Conditions of Sale
The Potomack Company Terms and Conditions of Sale and Limited Guarantee
By bidding on items at our auction, you agree to accept the following conditions:
Registration & Buyer's Premium
Potomack buyers, those who register and bid on our website at www.potomackcompany.com, will pay a 25% buyer's premium to Potomack plus an additional 2% premium to Invaluable (Potomack's bidding platform) for a total of 27% that will be added to the hammer price at settlement. Those who register and bid on Invaluable.com will pay Potomack's 25% buyer's premium plus Invaluable's premium of $10 for the hammer price up to $200, 5% between $200 and $10,000, and $500 for the hammer price of $10,000 and above.
All Goods Sold 'As Is'
All items that are sold at our auctions are sold 'as is.' Neither The Potomack Company nor the consignor makes any representations or warranties of any kind concerning any items offered for sale. Neither the Auctioneer nor The Potomack Company or its representatives is responsible for the accuracy of any printed or verbal communications and descriptions. No statement in the catalogue, made at the sale, or otherwise, shall be construed to be a representation, warranty or admission of liability. All measurements are approximate.
Limited Guarantee
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, The Potomack Company does offer a limited guarantee that items that are offered for sale are not counterfeit, unless otherwise noted in the catalogue or at the time of the sale. A counterfeit for this purpose is defined as a modern fake or forgery that was made with the intent to deceive. If a buyer gives us notice within 14 days of the sale that an item that was purchased was a counterfeit and, within 7 days of such notice, provides a written report from an authority that demonstrates that the item was indeed counterfeit and that a fair reading of the catalogue description and the auctioneer's statements at the time of the sale did not indicate this, then The Potomack Company will rescind the sale and refund the purchase price to the buyer. This guarantee is made only to the original buyer (i.e. a registered bidder) and does not extend to any subsequent purchasers. In any event, any liability that The Potomack Company has for such a sale is limited to the purchase price of the item sold.
Inspection and Conditional Reports
We strongly encourage you to come and examine lots that you are interested in purchasing. Although we do not include condition reports in this catalogue, our representatives are happy to assist you in determining the condition of items that you are interested in as they are able.
Bidding
Timed auctions are internet-only auctions that run for a set duration of time and are available for absentee bidding only. These auctions allow you to place bids until the scheduled end time for a particular item. Whoever has the highest bid when the time runs out wins the item.
Timed auctions allow auctioneers to set reserves for their items, as they aren't there to monitor the bidding live. A reserve is the minimum price that an auctioneer will sell their item for. Depending on bids placed, a "reserve not met" or "reserve met" message will display next to the bid box for any lots with reserves. If the reserve price has not been met by the time the auction ends, the item will not be sold.
Another unique feature in our timed auctions is extended bidding. Invaluable does not allow sniping. If a bid is placed within the last 5 minutes of a lot's scheduled end time, we extend the sale by 5 minutes from the last bid. This gives other bidders a chance to place a bid. Please keep in mind that later lots will continue to close on time even when an earlier lot is extended.
We reserve the right to reject any bid for any reason. The highest bidder acknowledged by the Auctioneer at the time his hammer drops will be the buyer of the lot. We have the sole right to re-offer any lot and/or settle disputed bids. In the event that a dispute arises after the end of the sale, our sale record shall be conclusive.
Although we are happy to accept your internet bids, we will not be held responsible for any errors or failure to properly execute such bids.
All bids placed at auction are per lot.
Buyer's Responsibilities
Invoices must be paid in full within 2 weeks of sale date. All furniture lots must be collected within 14 days from sale date. All other lots must be collected within 21 days from sale date. Any furniture items that are not picked up within the 14 days time period and any other lots not picked up within the 21 days time period will be subject to a handling and storage fee of 5% of the purchase price. This fee will be assessed weekly. We assume no risk or responsibility for items that are left on our premises after this time or that are transferred to a public warehouse.
Reserves
Some lots may carry reserves or minimum selling prices. This is a confidential figure set by the consignor and The Potomack Company below which the item will not be sold. The reserve will always be less than (or equal to) our final low estimate for the lot.
Estimates
All pre-sale estimates of the value of the lots are intended only as guides for potential bidders. Our pre-sale estimates may not be relied upon by anyone as a prediction of the selling price or the fair market value of any lot. The actual selling price may differ greatly from our estimates. All estimates that are provided by us are subject to revision at any time.
Withdrawal
Items may be withdrawn from sale at anytime prior to the offering of each lot.
Payment
We accept cash, checks, bank transfers (wires) as well as Visa & MasterCard credit cards (with a 3% processing fee). We reserve the right to hold items that you have purchased until your payment clears. If you are planning to purchase an expensive lot, you should discuss payment in advance and are encouraged to bring letters of reference from your financial institutions. We reserve the right to refuse to accept a personal check for any reason. A $50 fee will be added for any returned checks. Invoices must be paid in full within 2 weeks of sale date. We reserve the right to charge you a late fee of 10% for any unpaid balances.
As previously noted, payment is due at the end of each sale unless we have authorized other arrangements. We reserve the right to charge your Visa or MasterCard on file for all lots won at sale, unless you complete the Check, Cash & Wire Form within 3 business days of sale. International buyers must pay by check or wire and must complete the Check, Cash & Wire Form to declare their intent to send a check or wire within 3 business days of the close of sale.
Please note when jewelry lots are paid via card they can only be shipped to the billing address on the card.
Buyer's Default
If you fail to comply with any of these Terms and Conditions, we reserve the right to hold you liable for the purchase price plus any expenses we have incurred. In addition, we may, at our option, cancel the sale of the lot that you purchased while holding any payments you have made as liquidated damages. In addition, we may re-sell the items at public auction or through private sale and retain the proceeds for our account.
Announcements
Any announcements made at the time of the auction take precedence over any other communications, written or verbal.
CONDITION REPORTS
We strongly encourage you to come and examine lots that you are interested in purchasing. Although we do not include condition reports in this catalogue, our representatives are happy to assist you in determining the condition of items that you are interested in as they are able. Given the high volume of requests for condition reports, however, we must reserve the right to limit such requests to those items with a pre-sale estimate of more than $500.
Special Additional Terms and Conditions for Jewelry Sales
Metals not tested. When items are stamped, fineness will be stated; as a courtesy to our clients. All Jewelry items are sold 'as - is'.
Diamond and colored stones weights are approximations ascertained by volumetric proportions.
Please note when jewelry lots are paid via card they can only be shipped to the billing address on the card.
CONTRACT
Your bid is a binding and legal contract.
SHIPPING
Although we do not provide shipping services, we are happy to provide you with contact information for shippers so that you may inquire as to shipping costs before you bid on an item. Arranging shipping and paying for shipping costs will be solely your responsibility. We strongly recommend that you determine the costs of shipping before you bid on any item. Please note when jewelry lots are paid via card they can only be shipped to the billing address on the card.
BUYER'S PREMIUM
A buyer's premium will be added to the hammer price of each lot sold. The buyer's premium is equal to 25%. All bids placed online on potomackcompany.com will be subject to Invaluable's online bidding fee, equal to 2% of the hammer price, in addition to The Potomack Company's 25% buyer's premium for a total of 27%. All bids placed online on Invaluable.com will subject to Invaluable's online bidding fee, equal to 5% of the hammer price, in addition to The Potomack Company's 25% buyer's premium for a total of 30%.
TAXES
The Virginia sales tax is calculated as 6% of the purchase price.
