Main Auction Sale

A dispute at the time of the striking of the hammer, the auctioneer may at his option cancel and immediately put the lot back up for sale.

Art. 3 – The auctioneer, at his/her sole option, can: refuse any bid, move the bidding backwards or forwards in any way he or she may decide, or change the order of the lots, withdraw any lots, divide or combine any two or more lots, reopen or continue the bidding even after the hammer has fallen.

The auctioneer may, at his or her sole option, bid on behalf of the seller up to but not including the amount of the reserve either by making consecutive bids or by making bids in response to other bidders. In the event that the reserve price set by the seller is not reached, the auctioneer may deem such lot unsold and move on to the next lot by a single strike of the hammer.

Art. 4 – In addition to the hammer price, the successful bidder agrees to pay us a buyer’s premium. On all lots we charge 20% of the hammer price. VAT of 8% will be charged on the buyer’s premium, which brings the total up to 21.6% on top of the hammer price.

Art. 4a – For foreign buyers, the VAT collected may be refunded upon presentation of duly filled-in Swiss customs papers. To avoid administrative fees, reimbursement of VAT will only be allowed if the amount of the VAT is superior to 50CHF.

Art. 5 – The bidding must take place out loud or made by a distinctive sign unequivocally the willingness to bid. The auctioneer, at his option, can refuse bids coming from unknown bidders. The minimum amount of an outbid is 10%. However, the auctioneer may modify this rate by announcing it out loud.

Art. 6 – The exposition period allows the buyer to evaluate personally the condition and authenticity of the objects. Claims will not be allowed once the bidding is over. The objects are sold in the condition they are at the time of the bidding. The sale catalogue is done with care so that all the indications are correct; however the descriptions you will find are only the expression of an opinion and do not constitute a warranty.

The catalogue may mention some damage to the lot without necessarily an exhaustive list. If the low estimate is CHF 1’000.- or less there will be no mention of the state of the object. Condition reports are available upon request. The photographs, dimensions and weigh are provided for information purposes only.

Art. 6a – Foreign buyers shall always check the relevant customs laws and regulations before bidding on any lot containing wildlife material such as, but not only: ivory, tortoiseshell, crocodile skin, rhinoceros horn, or whalebone. Hôtel des Ventes pays particular attention to complete its due diligence duties to ensure that all the objects presented in the catalogue comply with our laws and regulations of Cultural Property (CPTA). However, we will not be obliged to cancel your purchase and refund the purchase price if your lot may not be exported, imported or it is seized for any reason by a government authority.

Art. 7 – Lots will have to be taken at the expense and risk of the sole buyer. To avoid delivery errors and complications for the payment procedure, some lots may be delivered during the sale period. Unless agreed otherwise, no lots will be delivered before the full payment of the invoice. The objects may be taken away by its buyers as per stated in the front page of the catalogue.

Art. 8 – Every visitor is responsible for any damages he may cause to any given object of the sale; he may incur fees priced up to the average of the estimated price increased by the buyer’s premium plus VAT.

Art. 9 – All absentee bids are executed with care, discretion and offered as a convenience to our clients.

Telephone bids are accepted when buyers are already known by Hôtel des Ventes and as long as the low estimate of the lot equals or exceeds CHF 500.-. In case of a telephone bid during which the connection cannot be established cannot be established whatsoever, Hôtel des Ventes reserves the right to award the lot to the absentee bidder at a cost of 50% of the high estimate, unless the reserve price is higher. In addition, any telephone bids will be considered de facto as a firm order of CHF 500.-.

These bidding services are offered as a convenience to our clients and Hôtel des Ventes is not responsible for any error (human or otherwise), omission or breakdown in providing these services. Your request for this service must be made no later than 48 hours prior to the auction.

Any cancellation of absentee/phone bid must be made in writing and received by us at least 24h before the beginning of the concerned object or sale. To be accepted, the cancellation must be signed and confirmed by the Hôtel des Ventes management team or the judicial HUISSIERS.

Art. 10 – Ownership of, and risk for, the lot will pass to the buyer when the auctioneer strikes the hammer down accepting the last bid from the buyer of the lot. Any profits following this time shall be for the buyer. However, the buyer becomes the sole owner of the lot only once the invoice has been settled.

The risk and responsibility for the lot will transfer to you from whichever is the earlier of the following: when you collect the lot; or at the end of the three days of restitution. In case of non-payment within three days of the end of the sale, the buyer is liable to judicial prosecution. He also exposes himself to the cancellation of the sale after a period of 30 days. However, all the fees and buyer’s premium will still be due by the buyer.

We give no warranties as per the condition of the frames and glasses.

Art. 11 – Hôtel des Ventes may, at its option, refuse admission to its business premises or decline to permit participation in any auction or to reject any bids. Whoever intentionally obstructs or distorts the auction sale may be subject to police sanctions.

Art. 12 – Hôtel des Ventes may, at its option, accept or refuse any credit card payment. We accept the following cards with no extra fees: Maestro, Postcard and EC-Direct. American Express is not accepted. Payment by other major cards (MasterCard, Visa, PrePaid MasterCard, PrePaid Visa and UnionPay) will be subject to a 2% administrative fee.

Art. 13 – Hôtel des Ventes may publish, for advertising purposes, some photos of the objects sold at auction in its own magazines and/or through other media channels.

Art. 14 – Any dispute concerning the sale is subject to the exclusive application of Swiss laws and jurisdiction of the canton Geneva courts of law, regardless of the hometown of the parties.

Art. 15 – Unless specified otherwise, storage fees of at least CHF 30.- per month and per object will be perceived for any lot that has not been claimed by the seller within 8 days of the auction end. These lots will be transferred to a storage box at the expense and risk of the buyer.

The buyer expressly agrees that the unclaimed lot becomes without further notice property of the Hôtel des Ventes and allows the resale as soon as the storage costs mentioned above exceed the price of the lowest estimate or the reserve price.

NB: unless otherwise stated, the dimensions of paintings and furniture are indicated in centimeters and are written in this order: height x width x depth. Unless otherwise stated, books and watches are measured in millimeters. Carpets are “old” if they are more than 30 years old and “ancient” if they are more than 80 years old.

Silent Auction Sale

The sale is based on behalf and for third parties.

All participation to the sale implies unconditional acceptance of the following conditions:

Art. 1 – The sale is executed strictly in cash, Swiss francs and without warranty.

Art. 2 – Visitors are invited to deposit, during the exposition days, a duly signed absentee bid sheet and place it in a sealed box which will be opened and stripped after the exposition under the supervision of the auctioneer. Absentee bids received by fax or email will also be accepted.

The object will be awarded to the person who offered the highest bid. However, the successful sale price will be established on the basis of 10% more than the second highest offer.

For example: Your offer is CHF 1’000.-
                    The second highest offer is CHF 700.-
                    The lot will be awarded to you for CHF 770.- (plus buyer’s premium and VAT)
                    Between CHF 10.- and CHF 490.-, the increments are of a minimum of CHF 10.-
                    Between CHF 500.- and CHF 950.-, the increments are of a minimum of CHF 50.-
                    After CHF 1’000.-, the increments are of a minimum of CHF 100.-

In case of a non-compliant bid, Hôtel des Ventes will round up to the lower tier.

In addition to the hammer price, the successful bidder agrees to pay us a buyer’s premium on the hammer price. On all lots we charge a buyer’s premium of 20%. VAT of 8% will be charged on the buyer’s premium (=21.6% all inclued).

Art. 3 – The sale catalogue is done with care so that all the indications are correct; however the descriptions you will find are only the expression of an opinion and do not constitute a warranty.

Art. 4 - The exposition period allows the buyer to evaluate personally the condition and authenticity of the objects. Claims will not be allowed once the counting of the urn is over. There will be no special notice describing the state of an object (accidents, cracks, losses of pieces, etc).

Art. 5 - Ownership of, and risk for, the lot will pass to the buyer when the auctioneer strikes the hammer down accepting the last bid from the buyer of the lot. Any profits following this time shall be for the buyer.
However, the buyer becomes the sole owner of the lot only once the invoice has been settled.

Art. 6 – The buyer will settle the invoice, via wire transfer, major credit cards (except American Express) or cash. Personal or company cheques are not accepted.

The ballot counting day will be indicated on the first page of the catalogue. In the case of identical bids, the computer system on which the bids are placed will randomly select the highest bidder.

Art. 7 – The buyer will remove the objects that are now his/her property during the restitution days. The invoice will be shipped or mailed to the successful bidder.
All objects that have not been removed from the Hauteville Manor premises within the restitution days will be brought to a storage box at the expense and risk of the buyer.

Art. 8 – Any dispute concerning the sale is subject to the exclusive application of Swiss laws and jurisdiction of the canton Geneva courts of law, regardless of the hometown of the parties.

Art. 9 – All the other sales conditions of business inscribed in the main catalogue remain valid.