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.
LIVE AUCTION
Buyers who have acquired their lot(s) through an online sales platform will pay in
addition :
- for lots acquired via the Drouot.com platform, the sale costs to be paid by the buyer
are increased by 1.5% (excluding VAT) of the auction price (cf. CGV of the Drouotonline.
com platform).
- for lots acquired via the Invaluable platform, the sale costs to be paid by the buyer are
increased by 3% (excl. VAT) of the auction price (see the General Terms and Conditions
of Sale of the Invaluable.com platform).
- for the lots acquired via the Liveauctioneers platform, the selling expenses to be paid
by the buyer are increased by 5% before tax of the auction price (cf CGV of the platform
Invaluable.com).
- for the lots acquired via the Bidspirit platform, the selling expenses to be paid by the
buyer are increased according to the CGV of the bidspirit.com platform).
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 50,000 euros
- 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 12,500 euros.
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
At the striking of the hammer, risk and responsibility for the lot passes to the buyer. He
is therefore responsible for insuring his lots, and PBA declines all responsibility for any
damage that may occur as soon as the auction is final. All formalities, including export
license and transport are the sole responsibility of the buyer.
For the withdrawn of purchases, the books must be picked up from Monday May 16 at
Pierre Bergé & associés - 21, avenue Kléber 75116 Paris from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and
2:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
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.
