Buy & Sell FAQs

We can arrange in-house packing & shipping for small, non-breakable items to addresses within the UK for a minimum charge of £20, but please contact us before bidding to check. All items posted by us are sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery. Whilst every effort will be made to ensure items are properly packed, no responsibility can be accepted by Plymouth Auction Rooms for any loss or damage in transit. Safe transit of items by hand, courier or shipper is at the sole risk of the purchaser. For international deliveries, please refer to the courier details below.

In the event that we aren't able to ship your item, we recommend that you get in touch with the following trusted couriers. Their details are;

• DC Pack & Dispatch: 07459 224 775
• Mailboxes Etc Plymouth: 01752 257224 
• Diamond Logistics: 01752 547992

BUYER'S PREMIUM

The buyer shall pay the hammer price, together with a premium thereon per lot of 20% plus VAT (i.e. 24% including VAT). Lots purchased online via the Plymouth Auction Rooms website will attract an additional charge for this service in the sum of 3.60% of the hammer price (including VAT), and Lots purchased online via the Saleroom will have an additional charge of 6% of the hammer price (including VAT).

PAYMENT

You may pay for your purchases in several ways: credit card, debit card, bank transfer, cheque or cash. We can accept cash up to £9,000.

We do not accept credit or debit card payments in either the case where the cardholder is or is not present for amounts over £1,000; we recommend bank transfer.

For more information, please call us on 01752 254740, or Email.

Bank transfers - please quote your bidder number and date of the auction as a payment reference

Account Name: Plymouth Auction Rooms Ltd

Sort Code: 309668

Lloyds Account No: 62845668

BIC: LOYDGB21082

IBAN: GB24 LOYD 3096 6862 8456 68

All accounts must be settled within three working days from the auction date.

If any Lot is not paid for in full and taken away in accordance with our Conditions of Sale we reserve the right to charge interest at a rate not exceeding 1.5% per month on the total amount due.

Property will not be released until cheques have cleared or they are supported with a banker’s card.

COLLECTION

All lots must be collected within a week from the sale.

We can recommend various local removals firms, couriers and shippers.

We are able to offer an in-house Package & Post service for certain non-breakable small lots, we charge a minimum fee of £20, but it will be higher for larger parcels. Please contact us to arrange this service via Email or Call 01752 254740.

For more information on Postage, click here.

FOR ART AUCTIONS

Certain lots that sell for 1000 euro or more (GBP equivalent) may be subject to artists resale fee which is 4% (no VAT).

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite")

Droit de Suite is a royalty payable to a qualifying artist or the artist’s heirs each time a work is resold during the artist’s lifetime and up to a period of 70 years after the artist’s death.

The fee is currently 4% charge* for art work selling for over the GBP equivalent of 1000 euro.

For further information please contact DACS 0845 410 3410 or www.dacs.org.uk. Or Artist Collecting Society 01845 11 22 400

The buyer agrees to pay Plymouth Auction Rooms an amount equal to the resale royalty and we will pay such amount to the artist's collecting agent. Resale royalty applies where the Hammer Price is 1,000 Euro or more and the amount cannot be more than 12,500 Euro per lot.

*The amount is calculated as follows: Royalty for the portion of the Hammer Price (in Euro) 4.00% up to 50,000 3.00% between 50,000.1 and 200,000 1.00% between 200,000.1 and 350,000 0.50% between 350,000.01 and 500,000 0.25% in excess of 500,000 Invoices will, as usual, be issued in Pounds Sterling. For the purposes of calculating the resale royalty the Pounds Sterling/Euro rate of exchange will be the European Central Bank reference rate on the day of the sale.

It's easy to find out about auctions and events at Plymouth Auction Rooms.

• Like us on Facebook for daily news.
• Follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
• Simply email us to receive a catalogue, they are posted online a week before each auction and can be downloaded or purchased at the saleroom for just £2.
• You can register for our Newsletter Email. We send out regular pre-sale notification emails about future auctions.
• Sign up for Text Alerts.
• Sign up for Lot Alerts.

There are now many ways to Bid at Auction:

ONLINE LIVE BIDDING

Register online via Plymouth Auction Rooms to bid live online as the sale is taking place. You can also watch and hear the auction online. Please be aware that online bidding through Plymouth Auction Rooms costs an extra 3.60% (including VAT) of the final selling price.

You can also register online at the-saleroom.com to bid online live as the sale is taking place. You can also watch and hear the auction online. Please be aware that online bidding on the-saleroom.com costs an extra 6% including VAT of the final selling price.

BID IN THE SALEROOM

Register at the front desk in advance of the auction, where you will receive a paddle number with which to bid. Please bring along proof of ID. Then take your seat in the saleroom and when you wish to bid, raise your paddle and catch the auctioneer’s attention.

LEAVE A COMMISSION BID

You may leave a commission bid by telephone, by email, via our website, or in person at our Saleroom. Simply state the maximum price you would like to pay for a lot and we will purchase it for you at the lowest possible price, while taking the reserve price and other bids into account. Please remember that a buyer’s premium is payable on all lots. There is no additional charge for this service.

BID OVER THE TELEPHONE

Book a telephone line before the day of the sale, stating which lots you would like to bid for, and we will call you in time for you to bid through one of our staff in the saleroom. If you can’t get to the saleroom in person, a telephone bid still allows you live participation. We only accept telephone bids for lots estimated at over £500. We will need proof of ID and a credit/debit card detail to arrange this.

Register online via Plymouth Auctions Rooms to bid online live as the sale is taking place. You can also watch and hear the auction online. Please be aware that online bidding through Plymouth Auction Rooms costs an extra 3.60% (including VAT) of the final selling price.

You can also register online at the-saleroom.com to bid online live. Please be aware that online bidding via the-saleroom.com costs an extra 6% including VAT of the final selling price.

You can register while the sale is in progress however we cannot guarantee that we can approve your registration during the sale. (Most registrations are automatically approved).

If you are successful we email a winners notification to you and will collect payment from your registered card on the next day. For amounts over £1,000 we will contact you and request a bank transfer payment. Please refer to 'Payment' under 'How much does it cost to bid at Plymouth Auction Rooms' for more details.

Click here to view the full conditions of sale terms & conditions.

It’s so easy – and best of all it’s free!

OPTION 1

Bring your items along to the Saleroom.

We offer free valuations by appointment at our Saleroom Monday to Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Simply bring your items along, we will take a look and indicate a current auction value. If your items are suitable for our sales and you wish to sell them they can be left on the day for inclusion in a suitable auction. We will discuss values, estimates and recommend reserves where necessary. We will issue you a receipt and details of the auction date. All goods are insured in our care at mid estimate.

Should you have many items feel free to photograph them and bring your camera/iPad along and we will go through and value the items from the images.

We are unable to assess large quantities of packed chinaware on these days. If you have a large collection, please contact us first as we may not have time to unpack the items while you are waiting. It may be easier to send us some images first.

OPTION 2

You can use our Email Valuation tool, simply upload your images and we will send an email valuation back to you.

OPTION 3

If you have many items to sell, and you live in the local area, we can arrange for a valuer to make a convenient house visit to appraise your items. Please contact us for details or call 01752 254740

OPTION 4 

WhatsApp - simply send your images direct to 07432 056261 for a quick valuation.

FaceTime - to arrange please email or call 01752 254740.

If you decide to sell with us, you will be given a written receipt for your property, together with a Vendor Number and notification of the auction date when the items will be offered.

If you are unable to deliver your items, don’t worry - Plymouth Auction Rooms can organise collection on your behalf using independent carriers. There is a charge for this service, which will be deducted from the sale proceeds.

The reserve price is a confidential minimum selling price which you and Plymouth Auction Rooms agree before the sale. With our expertise we will discuss and propose suggested estimates to you based on current market prices and trends. If appropriate, we will agree a reserve price on items with you prior to the sale. Please note, we do not accept reserves for lots under £100 in value.

Commission

• 15% + VAT of hammer price i.e 18%. These charges may vary for valuable or general consignments.
• Please note there is a £5 per lot processing fee.

Insurance

All goods on our premises or under our control are insured against all risks at our mid auction estimate.

Settlement

After sale settlement of the net sum due to you normally takes place within 21 days of the sale by bank transfer or crossed cheque if you prefer, unless the buyer has not paid for the goods. In this case no settlement will be made but we will take your instructions in the light of our Conditions of Sale.

If a lot does not sell during an auction, there will be a nominal fee at the auctioneer’s discretion. As per these terms, we charge a fee of £10 for premium individual lots and £5 for multiple lots.