Using the Catalog & Conditions of Sale

About the Auction: The concept is simple. The bidder replies to catalogued items by mail, phone, fax, online, or in person before the deadline date, after which the auction is considered closed and each lot goes to the highest bidder. Bidders are encouraged to bid early. Under bidders will be informed when they are outbid in order to have the opportunity to increase their bids, if desired (see check box on Bid-By-Mail-Or-Fax Form). To encourage early bidding, all bidding activity that happens in the last closing 5 minutes will automatically extend that lot for a period of 30 minutes. If bidding activity takes place in the closing 5 minutes of that time period, the time will be extended another 30 minutes, and so on until there is no more last minute bidding activity.

Bidding Deadline: December 12, 2007 at 3:30 pm Central Standard Time. New bids cannot be placed after 3:30 pm - unless the auction has been automatically extended a period of 30 minutes (see above). All bids will be handled through our online auction system. Bids entered by mail, fax, or phone will be entered into the online auction system by l’art et l’automobile on the bidders behalf. Bids received by phone, fax, or mail that are under the current bid price will not be entered and will notify the bidder. We recommend that if you need us to assist you with placing a bid that you contact l’art et l’automobile well before the deadline of 3:30 pm CST. Please place your bids early to avoid the last minute rush - and also to avoid the automatic extending auction time. Bidding starts as soon as you receive your catalog.

Bid Placement: Bids may be placed by mail, phone, fax, online or in person. Bids must be accompanied by a valid credit card number with expiration date or by a check drawn on a U.S. bank. If bidding online, a credit card number must be collected at registration. Payment will be held in escrow and only applied when and if the bidder is successful. The Maximum bid feature allows you to place an opening bid and indicate your maximum bid. In this case, the auction system will raise your bid using the standard increment structure up to but not exceeding your maximum bid, after which you will be informed when you are outbid.

Starting and Minimum bids:
The starting bid is simply a number to start the bidding process off. Bids placed at that amount or above will be recorded in the auction system. The Minimum bid amount is the lowest possible bid amount at which the auction could successfully close. You could potentially bid above the starting bid, but below the minimum bid amount and not win the auction. After placing a bid, please return to the auction page and confirm that the minimum bid amount has been met.

Price Range Estimates: In addition to descriptive information, each entry in this catalog contains a price range which reflects, in our opinion, the prices expected to be realized.

Reserves: The reserve (or reserve price) is the minimum price that l’art et l’automobile, acting for the seller, is willing to accept below which the lot will not be sold. This amount is agreed upon before the auction by both the seller and l’art et l’automobile. Many lots are offered at no reserve.

Raising your Bids: You will be notified of the lowest possible bid amount when you bid online or by phone. Minimum bid increments are as follows:

$ 1 - $100 = $ 5.00 increment
$ 101 - $ 500 = $ 20.00 increment
$ 501 - $ 1,000 = $ 50.00 increment
$ 1,001 - $ 5,000 = $ 100.00 increment
$ 5,001 - $ 10,000 = $ 250.00 increment
over $ 10,000 = $ 500.00 increment

Buyer’s Premium & Sales Tax: Bidders are reminded that the purchase price to be paid by the highest bidder will be the sum of the final bid price plus the buyer’s premium of 15% of the final bid. Purchases within the state of Texas are subject to 6.75% sales tax, unless the buyer is exempted by law and provides l’art et l’automobile with a valid and current resale certificate.

Consignor’s Premium & Conditions: If you have any interesting memorabilia you think would fit in our next catalog, please let us about it. Your only expenses will be shipping them to us. We will catalog them, photograph them and promote them. Once sold, we retain a 15% commission if the lot has no reserve and 18% if reserved. If not sold in the auction or in the after sale, the items can be shipped back at your expense. No other costs are contained within this agreement. Payment is made 3 weeks after items are shipped to the buyer in order to insure that the lot(s) are not returned for a valid reason as laid out in the Return Policy section.

Payment: Payment may be made to l’art et l’automobile by checks drawn on a US bank, US currency, wire transfer, PayPal, American Express, Visa or MasterCard. Statements are issued within 10 days of the auction end at which time payment is due. If payment has not been received within 15 days of the statement date, there will be a late/storage fee.

Shipping: We use UPS ground service. Buyer pays packing, shipping & insurance fees. We recommend UPS, Fed-Ex or DHL for all shipments domestic and international as items are trackable and insured in case of loss or damage. Any other carriers are the owner’s sole responsiblity.

Return Policy: Buyer must obtain return authorization from l’art et l’automobile. Such authorization is given only under the condition that the lot(s) is not received as described in the catalog. Requests for return must be made no later than 10 days from receipt of item, however shipping and handling fees are not returnable. No return authorizations shall be given for any reason later than 30 days from date of sale. Bids cancelled or returned after the end of the auction for any other reason will incur a cancellation fee of 10% of the closing price.

Conditions of Sale

1. l’art et l’automobile acts solely as agent for the seller of each lot.
2. All property is sold “as is” and neither l’art et l’automobile nor the seller (“consignor”) makes any express or implied representations of any kind or nature with respect to each lot beyond the descriptions contained in the text. It should be noted that all items are described accurately to the best of our knowledge, and questions may be asked.
3. l’art et l’automobile reserves the right to offer duplicate examples to the under bidder.
4. l’art et l’automobile is not responsible for the provenance of lots prior to consignment.
5. This agreement is entered into pursuant to the laws of the State of Texas and shall be so construed and governed.