Terms & Conditions for Auction Vendors

TERMS & CONDITIONS FOR AUCTION VENDORS

1. These Terms and Conditions apply to all transactions relating to the consignment of items by a vendor (referred to as “you”) for sale in a live auction and in a Timed Online Auction by The Pedestal Limited, trading as The Pedestal (referred to as “we”), and may not be varied unless agreed in writing in advance by one of our directors.


2. When you contact us with a view to offering one or more items for consignment at auction, we will provide you with our estimate of potential sale values. Estimates are given after due consideration and to the best of our knowledge and experience, but cannot be taken as a guarantee or statement of value. It may be necessary for us to vary an estimate given “unseen” from images or after initial inspection once we have the chance to inspect fully and research the item.


Estimates will be published in our auction listings. If you do not agree with our proposed estimate, or if we feel that an item offered by you is not suitable for sale by us, the consignment will not proceed and any lots already delivered to us will require to be collected as if they were unsold lots (see 14 below).


If you are a new client at The Pedestal you will be required to provide government issued proof of identity and residence and if you are a company, your certificate of incorporation or equivalent documentation with your name and registered address, government issued proof of your current address, documentary proof of your beneficial owners and proof of authority to transact.


3. Once an estimate is agreed we will provide you with a contract (“Contract”) setting out the agreed terms, including the estimate, the reserve if any (see 8 below) and our seller’s fees.  


4. By signing the Contract, you appoint us as your agent pursuant to these terms and conditions, warrant and undertake that you have the right and title so to do and that the sale of the item will not breach any applicable law or regulation, that any relevant tax and duties on the import of the item or otherwise have been paid, and indemnify us and our buyer/s, if any, against any breach of this warranty and undertaking.


New clients will be asked to provide government issued proof of identity and proof of residence and if you are a company, your certificate of incorporation or equivalent documentation with your name and registered address, and government issued proof of your current address, documentary proof of your beneficial owners and proof of authority to transact.


5. The vendor’s fee is chargeable only upon a successful sale and is a percentage of the hammer price achieved for each item. Standard vendor’s fees for each lot is 15% commission.


We will also charge a fee to cover the cost of photography of each lot. 


A loss and damage warranty fee of 1.5% is chargeable on all lots, unless you prefer to arrange your own insurance cover in which case please confirm that you waive all rights against us under clause 10 of our Terms and Conditions for Vendors, by ticking the appropriate box in the Contract.


Whether sold or unsold, each lot will be subject to a minimum charge of £20.


All fees and charges are subject to VAT.


The Pedestal may make payments, known as ‘Introductory Commission’, to someone who has introduced you to The Pedestal. In our communications with this individual we will advise them that it is their responsibility to inform you of this commission and the amount.


6. All lots will be illustrated in our catalogue online, for which we will charge a fee per lot which will be specified in the Contract. If the lot is sold by us at auction copyright in the illustration/s will be retained by us and we may publish the image for our marketing purposes. If the lot is unsold copyright will pass to you provided that the illustration fee and other charges owed to us have been paid, provided that we also retain the right to use the image/s for research and cataloguing purposes.


7. Delivery of items for consignment to our premises will be at your own cost and risk. We are happy to provide details of reputable carriers who will be able to provide you with a quote for transport.


8. The Contract will also specify the reserve which has been agreed with you, as well as any agreed discretion which you have agreed to allow us to accept bids below the reserve. The reserve will not be notified to potential bidders. The reserve will be no higher than the lower estimate. We are allowed to accept bids below the reserve provided that we account to you at no less than you would have received had the winning bid been at the reserve.


We reserve the right to make enquiries about any person transacting with us and to identify the source of funds received from the buyer. In the event we have not completed our investigations in respect of anti-terrorism financing, anti-money laundering or other financial and identity checks concerning either you or the buyer to our satisfaction at our discretion, we shall be entitled to retain lots and/or proceeds of sale and to take any other actions required or permitted under applicable law without liability to you.


9. You may not bid or authorise or allow anyone else to bid on your behalf, on your own items, provided that we may (but are not obliged to) bid on your behalf up to the level of the reserve, but not beyond.


10. Provided that you have agreed to pay us the loss and damage warranty fee for each item as specified in the Contract, we will take responsibility for loss or damage caused to such items whilst they are in our possession.


Our obligation to you under our loss and damage warranty is to pay you for any loss, damage or destruction, up to an aggregate amount, and in the event of total loss on each lot equal to:


Before the sale: 1.5 % VAT of the reserve price or, if no reserve, 1.5% VAT of the low estimate


After the sale: 1.5% VAT of the hammer price, or, if the lot is unsold, 1.5% VAT of the reserve, or, if no reserve, 1.5% VAT of the low estimate


In each case of loss or damage whether taking place either before or after the sale, we will deduct what would have been our total seller’s fees, ie. commission fees and image fees, taking into account the minimum lot charge of £20. The seller’s fees will also be subject to VAT.   


We cannot, however accept responsibility for any loss or damage however caused relating to wear and tear, warping or shrinkage, woodworm or other such pest, or to any item which has been specified as “Fragile” in the Contract.


11. You are entitled to withdraw any item before the sale upon notice to us in writing, provided that you will pay us a fee of 50% of what would have been our buyer’s and seller’s fees based on the lower estimate, unless the withdrawal is within one week of the sale date in which event the fee will be 100% of such fees, together with any additional charges to cover costs incurred by us before the date of or due to the withdrawal.


12. You agree that we are entitled to deduct from any amounts received by us (a) the buyer’s premium, (b) the vendor’s fee and charges referred to in these terms and conditions (c) any VAT or the like required to be deducted under applicable law and (d) any interest earned on the proceeds of sales between the date on which we are paid and the date on which we account to you.


13. In certain circumstances, including deliberate forgery, the buyer is entitled to rescission of the purchase contract and refund of sums paid. Under such circumstances you agree that we have the right, without limitation, to withhold all sums otherwise due to you, or if we have already accounted to you, to recover all sums paid to you. If you disagree with our cataloguing of any of your items please inform us immediately, failing which you are deemed to have approved such cataloguing.


14. Any items unsold at auction must be collected at your expense from such address as we inform you no later than 14 days of the sale date unless alternative arrangements have been agreed, failing which we will have the right to charge you storage and unsold lot charges and/or to arrange delivery of your item/s at your expense and/or sell the item at auction including a third party auction in order to defray the cost of such charges.


Our storage charges are as follows:


-          Administration fee: £10


-          Storage:


£3/day for pictures and small items


£6/day for furniture, larger pictures and objects


Full value protection cover for either the reserve or, if no reserve, the low estimate, will be charged at 0.6% but will not exceed the total value of all other transfer and storage charges. 


VAT will be applied at the current rate on any charges levied. 


15. If we are made an offer after the sale by a potential purchaser of an item of yours which was unsold at the sale, we are entitled to conclude a sale by private treaty, provided that the amount you receive net of vendor’s fees is no less than you would have received if the item had sold at the reserve level at the sale, unless you have at the time of such offer already indicated to us that you wish the item to be returned to you. If the after-sale offer is such that you would receive an amount lower than if the item had sold at the reserve, we will conclude such a sale only with your prior agreement.


Post auction, we reserve the right to offer your lot/s in another appropriate auction with a lower reserve, for which you will be notified - please respond in a timely manner if you object to this new figure.


16. We will not release your item/s to any purchaser until we have been paid in full, which includes all relevant charges and premiums.


17. We will account to you for all sums owed, which will be net of all fees and charges owed to us by you on this or other transactions, within 28 days of the sale date, provided that we have paid in full by the purchaser by such date. If the purchaser has not so paid we may take legal steps against them subject to agreement with you including as to costs, but we reserve the right to rescind the sale and deem the lot to be unsold. Under some circumstances the purchaser may have the right to cancel a purchase made after the sale for a certain period after delivery, and in such circumstances we will account to you only after the expiry of such time period. Settlement will be by bank transfer unless otherwise agreed, and must be made to an account in your name which you have notified to us in the Contract. We are not obliged to investigate the credit-worthiness or bona fides of any bidder or purchaser and nor are we obliged to enforce any rights which we may have against any such bidder or purchaser.


18. General Terms:


a. These terms are made and must be construed under English law and any disputes arising from them or from the Contract will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. 


b. All charges, fees, premiums and any other sums referred to herein or arising herefrom are stated net of Value Added Tax but are subject to VAT or the like at the rate or rates prevailing at the time of any transaction.


c. We will hold and process your personal data according to the conditions, for the reasons and on the bases set out in our Privacy Policy which you may access here, and as envisaged by these terms and conditions.


d. Auctions are conducted according to our discretion and that of our auctioneer. We may refuse any bid, alter the order of lots and/or the bidding in such way as we think best, withdraw any lot, reopen bidding after the hammer has fallen, determine who is the successful bidder, cancel the sale of any lot or otherwise regulate the auction and all associated proceedings as we deem most appropriate. Our decision in relation to any dispute relating to bidding which may arise during or after the auction is final. We may (but are not obliged to) offer bidding in person, by commission bids left with us in advance of the auction, by telephone, or online via our own or a third party platform. We will not in any event be liable for any failure to take a bid whether caused by breakdown of communications technology or otherwise.