How to Buy
There are four ways to buy at our auctions sales, depending on the sale content.
In person
If you attend the sale you can enjoy watching our auctioneers in action, and take your purchases home immediately.
Live Internet Bids
This facility enables you to watch the sale online and bid interactively. Not available for all auctions.
Our auction sales are all subject to the Terms & Conditions of Auction Sale available in our catalogues and auction room.
Buyer’s premium
A Buyers’ Premium of 23.9% (GST inclusive) will be charged on the hammer price of all lots purchased.
Lot
If you are new to auctions in general, the term ‘Lot’ may be unfamiliar. An item, pair, set or group of items may form a ‘lot’ at the auction.
Catalogues
Catalogues are available for all specialist sales. Catalogue information includes the lot number, a description of the lot, and the auctioneer’s estimate of what the lot may fetch. Most of our weekly sale will be sold on the basis of the auctioneer’s description as there will not be a printed catalogue for the whole auction. It may not, therefore, be immediately apparent what constitutes a lot – our staff will be very happy to assist with information about items for sale.
Inspection and viewing
Items are sold without warranty, on an ‘as is, where is’ basis. It is important to thoroughly inspect items prior to bidding. This is to satisfy yourself with regard to the nature and condition of the item that has attracted your attention.
Estimates
Whether printed in the catalogue or in verbal form from our staff, estimates are our expectations of what lots may fetch. Buyers’ degree of interest in lots may confound estimates and estimates may be adjusted up or down, as the sale approaches.
Attending the sale
It is important to allow enough time to travel to the saleroom and register to bid, prior to the lot in which you are interested coming up for sale.
Selling speed
Sales proceed at between 150 and 220 lots per hour. Based on that it is possible to time your arrival at the saleroom for the lot you are interested in. Alternatively, you could make a day of it and enjoy the whole sale.
Registering to bid
This only takes a few minutes. You will need to provide name and contact details such as residential address, telephone and email. All such information is kept confidential.
Bidding
It is essential to pay close attention to the sale process, look at the auctioneer when your lot comes up for sale, and raise your hand or bidding number to indicate your wish to bid on the lot. Observation of the auction sale for a few minutes will quickly establish your familiarity with the process and the auctioneer will instinctively realise if it is your first auction and make allowance for any hesitancy on your part. You will need to indicate each bid you make so that if the auctioneer takes a bid from another bidder, following your bid, you will need to make another bid, in the same way, if you wish to proceed and increase the bid figure (hence the name ‘auction’ from the Latin for ‘advance’ or ‘increase’).
Payment and collection
You will be able to pay for and, with our staff’s assistance, collect your purchase within a few minutes of successfully bidding for the lot. All purchases must be paid for and collected by 4pm on the working day following the auction. Delivery of purchases is subject to full payment and confirmation of any licence or export requirements.
Payment methods:
Cash, Direct Deposit, Credit Cards – EFTPOS/Debit Card; Visa and Mastercard (1% surcharge); Amex (3% surcharge); UnionPay; and Personal Cheques by pre-approval.
Cultural Heritage Act
Australia operates a Cultured Heritage Act to control the export of works thought to have or be of cultural significance. It is the responsibility of the purchaser to obtain the required permit prior to exportation.
Endangered Species
Items made of or incorporating animal material such as ivory, whale bone, tortoiseshell, etc, require a CITES permit prior to exportation.
