Conditions of sales

General terms and conditions

Coutau-Bégarie Auction House guarantees the authenticity of attribution of property listed in the catalogue which can be modified by saleroom notices or oral indications given at the time of the sale, recorded in the official sale record.
The correctness of the catalogue or other description of the physical condition, size, quality, rarity, importance, medium, provenance, exhibitions or historical relevance of any property is a statement of opinion only.
Any illustrations in the catalogue are solely for the guidance of prospective buyers and are not to be relied upon in terms of colour or necessarily to reveal imperfections in any lot.

Many lots are of an age or nature which precludes their being in mint condition and some descriptions in the catalogue make reference to damage or restoration. Such information is given for guidance only and the absence of such a reference does not imply that a lot is free from defects not either does any reference to particular defects imply the absence of others.

It is the responsibility of prospective bidders to inspect the property before bidding to determine its condition, size and to determine if it has been repaired or restored and to request a condition report.
Buyers must satisfy themselves to all matters referred above by inspection or otherwise prior to the date of the auction. They should carefully inspect items about the condition of each lot, as this is not necessarily stated in the catalogue.

A buyer’s premium will be added to the successful bid price and is payable by the purchaser based on a percentage of the hammer price. It is important to remember that there is 28,80% TTC (buyers premium 24% + TVA 20%) on top of the hammer price.

Subject to any reserve price, the highest bidder shall be the buyer and a dispute shall be settled by the auctioneer who may at any time at his absolute discretion and regardless of the fall of the hammer re-open the bidding or withdraw the lot from sale.
Payment is in euro and is expected almost immediately after bidding for an item. We accept cash, pre-approved cheque or credit card. Bank commissions and expenses have to be paid by the buyer.

Every item becomes the entire responsibility of the new owner for any damages as soon as the auctioneer announces that an item has been sold.
Once payment is received you will be issued an invoice and a collection sheet. Items can be collected after payment has been made. Buyers cannot take possession of or remove their purchases from the auction until the total purchase price, including applicable taxes or fees, has been paid in full.
All property must be removed from either our premises by the purchaser at his expense as soon as possible after the sale otherwise an handling charge, until its removal, will be payable to the Auction House by the purchaser.

In the event a successful bidder fails to pay any amounts due, within one month, the Auction House reserves the right to cancel the sale and re-sell the lot according to the «Folle Enchère » French law (Law of July 10th 2000). The purchaser will be charged for all the expenses caused by the re-auctioning of the property. If the new auction price does not reach the former one, the failing purchaser have to pay the difference.
In any case, the purchaser will be liable for any deficiency, any and all costs, handling charges, late charges, expenses, legal fees, expenses and incidental damages.

PHONE OR ABSENTEE BIDS

The Auction House will execute absentee bids and accept telephone bids as a courtesy to clients who are unable to attend the auctions.
“Phone or Absentee Bid” forms are available online or from the head office. Therefore, we take no responsibility for any errors or omissions in connection with this service.
For the Phone bid, when the auctioneer is approaching the particular lot number, a staff member will phone and you can instruct them to bid on your behalf.
For the Absentee bid, you must nominate an amount indicating the maximum price you are prepared to pay for the item.
The auctioneer will bid on your behalf until the price has reached your nominated amount.
If bidding doesn’t reach this amount, you win the item for the price at which the bidding ceased.
Bulky lots acquired on absentee bids will be kept on Drouot’s storage (see the conditions applied).
Small lots will be kept at Coutau-Begarie’s office, beyond a week, 3 € per day will be applied.