Sales conditions
ONLINE ONLY AUCTIONIMPORTANT INFORMATIONGUIDE TO BUYINGThe following guidance is intended to give you useful information on how to buy in an Online Only Auction. We recommend that you read the guidance below carefully in order to familiarize yourself with the way that the Online Only Platform works before you start to participate in an Online Only Auction and the “Auction Details” tab.It is also important that you read the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) which are set out below and note that Sotheby’s acts for the Seller. Terms used in this Guide shall have the same meaning as in the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) unless the context otherwise requires. Please note that in case there is any discrepancy between the English version and the French version of this Guide, the French version will prevail.A. REGISTER A VERIFIED ACCOUNT WITH SOTHEBY’S In order to be eligible to participate in an Online Only Auction, you must have registered, and maintain, a Verifi ed Account. The registration process requires you to provide certain information, including your address and your debit card or credit card information, and to confi rm that you have read and accept this document and our Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only). In order to bid in an Online Only Auction, you must be registered as a Verifi ed Accountholder no later than 24 hours prior to the closing of the fi rst Lot in the relevant Online Only Auction in which you wish to bid. Further details about how to become a Verifi ed Accountholder are set out in Condition VI of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only). Once you have completed the registration process to become a Verifi ed Accountholder, you can sign into the applicable Online Only Auction using your own username and password. To log in to your Verifi ed Account, please follow the login instructions provided at: http://sothebys.com/accountcreation Additional information is available here: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy-sell#how-to-bid-online B. BROWSE THE LOTS FOR SALE IN THE ONLINE ONLY AUCTION Once the relevant Online Only Auction has opened, the Online Sale Information regardi ng each Lot for sale in the Online Only Auction is available for you to review. Pre-sale estimates As indicated in the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only), the Online Sale Information for each Lot includes pre-sale estimates which are provided by Sotheby’s as a guide for prospective Bidders to assist them with determining the appropriate amount to bid for a Lot. In our opinion, any bid for an amount which is between the high pre-sale estimate and the low pre-sale estimate stated in the Online Sale Information for the Lot would off er a chance of success. Having said that, it is important you appreciate that Lots can realize prices which are above or below the pre-sale estimates. It is advisable to check the pre-sale estimates prior to submission of a bid. Please note that the pre-sale estimates which are stated in the Online Sale Information do not include Buyer’s Premium, any applicable VAT (or any amount in lieu of VAT) or any applicable ARR. Condition of Lots The Online Sale Information includes the online catalogue description of the Lot (including any image of the Lot); any online condition report provided in relation to the Lot by Sotheby’s solely as a convenience; any other information relating to the Lot or the conduct of the Online Only Auction which is published on the Online Only Platform (including this document). All Lots are off ered for sale in the condition which they are in at the time of sale in an Online Only Auction, with their faults or imperfections. The absence of any reference to the condition of a Lot in the online catalogue description does not imply that the Lot is free from faults or imperfections. Please refer to Condition III of the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) for further information regarding the basis upon which your bid for a Lot is submitted. ProvenanceIn certain circumstances, Sotheby’s may publish in the online catalogue description for a Lot the history of ownership of a work of art if such information contributes to scholarship or is otherwise well known and assists in distinguishing the work of art. However, the identity of the seller or previous owners may not be disclosed for a variety of reasons. For example, such information may be excluded to accommodate a seller’s request for confi dentiality or because the identity of prior owners is unknown given the age of the work of art. Bidding practicesIn situations where a person who is allowed to bid on a Lot has a direct or indirect interest in such Lot, such as the benefi ciary or executor of an estate selling the Lot, a joint owner of the Lot, or a party providing or participating in a guarantee of the Lot, Sotheby’s will notify you by email and/or publish a notifi cation in the Online Sale Information that interested parties may bid on the Lot. In certain instances, interested parties may have knowledge of the reserves.Information regarding shipping and delivery Sotheby’s off ers a comprehensive shipping service although please note that due to the current circumstances surrounding COVID-19 shipping is currently not taking place.
The Online Sale Information includes a shipping costs calculator which has been developed by Sotheby’s to enable you to estimate the amount it will cost you to have the Lot shipped to your delivery address (inclusive of VAT, associated packing and transit insurance costs) in the event that you are the successful Bidder so that you are able to account for this cost in your assessment of the appropriate amount to bid for a Lot. Please also note that the transit insurance price quoted by the shipping costs calculator shall not include the impact of any applicable ARR on the total purchase price payable in respect of a Lot by the Buyer. Please also note that the shipping cost which is generated by the shipping costs calculator may diff er to the actual amount of the Buyer’s Shipping Costs which is quoted to you in the Buyer’s Shipping Quote (which shall include the amount of any applicable ARR payable in relation to the Lot). Sotheby’s is always happy to discuss any Lot in which you are interested. Further information requests can be submitted via the ‘Request Info’ button which appears at Lot level on the Online Only Platform.C. SUBMISSION OF A BID FOR A LOT IN AN ONLINE ONLY AUCTION An Online Only Auction can be fast moving. Competitive bidding can often escalate very quickly. Once you have set up a Verifi ed Account, you will be able to submit a bid for a Lot by entering your maximum bid and clicking the ‘Place Bid’ button which appears at Lot level on the Online Only Platform. If you haven’t already registered as a Verifi ed Accountholder, you will be prompted to do so at that point. You will then be asked to review and confi rm your maximum bid (being the highest price you are willing to pay on the Lot) by pressing ‘Continue to Confi rm Bid’ which appears at Lot level on the Online Only Platform and in doing so your bid is submitted. You accept and agree that a bid which is submitted using the ‘Continue to Confi rm Bid’ button and increased bids are submitted as set out in section 4 below. Bids can be submitted through the Online Only Platform from the start of the Online Only Auction until the Lot closes.You may bid at or above the starting bid displayed on the Online Only Platform. You may also input a maximum bid which, upon confi rmation, will be executed automatically up to this predefi ned maximum value in response to other bids, including bids placed by Sotheby’s on behalf of the Seller, up to the amount of the Reserve (if applicable). Bids placed by Sotheby’s on behalf of the Seller, up to the amount of the Reserve, will be counted toward the total bid count displayed on the Online Only Platform. Sotheby’s uses pre-determined bidding increments. Please refer to the bidding increments link which appears at Lot level on the Online Only Platform. The current leading bid will be visible to all Bidders; the value and status of your maximum bid will be visible only to you,
unless it is the leading bid. If the status of your bid changes, you will receive notifi cations via email and push (if you have the Sotheby’s App installed).In cases where two equivalent maximum bids are submitted, the fi rst bid received will take priority.D. MONITORING AND INCREASING YOUR BIDS If you are outbid at any time you will receive an email notifi cation informing you accordingly and providing a link to follow to increase your bid. We encourage you to monitor the bids on Lots throughout the duration of the Online Only Auction to ensure your status as the highest bidder up until the close of the Online Only Auction. Upon the closing of each Lot, you will receive another email and push notifi cation indicating whether you have won or lost each Lot on which you have placed a bid. Your updated bid is submitted by pressing ‘Cont inue to Confi rm Bid’. If you are using the Sotheby’s mobile application then the ‘Quick Bid’ option can also be used to submit a bid by either (i) swiping the ‘Quick Bid’ button all the way to the right of the screen; or (ii) pressing the ‘Quick Bid’ Button and then pressing the ‘Place Bid’ Button.E. CLOSING THE ONLINE ONLY AUCTION An end time is displayed for each Lot at Lot level on the Online Only Platform. Lots will close at the time stated at Lot level on the Online Only Platform unless a bid is placed within 5 minutes of a Lot’s scheduled end time. If this occurs, Sotheby’s will extend the sale of that Lot by 5 minutes from the time of the last bid. The extension of any Lot’s closing time does not aff ect the closing time of the following Lots. This may result in Lots closing out of numerical order.F. PRE-EMPTION RIGHT The French State retains a pre-emption right on certain works of art and archives, which may be exercised at the end of the Online Only Auction and must be confi rmed within four (4) hours from the notifi cation of the required information by Sotheby’s (closing date and hour, description of the sold Lots, Hammer Price achieved for sold Lots) which shall be made at the closing date of the Online Only Auction. In case of confi rmation within such time period, the French State shall be subrogated to the Buyer’s position.The following categories of goods may be subject to the French State’s pre-emption right:(1) Archaeological objects more than 100 years old found during searches of archaeological sites on land or under water, or stemming from archaeological collections;(2) Decorative features stemming from building’s dismantling;(3) Paintings, watercolours, gouaches and pastels, drawings, collages, etchings, posters and their respective matrixes/moulds;(4) Photographs, fi lms and negatives thereof irrespective of their substrate and/or number;(5) Motion pictures and audio-visual works;(6) Original sculptures or statuary or copies obtained by the same process and castings which were produced under the artists or legal descendants’ control and limited in number to less than eight copies, plus four numbered copies by the artists;(7) Contemporary works of art not included in categories 3) to 6);(8) Furniture and decorative works of art;(9) Incunabula and manuscripts, books and other printed documents;(10) Collections and specimens from zoological, botanical, mineralogy, anatomy collections ; collections and objects presenting a historical, paleontological, ethnographic or numismatic interest;(11) Means of transport;(12) Any other antique objects not included in categories 1) to 11).G. HOW TO PAY FOR YOUR LOT If you are a successful Buyer of a Lot, Sotheby’s will email you the Buyer’s Invoice for the total amount due by you (together with payment instructions) as soon as reasonably practicable after the fi nal Lot in the relevant Online Only Auction closes.Payment from the invoiced party is due in full by the payment date stated in the Buyer’s Invoice. Please note that we reserve the right to decline payments received from anyone other than the buyer of record and that clearance of such payments will be required. Please contact our Post Sale Services Department if you have any questions concerning clearance (frpostsaleservices@sothebys.com and +33 1 53 05 53 67).A Buyer’s Premium is payable by the successful Bidder on a Lot in an Online Only Auction. It will be added to the Hammer Price. The Buyer’s Premium is: - 25 % of the Hammer Price up to and including EUR 250,000, - 0 % of any amount in excess of EUR 250,000 up to and including EUR 2,500,000, and - 13.9 % of any amount in excess of EUR 2,500,000, plus any applicable VAT or amount in lieu of VAT at the applicable rate.If you are a successful Buyer of a Lot, you will also be required to pay where applicable: Sales and/or Value Added Tax, import tax, customs duty, and any local clearance fees applicable for your country e.g. US Merchandise Processing Fee, Artist’s Resale Right, Buyer’s Shipping Costs (which include the transit insurance fee). Please refer to the Conditions of Business for Buyers (Online Only) for more information.Payment may be made by the following methods:
• Bank wire transfer in Euros,• Euro banker’s draft,• Euro cheque,• Credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, CUP), • Cash in Euros.Please note that:- €40,000 is the maximum payment that can be accepted by credit card.- under French law, for private or professionals payment in cash is limited to an equal or lower amount of €1,000 per sale (but to an amount of €15,000 for a non French resident for tax purposes who does not operate as a professional). It remains at the discretion of Sotheby’s to assess the evidence of non-tax residence as well as proof that the buyer is not acting for professional purposes.Cashiers and the Collection of Purchases offi ce are open daily 10am to 12.30pm and 2pm to 6pm. It is Sotheby’s policy to request any new clients or buyers preferring to make a cash payment to provide proof of identity (by providing some form of government issued identifi cation containing a photograph, such as a passport, identity card or driver’s licence) and confi rmation of permanent address. Thank you for your co-operation.Cheques and drafts should be made payable to Sotheby’s. Although personal and company cheques drawn up in Euro on French bank as by a foreign bank are accepted, you are advised that property will not be released before the fi nal collection of the cheque, collection that can take several days, or even several weeks as for foreign cheque (credit after collection). On the other hand, the lot will be issued immediately if you have a pre-arranged Cheque Acceptance Facility.Bank transfers: our bank account details are shown on our Buyer’s Invoices. Please include your name, Sotheby’s account number and invoice number with your instructions to your bank. No administrative fee is charged for payment by Mastercard and Visa.We reserve the right to seek identifi cation of the source of funds received.H. SHIPPING, EXPORT OF PROPERTY AND RELATED MATTERS If you are a successful Buyer of a Lot, Sotheby’s will also email you a Buyer’s Shipping Quote in respect of the Buyer’s Shipping Costs payable by the Buyer in consideration of Sotheby’s delivery services for the purchased Lot at which point Sotheby’s will ask you to confi rm your delivery address. In the event that you are eligible for a VAT rebate based on your confi rmed delivery address, Sotheby’s may reissue the Buyer’s Invoice. Provided that the Buyer’s Invoice has been settled in full by the payment date stated in the Buyer’s Invoice and the Buyer’s Shipping Quote has been settled in full by the payment date stated in the Buyer’s Shipping Quote,
any fi nancial release of the property has been completed and any requisite export licence or certifi cates has been provided to Sotheby’s, Sotheby’s will ship the purchased property to your delivery address no later than thirty (30) days from the closing date of the relevant Online Only Auction, unless due to circumstances outside of Sotheby’s control or otherwise explicitly agreed. All shipments should be unpacked and checked on delivery and any discrepancies notifi ed immediately to the party identifi ed in your quotation and/or the accompanying documentation. Please note that due to COVID-19 restrictions there will be signifi cant delays in applying for, and obtaining, licences.Sotheby’s recommends that you retain all import and export papers, including licences, as in certain countries you may be required to produce them to governmental authorities.Please note that Sotheby’s is unable to arrange delivery to those locations which are specifi ed as excluded zones in the shipping costs calculator which is available on the Online Only Platform (each an “Unavailable Destination”). In the event that you request delivery of a Lot to an Unavailable Destination, Sotheby’s reserves the right to require you to collect the Lot from the Sotheby’s storage facility at Gennevilliers (99 avenue Louis Roche, 92230 Gennevilliers, France) or to arrange delivery of the Lot by a third party carrier. Export of Cultural Goods The export of any property from France (including to other Member States of the European Union), as well as export from the European Union, may be subject to one or more export or import licences being granted. Sotheby’s, upon request and for an administrative fee, may apply for a licence to export your Lot(s) outside France. An EU Licence is necessary to export from the European Union cultural goods subject to the EU Regulation on the export of cultural property (EEC No. 3911/92, Offi cial Journal No. L395 of 31/12/92).A French Passport (‘certifi cat pour un bien culturel’) is necessary to move from France to another Member State of the EU cultural goods valued at or above the relevant French Passport threshold. A French Passport may also be necessary to export outside the European Union cultural goods valued at or above the relevant French Passport limit but below the EU Licence limit.The following is a selection of some of the categories and a summary of the limits above which either an EU licence or a French Passport is required (this selection is not exhaustive and there are other restrictions): • Watercolours, gouaches and pastels more than 50 years old €30,000; • Drawings more than 50 years old €15,000;
• Pictures and paintings in any medium on any material more than 50 years old (other than watercolours, gouaches and pastels above mentioned) €150,000; • Original sculpture or statuary and copies produced by the same process as the original more than 50 years old €50,000; • Books more than 100 years old singly or in collection €50,000; • Means of transport more than 75 years old €50,000; • Original prints, engravings, serigraphs and lithographs with their respective plates and original posters €15,000; • Photographs, fi lms and negatives there of €15,000; • Printed Maps more than 100 years old €15,000; • Incunabula and manuscripts including maps and musical scores single or in collections irrespective of value; • Archaeological items more than 100 years old irrespective of value; • Dismembered monuments more than 100 years old irrespective of value; • Archives more than 50 years old irrespective of value; • Any other antique, including jewels, items more than 50 years old €50,000. A licence may also be required to import certain cultural goods in some countries.It is the buyer’s responsibility to obtain any relevant export or import licence. Buyers are reminded that property purchased must be paid for immediately after the auction. The denial of any export or import licence required or any delay in obtaining such licence cannot justify the cancellation of the sale or any delay in making payment of the total amount due. Please note that when applying for an export or import licence for a property, the authority issuing such licence may express its intention to acquire the property within the conditions provided by law.Sales and Use Taxes Buyers should note that local sales taxes or use taxes may become payable upon import of items following purchase (for example, use tax may be due when purchased items are imported into certain states in the US). Buyers should obtain their own advice in this regard.In the event that Sotheby’s ships items for a purchaser in this sale to a destination within a US state in which Sotheby’s is registered to collect sales tax, Sotheby’s is obliged to collect and remit the respective state’s sales / use tax in eff ect on the total purchase price (including hammer price, buyer’s premium, shipping costs and insurance) of such items, regardless of the country in which the purchaser resides or is a citizen. Where the purchaser has provided Sotheby’s with a valid Resale Exemption Certifi cate prior to the release of the property, sales / use tax will not be charged. Clients who wish to provide resale or exemption documentation for their purchases should contact Post Sale Services. Clients who wish to have their purchased lots shipped to the US by Sotheby’s are advised to contact the Post Sale Manager of this online sale before arranging shipping.Endangered Species: Items made of or incorporating plant or animal material, such as coral, crocodile, ivory, whalebone, tortoiseshell, etc., irrespective of age or value, require a specifi c licence from the French Ministry of the Environment prior to leaving France and may require additional licences or certifi cates upon importation to any country outside the EU. Please note that the ability to obtain an export licence or certifi cate does not ensure the ability to obtain an import licence or certifi cate in another country, and vice versa. For example, it is illegal to import African elephant ivory into the United States and there are other restrictions on the importation of ivory into the US under certain US regulations which are designed to protect wildlife conservation. Sotheby’s suggests that buyers check with their own government regarding wildlife import requirements prior to placing a bid. It is the buyer’s responsibility to obtain any export or import licences and/or certifi cates as well as any other required documentation. Please note that Sotheby’s is not able to assist buyers with the shipment of any Lots containing ivory and/or other restricted materials into the US. A buyer’s inability to export or import these Lots cannot justify a delay in payment or a sale’s cancellation.US Economic Sanctions: The United States maintains economic and trade sanctions against targeted foreign countries, groups and organisations. There may be restrictions on the import into the United States of certain items originating in sanctioned countries, including Burma, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Sudan. The purchaser’s inability to import any item into the US or any other country as a result of these or other restrictions shall not justify cancellation or rescission of the sale or any delay in payment. Please check with the specialist department if you are uncertain as to whether a Lot is subject to restrictions on importation or exportation.VAT RULESLots with no VAT symbol (Margin Scheme) Where there is no VAT symbol, Sotheby’s is able to use the Margin Scheme and VAT will not normally be charged on the Hammer Price. Sotheby’s must bear VAT on the Buyer’s Premium and hence will charge an amount in lieu of VAT (currently at a rate of 20% or 5.5% for books) on this premium. This amount will form part of the Buyer’s Premium on our invoice and will not be separately identifi ed.Lots with † single dagger symbol (property sold by European Union professionals) Where there is the † single dagger symbol next to the Lot number or the estimate, the Lot is sold outside the margin scheme by European Union (EU) professionals. VAT will be charged to the buyer (currently at a rate of 20% or 5.5% for books) on both the Hammer Price and Buyer’s Premium subject to a possible refund of such VAT if the Lot is exported outside the EU or if it is removed to another EU country (see also paragraph below).VAT refund for property with † single dagger symbol (for European Union professionals) VAT registered Buyers from other European Union (EU) countries may have the VAT on the Hammer Price and on the Buyer’s Premium refunded if they provide Sotheby’s with their VAT registration number and evidence that the property has been removed from France to another country of the EU within a month of the date of sale.Lots with