1. Simon Drieu & Co Limited is referred to as the “Company” throughout these Terms and Conditions.
1.1. This Terms and Conditions of Sale applies to all sales including sales by private treaty.
1.2. While every care has been taken in the preparation of catalogues, any statement as to authorship, attribution, origin, date, age, provenance and condition is a statement of opinion and is not to be taken as a statement or representation of fact. The Company reserves the right, in forming its opinion, to consult and rely upon any expert or authority considered by it to be reliable.
1.3. The Company reserves the right at its absolute discretion to refuse admission to its premises or attendance at their sales, without giving any reason therefore.
CONDITIONS OF SALE
2 Definitions
In these Conditions: “the hammer price” means the price at which any lot is knocked down to the buyer;
“the premium” means the premium payable by the buyer;
“the aggregate price” means the total of the hammer price and the premium;
“total amount due” means the aggregate price together with any additional charges and expenses due from a defaulting buyer;
“the commission” means the percentage deducted from the hammer price by the company as agreed between the seller and the company either verbally or in writing
“the net amount” means the hammer price less the commission paid to the Company which will be paid to the seller by cheque 10 (ten) working days after
the date of the auction at which the lot was sold.
2. Conduct of the Sale
2.1. The seller of any lot shall be entitled to place a reserve price on such lot. The reserve price is a confidential minimum price the seller would accept and below which the lot will not be sold. All lots should be presumed to be subject to a reserve unless otherwise indicated Neither the seller on his own behalf, nor any other person on the seller’s behalf except the auctioneer, may make any bid in respect of lots of which the seller is the owner.
2.2 The Reserve price on each lot must be agreed between the seller and the Company and if that lot does not receive a bid equal to or in excess of the Reserve price no fee shall be payable by the seller to the Company. The Company may accept a Seller’s Reserve price from a seller in respect of a lot, which in the Company’s opinion is not realistic, but is set at the insistence of the seller, if that lot does not receive a bid equal to or in excess of the Seller’s Reserve price then the Company reserves the right to charge a fee of £20 (Twenty pounds) or 15% of the Seller’s Reserve price, whichever is the greater or a fee agreed between the Company any the seller.
2.3. The auctioneer has the right to advance the bidding at his absolute discretion and may refuse to accept any bid, divide any lot, combine any two or more lots, withdraw any lots from the sale and vary the order in which lots are offered for sale without in any case giving previous notice or any reason therefore.
2.4 The Company acts as agents only, except:
(i) in respect of any obligation to repurchase under condition 6; or
(ii) in respect of its retention of the premium and any sums payable under condition 4.2. The Company shall be under no obligation to account to the seller of any lot for sums due in respect thereof until payment for the lot bought has been made by the buyer to the Company as required by condition 4. 1.
2.5 The Company accepts no responsibility to anyone in connection with the commissioning by intending buyers of any of their employees to bid for lots on behalf of such intending buyers.
3. Purchase, risk, title and aggregate price
3.1. The highest bidder acceptable to the auctioneer prior to the fall of the hammer shall be the buyer, but if, during or after the sale of the lot, but before the end of the sale as a whole, the auctioneer considers, at his absolute discretion, that a dispute has arisen or that the buyer has not complied satisfactorily with Condition 3.3. or 3.4., or that there is any other reason for so doing, he may at his absolute discretion, put up the lot again for sale, Every bidder shall be deemed to act as principal unless there is in force a written acknowledgement by the Company that they act as agent on behalf of a named principal.
3.2. At the fall of the hammer, risk of the lot sold shall pass to the buyer, The seller, the Company, their servants or agents shall not be responsible for any loss or damage whether caused by negligence or otherwise, but ownership of such lot shall not pass until payment in respect thereof has been made in accordance with condition 4.1 In the event that the Company shall have agreed and made payment to the seller in respect of any lot before the buyer has made payment to the Company in accordance with Condition 4, title in the property shall pass to and remain with the Company until the buyer has made payment to the Company.
3.3. Prior to the commencement of the auction or on the fall of the hammer in respect of each lot sold the buyer shall, give his name and permanent address to the Company together with his bank or other suitable references, and any such other proof of his identity as the Company may at its absolute discretion require.
3.4. The buyer may be required to pay down forthwith the whole or any part of the aggregate price, and if he fails to do so any lot or lots bought by him may, at the auctioneer’s absolute discretion, be offered again for resale at any time before the conclusion of the auction.
4. Commission and Collection
4.1. Commission will be charged to the seller on each lot at the rate of 15% (fifteen percent) of the total hammer price with a minimum charge of £5 (five pounds sterling) per lot with the exception of motor vehicles. Commission on motor vehicles will be charged at 10% (ten percent) of the total hammer price with a minimum charge of £30 (thirty pounds sterling).
Commission will be charged to the buyer by way of a Buyer’s Premium at the rate of £5 (five pounds sterling) per lot with the exception of motor vehicles. The Buyer’s Premium on motor vehicles will be charged at the rate of £20 (twenty pounds) per lot.
Subject only to any arrangements made in writing with the Company prior to the sale, or where payment has already been made in accordance with Condition 3.4, the buyer shall pay the aggregate price to the Company not later than 12.30 p.m. on the first working day following the sale and shall, upon making such payment, be required to take away the lot purchased from the Company’s premises or auction site at his own expense. The Company reserves the right to retain possession of the lot if payment is made by cheque until such time as cleared funds are received into the Company’s bank account. Failure to remove lots purchased by the allotted time as stated
Herein before may result at the Company’s discretion in a storage charge being levied on the purchaser.
4.2.1 Unless by prior arrangement, or with the auctioneer’s permission, no lot purchased shall be claimed or removed until the sale has been concluded.
4.2.2 The Company as agent for the seller shall, following three working days after the conclusion of the sale, be entitled at its absolute discretion and without prejudice to any other rights or remedies:
(i) to proceed against the buyer for damages for breach of contract;
(ii) to rescind the sale of that or any other lots sold to the defaulting buyer at the same or any other auction;
(iii) without notice to the defaulting buyer at any time to resell the lot or cause it to be resold by public auction or private sale and the defaulting buyer shall pay to the Company any resulting deficiency in the total amount due (adjusted for the Company resale costs, and any part payments received);
(iv) to remove, store and insure the lot at the expense of the defaulting buyer;
(v) to charge interest at the Company’s discretion at the rate of 2% per month on the total amount due to the extent it remains unpaid for more than five working days after the conclusion of the sale such interest will run as well as after as before judgement becoming due and payable forthwith upon demand;
(vi) to retain that or any other lot sold to the same buyer at the same or any other auction and release it only after payment of the total amount due;
(vii) to reject or ignore any bids made by or on behalf of the defaulting buyer at any future auctions or obtain a deposit before accepting any bids in future;
(viii) to apply any proceeds of sale then due or at any time thereafter becoming due to the defaulting buyer towards settlement of the total amount due and to exercise a lien on any property of the defaulting buyer which is in the Company’s possession for any purpose.
5. Responsibility to buyers
5. I Subject to Condition 6 all lots are sold as seen and neither the Company nor the seller accept any responsibility for any faults, imperfections or errors of description however caused in or with regard to any lot, and all lots are to be taken and paid for whether genuine and authentic or not. Buyers are strongly advised to examine any lot in which they are interested and to satisfy themselves as to the condition of any lot before bidding on it.
5.2. The attention of buyers is drawn to the fact that all statements made and contained in the catalogue or elsewhere in any advertisement or brochure are only statements of opinion and are not to be relied on as statements or representations of fact.
5.3.1. Neither the Company nor the seller makes or gives, neither has the Company, nor any person employed by the Company , any authority to make or give, any-representation or warranty to any person in respect of any lot, and any conditions or warranties implied by law are hereby excluded.
5.4. The Company on its own behalf give no guarantee as to the right of any seller to offer any lot for sale, and will not be responsible for any defect in the seller’s title to such lot.
6. Forgeries
6.1. In the event of any lot proving to be a forgery the Company will, at its absolute discretion and subject to the following Conditions, either rescind the sale of any lot and refund such of the aggregate price has been received by them or repurchase the lot for such sum as shall equal the aggregate price paid for the lot by the buyer, provided that this obligation shall only arise if:
(i) within seven days of the sale of the lot the buyer gives notice in writing to the Company that the lot purchased by him through the Company is a forgery (as hereinafter defined); and
(ii) the buyer returns the lot to the Company in the same condition as it was at the time of the auction accompanied by written proof of forgery, the number of the lot, and the date of auction at which it was purchased; and
(iv) the buyer proves to the Company’s reasonable satisfaction that the lot is a forgery and that he is able to transfer a good title thereto free from any liens, charges or encumbrances; and
(v) the buyer demonstrates to the Company’s’ reasonable satisfaction that the lot alleged by him to be a forgery is the lot actually purchased by him through the Company.
6.2. A ‘forgery’ means an imitation intended by the maker or any other person to deceive as to authorship, date or provenance, provided that it is not shown to be such in the catalogue description and at the date of the sale had a value materially less than it would have had if it had been in accordance with that description. Notwithstanding the above, the buyer shall have no rights in respect of a forgery (as defined) if;
(i) the catalogue description at the date of the sale was in accordance with the then generally accepted opinion of scholars and experts or fairly indicated that there was a conflict of such opinion; or
(ii) it can be established that the lot is a forgery only by means of process not generally accepted for use until after publication of the catalogue.
6.3. The benefit of this Condition shall be personal to the buyer who, for the purpose of this Condition, shall be the person to whom the original invoice is made out by the Company in respect of the lot sold. The benefit of this Condition shall not be assignable by the buyer.
7. General
7.1 Simon Drieu & Co Limited reserve the absolute right to cancel the sale of any lot or lots sold during or after the sale or by private treaty if in their opinion the vendor or the purchaser has misled, misinformed or deceived the Auctioneers or their assistants knowingly or unknowingly as to the condition, date or origin of any item or items.
7.2 Any claim by a buyer against the Company whether under any of these Conditions or otherwise arising out of the sale of any lot shall be limited to the amount (if any) paid by the buyer in respect of such lot and shall not extend to any consequential or other loss or damage or expense suffered by the buyer.
7.3 The above conditions and all notices, descriptions, statements and other matters in the catalogue and elsewhere concerning any lot are subject to any statements modifying or affecting the same made by the auctioneer from the rostrum at the commencement or during the sale. The Company or the auctioneers have no obligation to reiterate special terms other than at the commencement or during the auction.
7.4 Each bidder by the making of any bid acknowledges his acceptance of these Conditions and the terms of any Notices and other Conditions in the catalogue.
7.5 The Company is under no obligation to disclose to any person the identity of either buyer or seller of any lot.
7.6 Each sale and matters connected therewith, including these Conditions, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Jersey. By taking part in the sale every bidder submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Jersey courts.
7.7 The headings are for convenience only and shall be ignored in construing these Conditions.
7.8 The Company accept no responsibility whatsoever for any injury, loss or damage to any person, persons or items whilst on the sale ground or in the sale room.