Terms of Sale

Both the sale of goods at our auctions and your relationship with us are governed by the Terms of Consignment (primarily applicable to sellers) the Terms of Sale (primarily applicable to bidders and buyers) and any notices displayed in the saleroom or announced by us at the auction (collectively, the “Conditions of Business”).  The Terms of Consignment and Terms of Sale are available at our saleroom on request.

Please read these Terms of Sale carefully.  Please note that if you register to bid and/or bid at auction this signifies that you agree to and will comply with these Terms of Sale.

Please note that these Terms of Sale relate to auctions held at our premises only.  We have separate terms for online only auctions.

1          Definitions and interpretation

1.1       To make these Terms of Sale easier to read, we have given the following words a specific meaning:

“Auctioneer” means Hartleys Auctions Ltd (trading as Hartleys), a company registered in England and Wales with registration number 09969243 and whose registered office is located at Victoria Hall, Little Lane, Ilkley, LS29 8EA or its authorised auctioneer, as appropriate;

 “Bidder” means a person participating in bidding at the auction;

 “Buyer” means the person who makes the highest bid for a Lot accepted by the Auctioneer;

 “Deliberate Forgery” means: (a) an imitation made with the intention of deceiving as to authorship, origin, date, age, period, culture or source; (b) which is described in the catalogue as being the work of a particular creator without qualification; and (c) which at the date of the auction had a value materially less than it would have had if it had been as described;

 “Hammer Price” means the level of the highest bid for a Lot accepted by the Auctioneer by the fall of the hammer;

 “Lot(s)” means the goods that we offer for sale at our auctions;

 “Premium” means the premium that we will charge you on your purchase of a Lot to be calculated as set out in Clause 4;

 “Reserve” means the minimum price at which a Lot may be sold;

 “Sale Proceeds” means the net amount due to the Seller;

 “Seller” means the persons who consign Lots for sale at our auctions;

 “Terms of Consignment” means the terms on which we agree to offer Lots for sale in our auctions as agent on behalf of Sellers.

 “Terms of Sale” means the terms of sale, as amended or updated from time to time;

 “Total Amount Due” means the Hammer Price for a Lot, the Premium, any applicable artist’s resale right royalty, any VAT due and any addition charges payable by a defaulting buyer under these Terms of Sale

 “Trader” means a Seller who is acting for purposes relating to that Seller’s trade, business, craft or profession, whether acting personally or through another person acting in the trader’s name or on the trader’s behalf;

 “VAT” means any value added tax or equivalent sales tax; and

 “Website” means our website available at www.hartleysauctions.co.uk

In these Terms of Sale the words “you”, “yours”, etc. refer to you as the Buyer.  The words “we”, “us”, etc. refer to the Auctioneer.  Any reference to a “Clause” is to a clause of these Terms of Sale unless stated otherwise.

2.         Information that we are required to give to Consumers

2.1       A description of the main characteristics of each Lot as contained in the auction catalogue.

2.2       Our name, address and contact details as set out herein, in our auction catalogues and/or on our Website.

2.3       The price of the Goods and arrangements for payment as described in Clauses 4, 5, 7 and 8.

2.4       The arrangements for collection of the Goods as set out in Clauses 8 and 9.

2.5       Your right to return a Lot and receive a refund if the Lot is a Deliberate Forgery as set in Clause 13.

2.6       We and Trade Sellers have a legal duty to supply any Lots to you in accordance with these Terms of Sale.

2.7       If you have any complaints, please send them to us directly at the address set out on our Website.

3.         Bidding procedures and the Buyer

3.1       You must register your details with us before bidding and provide us with any requested proof of identity and billing information, in a form acceptable to us.  You must also satisfy any security arrangements we have in place before entering the auction room to view or bid.

3.2       We strongly recommend that you attend the auction in person.  You are responsible for your decision to bid for a particular Lot.  If you bid on a Lot, including telephone and online bidding, or by placing a commission bid, we assume that you have carefully inspected the Lot and satisfied yourself regarding its condition.

3.3       If you instruct us in writing, we may execute commission bids on your behalf.  Neither we nor our employees or agents will be responsible for any failure to execute your commission bid, unless our failure to do so is unreasonable.  Where two or more commission bids at the same level are recorded we have the right to prefer the first bid made (where this can be reasonably ascertained).

3.4       The Bidder placing the highest bid for a Lot accepted by the Auctioneer will be the Buyer at the Hammer Price.  Any dispute about a bid will be settled at our discretion.  We may re-offer the Lot during the auction or may settle the dispute in another way.  We will act reasonably when deciding how to settle the dispute.

3.5       Bidders will be deemed to act as principals, even if the Bidder is acting as an agent for a third party.

3.6       We may bid on Lots on behalf of the Seller up to one bid below the Reserve.

3.7       We may refuse to accept any bid if it is reasonable for us to do so.

3.8       Bidding increments will be at our sole discretion (but will be in line with standard auction price).

4.         The purchase price

            As Buyer, you will pay:

            a.         the Hammer Price,

            b.         a premium of 20% plus VAT of the Hammer Price;

            c.         any artist’s resale right royalty payable on the sale of the Lot; and

            d.         any VAT due.

5.         VAT

5.1       You shall be liable for the payment of any VAT applicable on the Hammer Price and premium due for a Lot.  Please see the symbols used in the auction catalogue for that Lot and the “Information for Buyers” in our auction catalogue for further information.

5.2       We will charge VAT at the current rate at the date of the auction.

6.         The contract between you and the Seller

6.1       The contract for the purchase of the Lot between you and the Seller will be formed when the hammer falls accepting the highest bid for the Lot at the auction.

6.2       You may directly enforce any terms in the Terms of Consignment against a Seller to the extent that you suffer damages and/or loss as a result of the Seller’s breach of the Terms of Consignment.

6.3       We normally act as an agent only and will not have any responsibility for default by you or the Seller (unless we are the Seller of the Lot).

7.         Payment

7.1       Immediately following your successful bid on a Lot you will:

7.1.1.   give to us, if not already provided to our satisfaction, proof of identity in a form acceptable to us (and any other information that we require in order to comply with our anti-money laundering obligations); and

7.1.2    pay to us the Total Amount Due by bank transfer or bacs, card payments in person only or in cash (for which there is an upper limit of 10,000 euros equivalent) or in any other way that we agree to accept payment..

7.2       If you owe us any money, we may use any payment made by you to repay these debts.

8.         Title and collection of purchases

8.1       Once you have paid us in full the Total Amount due for any Lot, ownership of that Lot will transfer to you.  You may not claim or collect a Lot until you have paid for it.

8.2       You will (at your own expense) collect any Lots that you have purchased and paid for either:

8.2.1    not later than 2 business days following the day of the auction; or

8.2.2    not later than 2 business days following the date that we have received payment of the Total Amount Due in cleared funds, if later.

8.3       If you do not collect, the Lot within this time period, you will be responsible for any reasonable removal, storage and insurance charges in relation to that Lot.

8.4       Risk of loss or damage to the Lot will pass to you when you (or your agents) take physical possession of the Lot.

8.5       If you do not collect the Lot that you have paid for within 30 days after the auction, we may sell the Lot.  We will pay the proceeds of any such sale to you, but will deduct any storage charges or other sums that we have incurred in the storage and sale of the Lot.  We reserve the right to charge you a selling

9.         Remedies for non-payment or failure to collect purchases

9.1       Please do not bid on a Lot if you do not intend to buy it.  If your bid is successful, these Terms of Sale will apply to you.  This means that you will have to carry out your obligations set out in these Terms of Sale.  If you do not comply with these Terms of Sale we may (acting on behalf of the Seller and ourselves) pursue one or more of the following measures:

9.1.1    take action against you for damages for breach of contract;

9.1.2    reverse the sale of the Lot to you and/or any other Lots sold by us to you;

9.1.3.   resell the Lot by auction or private treaty (in which case you will have to pay any difference between the price you should have paid for the Lot and the price we sell it for as well as the charges outlined in Clause 8.5).  Please note that if we sell the Lot for a higher amount than your winning bid, the extra money will belong to the Seller;

9.1.4    remove, store and insure the Lot at your expense;

9.1.5    if you do not pay us within five business days of your successful bid, we may charge interest at a rate not exceeding 1.5% per month on the total amount due;

9.1.6    keep that Lot or any other Lot sold to you until the pay the Total Amount Due;

9.1.7    reject or ignore bids from you or your agent at future auctions or impose conditions before we accept bids from you; and/or

9.1.8    if we sell any Lots for you, use the money made on these Lots to repay any amount you owe us.

9.2       We will act reasonably when exercising our rights under Clause 9.1.  We will contact you before exercising these rights and try to work with you to correct any non-compliance by you with these Terms of Sale.

10.       Health and safety