Conditions of Sale - Buying

1. The highest bidder shall be the purchaser, should any dispute arise between the bidders or any mistake be made, the auctioneer may either declare the purchaser or re-offer the lot. In any event the auctioneer’s decision is final.

2. The advance in the bidding shall be regulated by the auctioneer, the minimum bid accepted shall be £10.

3. The auctioneer, who shall be the sole arbiter in the matter of any disputes or mistake, reserves the right to refuse any bid, or bid on behalf of the vendor, in the case of any lot or lots, upon which there is a reserve, or to withdraw, consolidate or divide any lot or lots with regard to the position of the same in the catalogue.

4. Each and every lot shall, upon the fall of the hammer, be at the sole risk of the purchaser and no lot or lots may be removed during the sale in any case, no lot or lots shall be removed until an invoice has been checked.

5. All descriptive statements contained in the advertisements or catalogue, or made by the auctioneer or any member of their staff, before or at the time of the sale are taken, as expressions of the vendor’s or the auctioneer’s opinion and not as warranties and no warranty of any kind is implied or given. It is assumed that the purchaser has inspected the lots they buy and in any event no compensation shall be paid for the same (see condition 9 below).

6. Piers Motley Auctions Ltd. (Auctioneers & Valuers) act as agent only and neither they nor the vendor is responsible for any faults or defects of any lot, of any correctness of any statements contained in the catalogue, advertisements or brochures of any forthcoming sales.

7. Unless otherwise stated, all lots must be paid for and collected from the salerooms by 4 p.m. on the Friday following the sale (storage and handling charges will result if goods remain on the premises after this deadline). Failure to comply with this condition may result in the lot or lots being re-sold by public auction, or private treaty, and any deficiency (if any) together with all charges attending the same shall be made good by the defaulter. Any profit resulting from such a re-sale (if any) belonging to the vendor.

8. In order to avoid confusion, no lot or lots may be transferred in any circumstances and the bidder, whether buying for themself or a third party shall be entirely responsible for the payment of the lot or lots purchased.

9. In order to offer a fair service to both buyer and vendor, the price paid for any electrical item that is purchased for more than a hammer price of £25 and found not to be in working order, will be refunded without question (if returned within 24 hours and no later than the Friday of the week of the sale). Purchases less than a hammer price of £25 will not be considered.

10. Purchasers unable to attend may leave commission bids (minimum £5 or on reserve)

11. All bidders must register for the sale and are advised to do this before the sale day.

12. Buyers Premium: 18% + VAT (min. £1) per lot. Online bidding charges also apply.

13. Payment by Debit Card, Cheque, Cash or Bank Transfer is accepted, though we have the right to refuse a payment type and ask for a BANK TRANFER. Bids on jewellery and other high value items shall usually require a BANK TRANSFER. (NO PAYMENT BY CREDIT CARD IS ACCEPTED). Minimum £15 for card transactions.

14. Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite") If a lot is affected by this right it will be identified with the symbol "*" next to the lot number. The buyer agrees to pay Piers Motley Auctions an amount equal to the resale royalty and we will pay such amount to the artist's collecting agent. Resale royalty applies where the Hammer Price is 1,000 Euro or more and the amount cannot be more than 12,500 Euro per lot. The amount is calculated as follows: Royalty for the portion of the Hammer Price (in Euro) 4.00% up to 50,000 3.00% between 50,000.1 and 200,000 1.00% between 200,000.1 and 350,000 0.50% between 350,000.01 and 500,000 0.25% in excess of 500,000 Invoices will, as usual, be issued in Pounds Sterling. For the purposes of calculating the resale royalty the Pounds Sterling/Euro rate of exchange will be the European Central Bank reference rate on the day of the sale.

15. Online Bidding: Piers Motley Auctions Ltd offer an online bidding service via easyLiveAuction.com for bidders who cannot attend the sale. In completing the bidder registration on easyLiveAuction.com and providing your card details and unless alternative arrangements are agreed with Piers Motley Auctions Ltd you: 1. authorise Piers Motley Auctions Ltd, if they so wish, to charge the card given in part or full payment, including all fees, for items successfully purchased in the auction via easyLiveAuction.com, and 2. confirm that you are authorised to provide these card details to Piers Motley Auctions Ltd through easyLiveAuction.com and agree that Piers Motley Auctions Ltd are entitled to ship the goods to the card holder name and card holder address provided in fulfilment of the sale. Please note that any lots purchased via easyLiveauction.com will be subject to an additional commission charge + VAT at the rate imposed on the hammer price.

Shipping and packing are available at various rates (e.g. a ring costing £50-1000 will cost £12 Special Delivery UK.

A box weighing 5 kg will cost approx. £15 to pack and about £20 shipping. Small Package to Europe International Signed-For £25.

Please note USA and Australia etc. cost far more. Jewellery and antiques are not covered by most courier's insurance: we are able to offer third party insurance usually in the region of £50-80 for £2500 worth of goods worldwide.

We shall require a waiver if your item is not insured, under insured or very delicate to say we are not responsible for your item while in transit.

Certain items, such as picture frames with glass, and very delicate ceramics and glass will be outsourced and we are happy to direct you to specialist shippers.