1. AUCTIONEER: Prestige Philately Pty Ltd (“Prestige”),
a company incorporated in the State of Victoria, is the auctioneer, and adheres
to the standard terms of sale of the Australasian Philatelic Traders Association.
Gary Watson, a Director of Prestige ,holds current Auctioneer’s Licence
No. 030438L granted under the Auction Sales Act 1958. The expression “Prestige”
shall include the directors and employees of Prestige or any one or more of
them.
2. ACCEPTABLE MATERIAL: Prestige accepts the following classes of
material for sale at public auction:
a) philatelic, including stamps, envelopes, postal stationery, proofs,
revenues, etc;
b) literature, both philatelic and non-philatelic;
c) other paper collectibles, including banknotes, postcards, cigarette cards,
trade cards,
greeting cards, Valentines, autographs, posters, maps, share certificates,
matchbox labels, tram and train tickets, etc;
d) ephemera, including postal implements, sporting memorabilia, etc;
e) other categories as appropriate, by agreement.
Each submission of material for auction shall be treated as a separate consignment
and assigned a separate vendor receipt number. However, lots from more than
one consignment will be shown on a single Vendor Advice: see paragraphs 10
and 18.
3. REJECTION OF CONSIGNMENT: Prestige shall not be obliged to accept
any particular consignment or part thereof. In particular, Prestige shall
have a discretion to reject a consignment as being unsuitable for inclusion
in an auction, or of insufficient value. If Prestige rejects a consignment
that has not been solicited by Prestige, Prestige shall notify the sender
in writing that the consignment has been rejected and advise the cost of returning
the consignment. Prestige shall not be obliged to return the consignment until
such cost has been paid.
4. SUPPLEMENTARY LOTS: Prestige shall have the right to place material
that is bulky or considered to be of little value as "supplementary”
uncatalogued lots in the next available auction. No Vendor Advice will be
issued for such lots.
5. VENDOR: The person consigning material for sale (“the
vendor”), warrants that he or she has good title in law or is otherwise
entitled to offer the consignment for sale. If the consignment is submitted
by an agent of the vendor, the agent similarly warrants that the vendor has
good title or is otherwise entitled to offer the consignment for sale. (A
person who submits a consignment as agent for the vendor but who does not
disclose such agency to Prestige shall be deemed to be the vendor.) In the
event that it is proven that the vendor did not have good title or was otherwise
not entitled to offer the consignment for sale the vendor, and/or the agent
of the vendor, shall be liable for any loss suffered by Prestige including,
but not limited to, profit, buyer’s commission, postage and packing
charges, insurance costs, and expertising fees. Hereafter the expression “the
vendor” shall include an agent of the vendor.
6. VENDOR RECEIPT: At the time of accepting the consignment,
or soon thereafter, Prestige shall provide to the vendor a written receipt
for the consignment. The receipt shall specify a) the vendor’s name,
address and contact details; b) the auction for which the consignment is accepted;
and c) a basic description of the consignment (or the statement “as
per list” if appropriate). If the vendor is “carrying on an enterprise”
as defined in the Goods & Services Tax (“GST”) legislation,
the vendor’s Australian Business Number (“ABN”) shall be
specified on the receipt. If the vendor is not carrying on such an enterprise
he or she must sign a declaration at the foot of the receipt to the effect
that he or she is a “hobbyist” as defined in the legislation,
or is otherwise exempt from the provisions of the GST and withholding tax
legislation. (If the receipt is mailed to the vendor, a copy of the receipt
shall also be provided to the vendor for the purpose of the vendor inserting
the ABN or signing the declaration. The vendor must return the completed copy
of the receipt to Prestige.)
7. DUTY OF CARE: Prestige shall exercise all due care in
the lotting, describing and valuing (“processing”) of the consignment.
However, Prestige shall not be held responsible for the failure to correctly
identify or otherwise process the consignment.
8. DISCRETION: Subject to any contrary agreement in writing
between Prestige and the vendor, Prestige shall have absolute discretion in
the processing of the consignment. (At the time of submitting the consignment,
the vendor is invited to provide evidence of purchase prices, relevant auction
realisations or other information that may assist in or otherwise influence
Prestige’s processing of the consignment.) Prestige shall also have
absolute discretion in respect of selecting lots for illustrating in the catalogue.
9. ESTIMATES & RESERVES: Prestige shall produce a catalogue
for the auction in which each lot shall be assigned an estimate of value.
Subject to any contrary agreement in writing, each lot shall have a reserve
price of 75% of the estimate. Lots considered by Prestige to be of minimal
value or of no commercial value, or lots for which no estimate can be assessed,
may be shown as “Offer” in lieu of a dollar estimate and may be
sold for any price. Every lot subject to GST shall be indicated in the catalogue
by the symbol ‘T’ following the estimate.
10. MAJOR CONSIGNMENTS: In the case of a major consignment,
Prestige may choose to market the consignment as “The [name of the vendor]
Collection”, subject to the approval of the vendor. If the vendor refuses
to approve of his name being used, Prestige shall have the right to apply
a pseudonym to the consignment for the purposes of marketing the consignment.
If the total estimates for the lots comprising the consignment exceed $A400,000
Prestige may choose to conduct an auction devoted to that consignment. In
such a case Prestige shall have the right to include in the auction material
from other vendors where such material complements the consignment and is
not in competition with the consignment.
11. ADVERTISING: Prestige may, but is not obliged to, advertise
the consignment or any part thereof in an appropriate manner. However, Prestige
shall not use the vendor’s name in association with any such advertising
unless the vendor has agreed to his name being so used. Unless the vendor
requests Prestige to undertake advertising over and above what Prestige would
do in the normal course of business, there shall be no fee charged to the
vendor for any such advertising. (Where the vendor requests unusual advertising,
Prestige may charge the vendor for the actual cost or part thereof, including
but not limited to, the costs of publishing an advertisement in colour instead
of in black and white; of publishing an advertisement in a non-philatelic
publication or in a publication in a non-English speaking country; for translation
services and publishing of an advertisement in a language other than English;
of publishing an advertisement in other than the print media; or other non-standard
advertising.)
12. PRE-SALE VENDOR ADVICE: Prior to the auction Prestige shall provide
to the vendor a copy of the catalogue for the auction and a Vendor Advice.
The Vendor Advice shall specify the receipt number for the consignment, each
lot number that relates to the consignment, and the estimate for each lot.
The vendor shall be responsible for checking the accuracy of the Vendor Advice.
If the vendor believes that Prestige has made a serious error in respect of
the processing of the consignment the vendor shall immediately make his or
her concern known to Prestige. If Prestige agrees that an error has been made,
Prestige shall a) withdraw the lot without penalty to the vendor; or b) accept
a reserve higher than 75% of the estimate, which reserve shall be made known
to prospective bidders, without penalty to the vendor; or c) take such other
action as may be agreed. Prestige shall not be responsible to the vendor for
any error or omission that is not made known to Prestige prior to the auction.
13. COMMISSION: Prestige shall charge to the vendor a commission
of 10% (plus, if the vendor is resident in Australia, 10% GST on that commission)
of the hammer or knockdown price for each lot that forms part of the consignment.
No commission shall be payable by the vendor in respect of any lot that is
not sold. Prestige shall not impose any other commissions, fees or charges
upon the vendor in respect of the auction. Specifically, Prestige shall not
charge the vendor any form of lotting fee, unsold lots fee, insurance levy,
advertising fees, or fee for illustrations.
14. VENDOR RESERVES: Notwithstanding the content of paragraph
8, the vendor shall be entitled to insist in writing on reserving a lot at
a higher level than 75% of the estimate. However, unless Prestige agrees with
such reserve, in the event that the lot is not sold, Prestige may impose upon
the vendor a commission of 10% of 75% of the estimate, as if the lot had been
sold at that level.
15. WITHDRAWAL OF LOTS: The vendor may withdraw the consignment
or part thereof at any time prior to the day on which the final numbering
of lots for the auction has been effected. If, at the time of withdrawal,
and in the absence of any other agreement, the consignment has not been lotted
there shall be no fee or penalty imposed upon the vendor. If the consignment
has been lotted, or substantially lotted, Prestige may impose a penalty upon
the vendor of 30% of the total estimates of that part of the consignment that
has been lotted. Prestige shall not be obliged to release any part of the
consignment to the vendor until payment of such penalty has been made to Prestige.
Once the final numbering of the catalogue has been effected, the vendor shall
not be permitted to withdraw the consignment or any part thereof.
16. LATE SALES: After the auction, Prestige reserves the
right to sell lots that were not sold at the auction. Prestige shall endeavour
to sell such lots for at least 70% of the estimates but reserves the discretion
to sell such lots for such lower prices as are considered reasonable. Prestige
shall not sell any lot for less than 60% of the auction estimate without first
obtaining the consent of the vendor to such sale. Prestige shall charge to
the vendor a commission of 10% of the actual sale price of such lots.
17. EXTENSIONS: The Vendor is encouraged to obtain a Certificate
of Authenticity for every valuable item about which there may be reasonable
doubt as to its identification or genuineness. If a lot is offered without
a recent Certificate, a buyer may, in accordance with Prestige’s “Terms
of Sale”, request an “extension” to submit a lot to a recognised
expert or expert committee for a Certificate of Authenticity. Prestige shall
not be liable to pay the vendor for any lot for which an extension has properly
been granted by Prestige until such time as the opinion sought has been obtained.
In the event that the lot is returned with a “bad” Certificate
the sale to the buyer shall be voided and the lot treated as if it were unsold
at the auction, and the costs of obtaining that Certificate shall be borne
by the vendor. Unless otherwise agreed with the buyer, nomination of the appropriate
expert or expert committee shall be made by Prestige, and Prestige shall submit
the lot for the Certificate. Once Prestige is advised that an acceptable Certificate
has been issued, Prestige shall be liable to make payment to the Vendor. Should
Prestige agree to the buyer’s nomination of an expert or expert committee,
the extension shall be for a maximum of 90 days (or 180 days in the case of
the BPA) from the date of the auction. If such a Certificate has not been
obtained within 90 days (or 180 days in the case of the BPA or the Royal PS
of London) from the date of the auction then, subject to any contrary agreement
by the vendor to further extend the time to obtain the Certificate, the extension
shall lapse and Prestige shall make payment to the vendor.
18. RETURNED LOTS: In accordance with the Terms of Sale a
buyer may, within a reasonable time after the date of the auction, return
a lot, or advise Prestige of his intention to return a lot, because of an
error in the description. If Prestige accepts that the return of the lot is
reasonable, the lot shall be deemed to have been unsold at the auction and,
in respect of that lot, no commission shall be charged to the vendor and no
payment shall be made by Prestige.
19. PAYMENT: Payment of the net proceeds due to the vendor shall
be made by Prestige to the vendor not earlier than 35 days and not later than
42 days after the date of the auction. Unless otherwise agreed, payment shall
be made by posting a business cheque for the net proceeds to the address provided
by the vendor. Subject to any contrary agreement in writing, payment to overseas
vendors shall be made by way of international bank draft in the currency of
the vendor’s country of residence or, at Prestige's discretion, in such
other currency as Prestige deems appropriate, or by electronic funds transfer
(EFT).
20. FINAL VENDOR ADVICE: Prestige may, but is not obliged
to, supply the vendor with an interim vendor advice at any time after the
auction. At the time of making payment, Prestige shall provide to the vendor
an itemised Vendor Advice detailing the receipt number for each lot, the estimate
for each lot, the hammer price realised for each lot, the total gross sales,
the commission charged, the amount of any GST collected on behalf of the vendor,
and the net amount payable to the vendor. At the same time, Prestige shall
also provide to the vendor a Tax Invoice detailing the commission charged
on each lot and the GST referable to each lot.
21. RE-OFFERED LOTS: At any time from two weeks after the
date of the auction the vendor may request that any or all unsold lots be
returned at the vendor’s expense, and Prestige shall be obliged to return
such lots, provided the vendor does not owe money to Prestige. In the absence
of any such request, a lot that is unsold at the auction or not subsequently
sold shall be retained by Prestige and re-offered at a later auction. Prestige
reserves the discretion to reduce the estimate of the re-offered lot by approximately
25% and to reduce the reserve to 75% of the reduced estimate. Prestige shall
have the discretion to re-offer a lot until it is sold, or to elect at any
time not to re-offer a lot. If Prestige elects not to re-offer a lot, that
lot shall be returned to the vendor at Prestige’s expense.
22. DEEMED ACCEPTANCE: Submission of a consignment constitutes acknowledgment
and acceptance of these Vendor Terms.
23. GOVERNING LAW: These Vendor Terms shall be governed by and interpreted
in accordance with the laws of the State of Victoria.
Vendor Terms
