Public Auction : Terms and Conditions 

THE PLACING OF A BID SHALL CONSTITUTE ACCEPTANCE OF THE CONDITIONS OF SALE

BIDDING

1. The auction is conducted in Canadian dollars. All bids are per lot, as numbered in the catalogue. Eastern Auctions Ltd. reserves the right to withdraw any lot prior to sale, to divide a lot or to group two or more.

2. The highest bidder shall prevail at one advance over the next highest bid. Should a dispute arise between bidders, the decision of the auctioneer as to the successful bidder or the re-offering or resale of the lot in dispute shall rest entirely in the judgment of the auctioneer. On all lots sold a commission of 20% on the hammer price will be payable by the buyer. The auctioneer shall regulate the bidding and reserves the right to refuse any bid believed by him not to be made in good faith.

SALES TAXES

3. Canadian residents will be charged GST or HST as appropriate for their mailing address.  International residents are liable for GST (5%) on the buyer’s premium only.

PAYMENT FOR PURCHASES

4. U.S. funds are acceptable only at the equivalent amount shown on the invoice. Visa, MasterCard and PayPal are accepted at a charge equal to 3.5% of the total hammer amount. Please include the information on your bid sheet. We also accept personal cheques, bank wire, direct deposit or e-Transfer at no extra cost.

5. Payment for lots, including those on which opinions are desired under Condition of Sale 8, shall be made as follows:

A successful mail bidder will be notified of lots purchased and must remit before the lots are sent. A person known to us, or who furnishes satisfactory references, may at our option have purchases forwarded for immediate payment. Delivery will be to the address on the bid sheet. Proof by receipt of sending at the advised address shall constitute delivery. Postage and insurance are payable by the buyer.

6. Title shall not pass to the buyer until Eastern Auctions Ltd. has received full payment.

7. Buyers agree to pay for lots as specified above and no credit is extended; a late payment charge of 2% per month will be added to overdue payments, minimum $20.00.

CONDITION, AUTHENTICITY AND EXTENSION OF TIME

8. Each lot is sold as genuine and correctly described based on individual description as modified by any specific notations in this catalogue including (but not restricted to) “Key to Cataloguing”.

a) CONDITION. Any lot, description of which is incorrect, is returnable within forty-five days from closing date of auction. If the opinion of a mutually acceptable authority is desired, this period will be extended. All disputed lots must be returned intact in the condition received. Photographed lots are not returnable on account of centering or perforations. Lots containing more than twenty stamps, described “as is”, or described as having faults are not returnable for any reason.

b) AUTHENTICITY. Any lot, which is declared other than genuine by a mutually acceptable authority is returnable.

c) Returns must be made by registered mail or courier with signature required.

d) Lots marked or encapsulated by an expert committee are not returnable for any reason.

f) EXTENSION OF TIME. When an opinion from an acceptable authority is necessary the buyer must request an extension from Eastern Auctions Ltd. prior to the auction and the buyer must pay for the lot in full (a refund will be issued in the event of an unfavourable opinion). Eastern Auctions Ltd. will then submit the lot on the buyer’s behalf to one of the following:

⋅ Vincent Greene Foundation (Canada and BNA)

⋅ Philatelic Foundation (USA, Worldwide)

⋅ BPA or RPSL (British Commonwealth)

g) Expenses shall be borne by the buyer except where the lot is other than as described and is returned within the conditions set forth above

CONDITION

The various grading of stamps is in order of; Extremely Fine; Very Fine; Fine and Very Good. In the case of sets, large blocks, sheets, etc., the condition quoted represents the average and quality above and below this standard can be expected. Minor perf separation can be expected on larger multiples. Mixed condition indicates a range of condition can be expected, from faults to Very Fine.

A NOTE ON HINGING

Bidders are reminded that, in accordance with industry standards, hinging is not described with respect to used stamps or stamps and proofs that were printed without gum. Hinging on these items is irrelevant to their condition and value. If hinging is important to you in such cases, please contact us before bidding and request further information. We will not accept the return of used stamps or ungummed items due to hinging.

Hinging on mint stamps is always disclosed, however, never hinged status should not be expected unless specifically stated “Never Hinged” or “NH”.

ESTIMATED VALUES

If an estimated cash value is given, it is shown in the description and always indicated by the abbreviation “Est.”. It is used where the lot is large or where the actual value has little relation to the catalogue price. It represents the auctioneer’s appraisal of the true CASH value of a lot and the figure is invariably close to the actual realization. It is useless for mail bidders to list any bids that are only a low proportion of such estimates.

BIDDING INCREMENTS

The auctioneer may regulate the bidding at his discretion. However, to assist absentee bidders in establishing their maximum bid for each lot, the increments shown below will be used in most cases. We recommend that written bids conform to these increments (those which do not will be reduced to the previous level).

BIDDING IS CONDUCTED IN THE FOLLOWING INCREMENTS: