Glossary

Glossary

As is, where-is
A common statement at auctions, „as is, where is“, also known as „in its present condition“ simply means that items are accepted by the buyer in their present state and location. This condition considers that the buyer has inspected the lots to meet his expectations. All items could be viewed personally before the auction.

Bid
A bid is a buyers indication or offer of a price willing to pay for an item. The placed bid always indicates the maximum amount a buyer is willing to pay for a lot. Each time the bid is overbid the bid manager will place a higher bid automatically until the maximum amount entered by the buyer is reached. The first bid must met the starting price to be accepted as a qualified bid. A bid must met the reserve price to be the winning bid. You will be notified as long as the reserve price is not reached.

Bid Manager
Our bid manager automatically bids for you up to your maximum bid. There are two different ways the bid manager is proceeding depending on the ratio of your bid to the reserve price. As long as your bid is below the reserve price the bid manager bids automatically up to your maximum bid. If your bid is above the reserve price the bid manager bids automatically to the next allowable bid only against the competitive bid. Means that your bid will then be the current bid or the competitive bid plus the bid increment as long as the next bid step is within your maximum bid.

Buyers premium
The buyers premium is a commission to the auctioneer to be paid by the buyer. It will be added to the successful hammer price of a purchased lot and covers administrative expenses of the auction house. On this amount – hammer price plus buyers premium - the sales tax will be collected if applicable.

Catalogue
A catalogue is a listing of items divided into lots sold at a specific auction. The lots inside a catalogue contain a description with photos and are denoted by lot numbers with which they are then chronologically called at the auction.

Certificate of Entry / Proof of export
The Certificate of Entry is intended to ensure that tax-free intra-community deliveries from companies within the scope of the German VAT Act have actually arrived in other EU countries. As a bidder from an EU country, you will automatically receive a Certificate of Entry document by e-mail to fill in to proof that the object of the supply has entered another EU member state.

Extended bidding
Every lot has a scheduled closing time. However, if there is an active bid within the last 3 minutes before the lot closes, the closing time of that lot will be extended by 3 minutes until no bids are placed. Lots without any bid will be extended once by 30 minutes compared to the original scheduled closing time.

Hammer price
The hammer price is the price offered as the winning bid for a lot. It does not include the buyers premium or VAT which will be added to result in the total purchase price.

Increment
The increment or bid increment is the amount by which the bidding is advanced. The next allowable bid is determined by the current bid plus the bid increment. Our bid increment is fixed at 1.00 EUR.

Lot
A lot is a single unit offered for sale denoted by a lot number. Lots can be single items or a collection of multiple items. The details of a lot are described in the lot description. An auction usually consists of several lots.

Negotiated sale
A negotiated sale is a free treated form of a sale. The conditions of the sale are negotiated individually. Negotiated sales are sometimes preferred over competitive bidding like auctions due to its efficiency, flexibility, speed and discretion.

Private treaty sale / tender sale
In contrast to auctions in private treaty sales non-published bids are submitted by buyers within a specific period of time. After the closing of the bidding period the seller decides if any and which bid to accept.

Pro forma invoice
A pro forma invoice is a preliminary bill of sale sent to a buyer ahead of a shipment or delivery of goods. It typically contains a date of issue, a description of what is being sold and the total amount payable as well as any taxes or additional fees.

Reserve price
The reserve price is the minimum price for which a lot can be bought. Reserve prices are typically set by the seller. The reserve price is hidden until it is met. Anyway, bids below the reserve price will be accepted as a bid. But if the highest bid at the end of the auction is below the reserve price, then the lot is not sold.

Specific Auction Terms and Conditions
Beside our General Terms and Conditions there are Special Auction Terms and Conditions which are unique for each auction. In the Special Auction Terms and Conditions individual conditions are provided which do refer exclusively to one auction such as viewing and collection times, location and contact details or provisions and payment information.

Starting price
The starting price or opening bid is a required price the first bid must met to be accepted as a qualified bid. For a lot to be actually sold the reserve price must be reached. Usually the starting price is below the reserve price.

Total purchase price
The total purchase price is calculated as: Hammer price + buyers premium + (if applicable) VAT on hammer price and buyers premium.