( h ) Employees of Phillips and our affiliated companies , including the auctioneer , may bid at the auction by placing absentee bids so long as they do not know the reserve when submitting their absentee bids and otherwise comply with our employee bidding procedures .
5 Conduct of the Auction ( a ) Unless otherwise indicated by the symbol •, each lot is offered subject to a reserve , which is the confidential minimum selling price agreed by Phillips with the seller . The reserve will not exceed the low pre-sale estimate at the time of the auction .
( b ) The auctioneer has discretion at any time to refuse any bid , withdraw any lot , reoffer a lot for sale ( including after the fall of the hammer ) if he or she believes there may be error or dispute and take such other action as he or she deems reasonably appropriate . Phillips shall have no liability whatsoever for any such action taken by the auctioneer . If any dispute arises after the sale , our sale record is conclusive . The auctioneer may accept bids made by a company affiliated with Phillips provided that the bidder does not know the reserve placed on the lot .
( c ) The auctioneer will commence and advance the bidding at levels and in increments he or she considers appropriate . In order to protect the reserve on any lot , the auctioneer may place one or more bids on behalf of the seller up to the reserve without indicating he or she is doing so , either by placing consecutive bids or bids in response to other bidders . If a lot is offered without reserve , unless there are already competing absentee bids , the auctioneer will generally open the bidding at 50 % of the lot ’ s low pre-sale estimate . In the absence of a bid at that level , the auctioneer will proceed backwards at his or her discretion until a bid is recognized and will then advance the bidding from that amount . Absentee bids on no reserve lots will , in the absence of a higher bid , be executed at approximately 50 % of the low pre-sale estimate or at the amount of the bid if it is less than 50 % of the low pre-sale estimate . If there is no bid whatsoever on a no reserve lot , the auctioneer may deem such lot unsold .
( d ) The sale will be conducted in Hong Kong dollars and payment is due in Hong Kong dollars . For the benefit of international clients , pre-sale estimates in the auction catalogue may be shown in US dollars and / or euros and , if so , will reflect approximate exchange rates . Accordingly , estimates in US dollars or euros should be treated only as a guide . If a currency converter is operated during the sale , it is done so as a courtesy to bidders , but Phillips accepts no responsibility for any errors in currency conversion calculation .
( e ) Subject to the auctioneer ’ s reasonable discretion , the highest bidder accepted by the auctioneer will be the buyer and the striking of the hammer marks the acceptance of the highest bid and the conclusion of a contract for sale between the seller and the buyer . Risk and responsibility for the lot passes to the buyer as set forth in Paragraph 7 below .
( f ) If a lot is not sold , the auctioneer will announce that it has been ‘ passed ’, ‘ withdrawn ’, ‘ returned to owner ’ or ‘ bought-in ’.
( g ) Any post-auction sale of lots offered at auction shall incorporate these Conditions of Sale and Authorship Warranty as if sold in the auction .
6 Purchase Price and Payment ( a ) The buyer agrees to pay us , in addition to the hammer price of the lot , the buyer ’ s premium , plus any applicable tax and charges ( the ‘ Purchase Price ’). The buyer ’ s premium is 25 % of the hammer price up to and including HK $ 800,000 , 20 % of the portion of the hammer price above HK $ 800,000 up to and including HK $ 15,000,000 and 12 % of the portion of the hammer price above HK $ 15,000,000 . Phillips reserves the right to pay from our compensation an introductory commission to one or more third parties for assisting in the sale of property offered and sold at auction .
( b ) Unless otherwise agreed , a buyer is required to pay for a purchased lot immediately following the auction regardless of any intention to obtain an export or import license or other permit for such lot . Payments must be made by the invoiced party in Hong Kong dollars by wire transfer in accordance with the bank transfer details provided on the invoice for purchased lots .
( c ) As a courtesy to clients , Phillips will accept American Express , Visa and MasterCard to pay for invoices of HK $ 800,000 or less . A processing fee will apply .
( d ) Title in a purchased lot will not pass until Phillips has received the Purchase Price for that lot in cleared funds . Phillips is not obliged to release a lot to the buyer until title in the lot has passed and appropriate identification has been provided , and any earlier release does not affect the passing of title or the buyer ’ s unconditional obligation to pay the Purchase Price .
7 Collection of Property ( a ) Phillips will not release a lot to the buyer until we have received payment of its Purchase Price in full in cleared funds , the buyer has paid all outstanding amounts due to Phillips or any of our affiliated companies , including any charges payable pursuant to Paragraph 8 ( a ) below , and the buyer has satisfied such other terms as we in our sole discretion shall require , including completing any anti-money laundering or anti-terrorism financing checks . As soon as a buyer has satisfied all of the foregoing conditions , he or she should contact us at + 852 2318 2000 to arrange for collection of purchased property .
( b ) The buyer must arrange for collection of a purchased lot within seven days of the date of the auction . After the auction , all lots will be kept at our offices at Room 1301 , 13 / F York House , Landmark , Central , Hong Kong . Purchased lots are at the buyer ’ s risk , including the responsibility for insurance , from ( i ) the date of collection or ( ii ) seven days after the auction , whichever is the earlier . Until risk passes , Phillips will compensate the buyer for any loss or damage to a purchased lot up to a maximum of the Purchase Price paid , subject to our usual exclusions for loss or damage to property .
( c ) As a courtesy to clients , Phillips will , without charge , wrap purchased lots for hand carry only . We do not provide packing , handling , insurance or shipping services . We will coordinate with shipping agents instructed by the buyer , whether or not recommended by Phillips , in order to facilitate the packing , handling , insurance and shipping of property bought at Phillips . Any such instruction is entirely at the buyer ’ s risk and responsibility , and we will not be liable for acts or omissions of third party packers or shippers .
( d ) Phillips will require presentation of government-issued identification prior to release of a lot to the buyer or the buyer ’ s authorized representative .
8 Failure to Collect Purchases ( a ) If the buyer pays the Purchase Price but fails to collect a purchased lot within 30 days of the auction , the buyer will incur a late collection fee of HK $ 80 per day for each uncollected lot . We will not release purchased lots to the buyer until all such charges have been paid in full .
( b ) If a purchased lot is paid for but not collected within six months of the auction , the buyer authorizes Phillips , upon notice , to arrange a resale of the item by auction or private sale , with estimates and a reserve set at Phillips ’ s reasonable discretion . The proceeds of such sale will be applied to pay for storage charges and any other outstanding costs and expenses owed by the buyer to Phillips or our affiliated companies and the remainder will be forfeited unless collected by the buyer within two years of the original auction .
9 Remedies for Non-Payment ( a ) Without prejudice to any rights the seller may have , if the buyer without prior agreement fails to make payment of the Purchase Price for a lot in cleared funds within seven days of the auction , Phillips may in our sole discretion exercise one or more of the following remedies : ( i ) store the lot at Phillips ‘ s premises or elsewhere at the buyer ’ s sole risk and expense ; ( ii ) cancel the sale of the lot , retaining any partial payment of the Purchase Price as liquidated damages ; ( iii ) reject future bids from the buyer or render such bids subject to payment of a deposit ; ( iv ) charge interest at 12 % per annum from the date payment became due until the date the Purchase Price is received in cleared funds ; ( v ) subject to notification of the buyer , exercise a lien over any of the buyer ’ s property which is in the possession of Phillips and instruct our affiliated companies to exercise a lien over any of the buyer ’ s property which is in their possession and , in each case , no earlier than 30 days from the date of such notice arrange the sale of such property and apply the proceeds to the amount owed to Phillips or any of our affiliated companies after the deduction from sale proceeds of our standard vendor ’ s commission , all sale-related expenses