The Auction

• Unless otherwise stated our sales are held on Saturdays and begin at 10am with access to the public available from 9.30am.  Sales are held off-site at Court Lodge Farm in Bodiam, a venue just a few minutes drive from our offices at Quarry Farm.

• There is no viewing available on saleday.  The lots are displayed on a screen during the auction and can be collected, once paid for, from our offices following the sale and during the week following the auction, by appointment.  For more post-sale information please visit our Payment and Collection page.

• If bidding in the room you will be given a paddle number with which to bid.  All bidders are required to register to bid prior to the saleday, and if they have not registered with us before will need to provide two forms of proof of ID to enable us to complete the registration process.  For more information on the registration process please visit our Viewing & Bidder Registration page.   Bidders who attempt to register on the day may risk their registration not being authorised and being unable to bid.

• If bidding in person bidders must raise their bidding card clearly so that the auctioneer can see it.  The auctioneer will indicate if they have taken the bid.  If you are successful the hammer will go down and your bidding number will be called out.  The auctioneer will only take bids from two people at any one time and therefore on occasions it is necessary to wait until a bidder has dropped out before your bid is accepted.

• Our buyer’s premium is 20%.   We are not registered for VAT.  This amount is added to the hammer price. Therefore an invoice for a successful bid of £100 will be £120.

• Commission bids are taken in advance of the saleday and at our discretion, and require the same registration process as those bidding in the room.  The auctioneer will then bid on your behalf up to the amount stated, and will endeavour to buy the lot for the lowest amount possible against other bids and any reserve placed on the item. When two commission bids of the same value are placed on a lot, the first bid received will take precedent.  The value of commission bids placed on lots is confidential until after the sale.  Commission bid forms can be obtained and filled in at our offices, bids can also be sent via email or post, or taken over the telephone.  If you are successful we will contact you after the auction by email and immediate payment is then required by bank transfer.

• The majority of the bidding during our sales takes place online.  Bidders are able to bid live through our Website, which requires a separate registration process to bidders leaving commission bids or bidding in person.   Bidding online can also take place with The Saleroom and Easy Live Auction.  There are additional and differing fees associated with each of these options which are listed below:

Bidding via our website incurs an additional 3% charge on the hammer price plus VAT (3.6% inclusive) in addition to our buyer’s premium of 20%.

Bidding via Easy Live Auction also incurs a 3% charge on the hammer price plus VAT (3.6% inclusive) in addition to our buyer’s premium of 20%, or a flat upfront fee of £3.

Bidding via The Saleroom incurs a 4.95% charge on the hammer price plus VAT (5.94 inclusive) in addition to our buyer’s premium of 20%.

• All fees will be automatically added to your invoice.  Invoices are sent out immediately following the sale by email.  Payment is required immediately by bank transfer.  We do not take cash and do not have the facility to take card payments in person or by phone.  For buyers who bid via our Website or The Saleroom, an electronic payment request may be sent by email, at our discretion, if a debit card was registered in connection with the sale.  This option is not available to Easy Live Auction bidders.  If you are unable to pay by these methods please do not bid in our sale.  For more post-sale information please visit our Payment & Collection page.

If there are no bids on a lot, or bidding does not reach the reserve price of the lot, then it will be passed.  Post-sale offers made immediately following the sale on unsold lots will be considered if they are in the best interest of the seller, and an after-sale purchase can be arranged, at our discretion, with our buyer’s premium of 20% still being applicable unless otherwise agreed.

During the week following the sale remaining unsold lots will be offered in a timed auction via our Website and The Saleroom.  In a timed auction, there is no auctioneer taking bids from a live audience in a room.  Instead, bids can be placed online, on each lot for a defined period of time. Once the time-period expires, the bidder who has submitted the highest bid wins the lot, provided the bid exceeds the reserve price.  The timed auction will end at midday on the Friday following the sale and successful bidders will be sent their invoices via email with immediate payment required.  Once again our buyer’s premium of 20% will be added to the hammer total, along with the associated online bidding platform fees.

Following the competition of the sale there will be a 30-40 minute break whilst staff pack up at the off-site premises and travel back to our offices at Quarry Farm to set up and make the necessary arrangements to be in a position to co-ordinate the collection of lots which have been paid for remotely (please familiarise yourself with our accepted methods of payment – We do not take payments in person including cash or card payments) and will remain onsite until 5pm. For more information on collection please visit our Payment and Collection page.

If you have any questions regarding our sales or the bidding process please don’t hesitate to contact us.  For further information for buyers please visit our Terms of Business page.