Please take the time to carefully review this contract:
Sales Contract
1. New England Auction Company, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as
New England Auction Company) agrees to act as your agent in the sale of the property listed on the Auction Consignment Listing. You commission us to sell your items to the highest bidder in our _____________________ auction.
2. You certify that you are the owner, have good title to, or have been given the right to sell these items, and that they are authentic to the best of your knowledge. If, in the sole opinion of New England Auction Company, authenticity of the consigned material and/or its ownership is unclear or in dispute, you will indemnify both New England Auction Company and the buyer of said material and hold them harmless. You shall also reimburse New England Auction Company for any and all
Fees including but not limited to attorneys’ fees and costs associated with defending any claim or action pertaining to ownership or authenticity. (New England Auction Company reserves the right to disclose the identity of the consignor in the event of a question of ownership.) Should a sold item be returned to New England Auction Company due to the questioning of proper title and/or doubtful authenticity (final decision on authenticity to be determined by New England Auction Company), you agree to reimburse New England Auction Company the proceeds you were previously paid for the sale of that item. This stipulation of reimbursement is without time limit.
3. New England Auction Company may, at their sole discretion, return to you at your expense any item deemed unacceptable for auctioning. Materials may be declined for any reason, including, but not limited to: authenticity, condition, inventory duplication, past sales performance, and/or incompatibility with auction format. A shipping/handling fee in addition to delivery charges and insurance applies to all return packages.
4. At the sole discretion of New England Auction Company, consignment items may be grouped and categorized into group lots and then cataloged and described as such allowing New England Auction Company to conduct the auction as it deems appropriate.
5. New England Auction Company retains the copyright to any photos and/or descriptions of the items in catalogs or advertisements.
6. The auction scheduling of material received prior to, or by, each monthly consignment deadline is subject to catalog space limitations and existing inventory considerations. Accepted consignments will be scheduled for auctioning as soon as possible while adhering to New England Auction Company’s judgment relative to proper catalog placement and its policy of minimizing lot similarity/duplication within a single auction.
7. Each item must have an acceptable minimum selling price (or minimum bid) to be either determined, or approved, by New England Auction Company. The minimum bid, for most auction lots, is the lowest possible selling price for the lot.
8. New England Auction Company will allow the use of a reasonable, confidential reserve for certain lots. Reserves are limited in use and are considered/ approved on an individual lot basis. The reserve assigned to a lot is the lowest bid that must be achieved in order for a lot to be awarded to a bidder. New England Auction Company’s consignment commission will be deducted from that bid. New England Auction Company reserves the right to sell a lot that has achieved a bid less than the assigned reserve while committing to a consignor payoff that would be equivalent to the reserve having actually been met.
9. A buy-back fee can be charged for the use of a reserve. The assessing of a buy-back fee is considered/approved on a per-item basis. If a lot is assessed a buy-back fee and does not reach its assigned reserve, the consignor is responsible for payment of that fee within 30 days of the auction closing in which the subject lot did not reach reserve. If payment is not received within 30 days, New England Auction Company reserves the right to auction or sell the item to recover the unpaid fee. After deducting the amount due to New England Auction Company, remaining proceeds from the attained selling price will be paid to the consignor.
10. Upon request, and when appropriate to the size (quantity) and/or value of a consignment package, New England Auction Company will issue a consignment cash advance (the amount of which will be subject to minimum bid assignments and the overall estimated sales potential for the items being consigned). New England Auction Company has sole discretion in determining whether or not an advance can be accommodated and the amount of that advance. The amount of the advance issued will be deducted from the final consignor payoff at the time that payment is made. Advances may be charged a monthly interest rate of 1.5%.
11. Unless prior arrangements are made, New England Auction Company is not responsible for items until they are in our possession. You are responsible for the insurance of items (should you elect insurance coverage) during shipping to this office. New England Auction Company maintains insurance for items, once in our possession, equivalent to the replacement (market) value of the item. This value is to be determined by New England Auction Company based on actual selling prices achieved for similar items (signature, format, and condition considerations factoring into value determinations).
New England Auction Company also insures all items during shipping to winning bidders. In the event of theft, damage, or total destruction to any consigned items in our possession, New England Auction Company will pay you the proceeds of the insurance coverage for that item.
12. The standard commission and fee structure for consignment representation is as follows:
7.5% for items over $7,500
10% for items over $2,500 up to $7,500
15% for items over $250 up to $2,500
20% for items up to $100 up to 250
25% for items up to $100
13. New England Auction Company reserves the right to offer consignment terms specific to the representation of an individual item or tailored to an overall consignment package. Such terms are confidential to New England Auction Company and the consignor and are non-transferable by the consignor.
14. A $20 per-lot processing fee covers the cost for representation in our electronic catalog as well as on our website. While all lots will be illustrated on the website, New England Auction Company reserves the right to represent an item without illustration if a printed catalog is available for a particular auction (most auctions will only have an electronic catalog). All lots are subject to the lot processing.
15. It is the absolute right of New England Auction Company, without liability or penalty to the consignor, to withdraw any or all of the consigned items at any time, and for any reason, prior to the auction’s completion.
If you withdraw any item subsequent to the signing of this Agreement, then New England Auction Company shall be entitled to collect a fee from you in the amount of 30% of the minimum bid amount as reflected on the Auction Consignment Listing. Said payment shall be made within thirty (30) days. Otherwise, New England Auction Company has the right to sell or auction said consigned item in order to pay the outstanding fee, and shall remit the remaining proceeds to you utilizing the standard payment time frame outlined within this Consignment Agreement.
16. Neither you, nor anyone acting as your agent, may bid on the items you have tendered to New England Auction Company. If you violate this provision of the Agreement, and have the highest bid on an item or lot, you will be subject to paying New England Auction Company the bid, commission, and buyer’s premium on the item or lot upon which you are the highest bidder. There are no exceptions to this provision. Unpaid charges will result in the subject item being sold or auctioned by New England Auction Company in order to recover costs. Should there be proceeds in excess of the amount due to New England Auction Company, that amount will be remitted to the consignor at the time of the next scheduled consignor payoff.
17. Providing New England Auction Company has received payment from the buyer, you will be paid forty-five (35) days after the closing date of the auction in which your item(s) sell. Consignor payments due to you at a future date cannot be applied to invoices you might presently owe to New England Auction Company. If you have an open New England Auction Company invoice (current or overdue) at the time a consignor payoff is scheduled, New England Auction Company reserves the right to apply to the unpaid invoice(s) the funds due to you.
18. You agree to have material returned to you at your expense.
This might include, but is not limited to, items declined for auctioning and items that did not sell in an auction. (All lots, sold or unsold, are charged the $20 processing fee discussed in section 14 above.) Items declined for auction inclusion will be returned as soon as possible subsequent to the determination being made. Items unsold in an auction are returned within 30 days of an auction’s close.
19. New England Auction Company is not responsible for any items confiscated from us by any legal entity of the United States of America. Furthermore the signer of this contract waives the right to engage in any legal action against New England Auction Company in the event an item is confiscated.
20. This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Connecticut. Both parties agree that to the extent any court action has to be taken by either party resulting from the consignment of any goods that said action will be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction within the State of Connecticut
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IMPORTANT: By signing this agreement you are agreeing to all terms contained herein. Your signature on this agreement is also required for replacement value insurance to be in effect while your items are in New England Auction Company’s possession.
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Received and accepted by: Date
New England Auction Company
Auction Consignment Agreement
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Agreed to by: Date
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