Here we have outlined all the information you will require to understand how to buy at auction. If however you have any further queries please e-mail or telephone us and our staff will be able to help you.
Viewing
Our viewing times are 10am - 1pm on the Saturday prior to the sale, 2pm - 6pm on the Tuesday prior to the sale and from 9am on the morning of the sale. Our members of staff are available in the saleroom during viewing to help with enquiries about the sale and specific lots. Please note that when handling any item at the view you do so at your own risk and any breakages must be paid for.
Printed Catalogue
All lots carry a description and pre-sale estimate of price. Estimates suggest the price that the lot may reach. Vendor's (or Seller's) reserves may be set and are confidential. Estimates do not carry buyer's premium. Lots may carry abbreviations such as a/f (as found - considerable damage), the absence of such a note does not imply that the lot is without defect. All clients should satisfy themselves of both condition and descriptions prior to the auction. Condition reports are available upon request.
The lots will be sold as they stand at the time of the sale with all their qualities and defects - irrespective of their description in the catalogue.
Any measurements and weights may be approximate.
Any changes to the catalogue after production will be displayed in the Saleroom in a Saleroom notice and will be announced prior to the lot being sold.
On-Line Catalogues
Our catalogues can be viewed on this web site. We aim to illustrate every lot in our Fine Art & Antiques Auctions on-line. We also display our Fine Art & Antiques catalogues with the Antiques trade Gazette at www.antiquestradegazette.com, Invaluable at www.invaluable.com and ukauctioneers at www.ukauctioneers.com. These services are available seven days prior to the auction. (Our General Sale catalogues are on-line on this website from close of business on the Friday before the sale.)
Condition Reports
For perspective purchasers unable to attend the sale, we offer a condition report service. Requests for information are aceppted by telephone, fax or email. Requests for condition reports must be received at the latest 24 hours before the sale otherwise we cannot guarantee we will be able to respond in time. All lots are illustrated where possible for our Fine Art and Antique Sales on-line.
Droit de Suite
In accordance with 'Artists Resale Rights Regulations' or Droit De Suite enforced on 14th February 2006, all lots marked with a D are subject to a resale royalty charge payable by the buyer. this will apply only to lots prefixed with a D selling for 1000 euros or more and will be charged at the rate of 4% of the total hammer price (exclusive of buyer's premium). The resale royalty payment is not subject to VAT and is payable in sterling. The amount due is calculated on the day of the sale at the prevailing rate of exchange. payment is passed directly to the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS), 33 Great Sutton Street, London, EC1V 0DX. For further information please contact DACS on 0207 3368811 or www.dacs.org.uk.
Registering to Bid At Auction
Anyone wishing to bid at our Fine Art and Antique Sales should register at the office and will receive a paddle number before the start of the sale. This number should be held up when bidding and paying and returned to the office by the end of the sale day. Registration for Fine Art and Antique Sales is carried out on the day of the sale only.
For our fortnightly General Sales buyers register once at a cost of £1. The paddle numbers issued will apply for all General sales throughout the year. Re-registration starts again in January.
Auctioning the Lots
Generally we will cover approximately 140-180 lots per hour. The speed of the auction will vary between auctioneers. Bidding stops after the hammer has fallen and the auctioneer's decision is final.
The highest bidder shall be the purchaser, subject to the restriction that the auctioneer reserves the right to refuse any bid, to regulate the amount of bids, and has the absolute discretion in all disputes between bidders.
The Auctioneer reserves the right to fix a reserve and accept bids up to such a reserve on behalf of the vendor. All lots sold without reserve are sold at the auctioneer's discretion.
Commission Bidding
If you cannot attend the sale but wish to bid on a lot, we can do this on your behalf. You will need to fill out a commission bidding form, which is found at the back of our printed catalogues, in the saleroom and on this web site. You should complete the contact details, list the lot and the maximum price you wish to pay, excluding the buyer’s premium. You can then either e-mail us directly from the website, fax the form to us or submit the bid by telephone. Telephone commission bids must be received before 9am on the morning of the sale. The bid will be carried out by us and is completely confidential.
If there are two commission bids of the same value, preference is given to the bid, which is received first.
Successful buyer’s will be contacted by telephone or email or will receive a postal invoice after the sale.
Telephone Bidding
We can only offer a limited number of telephone bidding lines on sale day. This facility is available on lots where the bottom estimate is over £500.00. Requests for telephone bids must be made at least 24 hours prior to the sale and are allocated on a first come first served basis. We require two contact telephone numbers and full address details at time of registration to bid by phone. Boldon Auction Galleries Limited do not take any responsibilty if they are unable to make contact with the bidder.
Online Bidding
Boldon Auction Galleries offer an online bidding service for our quarterly Antique & Fine Art Sales via the-saleroom.com for bidders who cannot attend the sale.
In completing the bidder registration on www.the-saleroom.com and providing your credit card details and unless alternative arrangements are agreed with Boldon Auction Galleries you:
1. authorise Boldon Auction Galleries, if they so wish (within 24 hours after the sale), to charge the credit card given in part or full payment, including all fees, for items successfully purchased in the auction via the-saleroom.com, and
2. confirm that you are authorised to provide these credit card details to Boldon Auction Galleries through www.the-saleroom.com and agree that Boldon Auction Galleries are entitled to ship the goods to the card holder name and card holder address provided in fulfilment of the sale.
Please note that payment from International Purchasers is by direct bank transfer only.
Please note that any lots purchased via the-saleroom.com live auction service will be subject to an additional 3% commission charge + VAT at the rate imposed on the hammer price.
Buyer's Premium
Buyer's Premium is 17.5% (plus VAT on commission only). This is a commission that is paid in addition to the hammer price.
Payment
Payment can be made during or immediately after the sale. The successful buyer should take the paddle number to the office for processing.
Boldon Auction Galleries Limited accept Cash, Debit or Credit cards (there is a 2% surcharge on credit card transactions on the total invoice), Bank Transfers and Cheques made payable to 'Boldon Auction Galleries Limited' with a valid cheque guarantee card.
Bank Transfer to:
Barclays Bank plc, 1 King Street, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, NE33 1DA
Account No. 13300714
Sort Code 20-80-47
IBAN GB18 BARC 2080 4713 3007 14
SWIFTBIC BARCGB22
Once payment has been made, goods may be cleared and the purchaser will receive their invoice from one of our porters with their goods.
We ask that all items are paid and removed from the saleroom by 5pm on the Friday after the sale.
If the items have not been removed by this time storage will be charged at £5 per day for large items and £1 per day for smaller items.
Package and Shipping
We are neither professional packers or shippers; however should you require small items to be packed and posted we will try to accomodate your requirements, after payment for the lots. Demand is high for this service and although we aim to have the items packed and ready to send within a week, we cannot guarantee this. We would like to remind all our customers that whilst we make every effort to pack suitably we can in no way take responsibility for the safe arrival of goods and take no liability for damage in transit.
Catalogue Subscription
If you would like to receive catalogues by post we offer a subscription service. For further information please call us.
Please note that your email address will automatically be added to our mailing list unless you request otherwise. We send out fortnightly email Auction Alerts for General Sales and Quarterly email Auction Alerts for Fine Art & Antique Sales.
