1. These General Conditions of Sale are issued by Wellers Auctioneers (referred to in the Conditions as “The Auctioneers”).
2. In these Conditions, the words “Lot” and “Goods” refer to items sold at auction sales conducted by the Auctioneers.
3. Every Seller, Bidder and Buyer will be deemed to have full knowledge of these Conditions and to agree to be bound by them.
4. If goods entered for sale are specifically advertised in the press by the Auctioneers, and if the person entering them fails without good reason to bring the goods for sale on the day mentioned in the advertisements, the Auctioneers reserve the right to charge him a fair and reasonable proportion of the advertising costs incurred, together with any other losses sustained.
5. No Private Treaty sales prior to Auction will be permitted.
6. If a person who has entered a lot for sale sells that lot privately on the day of sale and within the sale premises, either before it is offered for sale at auction or, if it fails to sell at auction, afterwards, then these Conditions shall (so far as they are applicable) govern that private sale.
7. In such a case, the Seller, or, failing him, the Buyer, shall book the transaction with the Auctioneers, and the purchase money shall be payable to them in full.
8. The Auctioneers reserve the right to charge and recover the whole of the commission, which would have been payable if the lot had been sold at auction for the price obtained on the private sale. The Auctioneers are entitled to deduct the commission before accounting to the Seller.
9. If a Seller fails to comply with Clause 7 above, he shall be liable to pay to the Auctioneers their commission.
10. Commission, calculated in accordance with the Auctioneers’ current tariff, will be charged on lots sold privately on the auction after the Sale.
11. The highest accepted bidder, subject to Seller’s Reserve (if any) shall be the Buyer.
12. The Auctioneers reserve the right to refuse to accept bids from any person, without stating a reason for this.
13. The Auctioneers reserve the right on behalf of themselves and of the Sellers the following rights:
13.1 To fix a reserve price.
13.2 To bid on behalf of a Seller, up to the Seller’s reserve price.
13.3 To re-arrange, consolidate or withdraw any lots, or vary the order of the sale.
14. A Seller who wishes to fix a reserve price on any lot must give notice in writing to the Auctioneers before the sale of that lot begins.
15. No person may advance on any bid less than the sum named from time to time by the Auctioneers.
16. A Seller may not bid for a lot owned by him by any agent other than the Auctioneers.
17. The Auctioneers shall be the sole arbiters in all matters in dispute.
18. If a dispute arises as to any bidding, then at the Auctioneers’ discretion, either:
18.1 The lot to which the dispute relates shall immediately be put up again and resold, or
18.2 The Auctioneers shall determine the dispute and their decision shall be final and binding on all parties.
19. No bidding may be retracted.
20. The Buyer shall supply his or her name and address.
21. All Buyers must collect a buyer’s registration card from the Auctioneers’ sale office prior to bidding. Every intending Buyer must register and collect his bidding card. No sale will be made to Buyers who do not comply with these provisions.
22. The transferring of any lot or lots is not allowed.
23. No lot shall be removed from the Auction venue without a signed delivery note, signed by the Auctioneers or their clerk.
24. No lots may be delivered, so as to be included in an auction sale, once the sale has started.
25. Each lot shall be entered in its owner’s name. The name of the owner of each lot as given to the Auctioneers shall be declared to potential bidders, if required, when the lot is put up for sale. The Auctioneers shall, for all purposes, be deemed to sell as agents for a disclosed principal.
26. The Auctioneers will normally disclose to the Buyers the name of the Seller of the goods. They reserve the right, however, to decline to do this.
27. Any lots not taken away on the day of the Sale shall be re-sold by the Auctioneers.
28. In the event of the goods resold under Clause 27 not having been paid for in full by the original Buyer, then the original Buyer will remain liable to pay any shortfall.
29. No Buyer may use any claim of set-off or other plea for non-payment of his purchase money against the Auctioneers or the Seller.
30. The Buyer must pay the whole of the purchase price, or the remainder of the purchase price, on or before delivery of the goods purchased.
31. If one Buyer purchases two or more lots, the prices of all lots must be paid before delivery of any of them.
32. All lots must, in any event, be paid for and taken away on the date of the Sale. The Buyer is responsible for the cost of removal.
33. All payments must be made in cash, by bankers’ draft, direct debit card, approved credit card or by cheque supported by a valid cheque guarantee card. A surcharge of 2.5% plus VAT will be made on credit card transactions.
34. Credit will not be given to Buyers unless full approval has been given by the Auctioneers’ Credit Committee, in advance.
35. In the event of the Auctioneers agreeing to provide credit to a Buyer, whether by means of an account or otherwise, payment for all purchases shall be due within 14 days of purchase.
36. Value Added Tax at the current rate will be charged on all items purchased, unless otherwise stated by the Auctioneers at the time of auction.
37. The Seller shall have no right as against the Auctioneers to receive the proceeds of sale of any goods, until these proceeds have been received by the Auctioneers, unless payment from the Buyer proves impossible to recover due to any act of negligence by the Auctioneers.
38. The Auctioneers’ commission charges on auction sales are set out in the Auctioneers’ current tariff.
39. If a lot is withdrawn from a Sale by the Seller, or if it fails to meet any reserve price stipulated by the Seller, then the Seller shall pay the Auctioneers’ reasonable expenses in connection with the abortive sale, including advertising costs.
40. Any overdue payments owing to the Auctioneers, either by Buyers or Sellers, shall attract interest at the rate of 4% above the base lending rate of Barclays Bank Plc from time to time.
41. If the Buyer fails to comply with any of the above Conditions and, in particular, if the Buyer fails to pay for any lot which he has purchased and he is not entitled to return the lot under any of these Conditions, the Auctioneers may treat the contract of sale to the Buyer as rescinded. The Auctioneers may re-sell the lot, by public or private sale, without reserve and without notice to the Buyer.
42. If upon resale a lower price is obtained for any lot than was obtained on the first sale, the difference in price, together with all cost and charges incurred on the re-sale, shall be a debt due from the Buyer in default at the first sale.
43. Goods are at the Seller’s risk until sold and it is for the Seller to make appropriate arrangements until sale.
44. All goods purchased are the Buyer’s responsibility from the moment they are sold to him, on the fall of the Auctioneers’ hammer. The Buyer should make his own insurance arrangements with effect from that time.
45. Notwithstanding Clauses 43 and 44 above, the Auctioneers will take reasonable care of the goods whilst in their care and in the event of their staff assisting to remove the goods after the sale.
46. If the Auctioneers or their staff expressly agree to take charge of any lot after the sale, or to forward the lot to its destination, the Auctioneers shall be responsible for any damage to the lot which occurs due to their negligence.
47. Except as stated in Clauses 45 and 46 above, the Auctioneers shall not be responsible for the safe custody of any lots after the sale.
48. The Auctioneers shall not be responsible for any accident which happens to any person while on the sale premises, unless this results from the Auctioneers’ negligence.
49. Notwithstanding delivery and the passing of risk in any lots or goods sold, the property in those lots or goods shall not pass to the Buyer until the Auctioneers have received in cash or cleared funds payment in full of the price of the goods and all other goods purchased by the Buyer for which payment is then due.
50. The Buyer will keep any goods not yet paid for separate from his own goods, so that they can readily be identified.
51. The Buyer will return any goods not paid for to the Auctioneers’ representative, on request.
52. The Auctioneers may enter onto the Buyer’s premises to recover any goods not paid for.
53. The Auctioneers shall be entitled to assume that the goods offered for sale belong to the person entering them in the sale, unless they are informed otherwise by that person. The person entering the goods for sale (or any owner whose name was given to the Auctioneers) shall be entitled to receive the sale proceeds, after deduction by the Auctioneers of their commission and expenses.
54. All lots are accepted for sale on the basis that the Seller has good title to the goods concerned. The Seller will indemnify the Auctioneers against any claims or expenses to which they may be exposed as a result of the Seller not having good title.
55. If any goods to be sold are the subject of a hire purchase agreement, the Auctioneers must be informed of this before the Sale. The Auctioneers reserve the right to withdraw any goods from the Sale, should they discover that they are the subject of a hire purchase agreement.
56. The Auctioneers will not be liable to the Buyer for any loss suffered due to the goods being the subject of a hire purchase agreement, unless the Auctioneers have been negligent in failing to act on any information received indicating that the goods were held on hire purchase. Normally, the Auctioneers must rely on information given to them by the Seller, unless they have reason to doubt this.
57. Where lots are offered for sale by a person in his own name, but he is in fact acting as an agent for another person, he must, if asked to do so by the Auctioneers, disclose the name and address of his principal. Both the principal and his agent will be jointly and severally liable under the contract of sale.
58. Any person intending to bid for any lots as an agent shall inform the Auctioneers of this intention before the sale starts. If required, he will disclose the name and address of his principal.
59. Both the principal and his agent will be jointly and severally liable under the contract for sale in all cases where a person whose bid is accepted is in fact acting as an agent, whether or not he has disclosed this fact.
60. Clause 59 will not apply, if before the start of the sale the agent informs the Auctioneers that he intends to contract as a principal, in which case the agent will be personably and solely liable on the contract.
61. The Auctioneers take care to ensure that the particulars of all goods advertised for sale in their catalogue are correct, to the best of their knowledge. The Auctioneers do, however, have to rely to a large extent on information given to them by Sellers. The Auctioneers shall not be liable for any mistakes or inaccuracies in the information published, unless these are due to the negligence of the Auctioneers.
62. Subject to Clause 61, any claim by the Buyer which is based on any defect in the quality or condition of goods purchased, or their failure to correspond with the description, shall be notified to the Auctioneers within 2 days from the date of purchase, or (where the defect of failure was not apparent on reasonable inspection) within a reasonable time (but in any event not more than 2 days) after discovery of the defect or failure. If the Buyer does not observe these provisions, neither the Auctioneers nor the Seller shall be under any liability to the Buyer.
63. Buyers are expected to view the goods on sale and to rely on their own knowledge or that of their own advisers before proceeding. The Auctioneers will not be liable for any defects in the goods unless the Buyer has been misled as to the condition of the goods by any deliberate or negligent act by the Auctioneers.
64. WARNING: Buyers should note that certain goods sold at auction are suitable only for spare parts or as scrap. Buyers should check the safety of any mechanical, electrical or technical items purchased before attempting to use them and should take advice from an engineer, electrician or other qualified technical expert as to the fitness of goods for any particular purpose. The Auctioneers cannot accept liability for any damage sustained due to disregard of this warning, except for liability for personal injury or death caused by the negligence of the Auctioneers.
65. Clause 64 is particularly relevant to motor vehicles sold at auction. These are in no way guaranteed to be fit for use on the road and the Buyer must not take a vehicle purchased onto the road before satisfying himself that it is so fit.
66. Except as permitted by these Conditions, any claim raised by a Buyer in respect of goods purchased by him shall be against the Seller. If the Auctioneers have paid the Seller from their own money before notification of such a claim, then the Seller shall reimburse the Auctioneers.
67. In the event of any conflict arising between these General Conditions of Sale and any other conditions stated in a Catalogue of Sale published by the Auctioneers, these General Conditions shall prevail.
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