PAYMENT

General Payment Procedure

 We issue pro-forma invoices to all new customers on at least the first two occasions they purchase from our auctions, and usually on all purchases over £50.00. It is our general policy to issue pro-forma invoices to all overseas customers. Lots are always dispatched promptly upon receipt of payment. To avoid the need for pro-forma invoices which unavoidably cause a delay in receiving purchases, clients are encouraged to provide credit/debit card details or enclose a signed blank cheque marked "Not to Exceed (amount)" with their bid forms in order to expedite prompt dispatch of lots. We would be very grateful if clients who wish to pay for their purchases by means of a signed blank cheque also make a suitable allowance for postage costs in addition to the total value of their bids.

 All payments must be made within ten days of receipt of goods or pro-forma invoices. We appreciate that clients may be absent from home due to business, holidays etc at the time our auction takes place and it therefore may not always be possible to strictly accord to this timetable. If this is the case, please inform us prior to the close of the auction and we will make appropriate arrangements to delay dispatching successful purchases.

 Payment Methods

  We try to cater for as many potential methods of facilitating payment as possible. We accept the following methods:

  Cash - We accept payment in UK Sterling, US dollars or Euros. If you are sending cash by post, please use Special Delivery or registered insured post which requires a signature upon receipt. We cannot accept responsibility for cash lost in transit in the post if it is sent by a method which does not require us to sign for it on arrival

 Cheques and bank drafts. For overseas customers the cheaper option is to make an interbank transfer in UK Sterling drawn on a British bank. The buyer will need to pay bank charges at both ends of this transaction.

 Paypal - We accept payment by Paypal, but regret we have to charge a 5% surcharge, as this is what Paypal charges us to use their service. All purchases paid for by Paypal must be shipped by Royal Mail Special Delivery (inland) or Royal Mail International Signed For (overseas).

 Non PayPal purchases under £50 may be shipped by uninsured 1st class mail, but such shipments will be at the buyer’s request and entirely at the buyer’s risk. Unfortunately this waiver does not apply to goods paid for by PayPal. It is a requirement of our arrangement with PayPal that all goods paid for in this way, irrespective of their value,  are shipped by a method which fully insures their value and allows tracking should the package be damaged or lost in transit. At the present time, for purchases under £50, this adds approximately £4.50 to the usual postage cost using other methods of payment.

 Debit Cards - We accept Maestro/Switch and VISA debit.

Credit Cards - We accept payment by all major credit cards with the sole exception of American Express. The card details we require are listed below.

Card Details Required To Process Payment

 There has been a marked tightening of the amount of information required to process credit/debit cards in the physical absence of the purchaser in recent times. Again, these requirements are designed to protect cardholders against potential fraud. We now require the following information in order to process card payments:

Card Number - the long number found on the face of the card.

Valid From Date - the month/year the card is valid from (not all cards possess this       information).

Expiry Date - the month/year the card expires.

Issue Number - Only found on some debit cards.

Address Number - The number of the address the card is registered at (not required if no number is applicable).

Post/ZIP Code - The postal or ZIP code of the address the card is registered at.

Security Number - The last three digits of the number on the signature strip on the reverse of the card.

Credit & Debit Card Security

 The transmission of sensitive financial data, particularly via the internet, is a very topical and controversial issue. We prefer to err on the side of caution and have not included a facility for transmitting card details via our website for this reason. We would prefer that clients provide card details by faxing or telephoning us with their details. We do accept card details communicated by e-mail as we employ a very high level of computer firewall security, but we still recommend splitting the data into two or three separate e-mails to provide the maximum possible level of protection. Clients who receive our traditional printed catalogue may provide card details using the enclosed bid form.

 Please note that due to the Data Protection Act we are prohibited from keeping an electronic record of customers' card details so these should be provided on each individual occasion a prospective purchaser bids in our sales. It is obligatory to obtain authority to use a card from customers on each occasion they bid in our sales rather than operating on the basis of an open-ended authority. This also alleviates the potential for any possible misunderstanding. We hope that these restrictions do not seem unduly onerous as they are designed to afford our customers maximum financial protection and accountability.

Overdue Accounts

 All payments must be made within ten days of receipt of goods or pro-forma invoice. Overdue accounts are charged 4% compound interest per month or part month.

Unpaid Accounts

 We are grateful that bad debts prove to be very few and far between. However, there are always unpleasant and occasional exceptions to this rule. Entering bids at auction forms a valid and enforceable legal contract. We operate a strict policy in relation to unpaid invoices. If an account remains unpaid six weeks after the date of the sale in question we will have no option other than to instigate legal action to recover the debt. We also employ reciprocal arrangements with other auction houses in order to exchange information relating to bad debtors.