Conditions of Business for Live Online Bidding
Any natural person, legal person or other organization participating in an offline auction organized by the Company through Online Platform (as defined in the “Definitions and Interpretation” below) shall carefully read and comply with the Company’s Conditions of Business for Live Online Bidding (the “Conditions”) and shall be responsible for its/his/her involvement in the auctions. The Bidders (as defined in the “Definitions and Interpretation” below) undertake to carefully read and consent all the terms or notices of the Company’s current auction notices such as “Conditions of Business”, “Notice on Auction of Bonded Lots” and “Wine Auction Notice” and Company’s “Important Notice” and “Condition Reports”.
Live Online Bidding is accessible only for certain auctions. Bidders shall read catalogues, “Conditions of Business” released on the Online Platform and auction information to determine whether participate in an offline action through the Online Platform.
After reading the Conditions and clicking “Consent”, “Confirm” and other relevant buttons indicatingthe acceptance of this Conditions, the Bidders (as defined in the “Definitions and Interpretation” below) shall be deemed to have consented to the Conditions and all the provisions of the above-mentioned documents. Any loss or liability arising from failure to read the Conditions, Conditions of Business, all the provisions of the above-mentioned documents and other auction information shall be borne solely by the Bidders and the Buyers (as defined in the “Definitions and Interpretation” below).
Article 1 Governing Laws
This Conditions of Business (hereinafter referred to as the “Conditions”) is made in accordance with the Auction Law of the People’s Republic of China, other relevant Laws implemented in the People’s Republic of China and the Articles of Association of the Company and with reference to international general practices.
Article 2 Definitions and Interpretation
The capitalized terms used in the Conditions shall have the following meanings:
(1)“We/Us/Our/Company” means China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd.
(2)“Company’s Domicile” means 3/F, Office Area, Guardian Art Center, No.1 Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, as may be subsequently changed and registered with the authorities in charge of industry and commerce administration.
(3)“Seller” means a natural person, legal person or any other organization that consigns the Lot to the Company for auction in accordance with the Conditions. Under the Conditions, any reference to the Seller shall include reference to any of his/her/its agents unless otherwise provided hereunder or in a particular context.
(4) “Bidder” means a natural person, legal person or any other organization who, with full capacity of civil rights according to provisions of the Laws of People’s Republic of China, participate in the offline auctions hosted by the Company through the Online Platformand bid for the Lot in auctions and who has gone through the registration and necessary procedural formalities on the Online Platform or has provide with necessary procedural formalities in accordance with the requirement of the Company. Any Bidder shall satisfy all provisions with respect to conditions of sale or qualifications of the Bidders if required by Laws. Under the Conditions, any reference to a Bidder shall include reference to any of his/her/its agents unless otherwise provided hereunder or in a particular context.
(5) "Buyer" shall mean any Bidder who succeeds in buying the Lot through the Online Platform with the highest price in the auction (including both offline and online) that is confirmed by the auctioneer by fall of hammer or in other public manner (including preset auction programs) at the auction hosted by the Company, provided however that if a state-owned cultural heritage collection entity appointed by the authorities in charge of cultural heritage administration successfully exercise its state pre-emptive right of purchase within the time period provided in the relevant Laws and rules of the Company, then under such circumstances, the state-owned cultural heritage collection entity shall be the Buyer.
(6) “Lot” means any item owned by the Seller or disposable according to the Laws that is consigned to the Company for auction.
(7) “Auction Date” means the published date on which a auction will formally begin. In case of any discrepancy between the actual date and the published date of an auction, the actual date shall prevail.
(8) “Sale Date” means the date on which the auctioneer confirms the sale of any Lot by fall of hammer or in any other public manner (including preset procedures) during an Online Auction held by the Company.
(9) “Hammer Price” means the price for selling the Lot to the Buyer which is confirmed by the auctioneer by fall of hammer or in any other public manner (including preset procedures).
(10) “Proceeds of Sale” means the net amount owed to the Seller from the Hammer Price after deducting the commission pro rata, taxes and the Expenses and other amounts owed to the Company by the Seller.
(11) “Purchase Price” means the total amount payable by the Buyer for his/her/its bid, including the Hammer Price, the commission and the Expenses payable by the Buyer.
(12) “Expenses” means expenses charged by the Company, including but not limited to expenses with respect to insurance, preparation of catalogues and other promotional materials, packaging, transportation, storage, custody, remittance and any other expenses pursuant to relevant Laws and provisions hereof.
(13) “Reserve Price” means the lowest selling price of the Lot offered by the Seller and confirmed with the Company in the auction consignment contract or confirmed by the Company with the Seller’ authorization.
(14) “Reference Price” means the estimated selling price of the Lot provided in the catalogue or other descriptive materials. The Reference Price is estimated prior to the Auction Date, which cannot be deemed as the fixed sale price and is not legally binding.
(15) “Storage Fee” means the fee payable by the Buyer or the Seller under the Conditions relating to storage of the Lot, and the current standard of the Storage Fee is equal to 0.3‰ of the Reserve Price (if no Reserve Price is applicable, the agreed insurance amount shall apply) per day.
(16) “Online Platform” means the online platform used by the Company to provide services of Online Auctions and Live Online Bidding, including but not limited to the Company’s official website “m.woeiswo.com”, mobile app and other platforms. The auctioneer can host auctions live on the Online Platform or host auctions through the Online Platform’s preset auction programs, texts, speeches, or animations.
(17) “Online Account” means an independent online account of a Bidder created based on the username and password set by the Bidder after the Bidder has registered with the Company’s Online Platform.
(18) “Live Online Bidding” means any of the Company’s offline auctions that allow the Bidders to participate on the Online Platform, also referred to as the “Online Bidding”.
(19) “Online Auction” means any online auction held by the Company on the Online Platform. It is different from the Company’s offline auctions and Live Online Bidding. The “action” referred to herein means offline auctions or Live Online Bidding participated through Online Platform, exclusive of online auctions.
(20) “Bid Quota Ratio” means the ratio of “the amount of deposit paid by a Bidder” to the “bid quota” (the largest bid that a Bidder can make on the Online Platform). When a Bidder’s bid for a Lot is confirmed by the auctioneer as the highest offer available at that time, such bid multiplied by the Bid Quota Ratio is the “amount of deposit reserved” for the Lot. If the Bidder fails to acquire the Lot, the amount of deposit reserved for the Lot will be returned to the bidder’s Online Account, and the Company shall not be liable for the failure to timely return the amount due to network or system errors. The amount of deposit reserved for the Lot shall not be used for the bidding of or payment for any other Lot without the consent of the Company until the Purchase Price of the Lot has been fully paid.
For example only, when the Bid Quota Ratio is 1:10, a Bidder who has paid a deposit of RMB 10,000 can make a bid up to RMB 100,000. If the Bidder buys a Lot with a bid of RMB 80,000, the amount of deposit reserved shall be RMB 8,000, and the Bidder’s largest bid for all other Lots will be RMB 20,000.
The Company will announce the Bid Quota Ratio via the auction announcement or Online Platform before the Auction Date.
(21) “Auction Information” means information about the Lot, the expected time of commencement of each auction, the auction accessible through Live Online Bidding, the Bid Quota Ratio and other others published by the Company prior to the Auction Date or during the auction via the Company’s catalog or the Online Platform.
(22) ”Laws” means laws, administrative regulations, state department rules and normative documents promulgated and amended subsequently by competent authorities in the PRC.
Article 3Scope of Application
The Company is legally qualified to conduct auctions pursuant to the PRC Laws. The Company can organize and conduct auctions within the scope permitted by the PRC Laws and policies. The Seller, the Bidders, the Buyers and any other concerned parties participating in the Company’s Online Auctions in relation to the cultural relics, artworks and other collections shall be deemed to accept in full and be bound by the Conditions.
Article 4 Special Notice
The Sellers, the Bidders and the Buyers involved in the Company’s Online Auctions should read the Conditions carefully, act in accordance with the Conditions and be responsible for its/his/her involvement in the auctions.If any party does not read the Conditions carefully, such party shall bear any loss or liability incurred therefrom. The Company has the right to decide at its discretion to postpone or cancel the auctions or to suspend or cancel the Live Online Bidding services due to weather, internet connection problems or other reasons, without any compensation to the Seller or the Bidders.
During an auction held by the Company, when the auctioneer confirms the highest bid by fall of hammer or in any other public manner (including the preset procedure), the Bidder with the highest bid shall be the Buyer of the Lot. However, if a state-owned cultural heritage collection entity appointed by the authorities in charge of cultural heritage administration successfully exercise its state pre-emptive right of purchase within the time period provided in the relevant Laws and rules of the Company, then under such circumstances, the state-owned cultural heritage collection entity shall be the Buyer. The Company, the Seller and the Buyer shall acknowledge the sale of the Lot and its closing, enjoy the rights and assume the obligations provided by Laws and the Conditions. Any party that fails to perform the obligations shall bear its/his/her corresponding legal liabilities.
The Bidders and the Buyers are aware of and acknowledge that the Live Online Bidding serves only as a bidding method provided by the Company to Bidders to participate into the offline auction and that the Company have provided the Bidders with the conditions to view the original Lot and is not selling goods online. The Lots are special goods and not consumer goods; once the auction is completed, the Buyer may not make a return request.
Article 5 Defect Guarantee
The Company hereby declares that it does not guarantee the genuineness, quality and value of the Lot, and the Company shall not bear any warranty liability for a defect of the Lot. All Lots shall be sold on an “as is” basis.
The Bidders shall personally inspect and investigate the Lot and shall be liable for their bids. If a Bidder makes any bid during the Company’s auctions, the Bidder shall be deemed to have conducted an overall inspection and valuation of the genuineness, quality and value of the Lot, be satisfied with the genuineness, quality and value of the Lot, and fully understand and accept the defect (if any) of the Lot by the Bidder. The participation in the bidding by a Bidder demonstrates the Bidder’s willingness to bear any possible risk and waive his/her/its right to make any objection to the genuineness, quality and value of the Lot.
Article 6 Waiver of Liabilities
The Company shall not be liable for any loss arising from the inability of the Bidders or Buyers to use the Online Platform, or network delay, or theft of usernames and passwords of the Online Accounts, or failure to bid successfully or other transaction anomalies due to network, communication signals, system errors, viruses, hacking attacks, incorrect entry of information, and other reasons; The Company shall have the right to cancel the transaction if the result of the auction is wrong due to the above reasons, and the Company shall not be liable to the Seller, the Bidders or the Buyer for any loss caused by the cancellation of the transaction. The losses caused by the mishandling of the Bidder or the Buyer shall be borne by the Bidder or the Buyer alone.
The Company does not guarantee that the Online Platform or the services, content, functions or materials associated with it will be updated in real time, nor does it guarantee that the Online Platform will be secure, stable, undisturbed or error-free, or that the defects have been corrected. The Company shall not be liable for the failure of the Bidder or Buyer to bid successfully or for any other loss arising from such circumstances.
The Company shall not be liable for any damage to, infection of, or hacking of computer equipment or other property that occurs after the Bidder or Buyer enters or uses the Online Platform.
The Company’s Online Platform contains links to third-party websites, and the Company shall not be liable for the content provided by or through third-party websites. The Bidder or the Buyer shall bear his/her/its own risk of linking to any third-party website and shall bear all liabilities and consequences arising from such links.
Any loss caused by identity theft bidding as a result of the information leakage of theusername,bank card account number or password of the Bidder or the Buyer shall be borne by the Bidder or the Buyer alone.
If the Bidder or the Buyer has any objection to or doubt over the Online Platform, please stop using the Online Platform.
Article 7 Reserve Price
All Lots are offered subject to a Reserve Price, unless otherwise marked or explained by the Company. The Reserve Price shall be determined by the Seller and the Company after negotiation, or determined by the Company as entrusted by the Seller. After determining the amount of the Reserve Price by the Seller and the Company, any modification of the Reserve Price by either the Seller or the Company shall be subject to prior written consent by the other party. In no circumstances shall the Company assume any liability for failure to sell due to bidding lower than the Reserve Price at the Company’s auction.
Article 8 Catalogue of the Lot
At the auctions, the Company will prepare a written or electronic catalogue to introduce the status of the Lot with words and/or pictures for the convenience of Bidders and Sellers. The words, Reference Price, pictures in the catalogue and other images and public materials are only references for Bidders and are subject to revision before auction. The Company provides no guarantee for the authenticity, value, tone, quality or against any flaw or defect of the Lot.
Article 9 Uncertainty of Catalogue
In case that the tone, color, gradation and shape shown in catalogue and/or any other illustrations, images and publication materials differ from those of the Lot due to print, photograph and other technical reasons, the original shall take precedence.
Any statement and appraisal made in writing or verbally (including but not limited to the certificate, catalogue, status explanation\report, slide show, news and online media) of any Lot made by the Company and its employees or its agents are only for reference and should not be relied on as any guarantee or undertaking for the Lot. The Company and its employees or agents shall undertake no liability for any inaccuracy or omission in the statements and appraisals mentioned above.
The publications quoted in any explanation of the Lot by the Company and its employees or its agents are only reference to Bidders. The Company shall not provide the original or copy of such publications and other materials and shall reserve the right to modify such quotation in explanation.
Article 10 Inspection by Bidders
The Company hereby declares that the Company cannot guarantee the genuineness, quality and value of the Lot, and the Company shall not bear any liability of guarantee against flaws. The Bidders and/or their agents shall inspect and investigate the actual status of the Lot on his/her/its own and take legal responsibility for his/her/its bidding for the Lot.
The Company strongly advises the Bidders to personally inspect the original Lot for which they intend to bid before the Auction Date by way of identification or other methods. And the Bidders shall judge the genuineness, quality and value of the Lot by themselves rather than making decisions by relying on the Company’s catalogue, status explanation\report and written or verbal expression in other forms of the Lot.
Article 11 Registration of Bidders
When a Bidder participates in any auction of the Company through the Company’s Online Platform for the first time, he/she/it shall complete the registration of the Online Account 24 hours before the Auction Date, and shall provide identification information and necessary supporting documents in accordance with the requirements of the Company during the registration process. If the Bidder has not completed the registration within the prescribed time limit, the Bidder shall bear the consequences alone of not being able to participate in the auction.
Bidders should accurately fill in the required information for registration. If the Bidder is a natural person, he/she/it shall upload a color scan or photograph of a valid identity card, passport or other valid identity document approved by the government of the PRC as well as other materials requested by the Company. If the Bidder is a legal entity or other organization, he/she/it shall submit offline a valid certificate of registration, ID of legal representative or other legal authorization certificates as well as other materials requested by the Company. Bidders shall be responsible for the authenticity of the information and materials provided to the Company.
The Company has the right to require the Bidders to provide the proof of financial conditions, guarantee, proof of deposit and/or other guarantees as required for the Lot for which the Bidders intend to bid.
If a Bidder already has an Online Account, the Bidder should log in with the existing username and password and may not register separately.
Article 12 Deposit
When a Bidder participates in any auction of the Company through the Company’s Online Platform for the first time, he/she/it must pay a deposit 24 hours before the Auction Date (or other time announced by the Company), otherwise the Company shall have the right to not approve the Bidder’s identity and qualification check.
Bidders must pay the deposit by logging into the Company’s Online Platform or by other means approved by the Company. The Company reserves the right to accept only the deposit paid from the Bidder’s own account.The minimum amount of deposit and the Bid Quota Ratio will be announced by the Company before the Auction Date, and the Company shall have the right to reduce and waive the deposit. The arrival time of the deposit by a Bidder shall be the actual time at which the deposit arrives in the recipient bank account, and the Company shall not be liable for the failure of the Bidder to participate in the auction due to the failure of the deposit to timely arrive in the bank account. In case that the Bidder succeeds in buying the Lot through the Live Online Bidding services at a offline auction, then such deposit that the Bidder has paid to the Company (including the deposit paid at offline auction and/or by Online Account) shall be converted into the payment for the Purchase Price of the Lot. Where the Buyer make the full payment separately rather than by using the deposit assumed by the Lot when paying the Purchase Price, the Company shall has the right to use the deposit to settle other Lots.
Automatic refund of the deposit is not allowed on the Online Platform of the Company. In case that the Bidder fails to buy the Lot or there is remaining sum after the converting part of the deposit into the payment for the Purchase Price or after settlement and that the Bidder is not participating in the bidding process for any Lot and also does not owe any money to the Company or its parent company, subsidiaries, branches, offices (liaison offices) and affiliates, the Bidder can apply to the Company for a refund of the deposit. The Company shall have the right of review and final decision with regard to the application for refund of the deposit. The time at which the Bidder receives the refund shall depend on the recipient bank.
If the Bidder does not apply for a refund of the deposit for a long time after paying the deposit, which results in the deposit being unable to be returned via the original payment method, then upon the Bidder’s application and the Company‘s verification, the Company will handle the remittance procedures and refund the deposit to the new bank account provided by the Bidder and recognized by the Company. The time at which the Bidder receives the refund shall depend on the recipient bank.
The Company will not pay any interest, income or benefit when refunding the deposit.
The Company has the right to use the deposit paid by the Bidder at offline auctions and/or by Online Account to pay off any money owed to the Company or its parent company, subsidiaries, branches, offices (liaison offices) and affiliates. In case that the Bidder purchases several Lots simultaneously, the Company has the right to decide the way of allocation following the conversion of the deposit into the payment for the Purchase Price.
Article 13 Bidding Paddles for Live Online Bidding
The Company will announce the conditions and procedures for the Bidders to acquire the bidding paddles for Live Online Bidding before the Auction Date, including but not limited to setting qualifications of the Bidders for acquiring the bidding paddles for Live Online Bidding, in accordance with different Lots or different conditions and forms of auction. The Company will review the identity and qualifications of the Bidders and if approved, then Bidders can apply to the Company for bidding paddles for Live Online Bidding. The Bidders can access information about the bidding paddle after logging into to his/her/its Online Account. The bidding paddles for Live Online Bidding are only applicable to the Bidders and the Buyers participating in the Company’s Offline Auctions on the Online Platform and not applicable to other bidding methods such as offline auctions participated by the Bidders on-site and absentee bidding, nor does it apply to Online Auctions held by the Company.
The Company hereby cautions that the bidding paddles for Live Online Bidding is the only certificate of the Bidder’s participation in offline auctions on Online Platform. Each Bidder shall take good care of the username and password of his/her/its Online Account and may not allow any third party to use the username and password or disclose the username and password to any third party. The Company shall not be liable for any loss arising from the disclosure or theft of the username and password of the Bidder.The Bidders should immediately contact the Company and report the theft if they find that the username and password are likely to be stolen. If, after verification by the Company, it is determined that the reporter is indeed the Bidder, the Company will freeze his/her/its Online Account and the Company shall not be liable for any loss that occurred prior to the Bidder’s report of theft, when the verification result is pending, or during the account freeze period.
The bidding act of the person holding the bidding paddle for Live Online Bidding is deemed to be the bidding act of the registered holder of the bidding paddle, regardless of whether he/she/it is entrusted by the Bidder. The registered holder of the bidding paddle for Live Online Bidding shall bear legal responsibility for acts made under his/her/its Online Account, unless the registered holder has reported the theft of the Online Account with the Company in a written manner approved by the Company and has his Online Account frozen after verification by the Company.
The Company hereby cautions that before the Company freezes the Online Account of a Bidder, the bidding act of the person holding the bidding paddle for Online Auctions is deemed to be the bidding act of the registered holder of the bidding paddle and that the registered holder of the bidding paddle for Online Auctions shall bear legal responsibility for acts made under his/her/its Online Account.
Article 14 Process of Live Online Bidding
The Bidders undertakes not to modify, withdraw or revoke their bids under any circumstances once the bids are made on the Online Platform.The Bidders and the Buyers shall be solely responsible for any mistakes or errors that occur during the auction.
Except in the event of specially specified auction methods, a Bidder’s bid in auction shall not be lower than the highest bid acknowledged by the auctioneer, otherwise the bid shall be considered invalid.
During the auction, the Bidders shall not prevent other Bidders from participating in the auction and shall not collude with other Bidders or maliciously force the price down. If found, the Company is entitled to refuse the Bidder to participate in the auction or to disqualify the Bidder or the Buyer and is entitled to seek relevant legal liabilities.
Article 15 The Company’s Option
The Company may at its own discretion forbid anyone from participating in an auction held by the Company, including without limitation freezing, terminating, and canceling a Bidder’s bidding paddle for Live Online Bidding or Online Account and forbid anyone from taking a picture, making a sound recording or making a video recording during auction and does not assume any liability or loss that may arise therefrom.
Article 16 Abnormal Events
In case any abnormal event occurs in auction premises or on the Online Platform, which affects the normal process of the auctions, the Company has the right to take necessary actions as the case may be, including but not limited to suspending the auctions, resuming the auctions after troubleshooting the abnormal event, suspending or canceling the Live Online Bidding, deciding to re-auction the Lots in dispute, organizing auctions separately or canceling the auctions. If a Bidder continues to participate in the auctions after the Company has taken the above actions, the Bidder shall be deemed to consent to the above actions. The Company does not assume any liability for losses that may arise due to the abnormal events or the above actions taken by the Company.
In the case that any dispute arises during the auction, the Company has right to mediate and settle.
Article 17 Bidding as Principal
Any person who bids shall be deemed as the Bidder himself/herself/itself, unless the Bidder presents the Company with a written certificate showing that it is the agent of a particular Bidder, which is subject to the Company’s approval in writing before the Auction Date.
Article 18 Auctioneer’s Discretion
The auctioneer has absolute discretion over the following matters:
(1) Refuse or accept any bid;
(2) In case of any error or dispute, regardless of at or after the auction of a particular Lot, the auctioneer has the right to decide who is the Buyer with the highest price, whether or not to suspend the auction process, to resume the auction process, to cancel the auction, to re-auction the Lot in dispute, or to recognize the validity of the original bid at the time of re-auction;
(3) Open and carry out the bidding at a level with bidding increments that he or she considers suitable and has the right to increase or decrease the level with bidding increments;
(4) For the Lots without Reserve Price, the auctioneer can at its own discretion decide the starting price, unless there is a bidding already;
(5) Take other actions he or she deems as appropriate at auction premises.
Article 19 Display of Contents on the Online Platform
The Company may, for the convenience of the Bidders, provide image projections or other screens in auction premises or display the auction on the Online Platform, which is only for reference.The amounts, the number of the Lot, pictures of the Lot, reference rates for foreign exchange, the bidding paddle with the current highest bid and other contents shown on the image projections or other screens and Online Platform may be erroneous or may not be up-to-the-minute or displayable due to system or network errors. The Company is not responsible for any loss caused therefrom. For Bidders participating in the Company’s Online Auctions through the Online Platform, in case the content of the confirmation letter is inconsistent with the actual transaction situation due to entry errors, system display errors, etc., the actual transaction situation verified by the Company and the responsive written notice shall prevail.
Article 20 Successful Bid
When the highest bid of a Bidder is confirmed by fall of hammer or in other public manners (including the preset procedure), the Bidder is successful with the bid. That is, the Bidder has no objection to the process of the auction and undertakes to be responsible for his/her/its bid and the Bidder shall become the Buyer of the Lot.
The Buyer shall sign the confirmation letter/auction minutes.If a Bidder clicks the bid button and make a bid that is recognized by the auctioneer as the highest bid in the auction, the Bidder‘s click of the bid button is deemed as the signing of the confirmation letter/auction minutes.After the successful bidding of the Buyer, the Company may choose to send the electronic version of the confirmation letter/auction transcript to the Buyer in the form of letters, faxes, e-mails, instant messages, Online Platform push notifications, etc.
Article 21 Commission and Expenses
After a Bidder succeeds in bidding, the Bidder will be deemed as the Buyer of the Lot. The Buyer shall pay the Company a commission in an amount equal to 15% of Hammer Price, in addition to the Expenses, and acknowledge that the Company is entitled to charge the commission and the Expenses payable by the Seller in accordance with the Conditions of Business of the Company.
Article 22 Payment Requirements
After the Lot is successfully sold in auction, the Buyer shall make full payments to the Company within thirty days after the Sale Date and collect the Lot. The Buyer shall also pay packaging charges, transportation fee and transportation insurance premium together, if there is any. The Company reserves the right to refuse the payment from any third party other than the Buyer.If the Buyer purchases several Lots, but neither fully pays the Purchase Prices nor designates the specific Purchase Price for each of the Lots in writing when making the payments, then the Company is entitled to decide at its own discretion how to allocate the Purchase Prices.
Article 23 Payment Method
The Buyer shall log in to the Company’s Online Platform and pay the Purchase Price through his account or by other means approved by the Company.
Article 24 Payment Currency
All payments shall be made in the currency designated by the Company. In the event that the Buyer makes payments in currency other than the designated one, the currency shall be converted at the exchange rate agreed between the Buyer and the Company or at the exchange rate announced by People’s Bank of China one working day prior to the payment. All bank handling fees, commission and other relevant charges incurred by the Company for converting the foreign currency paid by the Buyer to RMB shall be borne by the Buyer.
Article 25 Transfer of Title
The Buyer will acquire ownership of the Lot after having paid the full Purchase Price.
Article 26 Transfer of Risks
After successful bidding, the risk of the Lot shall be borne by the Buyer after the occurrence of one of the following events (whichever is earlier):
(1) The Buyer collects the Lot;
(2) The Buyer pays the Company the Purchase Price for the Lot in full; or
(3) Expiry of thirty days after the Sale Date.
Article27 Collection of the Lot
The Buyer shall collect the purchased Lot at the Company’s Domicile or other places appointed by the Company within thirty days after the Sale Date. If the Buyer fails to collect the Lot within the thirty-day time limit, the Buyer shall be solely responsible for all risks and losses of the Lot and bear all expenses for storage, transportation fee and insurance in connection with the Lot after the expiration of the thirty-day period. Even if the Lot is still kept by the Company or any other agents on behalf of the Buyer, the Company and its employees or its agents shall not be liable for any losses and damages of the Lot caused by any reason.
If the Buyer is in the process of bidding for any Lot or owes payments to the Company or its parent company, subsidiaries, branches, offices (liaison offices) and affiliates, the Buyer shall not collect any Lot.
Article 28 Packaging and Transportation
The Company may arrange packing and handling of the purchased Lot for the Buyer at its request. Such arrangement is an assistance provided by the Company and the Company can decide whether or not to provide such assistance. The Buyer shall be liable for any loss arising from such arrangement. Under no circumstances shall the Company take any liability for any damages to glass, frames, drawer, bottom mat, trestle, mounting, insert pages, roller or other similar accessories arising out of any reason. In addition, the Company shall take no liability for any fault, omissions, damages or losses caused by the packaging company or carriers recommended by the Company.
Article 29 Export and Import of the Lot
Any Lot sold at auction may be affected by laws on exports of the country in which it is sold and the import and export restrictions of other countries and regions. The Buyer alone is responsible for getting advice about and meeting the requirements of Laws which apply to exporting or importing any Lot prior to the bidding. The Buyer that carries and transports cultural relics into and out of the PRC shall go through the formalities of import and export examination and verification of cultural relics separately according to Laws. For the Lot under the supervision of Customs of the PRC or within the Bonded Zones, when the Lot is successfully sold in the auction, the Buyer shall handle import procedures on his/her/its own and bear the relevant taxes and fees. The Buyer cannot cancel the deal or delay payment because of failure to get permits or other relevant paperwork.
Article 30 Remedies for Non-Payment
The Company has no obligation to investigate the Bidder’s and the Buyer’s ability for payment. In the case that the Buyer fails to duly pay in full within the period provided in the Conditions, the Company shall be entitled to adopt one or more of the following remedies:
(1) If following a successful bid the Buyer fails to make payment within the stipulated period under the Conditions, the deposit shall not be refunded and the Buyer shall also undertake all corresponding liabilities according to the Conditions. In the event that the Buyer fails to pay the full Purchase Price of any Lot within the stipulated period under the Conditions after successful bidding on several Lots, the Buyer shall be deemed to have constituted a fundamental breach of contract and all of the deposit shall not be refunded and the Buyer shall undertake relevant responsibilities in accordance with the Conditions.The Company can choose to first compensate for the commission, Expenses and losses incurred by the Company with the above non-refundable deposit and retain the remaining sum for compensating the Seller’s suffered losses, or choose to first compensate for the losses suffered by the Seller with the deposit; in case there are several Sellers who have suffered losses, the Company has the discretion to decide how to allocate the deposit;
(2) If within thirty days after a successful bid the Buyer fails to pay the Company the Purchase Price, the Company shall have the right (but not the obligation) to entrust third party to collect all or part of the default payment from the Buyer;
(3) If the Buyer fails to pay the Purchase Price in full within thirty days from the Sale Date, the Company has the right to charge the Buyer an interest at a rate of 0.3‰ per day on the due and unpaid amount from thirty-first day after Sale Date until the day on which the Buyer has fully paid the amount, unless otherwise agreed by the Buyer and the Company. Unless otherwise agreed by the Seller and the Company, the Company has the right to keep such interest;
(4) The Company can initiate legal proceedings against the Buyer for any damages caused by the Buyer’s breach of contract, including but not limited to the losses of interest on deferred or unpaid payment by the Buyer, commission, Expenses and losses, damages, reasonable expenses arising out of litigation (including but not limited to legal costs, lawyer’s fees and travel expenses) and other relevant expenses;
(5)The Lot or other Lots purchased by the Buyer from the Company, and other properties or property rights of the Buyer which may be in the Company’s possession for any reason, will be used as a pledge. The Buyer is responsible for all expenses or risks that occur during the period of the pledge.In case the Buyer fails to perform all relevant obligations herein or pay all damages and compensation within the period as specified by the Company, the Company shall have the right to dispose of such property under pledge in accordance with relevant Laws and regulations of the PRC. In the case the proceeds cannot cover the amount outstanding, the Company is entitled to claim the balance;
(6) In the event that the Buyer fails to make full payment to the Company within ninety days from the Sale Date, the Company can at its own discretion to cancel or approve the Seller to cancel the sale of the Lot and/or other Lots sold to the same Buyer at this auction or any other auctions as applicable, and reserve the right to claim any losses caused by such cancellation as of the ninety-first day from the Sale Date;
(7) Carry out a re-sale of the Lot by public auction or other ways according to the Conditions subject to the consent of the Seller. The original Buyer shall be liable to the Seller for the remuneration/commission and Expenses payable by the Buyer and the Seller occurred at the first auction as well as Expenses for re-sale by other ways. In addition, the original Buyer shall also be liable for the difference, if the Purchase Price actually received by the Seller from the re-sale or other ways of such Lot is lower than the original Purchase Price that would have been receivable therein had the Buyer made the full payments;
(8) To offset any money in relation to the Lot that the Buyer owes the Company against any sums that the Company or its parent company, subsidiaries, branches, offices (liaison offices) and affiliates owe the Buyer in any other transactions; The Company can decide to use any money paid by the Buyer to repay any sums that the Buyer owes the Company, or its parent company, subsidiaries, branches, offices (liaison offices) and affiliates, no matter whether the Buyer has given any instructions to repay such sums.
Article 31 Remedies for Delay in Collecting the Lot
In case the Buyer fails to collect the purchased Lot within the period provided in Article 27 hereof, the Company shall be entitled to adopt one or more of the following remedies:
(1) Arrange storage of the Lot at the Company or any other places and all cost (including but not limited to the Storage Fee according to the standard set forth in Article 2 Clause (15) hereof calculating from thirty-first day after the Sale Date) and/or all risks shall be borne by the Buyer. The Buyer shall not collect the Lot unless the full Purchase Price is paid. The Buyer is responsible for the packaging charges, transportation fee, transportation insurance premium and other Expenses;
(2) The Seller shall bear all risks and/or expenses that occurs after the expiration of the thirty-day period mentioned above. If the Seller fails to collect the Lot within ninety days after Sale Date, the Company has right to public auction or sell the Lot in ways and conditions that the Company deems appropriate. The Seller shall collect the remaining amount, which is proceeds obtained from forgoing disposal by the Company deducts all loss, expense (packaging charges, transportation fee, transportation insurance premium, Storage Fee and notarization fee) incurred, without any interests.
Article 32 The Company’s Discretion
The Companycan independently determine the following matters as the case may be:
(1) To reduce or waive the Bidder’s deposit;
(2) To agree to special conditions of the payment of the Purchase Price;
(3) To remove, store and purchaseinsurance for sold Lot;
(4) To settle claims brought by the Buyer or the Seller in accordance with relevant terms and conditions herein;
(5) To settle with the Buyer or take other necessary measures to collect the outstanding payment from the Buyer.
(6) Other matters specified by this Conditions that the Company can independently determine.
Article 33 State Pre-Emptive Right of Purchase
When the relevant department of the government exercises the state pre-emptiveright of purchase, the right shall be exercised pursuant to Laws of the PRC and decisions of thegovernment. Relevant parties shall acknowledge and provide necessary cooperation.
The relevant documents on the state pre-emptive right of purchase submitted by the authorities in charge of cultural heritage administration to the Company shall not constitute any guarantee for or expert opinion on the genuineness, quality and value of the Lot.
Article 34 Confidentiality and Collection of Materials
The Company shall be obligated to maintain the confidentiality for the Seller, the Bidders and the Buyer (except otherwise prescribed by Laws of the PRC and the Conditions or requested to be disclosed by public authorities), except for those subject to disclosure to relevant bodies according to the current Laws. Under the circumstance where the Seller or the Buyer breaches the contract, the Company has the right to disclose to the Seller or the Buyer identity information of the other party (including but not limited to name/title, domicile and identity information) by its own judgment, so as to enable the injured party to acquire damages via litigation or other legal ways;the Company has the right to disclose the identity information of the defaulting party to the public or report the identity information of the defaulting party to the judicial organs, industry associations and credit organizations.
The Company might undertake the audio and video recording of any auction process and keep the minutes thereof, and needs to collect personal information from the Bidders or their information from the third party(e.g. credit checks from banks). These information will be handle by the Company and treated as confidential; and relevant information can only be disclosed to the Company or its parent company, subsidiaries, branches, offices (liaison offices) and affiliates for the purposes as set out herein, so as to assist the Company in providing excellent services for the Bidders and conducting clients’ analysis or to offer the services in line with the requirements of the Bidders. The Company may also need to disclose to the third party service provider (e.g. transportation companies or storage companies) partial personal information of the Bidder, in the interests of the Bidders.Any Bidder’s participation in the auction of the Company means the Bidder agrees to the above and the privacy policy published on the Online Platform by the Company.
Article 35 Right of Appraisal
The Company may appraise the Lot if necessary. In case of any discrepancy with respect to the status of the Lot between the appraisal result and the auction consignment contract, the Company shall be entitled to modify or rescind the auction consignment contract.
Article 36 Copyright
The Seller irrevocably authorizes the Company to take photographs, make illustrations, catalogues or images and promotional materials in other forms relating to the Lot which is consigned to the Company for auction and the Company shall have the copyright on and the right to lawfully use such photographs, illustrations, catalogues or other images and promotional materials. For the purpose of auction, the Company shall also have the right to use the photos, pictures and text materials related to the Lot provided by the Seller to the Company. In the event that any claim with respect to the photos, pictures and text materialsarises, the Seller shall properly solve the claim and ensure that the Company will not bear any liability arsing fromthe claim.
Article 37 Compensation for Invalidation of Auction
In the event that the auction is invalid as the result of related person, such related person shall be responsible for compensation to cover all losses of the Company. The standard of compensation shall be based on the Company’s acquirable interest in case of valid auction and all expenses paid for claiming such losses.
Article 38 Notice
The Bidders shall inform the Company accurately of their valid and regular addresses and means of communication in the registration of their Online Accounts.The Bidders or the Buyer shall bear all adverse consequences if failing to inform the Company in writing of the change in the addresses and means of communication.In case of changes to the addresses and means of communication, the Bidders or the Seller shall inform the Company in a timely manner. All notices herein and any notice relevant to auction business of the Company shall include oral notices by telephone or in writing which shall be delivered by post, fax, email, instant messages and Online Platform push, etc.In case of oral notices by telephone, where the Company dials the phone number which is filled by the Bidder in the registration information of the Online Account, the oral notice shall be deemed received by the Bidders or the Buyer in person, whether the actual recipient is the Bidder or the Buyer. A notice sent by post shall be deemed to have been sent on the date the Company gives it to the post office and shall be deemed as received by the addressee via normal mail service. A notice sent by other means of communication shall be deemed to be received by the addressee on the date when it is delivered. The Company shall not be liable if the Bidder or Buyer has not received notice from the Company for reasons not attributable to the Company.
Article 39 Severability
If any provision or part of the Conditions is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable by a competent agency, the Conditions shall be ineffective to the extent of such illegality or unenforceability without invalidating or affecting the validity or enforceability of the remaining provisions of the Conditions.
Article 40 Settlement of Disputes
If any dispute arises from or in connection with participation in the Online Auction pursuant to the Conditions, all concerned parties shall submit such dispute to a competent Chinese court of the place where the Company’s Domicile is located. Such dispute shall be governed by PRC Laws.
Article 41 Copyright Statement
All intellectual property rights in the content of our Online Platform (including, but not limited to, texts such as the Conditions, charts, trademarks, logos or names, buttons, images, photographs, audios, videos, page designs, arrangements, data and software, etc.) are owned by the Company and are protected by relevant laws such as the copyright law and the trademark law. Without the prior written consent of the Company, no person may use the aforesaid for commercial gains by any means or methods, or use, copy, modify, reproduce, publish, store in a searchable system any part of the aforesaid, either on his own, or together with others, or with authorization to or in assistance of others, or use the content of the Online Platform in any way. The above copyright statement does not contain the content of third-party websites linked to our Online Platform.
Article 42 Singular and Plural
In the provisions of the Conditions, the singular includes the plural and vice versa where the context requires.
Article 43 Singular and Plural
The Company reserves the right to lawfully alter the Conditions at its sole discretion at any time based on the actual circumstances. The altered version shall become valid and automatically effective on the date it is altered. The Company will timely publish the altered version in the way the Company considers proper. The altered version shall apply as of the date it is published to Bidders registered both before and after such date. Any party involved must pay attention to any such alterations of the Conditions and the Company has the right not to inform parties thereof on a separate basis.
Article 44 Applicable Forms
The Bidders and Buyers shall conform to the Conditions of Business of the Company (see in the official website of the Company m.woeiswo.com). Where the Conditions conflicts with the Conditions of Business, the Conditions shall prevail.
Article 45 Date of Effectiveness
The Conditions takes effect on Dec 7, 2020.
Article 46 Right of Interpretation
The right of interpretation of the Conditions belongs to the Company.