withdrawn item for a period of five days with no charge, after this a storage charge will be applicable at a daily rate of £10 per item per day plus VAT for items that remain uncollected.
Conditions of Sale. You agree that all goods will be sold according to our Conditions of Sale. In particular you undertake that you have the right to sell the goods either as owner or agent for the owner. You undertake to compensate us and any buyer or third party for all losses liabilities and expenses incurred in respect of and as a result of any breach of this undertaking.
Bidding policies. C.A. Ltd shall regulate the bidding at its entire discretion. Neither the Seller nor anyone on behalf of the Seller shall be permitted to bid for their own Lots. Where Lots are entered with a reserve, C.A. Ltd alone shall have the right to bid on behalf of the Seller and up to the set reserve price only. Bidding thereafter shall be incremented at the auctioneer’s discretion in response to interested third parties.
Cancellation. In the event C.A. Ltd becomes aware of any error or dispute of any nature during or after the auction, it may entirely at its discretion cancel the sale or reoffer and resell the Lot, whether or not title has passed to the Buyer, and up to a period of 6 months after said sale. Grounds for cancellation under the present section shall include but not be limited to: any dispute relating to the attribution or provenance of the Lot; ownership and title; fraud or deceit; lack of relevant licences or certificates; any subsequent changes in domestic or international legislations restricting the sale of export of goods etc. In the event fraud is committed, the Seller may be liable to indemnify both the Buyer and C.A. Ltd. By no means can the Seller cancel the sale upon the fall of the hammer. However, the Seller must notify C.A. Ltd within 28 days of any event which may give rise to a claim failing in which, C.A. Ltd reserve the right to decline any such claim. If C.A. Ltd has made payment for the proceeds of the sale to the Seller prior to cancellation of the said sale, the Seller shall make a full refund of the proceeds within 5 working days from notification of the cancellation by C.A. Ltd.
Authority to Deduct Commission and Expenses and Retain Premium and Interest. (a) You authorise us to deduct commission from the hammer price at the stated rate plus all applicable expenses incurred on your account and consent to our right to retain beneficially the premium paid by the buyer in accordance with our Conditions of Sale and any interest earned on the sale proceeds until the date of settlement. (b) You authorise us at our discretion to negotiate a sale by private treaty in the case of lots unsold at auction, in which case the same charges will be payable as if such lots had been sold at auction and so far as appropriate these Terms apply.
Warehousing. We disclaim all liability for goods delivered to our saleroom without sufficient written sale instructions, client contact details or without our prior written agreement to take delivery and reserve the right to either refuse to receive such goods or to make a minimum warehousing charge of £10 per item per day. Unsold lots are subject to the same charges if you do not remove them within 10 working days of notification. If not removed within twenty one days we reserve the right to sell them and defray charges from any net proceeds of sale or at your expense to consign them to the local authority for disposal.
Settlement. Settlement of the net sum due to you normally takes place 28 working days after the sale (by bank transfer to the seller) unless the buyer has not paid for the goods. In this case no settlement will then be made but we will take your instructions in the light of our Conditions of Sale. You authorise any sums owed by you to us on other transactions to be deducted from the sale proceeds. You must note the liability to reimburse the proceeds of sale to us as under the circumstances provided for in Condition 10 above. You should therefore bear this potential liability in mind before parting with the proceeds of sale until the expiry of 28 days from the date of sale.
Data protection The Seller agrees that personal information transmitted to C.A. Ltd may be disclosed exclusively for the purposes of business, or as required by Law. C.A. Ltd shall not use personal information for any other purpose without the Buyer’s prior consent. C.A. Ltd shall never sell, lend or trade in personal data provided by any Party.
Severability Whenever and to the extent that any provisions of these terms would or might contravene the provision of any relevant legislation, such provision is to take effect only in so far as it may do so without contravening such legislation and the legality, validity and enforceability of any of the remaining provisions are not in any way to be affected or impaired as a result.
Law and Jurisdiction The rights and obligations of the parties with respect to these Conditions of Sale and the conduct of the auction and any matters related to any of the foregoing shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the Law of England and Wales. For the benefit of C.A. Ltd all bidders and sellers agree that the Courts of England are to have exclusive jurisdiction to settle all disputes arising in connection with all aspects of all matters or transactions to which these Conditions of Sale and Authorship warranty relate or apply. All parties agree that C.A. Ltd shall retain the right to bring proceedings in any court other than the Courts of England