Terms & Conditions
By registering and bidding in an auction
conducted by Cowan’s Auctions, Inc. (“Cowan’s”), bidders (whether
present in person, by telephone, by agent, by written or telephone
absentee bid instruction, or through a live internet connection) agree
to be bound by these terms. These are the complete and only terms and
conditions on which all property is offered for sale. Cowan’s retains
the right to bar any bidder from participating in any auction and to
exclude or reject any bid.
1) REGISTRATION. All bidders must register their name, permanent
street address (no P.O. Boxes), and telephone number prior to the
auction. Unless known to Cowan’s, all registrants are required to
present two forms of identification, at least one of which must include
a current photograph. Bidders may be required to present a valid Visa or
MasterCard. By registering with Cowan’s or submitting an absentee bid
form, an individual registrant authorizes Cowan’s to obtain a copy of
his or her consumer credit report and authorizes Cowan’s, at its sole
discretion, to use the information contained therein to make business
decisions regarding the registrant’s participation in the bidding
process.
2) ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS. Bidding on any item, whether in person,
by phone, by absentee bid or via a live internet auction indicates the
bidder’s agreement to be bound by these Terms and Conditions for
Bidders. Any right of bidder under this agreement shall not be
assignable and shall only be enforceable by the original buyer. The
rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed by the laws of
the state of Ohio. All bidders submit to the personal jurisdiction of
the state and federal courts in Ohio.
3) TERMS OF SALE. Announcements made the day of auction take
precedence over any previous communication. The auctioneer reserves the
right to withdraw any lot at any time before its final sale and to
reject any bid for any reason. The highest bidder for each lot
acknowledged by the auctioneer shall be the “buyer”. If any dispute
arises as to any bidding, or between two or more bidders, at the sole
discretion of the auctioneer, the successful bidder will be determined
or the disputed lot shall be put up again at the last undisputed bid and
resold.
4) BUYER’S PREMIUM. (a) Buyer’s Premium for “Antique and Modern Firearms” and auctions. The Auctioneer will collect and retain from the Buyer, as additional commission, a premium equal to 15% the Sale Price of each Lot up to and including $200,000, plus 10% of the amount by which the Sale Price exceeds $200,000.
(b) Buyer’s Premium for “Decorative Art”, “American Indian Art”, “Fine Jewelry” and any other specialized auctions. The Auctioneer will collect and retain from the Buyer, as additional commission, a premium equal to 20% of the Sale Price of each Lot up to and including $200,000, plus 12 ½% of the amount by which the Sale Price exceeds $200,000.
(c) Buyer’s Premium for “American History” and "World at War" auctions. The Auctioneer will collect and retain from the Buyer, as additional commission, a premium equal to 17.5% of the Sale Price of each Lot up to and including $200,000, plus 12 ½% of the amount by which the Sale Price exceeds $200,000.
Winning bids placed on 3rd Party internet sites and/or Internet ONLY auctions may incur an additional Buyer's Premium
charge.
5) ESTIMATES AND RESERVES. Presale estimates are intended to be
guides and may or may not reflect the ultimate hammer price of a lot.
Cowan’s retains the right to change estimates on any lot up to time of
sale. A reserve is a confidential minimum price agreed upon by the
seller of the lot and Cowan’s. In the case of reserved lots, the seller
has authorized Cowan’s to bid on seller’s behalf until the reserve price
is reached. In no case will the reserve be higher than the low presale
estimate. Cowan’s standard house reserve on all property at auction is
one-half of the low estimate.
6) WARRANTIES AND DISCLAIMERS. Cowan’s makes a limited warranty
only to the original buyer of record concerning the authenticity of each
lot for a period of 14 days after bidder’s receipt of the purchased lot.
If a buyer is not satisfied that the lot purchased is genuine, the buyer
may, at his or her own expense, obtain the opinion of two mutually
agreed upon recognized experts in the field of the disputed lot. If
these experts determine that the item is not genuine, the buyer’s sole
and exclusive remedy shall be the rescission of the sale and refund of
the amount paid for the item. It is specifically understood and agreed
that the rescission of the sale and refund is exclusive and in lieu of
any other remedy which might otherwise be available as a matter of law
or in equity, and such remedy is conditioned upon the buyer returning
the property in the same condition as at the time of sale. Cowan’s shall
not be liable for any incidental or consequential damages. All sales are
final, with no returns or refunds except as provided in this limited
warranty.
Except as provided in the immediately proceeding paragraph, EVERY LOT IS
SOLD “AS IS”, without any representations or warranties by Cowan’s or
the seller as to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose,
condition or value of the property, or the correctness or completeness
of the catalogue or other description of the property, and no statement,
whether written or oral, shall be deemed such a representation, warranty
or assumption of liability. Cowan’s makes no representation or warranty
that the buyer of manuscript material, photographs, prints or works of
art will acquire any copyright or reproduction rights. Cowan’s does not
guarantee the working order of any clock, watch, electronic or
mechanical device. Dimensions given in the catalogue descriptions may be
approximate.
7) DEFINITIONS OF AUTHORSHIP.
“By” or “Maker/Artist” — in our opinion, the work is by the artist or
maker stated
“Attributed to” — in our opinion, the work is probably, but not
definitely, by the artist or maker stated
“Signed” or “Marked” — in our opinion, the signature or mark is that of
the stated artist or maker
“Bearing the signature (or mark) of” — in our opinion, the signature or
mark is probably, but not definitely, that of the artist or maker stated
“Circle of” — in our opinion, the work is of the period and by an artist
or maker closely associated with the stated artist or maker
“School of” — in our opinion, the work is by a pupil or follower of the
stated artist or maker
“Manner of” — in our opinion, the work is of the period and done in the
style of the stated artist or maker
“After” — in our opinion, the work is a copy of a work by the stated
artist or maker
8) INSPECTION. Except for On-Line Only Auctions, all lots are
available for inspection prior to the auction. Condition reports for
most items can be found online at Cowan's website, www.cowans.com, and
prospective bidders are encouraged to contact Cowan's directly for
additional information regarding the condition of any lot. Cowan's does
not warrant the condition of any item. Buyers interested in the
condition of an item are encouraged to contact Cowan's and, to the best
of our ability, we will document for the prospective bidder the
condition status on any lot. Condition is always a subjective evaluation
and final responsibility rests with the buyer to assess the condition of
any item sold by Cowan's.
Absentee and telephone bidding is offered as a free service to our
customers and prospective bidders. Cowan's shall not be responsible for
any errors or failures in executing bids, either absentee, telephone or
via the internet.
ABSENTEE, TELEPHONE AND INTERNET BIDDING
Absentee and telephone bidding is offered as a free service to our
customers and prospective bidders. Cowan’s shall not be responsible for
any errors or failures in executing bids, either absentee, telephone or
via the internet.
9) ABSENTEE BIDDING. Absentee bids are accepted via mail, fax,
email and on Cowan’s website. Such bids will be posted with the time and
date of arrival, with ties being awarded to the earliest bidder.
Absentee bids that
are faxed or emailed to Cowan’s need to be in the office at least 2
hours before the sale begins.
An absentee bidder unknown to Cowan’s may be required to submit a bank
letter of credit prior to the auction, or, using a credit card, deposit
with Cowan’s a fee equaling 30% of the absentee bid.
All absentee bids are executed competitively by a member of the auction
staff. The auction staff will try to purchase the lot for the lowest
price possible and will bid up to the amount designated by the absentee
bidder only if necessary. Cowan’s does not accept “buy bids,” or
absentee bids which have no limit. In the event of a tie bid between a
floor and an absentee bidder, the floor bid will be honored.
10) TELEPHONE BIDDING. Bidding live via the telephone is
available on a first come, first served basis for those lots with a low
estimate of $500 or greater. In order for Cowan’s to efficiently serve
the needs of those who wish to bid by phone, please note the following:
• To participate in the auction by telephone, potential bidders must
complete and sign the absentee bid form and check “I WISH TO BID BY
TELEPHONE” for the designated lots. Potential bidders may also reserve a
phone line on Cowan’s website.
If faxing or
emailing requests for phone bidding, they need to be in Cowan’s office 2
hours before the sale begins. Once the auction begins, requests left on
Cowan’s website may not be retrieved by the staff.
• Telephone bidders are advised to indicate an “insurance bid”, which
amount will become an absentee bid, pursuant to the absentee bidding
process set forth above, if Cowan’s can not reach the bidder by
telephone for a particular indicated lot.
• Telephone bidders must disable any caller ID or other call blocking
mechanism.
• Cowan’s sells about 100 lots per hour, so telephone bidders should
plan accordingly. Cowan’s will attempt to reach each telephone bidder,
but Cowan’s is in no way responsible for missed calls.
11) INTERNET BIDDING. Cowan’s may post certain auctions
on Liveauctioneers.com. There may be terms which apply to internet bids
that should be reviewed online at the time of sale. Cowan’s is not
responsible for any failure to execute a bid and shall have no liability
to any bidder for any technical or other failure associated with an
internet auction.
12) BIDDING INCREMENTS. The following increments are used at the
auction. Absentee bids must fall within these increments. Cowan’s will
automatically reduce any absentee bid to the closest increment if the
bid falls outside the published range of increments.
For Bids falling Between Bidding Increment
$0-500 $25
$501-1,000 $50
$1,001-3,000 $100
$3,001-5,000 $250
$5,001 and up $500 or at the discretion of the auctioneer
Cowan’s reserves the right to modify increments at any time during the
auction.
AFTER THE AUCTION
13) BUYER’S RESPONSIBILITY. Upon the fall of the hammer, title to
the offered lot shall pass to the buyer and the buyer immediately (a)
assumes full risk and responsibility for the lot, including liability
for loss or damage and (b) is liable for payment of the Purchase Price
(as defined below) to Cowan’s. It is the buyer’s responsibility to ask
specific questions on condition related concerns prior to the auction.
Cowan’s will not rescind sales with buyers that have disputes regarding
firearm’s bore condition.
14) PURCHASE PRICE AND PAYMENT. The Purchase Price
for each lot shall equal the hammer price, buyer’s premium, sales tax
and, if applicable, all packing, handling, insurance and shipping costs.
Payment may be made with cash, personal or traveler’s check, Visa or
MasterCard. Cowan’s reserves the right to hold a purchased lot
until a check has cleared.
A surcharge of 2% will be assessed to all credit card transactions. This surcharge is not greater than our cost of acceptance.
Phone payments are made available as a convenience outside Cowan's Auction’s customary payment channels, therefore these payments are qualified as payments made in the alternative payment channel. All forms of payment made using this method will be assessed the convenience fee. Please call Cowan's Auctions if you have any questions regarding this policy.
Buyers who are present at the auction must pay the full Purchase Price
at the time of the sale. Buyers who bid by telephone or who are absentee
bidders will be invoiced within 5 days after the close of the auction
and must pay the full Purchase Price for each purchased lot within 14
days after the date of the auction. By signing the absentee bid form or
placing a bid by telephone, an absentee bidder authorizes Cowan’s to
charge the Purchase Price for each lot for which such bidder is the
successful bidder to the credit card number provided by telephone or on
the absentee bid form, unless payment in full or alternative payment
instruction is received within 14 days after the date of the auction. No
property will be released by Cowan’s unless the Purchase Price has been
paid in full.
Institutional billing may be available, and should be arranged prior to
the auction.
Cowan’s may impose late charges of 1.5% per month (or the highest
interest rate allowed) on any amount owed to Cowan’s that remains unpaid
after 30 days. Buyer shall be liable for any collection costs or
attorney’s fees incurred by Cowan’s to collect payment, to the extent
permitted by law.
15) SALES TAX. Buyers are required to pay any applicable state
and local sales tax.
16) SHIPPING. At the request of the buyer, Cowan's will authorize
the shipment of purchased items.
Shipments usually occur within two weeks after payment has been received. Shipment is
generally made via UPS Ground service. Unless buyer gives special
instructions, the shipping method shall be at the sole discretion of
Cowan's Auctions, Inc.. Cowan's is in no way responsible for the acts or
omissions of independent handlers, packers or shippers of purchased
items or for any loss, damage or delay from the packing or shipping of
any property.
ADVICE TO INTERNATIONAL BUYERS: Cowan’s will not ship any package
containing a firearm to any location other than within the United
States. Buyers outside the United States must make their own shipping
arrangements taking full risk for the transportation of any firearm.
17) SHIPPING CHARGES. Buyers are required to pay for all packing,
shipping and insurance charges. Overseas duty charges are the
responsibility of the successful bidder. Be aware that for larger and/or
valuable items, shipping charges can be substantial.
18) REMOVAL AND STORAGE OF PROPERTY. If purchased property has
not been removed, or Cowan’s has not received shipping instructions
within 21 days after the auction date, a $10 per item per day storage
fee may be charged to the buyer.
19) CANCELLATION OF SALE. If purchased property remains in the
custody of Cowan’s for a period of 60 days following the auction,
Cowan’s may, at its option, cancel the sale, retaining as liquidated
damages any payments made by the buyer, or resell the property at
auction or by any other commercially reasonable means, for the account
and at the risk of the buyer, and in such event, buyer shall be liable
for the payment of all deficiencies plus all of Cowan’s costs, including
but not limited to storage and costs of both sales. This right of
cancellation is in addition to any and all other remedies available to
Cowan’s.
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