Help
Terms of Auction regulate the rules for the usage of Art Platz Auction webpage and Auction process. Terms of Auction are binding for all registered members of the web page Art Platz Auction and all who are participating in an Auction. Terms of Auction can be changed and adapted without prior notice. All visitors of Art Platz Auction webpage are bound by the rules set out in Terms of Auction.
Account
Registration
You can register by clicking on the Sign up button. Then you should complete the registration form. If you want to bid you have to complete your registration form with additional information (name, surname, e-mail address, telephone number, address, and other data required).
After filing the form, you will receive the e-mail confirmation.
We want to be sure that you have entered your email address correctly since we will send out important information about your bidding, invoices, etc. Therefore, you must verify your email address before you start to bid.
You can complete the account straight away or after the registration.
Password
If you forgot your password, post your email address in the password reset box. You will instantly receive an email message with information on how to reset your password.
You can change your password here.
Terminology
Auction - selling of works of art organized by bidding method on an online platform Art Platz Auctions.
Auction platform - home page art-platz.com, where Auctions take place.
Auction house – SIA “Art Platz”, reg. Nr. 40203166243, address Alberta street 4-9, Riga, LV-1010, which organizes auctions and receives remuneration for them.
Auction participant - a natural or legal person who has registered on the ArtPlatz Auction platform and participates in an Auction.
Buyer - a natural or legal person who has registered on the Art Platz Auction platform and has participated in the auction, offered the highest bidding price and won the Auction.
Seller - a natural or legal person who transfers an art object to the Art Platz auction platform for further auctioneering.
Lot – an art or antique item that is being sold on the Auction platform.
Lot number – a unique identification number for each Lot. Two different Lots cannot have the same Lot number.
Lot price – the amount of money that the Auction participant bids for the Lot in the Auction process.
Hammer price - the highest price offered by the buyer during the bidding that has won the Auction. The Hammer price is registered on the Auction platform art-platz.com.
Condition of the lot – an assessment of the Lot given by the Auction house, describing the known defects. Explanation and description of the Lot condition lower.
Expertise of the lot – a written statement certifying the Lot as an original, a replica or a counterfeit. Lots are examined by a specialist.
Estimated price – the approximate market value of the Lot based on previous sales and item expertise. It can be considered as an indication of the pricing for you as a bidder. The estimate does not limit the amount you want to bid on the Lot and does not limit the Hammer price. You can place lower or higher bids and the Hammer price can be under or over the estimate.
Reserve price - the reserved price is the lowest price at which the seller allows the product to be sold. This price is always lower than the Estimated Price. The Auction house accepts rates that are lower than the Reserve Price, but you cannot win the Auction with such a rate.
Commission - payment amount consisting of 17% of the Hammer price that the Buyer must pay to the Auction House for its services in accordance with the Terms of Auction.
Additional expenses – expenses for Lot's illustration in the Auction catalogue, etc. expenditure arising from these provisions.
Starting price – the price at which the bidding starts. The amount of it may be given before the bidding starts.
Bid – making a single bet on the Lot and approving it.
Rate - the price per step to bid for the lot in question, which the buyer undertakes to pay.
Lot conditions
The item condition is provided by the Auction house, describing known defects. The process of item expertise is executed by a professional who evaluates and approves whether the item is an original, replica or counterfeit.
Condition of all items, except painting, is described as follows:
New – Item is sealed or in the original packaging. Not used prior.
Excellent – Visually unused and unblemished.
Good – Moderate usage or moderate blemishes.
Fair – Significant usage or significant blemishes.
Poor – Serious damage, may be in repairable stage.
Condition of paintings are evaluated in a scale from 1-8:
8 – Item is in excellent condition.
7 – Item is in excellent condition, might be some minor flaws.
6 – Item is in very good condition, might be some minor flaws.
5 – Item is in good conditions, might be some moderate flaws.
4 – Item is in moderate condition, with moderate flaws.
3 – Item is in moderate condition, with major flaws.
2 – Item is in poor condition, major flaws.
1 – Item is in very poor condition, with extreme flaws.
Degree of flaws
Minor An existing condition that generally does not involve risk of loss.
Moderate Noticeable damage, increasing in severity and/or size; should be monitored or corrected by a conservator.
Major Distinct, recognizable damage; the stability of the work is questionable and risk is a factor. Requires the attention of a conservator.
Extreme Advanced and severe damage; work is insecure and at great risk.
Area in which the flaws may be found:
Image The central image area, composition, or focal point; the area inside the margins/plate marks.
Margin Areas bordering the central image, outside the borders of the centre.
Edge The farthest edge of the object.
Verso The reverse/back of the object.
Buying
Process
How to bid? First of all, you have to be a registered customer and logged on to your Art Platz Auction profile.
All item pages show an Estimated price. This is a careful Estimated price made by the Auction house - but you may place your bid both higher and lower. For every item, the lowest possible starting bid will be indicated.
If you place a bid when there is less than 1 minute left of the Auction, the Auction will automatically be extended by 3 minutes.
You cannot withdraw from your bid - according to the Terms of Auction all bids are binding.
You can follow your biddings on items in your account’s section “Bidding”.
Please note, that if you start making a purchase in one language version of the page, for example, English, you must continue the purchase in the same version! (You must place the purchase in the same language version you registered on)
What happens when I win an Auction?
When you have won an Auction, you will be able to see it in your Art Platz Auction account. Also, within 5 working days, you will receive a mail informing you about the won Auction. Additionally, you will receive an invoice with the total price, including hammer price, commission fee and other expenses, if any.
Won items have to be paid within 15 days. The due date will be visible on your invoice.
If you can’t or won’t stand by your bid, the item will be returned to the seller, re-auctioned or bought out. However, Art Platz Auction may collect the guarantee fee equal the commission fee for the Lot.
Outbid
Towards the end of an Auction, we recommend that you monitor the bidding on Art Platz Auction site. The page will update automatically to show the current state of bidding. If two bidders place the same bid, the leader will be the first one to have placed this bid.
The commission fee
Each Lot may have a different Commission fee. The Commission fee for each item is provided in the item description or in the Terms of Auction.
Resale Right
According to the European Union directive 2001/84/EC, artists receive a royalty for their works when they are resold. This royalty will be included in the hammer price if any applies.
Payments
After winning the Auction, you will receive an invoice indicating the amount that has to be paid prior to the collection of the item. Won items have to be paid within 15 days. The due date is on your invoice.
We will email you a confirmation e-mail and a receipt when we register the payment.
NILLTPFN
The Auction House complies with all the requirements of the “Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism and Proliferation Financing.”
Shipping & collecting
Collecting
Items are collected at the Auction house address Alberta street 4-9, Riga, LV-1010. The items have to be collected within 20 weekdays after winning an Auction, after that, an additional storage fee of 2 euro per day will apply.
Your representative may collect your items. Inform Art Platz Auction who will collect and make sure the person has the invoice number and can identify him/herself.
Delivery
We offer delivery throughout Latvia, the Baltics (Lithuania and Estonia) and the territory of other European countries (Poland, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, France, Great Britain, Norway, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Romania, Spain).
If you want to receive your purchase with delivery, please contact us about packaging and shipping costs by writing to our email: auction@platzkart.shop.
We are working with with a reliable delivery service –
DPD https://www.dpd.com/lv/lv/; https://www.dpdgroup.com/lv/mydpd/.
Shipping options:
1. DPD Pickup point – the package is delivered to the Pickup point closest to the address indicated when placing the order.
2. Courier service – the order is delivered by DPD courier service to the address indicated during the order placement.
* In exceptional cases (if the total length of the cargo (longest edge + 2 x width + 2 x height) is over 295 cm), we send the shipment using another courier service.
You can also proceed with the shipping by yourself.
The cost of packaging depends on the size of the lot. It takes 5 working days to process the shipment.
Support
Contact us
By phone: +371 20025002
E-mail: artplatz.office@gmail.com
On spot: Alberta street 4, Riga
Post-auction selling
If the artwork you are interested in is not sold until the end of an Auction, you can contact us for the post-auction selling. In the term of 10 working days after the end of an Auction, you can contact us with a price suggestion for the particular item you are interested in (only if it is not sold). We will contact the item seller and we might offer you a deal for buying the artwork. We do not give any guarantees about post-auction selling, however feel free to contact us if the item you are interested in are not sold in the Auction.
Agreement on the sale of a Lot
How to sell?
If you own art, antiques, or other valuable items, that you would like to sell, get in contact with us! We accept paintings, books, porcelain dishes and items, watches, coins, traditional art, furniture, glass objects, photographs. Read the terms item sale here: Agreement on the Sale of a Lot.