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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