Terms and Conditions
please note: Original German text is the authoritative text!)

1. The auctioneer acts in the name and for the account of others. The auctioneer is entitled to assert the rights of the consigner from the request and from the award on behalf of the consigner. When the bid is accepted a purchase contract between the consigner and the successful bidder is concluded. The auctioneer is obligated upon request to the naming of the other party. The auctions always take place as public-auctions.

2. The auctioneer reserves the right to combine, to separate, to offer out of sequence or withdraw any catalog numbers, while protecting the interests of the consignor, during the auction.

3. The items which are coming up for auction can be viewed and inspected prior to the auction. The catalog descriptions made to the best knowledge and belief by the auctioneer, there is no guarantee in the legal sense. For the bulk lots the information thereon made do not refer to an agreed contractual quality of the purchase right. The auctioneer assumes no warranty for individual stamps and their qualities, if they come from bulk lots. Words such as "mint" or "completely" reproduce the impressions of spot tests but are no assurances. The descriptions of bulk lots are therefore not binding and can’t be a subject of reclamation. They have however been determined and checked in any case with great care. All bulk lots are only auctioned like they are. For single lots, the buyer can’t claim the auctioneer for material defects, if he has fulfilled his duty of care. The Auctioneer will however make his warranty claims against the consigner in case of justified objections (that appear to him no later than 3 weeks after auction closing) within a period of 12 months. In the case of a successful claim, he refunds the buyer the purchase price, including extra charge; another claim, even to reimbursement of testing and postage costs, is excluded. Only in case of counterfeiting or altering the auctioneer will reimburse the costs of a BPP-examiner.

4. All items go to the highest bidder. The auctioneer can refuse the acceptance of a bid in duly justified cases or grant conditional acceptance. He may withdraw the surcharge and auction the item again, if a bid submitted on time has been overlooked or if the highest bidder does not want to accept his bid or if there are other doubts about the highest bid. For reservation aggregates the bidder is bound with the consigner to his bid until clarification, however at least six weeks; the same is valid for distribution of sub-bids and for acquisitions in the post auction sale.

5. With the fall of the hammer the risk of not responsible losses or damages pass to the purchaser. Ownership of the auctioned items is only transferred with full payment by the purchaser to the auctioneer.

6. The surcharge obligates to purchase. The items should be taken in reception immediately after the auction. If the buyer wants to get his items send per mail, it’s at his own expense. If the buyer is an entrepreneur, the risk has been transferred to him in this case already with the handover to the carrier or another other person or institution.

7. The Auctioneer receives a commission of 22 % of the hammer price. For written bidders the postage and insurance amounts will be charged separately. The VAT by law is calculated only to the additional costs (commission, postage, etc.), because in these cases a pure mediation service is provided (this also applies to precious metals). For mediation services to foreign customers no sales tax will be calculated when it comes to business customers. The business status must be made credible by specifying the VAT identification number or by other appropriate means. Invoices issued during the auction are only subject to verification on errors.

8. The invoice amount is due with the surcharge and payable in cash or by bank certified check. Payments of foreign buyers, who have bid in writing or by telephone, are due within 7 days after receiving of the invoice. Longer payment terms must be clarified with management before bidding and are only considered accepted after written confirmation. Payment terms for precious metals are not possible.

9. In the case of late payment interest will be charged at the rate of 2 % per month as damage caused by delay. The auctioneer can require performance or claim damages for non-performance after a deadline; the damages can be calculated so that the items will be auctioned in an upcoming auction again and the defaulting buyer must pay for an eventual reduction in price compared with the previous auction and the specific costs of the repeated auction including the fees of the auctioneer.

10. Written purchase bids and such via email are always discretionary carried out without guarantee. Best or highest bids will be participated at up to five times of the starting price. “Bid”-lots will be auctioned to the highest bid and can’t be included in a possible purchase price limit or bid limit. Bids on "bid"-lots will be carried out independently in these cases. The minimum bid for bid lots is 15 euros, under which there will be no acceptance. Bids with “from to” quotes are not possible and are recorded in the book with the upper limit. Customers, which want to bid via telephone during the auction, must offer at least the estimate price and enter an assignment before the auction.

11. In case of unavailability the auctioneer will carry out the assignment for the estimate price.  For telephone bids, the auctioneer is not responsible for the establishment of the connection.

12. Unless catalog owners, auction participants and bidders do not comment adversely, they assure that they buy the catalog and depicted items therein from the period of the 3rd Reich only for purposes of civic education, the defense of unconstitutional aspiration, the art or science, research acquire or teaching, reporting on events of current affairs or history or similar purposes (§§ 86a, 86 Strafgesetzbuch).

13. Place of performance and jurisdiction for commercial transactions is Hildesheim. German law applies. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) is excluded. Should one of the above conditions be totally or partly ineffective, the validity of the other remain unaffected. The foregoing provisions shall apply to the After-Sales. The clauses relating to distance selling do not apply.