Pierre Bergé & associés (PBA) is a voluntary sales auction house governed by the French law
n° 2000-642 of July 10, 2000.
PBA acts as the seller's agent. The auctioneer is not a party to the sale contract which
exclusively binds the seller to the successful bidder.
GENERAL FACTS
The present general terms and conditions, the sale and everything related to it are governed by
French law ; the sellers, the buyers and their representatives accept that any legal action
is under the sole jurisdiction of the Parisian courts (France).
Each of these general conditions are independent of each other.
Payment is due at the moment of the sale and prices are expressed in euros.
WARRANTIES
The seller guarantees to PBA and the buyer that they are the undisputed owner, or are duly
authorized by the undisputed owner, of the property offered for sale, that this property
is not subject to any claim, dispute, attachment, reservation or pledge and that they can
rightfully transfer the ownership of the said property.
The information contained in the catalogue is established by PBA, assisted by PBA's chosen
expert, with all due criteria requested from any public auction house, and can be subject
to notifications, declarations and rectifications, which will be announced at the time of the
sale and recorded in the minutes of the sale. This information, including the indications of
dimensions in the catalogue are provided to facilitate the appraisal of the potential buyer and
are subject to their own personal judgement.
The absence of any indication of restoration, accidents, condition reports or labels in the
catalogue, or verbal announcements at the moment of the sale, does not imply that an item
is free of defects.
The condition of frames is not guaranteed.
Gemstones and pearls in general may have undergone general improvement modifications
(oiling for emeralds, heat treatment for sapphires or rubies, bleaching for pearls etc…). These
improvements are considered traditional and are accepted by the international gemstone and
pearl trade market.
No guarantee is made on the working condition of the watches. Some watchmakers may not
anymore possess original parts for the restoration of old watches and therefore no guarantee
is given to the buyer on possible later restorations, by watchmakers, for watches sold in their
actual condition.
For items with a lower estimate of more than 1,000 euros, a condition report on the state of
conservation of the lots can be provided upon request. The information is provided free of
charge and subject to anyone’s own interpretation.
PBA cannot be held responsible in any way whatsoever for this information.
In the event of any dispute, in particular concerning the authenticity or origin of the items sold,
PBA is bound by an obligation of means ; PBA's possible liability may only be incurred on the
express condition that a personal and proven fault is demonstrated against the auction house.
BUYERS PREMIUM
The auction will be conducted in euros and payment will be due immediately. In addition to the
hammer price, buyers will pay the following fees :
- up to 150 000 euros, 30% incl. VAT of the hammer price (25% excl. VAT + 20% VAT)
- Above 500 000 euros and up to 500 000 euros, 25,8% incl. VAT (21.5% excl. VAT + 20% VAT)
- And above 500 000 euros, 21,6% incl. VAT (18% excl. VAT + 20% VAT).
This calculation applies to each lot per tranche.
For books, manuscripts and autographs :
- Up to 150 000 euros : 26,37% incl. VAT (25% excl. VAT + 5.5% VAT) for the books and 30%
incl. VAT (25% excl. VAT + 20% VAT) for the manuscripts and the autographs.
- Above 150 000 euros and up to 500 000 euros : 22,68% incl. VAT (21.5% excl. VAT + 5,5%
VAT) for the books and 25,80% incl. VAT (21,5% excl. VAT + 20% VAT) for the manuscripts and
the autographs.
Above 500 000 euros : 18,99% incl. VAT (18% excl. VAT + 5.5% VAT) for the books and 21,60%
incl. VAT (18% excl. VAT + 20% VAT) for the manuscripts and the autographs.
This calculation applies to each lot per tranche.
Payment is due immediately after the sale. If the lot is exported outside the European Union
within three months after the sale, the VAT on the buyers premium will be refunded by wire
transfer, to the buyer, upon proof of exportation.
In the event of non-payment, the seller may decide to cancel the sale, to conduct legal actions
or to present the lot once more on sale on the condition that any possible difference between
the first and the second hammer price is to be borne by the faulty buyer.
As a courtesy we accept payment by Bank transfer in euros, Visa, MasterCard as well as Amex
(with additional fees of 2.75%). In cash and in euros up to 1 000 euros (incl. fees and taxes) for
French private residents and up to 15 000 euros (incl. fees and taxes) for foreign residents.
The auction house is a member of the Registre Central de prévention des impayés des
Commissaires Priseurs (Auctioneers Central Registry to prevent overdue payments) towards
which any faulty payment may be registered. The deptor can express their rights of access,
rectification and opposition on legitimate grounds by contacting the SYMEV (National Union of
Voluntary Sales Houses) : 15 rue Freycinet 75016 Paris.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Concerning lots sold by foreign resident sellers, buyer will pay a 5.5% VAT in addition to the
hammer price (lots marked with ). In accordance with the provisions of Article 321-4 of the
Commercial Code, the asterisk (*) marking some lots indicates that they are owned by an
associate of Pierre Bergé & associés.
ARTIST'S RESALE RIGHT
Pierre Bergé & associés is legally obliged to collect the sums due under the resale right for
the sale of the lots and to return them to the collecting agency or the beneficiary of the right.
The buyer shall be responsible for the payment of the resale charge and shall be invoiced at the
same time as the tender price and the costs referred to in the first paragraph.
In the event that PBA becomes aware that a sale is subject to the resale duty only after the lot
has been tendered, that duty will be invoiced to the buyer separately.
The selling price used as the basis for collecting the resale duty shall be calculated, excluding
taxes, on the hammer price. It is calculated work by work. The applicable rate is :
- 4% for the price range up to EUR 50,000
- 3% for the price range between EUR 50,000.01 and EUR 200,000
- 1% for the price range between EUR 200,000.01 and EUR 350,000
- 0.5% for the price range between EUR 350,000.01 and EUR 500,000
- 0.25% for the part of the price exceeding EUR 500,000.01
The amount of the resale right is capped at EUR 12,500.
BIDDINGS
The sale will follow the lot numbers according to the catalogue. PBA has discretion to set the
increment of the bids and all bidders must comply with this. The highest and final bidder will
be the buyer. In case of a double bidding declared by the auctioneer, the lot will be immediately
reoffered for sale and all present prospective buyers will be able to bid a second time. At the
striking of the hammer, risk and responsibility for the lot passes to the buyer. He is therefore
responsible for insuring his lots as soon as the auction is final.
ABSENTEE AND TELEPHONE BIDS
Bidders who cannot attend the auction in person and who are wishing to bid by absentee or
telephone bid are required to submit bids on the Absentee Bid Form of which a copy is printed
in the last pages of the catalogue. This form must be received at least two days in advance of
the sale, with the bidder’s bank details. Pierre Bergé & associés provides telephone bids as
a convenience to bidders who cannot attend the auction in person and therefore will not be
held responsible if a phone connection problem occurs, under no circumstances Pierre Bergé
& associés employees will be held responsible if an error shall occur in the execution of the
telephone bids.
REMOVAL OF PURCHASES
From the moment the hammer falls, sold items will be in the exclusive responsability of the
buyer. Transportation and storage will be invalided to the buyer. The buyer will be solely
responsible for insurance, and Pierre Bergé & associés assumes no liability for any damage
items may incur from the time the hammer falls. All formality procedures, including those
concerning exportation as well as transport fall exclusively to the buyer.
- Sales at Richelieu - Drouot : Furniture, paintings and other voluminous objects which have
not been retrieved by the buyer on the day following the sales, before 10 am, will be stored
in the 3rd basement of the Hotel Drouot where they can be collected at the following hours :
1 :30pm - 6 :00pm from Monday to Friday.
Hotel Drouot Storage : 6 bis rue Rossini, 75009, Paris Tel : +33 (0)1 48 00 20 56
All due storage fees, according to the tariffs of Drouot SA, have to be paid at the Hotel Drouot’s
storage before the retrieval of items and on presentation of the paid invoice.
- Sales at Atelier Richelieu AND online sales : Furniture, paintings and other voluminous objects
which have not been retrieved by the buyer on the day following the sales, before 10am, will
be stored at the TSE furniture store where they can be collected at the following hours : 9am -
12am / 2pm - 6pm from Monday to Friday.
Furniture store TSE : 36/56 rue Louis David, 93170 Bagnolet
Tel : +33 (0)1 48 58 36 06 Email : garde-meubles.tse@orange.fr
Storage fees will be taken care of by PBA for a duration of 15 days starting after the date of
the sale.
After this period, a storage fee of 4 euros /day per object and 8 euros /day per piece of furniture
or bulky object will be charged.
A cost of 60 euros for management and handling issues will also be charged.
Bulky purchases kept in our warehouse are the buyers’ sole charge, risk and peril.
Pierre Bergé & associates will not be held liable towards buyers regarding the storage.
Please note that it will be compulsory to inform Pierre Bergé & associés 48h before collecting
the acquired items so that Pierre Bergé & associés can authorize the delivery by the furniture
store. Retrieval of purchases is done upon appointment and presentation of the paid voucher.
The buyers agree that if they have not retrieved their purchases within one year after the date
of the auction, Pierre Bergé & associates will present the lots for sale again, and deduce the
above storage fees from the new hammer price.
The remainding amount will be kept in an escrow account, at the owners’ disposal.
PRE-EMPTION
In certain cases, the French State may exercise its pre-emptive right on works of art put up
for sale, in accordance with the provisions of the Article 37 of the Law of December 31, 1921,
amended by section 59 of the Law of July 10, 2000. State then replaces the last bidder. In such
cases, the representative of the State must express its intention after the striking of the hammer
to the company authorized to organize the public auction or private sale. The pre-emption
decision must then be confirmed within fifteen days. Pierre Bergé & associés will not assume
any liability for administrative decisions of pre-emption.
GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION
Any person who has registered with PBA has the right to access and rectify personal data
provided to PBA under the conditions of the French Data Protection Act of 6 January 1978, as
amended by the Act of 6 August 2004.
