Medieval stirrup ring, circa. 14th century, comprising flat section hoop expanding to pyramidal

AUCTION SALE TERMS AND CONDITIONS - A F BROCK & COMPANY LIMITED

GENERAL

1. Definitions.
In these conditions the representative of A. F. Brock and Co. Ltd. conducting the auction is called "the auctioneer".

2. Descriptions & Estimates.
The auctioneer will make every effort to ensure the accuracy of their catalogue and the description of any lot, subject to the following: -
a) All items are believed to be genuine unless otherwise stated. Where the description appears within inverted commas this should be taken as to indicate that there might be some element of doubt.
b) Where weights are quoted in brackets, gold items in grams and silver items in troy ounces, care is taken to ensure accuracy; however, these should not be taken as a guarantee.
c) Lots are sold to the Buyer on an “as is” basis, with all faults and imperfections. Where an opinion is expressed as to the condition or grade of any item, this is not to be taken as a guarantee as it is included as a guide only. The absence of any description of a defect, damage, modification or restoration does not imply that there are none. Given that many lots are second-hand and of some age they may have been damaged and/or repaired so you should not assume that they are in good condition. Lots are available for your inspection or for inspection by an expert instructed by you prior to the sale so you can form your own opinion. The auctioneer will provide condition reports on request but as with descriptions these are a statement of opinion and not a statement of fact.
d) Estimates are only an expression of the auctioneers opinion made on behalf of the seller, lots can sell for below or above estimate and should not be relied on as an indication of the actual selling price or value of a lot. Estimates do not take into account the buyers premium or any VAT that may be payable.
e) We reserve the right to change any aspect of the published description of a lot prior to the auction. Any change may be published on our website, displayed at auction, announced by the auctioneer prior to selling the lot during the sale and/or communicated in any other manner.

3. The Auction.
a) The auctioneer has the absolute discretion to divide any lot, to combine any two or more lots or to withdraw any lot or lots from the sale, to refuse bids, regulate bidding or cancel the sale without giving any reason or without previous notice.
b) The auctioneer may bid on behalf of the vendor for all lots that are being offered subject to reserve or at the auctioneers’ discretion.
c) The highest bidder shall be the buyer, except in the event of any dispute or other reason arising, during or immediately after the sale of the lot, whereby the auctioneer has absolute discretion to settle it or re-offer the lot.
d) Normally, there are no reserve prices for lots in the sale, however, where any lots are put up for sale subject to a reserve price, the seller has the right to bid for them, either personally or else by any one person who may be the auctioneer.
e) All conditions, notices, descriptions, statements, and other matters in the catalogue and elsewhere concerning any lot are subject to any modifications affecting the same made by the auctioneer prior to any bid being accepted for the lot.

4. Abbreviations. Some of the more commonly used abbreviations in the auction catalogue descriptions are as follows: AV - gold, AR - silver, AE - copper or bronze, obv. - obverse (side of coin etc. with head or main features), rev. - reverse (opposite side to obverse), g - grams and oz - troy ounces.

5. References. References used in the auction catalogue are as follows: Letter S followed by numbers, in brackets, refers to the Spink Standard Catalogue of British Coins. Letters SG followed by numbers, in brackets, refers to Stanley Gibbons stamp reference system. Letters B or T followed by numbers, in brackets, refers to Vincent Duggleby "English Paper Money", 8th edition.




6. Bidding Increments. Absentee bids should be consistent with the increments used in the saleroom as outlined below. If bids are received that do not follow this guidance the auctioneer will scale them down to the nearest acceptable bid, e.g. £77 will be scaled down to £75. Where identical bids are left for the same lot, the earlier bid will take precedence. The following increments are subject to the Auctioneers discretion;
£0 to £200... £5, £200 to £400... £10, £400 to £1000... £20, £1000 to £4000... £50, £4000+... £100
All bids must be in British Pounds (GBP).

BUYERS CONDITIONS

7. Bidders / Buyers.
By entering bids directly to The Auctioneers or via any authorised third party such as ATG Media’s Website, www.the-saleroom.com (referred to from now on as The Saleroom website), Ukauctioneers.com or Invaluable.com, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions. Those who bid via any authorised third party are also agreeing to their own terms and conditions which can be accessed from their websites.
8. Bidder Registration Procedures.
a) Registration with Auctioneers: All bidders are required to register their particulars, including full name, address, telephone number(s) and email address if they have one, prior to participation in the auction sale. Clients physically attending the sale can supply this information and obtain a bidding card from the auction saleroom registration desk. Absentee bidders must supply the necessary registration information at the same time as submitting bids (please note that you are required to submit commission bids no later than 5pm on the Monday prior to the sale, we cannot guarantee to include absentee bids received after this time). Live Auction bidders should register at least 72 hours / three days in advance so any queries can be resolved prior to the sale commencing.
b) References: We may request references in which case potential bidders must supply the name, address and contact number of one or more auctioneers who they have bid with and bought lots from recently.
c) Registration on The-Saleroom.com: Bidders who wish to use our live internet bidding facility will need to register via The Saleroom website. They will be required to provide debit or credit card details (American Express not accepted) if they want to be approved to bid using this facility. The system used by The Saleroom / ATG Media will not approve you automatically unless the registration process is completed in full and your card details can be verified. We strongly recommend that registration on The Saleroom is carried out at least 72 hours / three days prior to the sale starting so that staff have time to contact individuals who have not been automatically accepted by the system. Our staff may need to request further details in order to manually approve bidders registration in time for the live sale – we will not manually approve bidders who are not automatically accepted by The Saleroom system once the sale has started. Bidding via the internet is entirely at the risk of the bidder and The Auctioneers take no responsibility for any failure of the The Saleroom website or the internet connection.
d) We reserve the right to reject registration or block individuals from bidding at our discretion.

9. Absentee / Commission Bids & Shipping / Collection Information.
a) We accept commission bids by post, fax, telephone, email and from our own online bidding form on our website www.afbrock.co.uk. We also accept absentee bids via authorised online catalogue providers such as The-Saleroom.com, UKauctioneers.com and Invaluable.com. Bidders using post or fax should contact us to confirm bids received, preferably by email. We always reply to email and website bids.
b) Due to an increase in fraudulent activity at recent auction sales it has been necessary to enhance our security procedures – please note that we reserve the right to only accept payment by cash, card using chip and pin, bank transfer or bank draft and we may request identification. Cheques and card when customer not present may not be accepted – do not bid on items in our sale unless you are happy to agree to our terms and conditions.
c) Commission bids will be carried out carefully and lots will be bought as cheaply as it is allowed by such other bids and reserves, which may be on the books. See point 6 above for information about bidding increments.
d) Absentee buyers will be sent a Proforma Invoice within 48 hours of the sale ending and once payment has been received and processed goods will be posted. All buyers must pay within 10 days of invoice issue.
e) We will assume that absentee bidders require their goods shipping to the address they provided us with when bidding and shipping charges will be added automatically to the buyers invoice. Please note that if a buyer chooses to pay by card when not present e.g. over the phone or using the card details registered on The-Saleroom.com, we may refuse to post goods to the original address if it does not match the address to which the card is registered unless adequate identification, proof of card ownership and the alternative address supplied.
f) If absentee bidders prefer to arrange collection of items purchased from our sale they must inform us when bidding or immediately after the sale so time is not wasted calculating shipping charges etc. Buyers who want to collect and pay at the same time will be expected to pay by cash or by card using chip and pin, we will not accept cheques in this instance.
g) We may refuse to release goods to couriers or any third parties unless the buyer provides a written request and all necessary identification and authorisation provided. In addition to this, goods must have been paid for by a secure method prior to being released.
f) Please note that some lots are not suitable for shipping therefore we will have stated "No Shipping Available" in the item description, such items will need to be collected from our office premises within 10 days of the sale ending. For heavy items we have stated that care should be taken when bidding as postal costs may be high. Please feel free to contact us for a shipping quotation prior to bidding (we cannot guarantee to supply such quotes if received later than 48 hours prior to the sale starting as staff may be tied up with viewing days and processing bids etc).

10. Buyers Premium & Live Auction Fee.
a) Buyers that attend our auction sale or who send commission bids directly to The Auctioneers will be subject to our standard buyers’ premium of 15% on top of the hammer price.
b) Buyers who send commission bids through, or bid live online, via The Saleroom website must pay an additional 3% charge on top of our standard buyers premium (i.e. 18% on top of hammer price) to cover the extra fee charged by ATG Media.
c) These charges are subject to VAT at 20% for EU buyers only.


11. Payment Terms.

BUYERS MUST PAY IN FULL WITHIN 10 DAYS OF THE ORIGINAL INVOICE BEING SENT.

a) Proforma Invoices will be posted or emailed to buyers within 48 hours after the sale ending. The total sum due will be made up of the hammer price, standard buyers premium, charge to cover ATG Media fee if applicable, any shipping costs and payment processing charges. VAT will be added to the buyers premium, shipping costs and payment processing charges for EU buyers only.
b) We will assume, unless otherwise informed, that buyers who sent commission bids or bid live on-line via The-Saleroom.com website authorise us to charge the full amount owed to the card used during their registration. Please note that if a credit card has been used to register then processing charges will apply. If you wish to pay by another method please notify us of this prior to the sale or within 72 hours (3 days) of the invoice being sent. When notifying us that you do not want your card to be charged please confirm the alternative method you would prefer to make payment by.
c) Ownership of lots does not pass to the buyer until the auctioneer has received payment in full, however, from the fall of the hammer lots are held at the buyers risk.

12. Payment Methods & Processing Charges.
12.1. Payment Methods.
a) Payment may be made by Cash in GBP, Cheque in GBP (goods will not be released immediately to customers who pay by cheque unless they have a cheque guarantee card and the amount does not exceed the authorisation limit, if the amount paid is more than the sum authorised then we may not release items for up to 10 days to allow the cheque to go through all clearance procedures), Debit Card inc. Switch/Delta and Credit Card (excluding American Express), Bank Transfer or PayPal.
b) Please note card payments will only be accepted if the buyers details match the card details exactly, or adequate proof of card ownership is supplied.
c) We reserve the right to refuse card payments when the customer is not present, in such cases the buyer will need to pay by an alternative method.
d) If we accept a card payment when the customer is not present the lots purchased will only be posted to the address to which the card is registered unless adequate identification and evidence of alternative address supplied – see Shipping Conditions below for more information.



e) Due to an increase in fraudulent activity at recent auction sales it has been necessary to enhance our security procedures – please note that we reserve the right to only accept payment by cash, card using chip and pin, bank transfer or bank draft and we may request identification. Cheques and card payments when customer not present may not be accepted – do not bid on items in our sale unless you are happy to agree to our terms and conditions

12.2. Processing Charges:
a) Credit Cards: Buyers who wish to pay by credit card will have to pay an additional processing charge of 2.75%. This is subject to VAT at 20% for EU buyers only.
b) PayPal: Buyers who choose to pay by PayPal will be subject to an additional 4% processing charge. Buyers wishing to pay by this method must inform us when submitting bids or immediately after the sale so that we can send a request for payment for the full amount owed via the PayPal system. You must send us your PayPal payment address and when sending your payment you should confirm your shipping address (this should be verified by the PayPal system).
c) Bank Transfers: Buyers who wish to pay by bank transfer are responsible for paying any processing fees that their bank or our bank charge, we must receive the full amount owed on the invoice. In order to arrange a bank transfer payment please contact us for our bank details.

13. Default / Non-payment.
a) We must receive full payment from all buyers within 10 days of the original invoice being sent.
b) If you breach this legal contract by defaulting on payment, the lots will be re-offered in a future auction sale and if the re-sale of such items achieves a lower price than first obtained then you will be liable for any deficit and all expenses incurred in the re-sale.
c) Be aware that by defaulting on payment you are in breach of a legally binding agreement and therefore we are entitled to take legal action against you if necessary to recover the debt owed to us.
d) Default will also result in your details being recorded on the Auction Black List, which will prevent you from bidding in any of our future auction sales.
e) If you bought items by bidding online and default on payment we must inform ATG Media who facilitate the Saleroom.com and they may stop you from using their live internet bidding facility to protect other Auctioneers.

14. Shipping / Postage - Conditions & Costs.
a) Payment Methods & Shipping: Please note that lots will be posted in most cases to the address you registered with unless you request specifically to have them sent elsewhere e.g. work address. However, if lots are paid for by card when the customer is not present, we will only send goods to the address to which the card is registered and this must be verified during the payment process by the banks approval system.
b) If the buyer provides the address to which the card is registered to make payment but wants lots sending to an alternative address then they must request this in writing, letter to be signed by the customer/card owner, and supply adequate personal identification, proof of card ownership and evidence that the card owner also resides or works at the alternative address.
c) If a card payment is authorised whilst the customer is not present and all details are not verified, i.e. they do not match the information originally supplied to us, we reserve the right to hold the buyers lots until adequate identification and proof of card ownership is supplied by the buyer.
d) With regards to cheque payments, lots may not be posted for up to 10 working days to allow time for clearance.
e) PO Boxes: Please note that recent restrictions placed by the mail services mean that we cannot post parcels to PO Box addresses outside the UK except for a small handful of countries – it is the buyers responsibility to check before bidding and provide a suitable postal address.

f) Restrictions/Unsuitable Items: Please check that the item(s) you are bidding on have not been excluded from shipping, this information will be included in the description of the lot. If shipping is not mentioned this means that our in-house postal service will send this lot to anywhere in the world except for PO Boxes outside the UK or where restrictions have been imposed by the mail service. Please be aware that international shipping costs can be high for items heavy in weight and potential buyers should take this into consideration when bidding.



g) Charges: The buyer is responsible for all shipping costs. Our in-house postal service will select the most suitable and cheapest method of shipping possible. We are required to use a trackable, signed-for service so all items are covered by our insurance policy. Our charges include the cost of postage, packing materials, labour and insurance (many of the items we sell at auction are excluded from Royal Mail and Parcel Force compensation so we pay for a special insurance policy to cover these items). Postage and packing costs are subject to VAT at 20%. They will be added automatically to buyers’ invoices if they bid online or send absentee bids unless the bidder informed us they want to collect. Our prices remain very reasonable and good value considering the specialist packaging service you receive and prompt shipment of goods once paid. Please contact us in advance of bidding if you want to check the shipping costs first. Buyers are responsible for making sure we have the correct shipping address – this should be the address on the invoice. Tracking reference numbers will not be supplied unless requested.

h) Customs / Local Taxation: Be aware that import of goods into your country may be restricted or subject to local taxation and it is your responsibility to ensure that your purchases can be legally received. We accept no responsibility for the import specifics of your purchases that are governed by your own geographical location. You are responsible for checking your countries rules and regulations regarding importing and customs. Items being sent outside the EU will have to include a customs ticket providing details of the items enclosed and their value. If this information is not provided then the package will not be covered by our insurance policies.

15. Collection of Purchases.
a) Buyers who attend the auction and physically bid in the saleroom are welcome to call at our office to pay for and collect their goods at any time during the sale.
b) Absentee bidders should wait until the day after the sale ends to call at the office to pay for and collect lots.
c) Buyers who do not want their lots shipping must pay for and collect their purchases from our office premises within 10 days of the sale. Buyers who fail to collect their goods in this allotted time will be charged storage fees of £10 for any delay up to 30 days after this time and an additional £20 for any further delay up to 60 days. If goods have been paid for but are still not collected after this period then The Auctioneers are entitled to put the buyers purchases into a storage facility without any notice and the buyer will be responsible for removal and any additional charges incurred.
d) We will not release lots to couriers unless we receive a written request from the buyer and the courier has written instructions for delivering the lots to the buyers address and provides adequate identification along with tracking numbers etc.
e) Goods that have been paid for by card when the customer not present, e.g. over the phone, will not be released to any third parties such as family members, friends, private couriers or taxi drivers unless the buyer and the third party can supply adequate identification and proof of card ownership. We reserve the right to refuse to release goods to any person but the buyer and to request that they supply adequate identification and proof that they made a legitimate payment before handing over any goods.

16. Value Added Tax (VAT).
A. F. Brock & Co. Ltd. operates the "Auctioneers Scheme" for VAT purposes. Therefore VAT will not be charged on the hammer price, unless the lot number in the catalogue is marked with an asterisk. Any lot in the sale where the lot number is marked thus is subject to VAT at 20%, which will be added to the hammer price. Persons registered for VAT purposes may claim this back as input tax. Buyers living within the EU are required by law to pay VAT at 20% on the following charges; the buyers premium, ATG Media / The-Saleroom.com internet bidding fees, shipping/postage costs and payment processing charges.

17. Recission.
Buyers must satisfy themselves as to the accuracy of their purchases at the time of delivery. Notwithstanding any other terms of these conditions, if within 10 days of the sale A. F. Brock & Co. Ltd. have received from the buyer of any lot, notice that in his view the lot is a forgery or wrongly described in the catalogue and within 7 days after such notification, the buyer returns the same, in the same condition as at the time of the sale, and within a reasonable period thereafter, by producing evidence, the burden of proof to be upon the buyer, satisfies A. F. Brock & Co. Ltd. that considered in the light of an entry in the catalogue, the lot is a forgery or seriously mis-described, then the sale of the lot will be rescinded and the purchase price of the same refunded. The vendor agrees to be bound by the decision of A. F. Brock & Co. Ltd.



Additional Terms and Conditions Specifically for Auction Vendors


VENDORS CONDITIONS

18. Auction Entry Instructions.
Vendors who enter goods for auction agree to be bound by our terms and conditions.

19. Vendors Terms & Commission Charges.
Selling commission for private vendors is 15% for all sales over £100, 20% for sales under £100. Selling commission for trade vendors is 10% for sales over £300, 15% for sales between £100 and £300 and 20% for sales under £100. Commission on large consignments or single high value items may be negotiable. The commission charges are subject to VAT at 20% for all EU vendors.

20. Photographs & Illustrations.
The vendor gives The Auctioneers full and absolute right to photograph or illustrate items submitted for auction and to use such at any time at our own discretion whether related to the auction or not.

21. Vendors Auction Settlement.
The Auctioneers will issue the auction settlement invoice to vendors along with payment by cheque, or bank transfer if requested, 21 days after the sale provided buyers have settled in full. The Auctioneers disclaim any responsibility for late payment or default by the buyer and we do not pay the vendor until payment is received or in the case of default no payment will be issued in respect of lots affected by the default. We do not charge commission or apply fees for unsold lots or lots affected by default.

22. Unsold Lots.
The Auctioneers will notify the vendor, prior to or at the same time as vendor settlements are issued, that lots belonging to them were unsold. No commission is charged on unsold lots. We will assume that the vendor wishes us to re-enter unsold lots into the next auction sale unless we are notified otherwise, you must inform us within 14 days of our unsold items notice being sent that you do not wish your items to be re-entered. Vendors who do not wish to re-enter lots into a future auction sale are responsible for collecting such items within 10 days of being notified that they were unsold. We may charge vendors who fail to collect their goods in this allotted time, a storage fee of £10 for any delay up to 30 days after the first 10 days and an additional £20 for any further delay up to 60 days. If unsold lots are not collected within 60 days we have the right to dispose of them or put them into storage facilities for which the vendor will be responsible.