Buying at Crow's Auction Gallery
Viewing Days
Our viewing days are held on the Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday before the sale: Saturday, 10am to 1pm; Monday, 9am to 4pm; Tuesday, 9am to 7pm. We encourage everyone who is interested in bidding on an item to attend one of our viewing days.
Condition Reports
To those who cannot attend a viewing day but are still keen to bid on a lot, we strongly advise you request a condition report. A condition report is simply our auctioneer's judgement of the authenticity, age, and condition of the lot in question. This is to ensure no buyer is left disappointed with his / her winning lot. To request a condition report either call our office or send us an email.
How to Place Bids
Online: All our live auctions are streamed in real time online. On the Friday before each auction, when the catalogue is complete, it is uploaded to our website, Easy Live Auction.com and The Saleroom.com where customers can then search the full catalogue for items of interest. On the day of the auction you can watch the sale via live video links. Bidding online is simple, quick and easy, you just need to register for our sale with either of the online bidding platforms.
In person: This is by far the most exciting way to bid on your favourite lots. To enjoy the thrill of bidding in our saleroom, you will be required to fill out a registration form to receive a paddle number.
Absentee bids: If you can't make it to our saleroom in person, you can leave an absentee bid with us. The auctioneer will then bid on your behalf until either all competitors drop out or your upper limit is reached. To leave an absentee bid, either call or email us. You can also leave an absentee bid online via The Saleroom or Easy Live Auction.
Phone: To book a telephone bid, you will be required to complete your registration details and in some cases leave a returnable deposit by card. We accept phone bids on any item, irrespective of value, but we do ask that you are prepared to bid to the lower estimate as a minimum. Please be aware all phone calls are recorded.
Post-Auction
If you have placed the winning bid, you will receive an invoice by email at the close of the sale. If you are unsure whether or not you placed the winning bid, you are welcome to call us and we will confirm. Payment is accepted by Cash, Visa and Mastercard Debit or Credit Card, Bank Transfer; for overseas buyers, we prefer payment via wise.com. UK card payments accepted up to £1200 only in person or over the phone. Overseas credit card payments up to £1000 over the phone. Please note all bank charges and foreign transaction fees are to be paid by the buyer.
Please do not email your card details to us - they will be deleted in line with PCI Compliance Regulations.
Payment: must be made within 48 hours of the close of the sale. Overseas buyers must notify the Auctioneers of payment arrangements within 2 working days of the sale. There is a buyer's premium of 22% + VAT which shall be payable in addition to the bid price. Please note that any lots purchased via one of the online auction platforms will be subject to an additional commission charge + VAT at the rate imposed on the hammer price. Please check with your chosen online platform for commission charges.
Collection: All lots must be collected within five working days of the auction ending. To collect, come into our saleroom from 09.00-16.00 Monday to Friday and talk to our staff. Please be aware that if you fail to collect your items one week after the auction you risk being charged £15 per week for storage costs.
Delivery: We are happy to quote for post and packing; just request this within three working days of the sale. We cannot quote for delivery of furniture or oversized items, but you are welcome to ask us for help with courier suggestions.
Selling at Crow's Auction Gallery
Selling at auction is very straightforward. We are here from 09.00-16.00, Monday to Friday for Free Valuations, help and advice.
To consign your items for sale, you first need to have them valued; you can do this in person by bringing them along to our saleroom in Dorking for appraisal, or by sending some photos and any information via the link on our Services page or by emailing us at enquiries@crowsauctions.co.uk . If you are local and looking to submit numerous items for sale, we can arrange for a valuer to visit you and advise which items are suitable for sale. We can also help with collection if there is sufficient value in the consignment, or we can offer a discounted collection fee if you are only looking to sell a couple of pieces to include furniture; speak to our office for more help with this.
Charges
For each lot entered for sale, there is a charge of £10.20 (£6.50 covers the cataloguing, research and photography, a £2 insurance fee + VAT). Once sold, the vendor’s commission is applied at 15% + VAT on the final hammer price.
Pre-Sale
The week before the auction, you will receive a pre-sale advice showing details of lot numbers, descriptions, estimates and any reserves. As the auction progresses, the results are updated and your pre-sale notice will reflect the hammer prices as they go through. You are welcome to contact us if you are unsure if your lot/s sold.
Post-Sale
At the end of the auction, we will send out a post-sale notice to confirm the results of the sale. If your item did not sell, we will then include it in our online Timed Sale which runs for 5 days from the following Friday to Tuesday; this gives bidders a second chance to bid on items they may have missed during the live sale, and also allows those bidders who prefers the Ebay style of ‘watch and wait’ to secure an item of interest.
Payment
All successful vendors will receive payment by bank transfer within 30 days of the sale, (providing we have received full payment from the buyer) and your statement will be emailed to you. This will detail the appropriate fees from the total value sold.
If your item/s did not sell, get in touch and we can advise whether re-entering the lot in a future sale is in your best interest with amended estimates. Anything not re-listed will need to be collected within 4 weeks.
Crow's Auctions retains the right to dispose of uncollected items as they see fit.