The following Conditions of Sale, as amended by any posted notices or verbal announcements during the sale, constitute the entire terms and conditions on which property listed in the Backstage Auctions LLC. ("Backstage") Web Site shall be offered for sale or sold by Backstage and any consignor of such property for whom we act as agent. As used herein, "Backstage," "we" and "us" refer to Backstage Auctions LLC.
1. As used herein, the term "hammer price" means the price at which a lot is successfully knocked down to the purchaser. The term "purchase price" means the aggregate of (a) the hammer price, (b) a PREMIUM retained by us and payable by the purchaser NOT TO EXCEED twenty five percent (25%) of the hammer price, and (c) unless the purchaser is exempt by law from the payment thereof, any Texas or other state or local sales tax (or compensating use tax) and other applicable taxes.
2. On the fall of the auctioneer's hammer, the highest bidder shall have purchased the offered lot in accordance with all of the conditions set forth herein and (a) assumes full risk and responsibility therefore, (b) if requested will sign a confirmation of purchase, and (c) will pay the purchase price in full or such part as we may require for all lots purchased. No lot may be transferred. Unless otherwise agreed, payment in good funds is due and payable within ten (7) business days of the auction sale. Whenever the purchaser pays only a part of the total purchase price for one or more lots purchased, we may apply such payments, in our sole discretion, to the lot or lots we choose. Payment will not be deemed made in full until we have collected good funds for all amounts due. Payment for purchases may be made in or by (a) cashier’s check or money order, (b) business check with approved credit and (c) wire transfer. (d) PayPal (some restrictions may apply). A $25.00 fee will be assessed on any returned checks. The purchaser grants us a security interest in the property, and we may retain as collateral security for the purchaser's obligations to us, any property and all monies held or received by us for the account of the purchaser, in our possession. We retain all rights of a secured party under the Texas Uniform Commercial Code. You wave any rights of offset you may otherwise have against us. If the foregoing conditions or any other applicable conditions herein are not complied with, in addition to other remedies available to us and the consignor by law, including without limitation, the right to hold the purchaser liable for the purchase price, we at our option may either (a) cancel the sale, retaining as liquidated damages all payments made by the purchaser or (b) resell the property, either publicly or privately, and in such event the purchaser shall be liable for the payment of any deficiency plus all costs and expenses of both sales, our commission at our standard rates, all other charges due hereunder, attorneys' fees and incidental damages. If all fees, commissions, premiums, bid price and other sums due to us from the purchaser are not paid promptly as provided in these Conditions of Sale, we reserve the right to impose a finance charge equal to 1.5% per month on all amounts due to us beginning on the 31st day following the sale until payment is received, in addition to other remedies available to us by law.
3. We reserve the right to withdraw any property at any time before the actual sale. Unless otherwise announced by the auctioneer at the time of sale, all bids are per lot as numbered in the catalog and no lot shall be divided for sale.
4. We reserve the right to reject a bid from any bidder. In the event of any dispute between bidders, or in the event the auctioneer doubts the validity of any bid, the auctioneer shall have sole and final discretion either to determine the successful bidder or to re-offer and resell the article in dispute. If any dispute arises after the sale, our sales records shall be conclusive in all respects.
5. If we are prevented by fire, theft or any other reason whatsoever from delivering any property to the purchaser or a sale otherwise cannot be completed, our liability shall be limited to the sum actually paid therefore by the purchaser and shall in no event include any incidental or consequential damages.
6. If a lot is offered subject to a reserve, we may implement such reserve by bidding on behalf of the consignor, whether by opening bidding or continuing bidding in response to other bidders until reaching the reserve. If we have an interest in an offered lot and the proceeds thereof, other than our commissions, we may bid therefore to protect such interest. CONSIGNORS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BID ON THEIR OWN ITEMS, EITHER DIRECTLY OR THROUGH AGENTS.
7. All statements contained in the Web Site (www.backstageauctions.com) or in any bill of sale, invoice, condition report or elsewhere as to authorship, period, culture, source, origin, measurement, quality, rarity, provenance, importance, exhibition and literature of historical relevance, or physical condition ARE QUALIFIED STATEMENTS OF OPINION AND NOT REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES. No employee or agent of Backstage is authorized to make on our behalf or on that of the consignor any representation or warranty, oral or written, with respect to any property.
8. All purchased property shall be removed from the premises at which Backstage stores such purchased property by the date(s) and time(s) set forth in the Web Site. Purchased property that is permitted to remain onsite at Backstage's facility should be removed at the purchaser's expense not later than 5:00 p.m. Central Time ten (10) business days following the date of the sale. If not so removed, a storage fee of $5.00 per lot per day may, at Backstage's election, be payable to us by the purchaser beginning at the close of the 21st day following the sale, and we may thereafter transfer such property to a warehouse at the purchaser's risk and expense. Accounts must be settled in full before property will be released. Commencing (10) business days following the date of sale or earlier if payment in full is received and the purchaser's property is shipped, all risk of loss and damage for the purchased property passes to the purchaser.
9. The copyright in the content of the Web Site and the photographs, digital images and illustrations of lots in the Web Site belong to Backstage or its licensors. You will not reproduce or permit anyone else to reproduce such text, photographs, digital images or illustrations without our prior written consent.
10. These Conditions of Sale shall bind the successors and assigns of all bidders and purchasers and inure to the benefit of our successors and assigns. No waiver, amendment or modification of the terms hereof (other than posted notices or oral announcements during the sale) shall bind us unless specifically stated in writing and signed by us. If any part of these Conditions of Sale is for any reason invalid or unenforceable, the rest shall remain valid and enforceable.
11. These Conditions of Sale and the purchaser's and our respective rights and obligations hereunder are governed by the laws of the State of Texas. By bidding at an auction, each purchaser and bidder agrees to be bound by these Conditions of Sale. Any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this agreement, or the breach, termination or validity thereof, brought by or against Backstage (but not including claims brought against the consignor by the purchaser of lots consigned hereunder) shall be resolved by the procedures set forth below.
Mediation and Arbitration Procedures
(a) Within 30 days of written notice that there is a dispute, the parties or their authorized and empowered representatives may meet to mediate their differences. If the parties agree, a mutually acceptable mediator shall be selected, and the parties will equally share such mediator's fees. The mediator shall be an attorney trained in mediation techniques and familiar with commercial law and the Texas Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Any statements made during the mediation process shall not be admissible in any subsequent arbitration or judicial proceeding. The proceedings and any resolution shall be confidential and the terms governing arbitration set forth in paragraph (c) below shall govern.
(b) If mediation does not resolve the dispute, or in any event no longer than 60 days after receipt of written notice referred to above, the parties shall submit the dispute for binding arbitration before a single neutral arbitrator selected from the panel of Arbitrators provided by the American Arbitration Association (AAA). If within 15 days the parties cannot agree on an arbitrator, then AAA shall select one person as arbitrator in accord with AAA rules. The arbitrator shall be an attorney, experienced in commercial law and with the UCC. The arbitrator shall be required to follow the law in making his award, which shall be in writing and set forth findings of fact and legal conclusions.
(c) Unless otherwise agreed to by the parties, (i) the arbitration shall occur within 60 days of the selection of the arbitrator in Houston, Harris County, Texas ; and (ii) discovery and the procedure for the arbitration shall follow the procedures and policies of AAA governing commercial arbitrations, subject to the following modifications:
(1) All arbitration proceedings shall be confidential;
(2) The parties shall attempt to agree on the issues to be arbitrated, in writing no later than 45 days prior to arbitration;
(3) Discovery, if any, shall be limited as follows: (A) Requests for no more than 10 categories of documents, to be provided to the requesting party within 14 days of written request therefore; (B) No more than two (2) depositions per party, provided however, the deposition(s) are to be completed within one (1) day; and (C) Compliance with the above shall be enforced by the arbitrator in accordance with Texas law;
(4) Each party shall have no longer than eight (8) hours to present its position. The entire hearing before the arbitrator shall not take longer than three (3) consecutive days.
The award shall be made in writing no more than 30 days following the end of the proceeding. Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered by any court having jurisdiction thereof. Each party shall bear its own attorneys' fees and costs in connection with the proceedings and shall share equally the fees and expenses of the arbitrator.
Limited Right of Rescission
If within six (6) months from the date of sale, the original purchaser (a) gives written notice to us alleging that the identification of Authorship (as defined below) of such lot as set forth in the Web Site description of such lot (as amended by any posted notices or verbal announcements during the sale) is not substantially correct based on a fair reading, and (b) within 10 days after such notice returns the lot to us in the same condition as at the time of sale, and (c) establishes the allegation in the notice to our satisfaction, then the sale of such lot will be rescinded and, unless we have already paid to the consignor monies owed him in connection with the sale, the original purchase price will be refunded.
If, prior to receiving such notice from the original purchaser alleging such defect, we have paid the consignor monies owed him in connection with the sale, we shall pay the original purchaser the amount of our commissions, any other sale proceeds to which we are entitled, and applicable taxes received from the purchaser on the sale and make demand on the consignor to pay the balance of the original purchase price to the original purchaser. Should the consignor fail to pay such amount promptly, we shall disclose the identity of the consignor and assign to the original purchaser our rights against the consignor with respect to the lot the sale of which is sought to be rescinded. Upon such disclosure and assignment, any liability of Backstage as consignor's agent with respect to said lot shall automatically terminate.
The foregoing limited right of rescission is available to the original purchaser only and may not be assigned to or relied upon by any subsequent transferee of the property sold. The purchaser hereby accepts the benefit of the consignor's warranty of title and other representations and warranties made by the consignor for the purchaser's benefit.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as an admission by us of any representation of fact, express or implied, obligation or responsibility with respect to any lot. THE PURCHASER'S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY AGAINST BACKSTAGE FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER IS THE LIMITED RIGHT OF RESCISSION DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION.
The purchaser shall not, under any circumstance, have the right to rescind a sale or receive a full or partial refund due to the purchaser's belief that a particular item is not as described in the auction materials other than the limited right of rescission, if applicable, set forth herein. "Authorship" means only the identity of the creator, the period, culture and source or origin of the lot, as the case may be, as set forth in the Web Site. The right of rescission does not extend to titles, descriptions, or other identification of offered lots.
Limitation of Liability
EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED ABOVE, ALL PROPERTY IS SOLD "AS IS" AND NO PURCHASER SHALL HAVE ANY RIGHT OF FULL OR PARTIAL REFUND. NEITHER BACKSTAGE NOR THE CONSIGNOR MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS OR CONDITION OF THE PROPERTY OR AS TO THE CORRECTNESS OF DESCRIPTION, GENUINENESS, ATTRIBUTION, PROVENANCE OR PERIOD OF THE PROPERTY OR AS TO WHETHER THE PURCHASER ACQUIRES ANY COPYRIGHTS OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN LOTS SOLD OR AS TO WHETHER A WORK OF ART IS SUBJECT TO THE ARTIST'S MORAL RIGHTS OR OTHER RESIDUAL RIGHTS OF THE ARTIST. THE PURCHASER EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL BACKSTAGE OR THE CONSIGNOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY COMPENSATORY, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.