TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE

1. General

 

Auctions shall take place as per this Terms and Conditions of Sale and be open to the public provided that FX TOURTE Auctions may at its discretion exclude any person or internet bidder from an Auction.

All bidders must register with FX TOURTE Auctions before placing their first bid. Bidders must register on www.fxtourte.hk (the “Auction Site”).

FX TOURTE Auctions may reject the registration of any bidder in its sole discretion.

Registration constitutes acceptance in full of these Terms and Conditions of Sale as well as any rights and obligations arising there from. These same conditions also apply to all transactions in auction lots taking place outside the Auction.

FX TOURTE Auctions is the Auction Department of FX TOURTE HONG KONG Ltd. (the “Company”).

FX TOURTE Auctions as organiser of the auction acts as an agent only and is not liable for any default(s) of Buyer(s) or Seller(s). All contracts for lots will be between the Buyer and the Seller.

The English version of these Conditions of Sale is the authoritative and binding text.

 

2. Rights and Obligations of the Seller

 

2.a  The Seller’s premiums are 10%, which shall be paid by the Seller to the “Company”.

2.b  For each lot that is sold the Seller will pay 1.5% of the price for insurance. In the case the “Company” deems it appropriate, the Seller shall have the obligation to pay additional charges for insurance (including transit insurance) packing, shipping, customs duties, import tax, catalogue illustration, examination by experts and storage. These amounts shall be separately advised to the Seller by the “Company”.

2.c  If any amount payable to the “Company” under these Terms and Conditions of Sale is subject to any Goods and Services Tax, Value Added or like tax or levy the same shall be paid by the Seller in addition to any other amount payable by the Seller.

2.d  If a lot is withdrawn from the Auction, the Seller will pay to the “Company” 10% of the reserve or the estimated auction value.

2.e  All amounts payable by the Seller to the “Company” will be paid within 20 days of the date of the Auction or withdrawal from the Auction and may be deducted from any payment due to the Buyer from the sale.

2.f  Subject to receipt of payment from the Buyer, payment will be made to the Seller within 30 days from the date of the Auction. In the event of receipt of payment from the Buyer later than 25 days front the date of the Auction, the “Company” will make payment within 7 days of receipt of payment from the Buyer.

2.g  The Seller represents and warrants that it, is the absolute owner of each lot and that it is free and clear of all liens, charges and encumbrances, has complied with all import or export requirements and has notified the “Company” of all material alterations to the lot or of any material concerns relating to the ownership condition or attribution of the lot.

2.h The Seller agrees that the “Company” may offer the lot for sale in accordance with their Terms and Conditions of Sale and with such reserve as may be agreed.

2.i  All lots held in the possession of the “Company” will be insured against risk of fire, burglary, water damage or accidental damage (but not for woodworm changes in atmospheric condition or terrorism) in an amount considered by the “Company” to be their appropriate value from the date of receipt to the date 30 days after the Auction or withdrawal from the Auction whichever is earlier. Thereafter lots will be at the risk of the Seller. Save in respect of the obligation to ensure the “Company” shall have no obligation for loss or damage to any lot which shall be at the risk of the Seller or the Buyer.

 

3. Lots and Catalogue

 

3.a  The lots are as presented on FX TOURTE Auctions’ Website. The “Company” shall have complete discretion as to how the lot is described on the Website. The “Company” does not accept any responsibility or imply any warranty for the authenticity, attribution, genuineness, authorship, date, age period or quality of any lot. Photographs count as part of the description with regard to visible attributes. Material contained in the catalogue, advertisements or other publications of the “Company” is presented on an indicative basis only and is not to be taken as a statement or representation of fact.

The “Company” reserves the right, in forming their opinion, to consult and rely upon any expert or authority considered by them to be reliable.

3.b  The lots are as viewed. Before and during the Auction, all lots may be examined by appointment. Persons attending the Auction and/or who have viewed any lots before the Auction and/or bidder’s representatives and auction agents are understood to have examined all lots which they purchase and to accept them as they are at the moment of the knocking-down and not necessarily as described. Those persons interested must examine the lots personally to confirm their actual condition and to determine if any object has been repaired or restored.

3.c  The copyright of the text, photographs and illustrations contained in catalogues and other publicity material shall vest in the “Company”. Where the Seller provides the text, photographs and illustrations for publication, the Seller warrants that use is authorised by the copyright owner and indemnifies the “Company” for any claims for breach of copyright or wrongful use.

 

4. Viewings

 

Items will be available for viewing as listed at the Auction Site. It is recommended that potential bidders ask for an appointment.

 

5. Identification and bidding

 

5.a  Those persons who wish to bid at the Auction must make themselves known before the  sale to the “Company”. Those persons who wish to bid over the phone or over the Internet must make themselves known at least one working day prior to the day of the Auction. Those persons who are not known to the “Company” may be asked to provide financial security for their bids at least one working day before the Auction.

The auctioneer has the right to refuse to sell any lot to an unidentified person or to someone deemed to be a bad debtor at the sole discretion of the “Company”, in order to protect the interests of the Seller.

5.b  Buyers giving written bidding instructions to the “Company” may make alternative offers and/ or limit the total of their expenditure in advance. Bids stand and hold good for at least 60 days from the Auction period. All such instructions must be given 24 hours before the Auction. In the case of identical bids which are the highest for a lot, the lot shall be sold to the person whose bid was received first. The “Company” shall not be liable for any failure to bid.

5.c  The “Company” may also bid on behalf of Sellers in cases where reserve prices have been fixed. In these cases, the Seller is treated as a buyer and the auctioneer may bid on his behalf up to the reserve prices. If the reserve price fixed by the Seller is not reached the auctioneer will withdraw the lot from the Auction and proceed to the next lot. In cases where no reserve is fixed, the Seller may bid personally.

5.d  The “Company” have full discretion, to divide any lot or lots, to combine any two or more lots and to withdraw any lot or 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.

5.e Any person bidding for the account of a third party including, but not limited to bidder’s representatives and auction agents, is fully liable for any obligation assumed by such person arising from the Auction.

5.f  The auctioneers shall be solely responsible for the regulation and control of the bidding.

The “Company” may refuse to knock down any lot of this sale at its sole discretion.

The “Company” reserves the right to refuse any bids, at its sole discretion without giving any reason or previous notice. The “Company” cannot be held responsible for any physical accident that may occur on the premises of the auction other than for personal injury caused by negligence.

 

6. The Auction

 

6.a  The sale takes place in HKD, and without any guarantee given by the “Company”.

Neither the “Company”, nor the Seller accept any responsibility whatsoever, for any defect or deterioration of any lot, nor for any indications given concerning the author, maker, origin, period, age, attribution, authenticity, provenance, weight or condition of any object.

Furthermore, no employee of the “Company” has authority either to give or to make any kind of guarantee, representation or warranty whatsoever to any person in respect of any lot, other than the description given in the catalogue.

6.b  The Auction will be conducted in English. The stalling price is fixed by the auctioneer at his discretion. The increase in bid steps is fixed at the discretion of the auctioneer.

6.c  By placing a bid on a lot, the bidder is committing to a legally binding and irrevocable offer to purchase the lot at any price up to and including his or her highest bid amount. Failure to complete the transaction is a breach of these Terms and Conditions of Sale and is legally actionable by the “Company”. All bid retractions require the prior written consent of the “Company”.

6.d  The highest bidder for a lot acceptable to the auctioneer prior to the fall of the hammer, shall be the Buyer. All lots are offered for sale without reserve unless instructions to the contrary are received by the auctioneer from the Seller prior to the commencement of the Auction. Each lot is sold on behalf of the respective owner to the highest bidder. In addition to the sale price, the Buyer shall pay a commission to the “Company” of 21% on the hammer price. A reduction of 3% for a total of 18% will be applied to the commission if the Buyer is also the first bidder for the same lot. This reduction will be applied directly to the final invoice.

6.e  The Seller may not withdraw a lot from the Auction without the consent of the “Company”. The “Company” may withdraw a lot from the Auction if it has any doubt as to its attribution or authenticity, there is a breach of any of these Terms and Conditions of Sale or if it believes that it would be improper to include any lot in an Auction.

 

7. Auction via Internet

 

7.a  These Terms and Conditions of Sale apply to and govern the bidding on and purchase of all items offered at auction through the services of FX TOURTE Auctions at the Auction Site.

7.b  Neither the “Company” nor its web hosting company are responsible for any loss or damage experienced by any bidder or purchaser through his or her use of the Auction Site.

Neither the “Company” nor its web hosting company guarantees continuous, uninterrupted, or secure access to the Auction Site as operation of such site may be interfered by numerous factors outside its control. The “Company” and its web hosting company will attempt to prevent inappropriate use of the system but will not under any circumstances be responsible for damage or loss caused by errors in the Auction Site system software or the internet.

 

8. Payment and Shipping

 

8.a  In the case of Buyers attending in person, sale price plus commission and other sums due to the “Company” are due for immediate payment in HKD against delivery of the lots. Internet bidders, absentee bidders, mail bidders and telephone bidders who are successful, are due to pay the sale price and the commission and other sums due to the “Company” on receipt of the auction invoice. In these cases, the “Company” keeps the sold lots, which will be delivered to the Buyers on full settlement of their account. Delivery of the purchased lots by FedEx or UPS or any other means instructed by the Buyer, including cost of delivery and normal transit insurance cover, is at the expense and risk of the Buyer which the “Company” will invoice the Buyer and the Buyer shall pay in advance of delivery. For each lot that is sent to the Buyer, the “Company” will charge 1,5% of the hammer price to cover shipping insurance. Buyers accept, represent and undertake that they shall pay all sums incurred in connection of this Condition on due time and they have no right of objection in respect of the sums to be owed by them according to this Condition.

8.b  In the case of late payment of more than 30 days, the “Company” shall be entitled:

– to charge interest at a rate not exceeding 1.5% per month on the full amount due to the extent it remains unpaid for more than 30 days after the date of the Auction;

– to set off against any amounts which the “Company” may owe the Buyer in any other transaction the outstanding amount remaining unpaid by the Buyer;

– to exercise a lien on any of the Buyer’s property which may be in the possession of the “Company” for any purpose and, following 14 days’ notice to the Buyer of the amount outstanding and remaining unpaid, arrange the sale of such property and apply the proceeds in discharge of the amount outstanding to the Buyer;

– where several amounts are owed by the Buyer in respect of different transactions, to apply an amount paid to discharge any amount owed in respect of any particular transaction, whether or not the Buyer so directs;

– to reject at any future Auction any bids made by the Buyer or on his behalf or obtain a deposit from the Buyer before accepting any bids;

– to issue proceedings on behalf of the Seller and at the cost of the Seller against the Buyer to recover full amount due, together with the costs of such proceedings on a full indemnity basis;

– to cancel the sale of the lot or any other item sold to the Buyer at the same or any other auction;

– to arrange a resale of the lot, publicly or privately, and, if this results in a lower price being obtained, claim the balance at the cost of the Seller from the Buyer together with any costs incurred in connection with the Buyer’s failure to make payment.

 

9. Unsold Lots and Items not collected

 

9.a  If any lot is unsold, or is not included in a sale, or is withdrawn from sale for any reason, it must be collected from the “Company” within 30 days after a notice is sent to the Seller requiring the Seller to collect it. If any such lot remains uncollected for a period exceeding 30 days, a storage charge and an additional charge will be made for insurance. The Seller will not be entitled to collect the lot until all outstanding charges are met.

9.b  If any such lot is not collected within 90 days after the date of the notice referred to above it may be disposed of by the “Company” as it sees fit, which may involve its removal to a third party warehouse at the Seller’s expense and its sale by public auction on such terms as the “Company” considers appropriate, including those relating to estimates and reserves.

The “Company” shall then account to the Seller for the proceeds of sale, having deducted all amounts due.

9.c  Where purchases are not collected within 30 days after the sale, whether or not payment has been made, the “Company” shall arrange storage at the Buyer’s expense, and only release the items purchased after payment has been made in full of storage, removal, insurance and any other costs incurred, together with payment of all other amounts due to the “Company”.

 

10. Limit of Liability

 

Neither the “Company” nor the Seller are responsible for any statement as to the authorship, origin, age attribution, genuineness or provenance of any lot nor any other errors of description or faults in any lot. Neither the Seller nor the “Company” or any employees or agents of the Seller or the “Company” give any guarantee in respect of any lot.

 

11. Notices

 

Any notice given under these Terms and Conditions of Sale is to be in writing and, if given by post, will be taken to have been received by the addressee on the second working day after posting or, if the addressee is overseas, on the fifth working day after posting.

 

12. Severability

 

If any part of these Terms and Conditions of Sale is found by any court to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that part may be discounted, and the rest of the conditions shall continue to be valid and enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law.

 

13. Applicable law and jurisdiction

 

The Auction as well as any rights and obligations arising there from shall be governed exclusively by the laws of Hong Kong SAR. Any legal action or proceeding with respect to the Auction shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Hong Kong SAR. In every case, the “Company”, shall also be entitled, at its discretion, to sue any Buyer in default at his place of residence or in any other jurisdiction which the “Company” at its sole discretion may consider appropriate; in such case, the laws of Hong Kong SAR shall remain applicable.