Kunst-Auktionshaus WENDL, Rudolstadt in Thüringen · Phone: +49 (0) 3672 / 424350

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Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to the most important questions

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User account
What advantages do I have when being registered?

With a registered user account, you can create a 'remember me'-list of lots in our online-catalogue that are of interest to you. You can also access the feature 'Plan your bids', which allows you to access and send your commission and telephone bids. The section 'Sent bids' allows you to see if we have processed your bids. After the auction, you will also be able to see the hammer prices here.You can also sign up for 'LIVE-Bidding' directly via your user account.

Consignments
How do I sell my items?

We sell antiques and works of art through auction and charge a commission. A welcomed consignment can be a single object, a collection, adequate items from family households, inherited objects or estates, and more.If you wish to sell, please make an appointment with us. (Please note: We do not buy your goods, we process them for auction!). For our services, we charge a vendor’s fee of 15 %. A VAT of 19 % will be charged on this commission. We will deduct the resulting 17,85 % of the hammer price – the remaining sum will be paid directly to you. Every item is insured to the value of its reserve at ‘Mannheimer Kunstversicherung’ (an accredited art insurance). Please note that the insurance fee of 0,5 % of the reserve must be paid by the vendor. We do not charge any additional fees, even if the lot does not sell.You will receive your money within three weeks after the auction (providing the buyer has made payment). Further information can be found in the section Selling and in our terms and conditions for vendors (Einlieferungsbestimmungen).

Bids
How does the auction house handle my bids?

As soon as we have processed your bids you will receive confirmation via email. However, if you send your bids as a letter in the mail or as telefax, we do not automatically send out a confirmation message. If you still wish to receive one, just write a note on your bidding request and we are happy to contact you to confirm your bids. We never tell or publish the height of any commission bids before the auction! After every sale, you can request a list of bids in which we will make our actions transparent to clients by publishing the amount and height of the received written bids for our lots (of course anonymously without any indication of the bidder’s, buyer’s or vendor’s identities). This way, bidders and vendors can, for example, retrace the starting prices for bidding.

Under Proviso Bids
Can I bid less than the reserve?

Bids that are lower than the reserve are called under proviso. Those bids are valid for four weeks (after the auction). If we receive a higher under proviso bid than the one we already have, priority is given to the higher bid. If a bidder offers the reserve price, the lot will be sold to him immediately. During the third week after the auction we discuss the outstanding under proviso bids with the vendors. If we do not receive a bid for the reserve and if the vendor agrees, we will accept the under proviso bid and charge the usual buyer’s fee of 21,42 % (incl. VAT). If the vendor does not accept the under proviso bid, the lot will remain to be listed as unsold and the vendor can request the return of his item. Please note that the reserve already serves as the lowest price the vendor would like to receive for his object and that we will not process under proviso bids that are inappropriately low. We won`t accept any bids below the reserve price for lots that have a catalogue-printed price less than 100 €.

Reserves
What is a reserve?

The reserve is the lowest price that bidding can start from during the auction. It is set in agreement with the vendor and is also the lowest price that a lot should be sold for. For lots offered ‘without reserve’, bidding will start at 20,- €.

Fees and Additional Costs
What additional costs do I have to pay?

Clients buying at auction pay a commission fee of 21.42 % (incl. 19 % VAT) and the resulting costs if we are advised to ship the items. If you buy an item via LIVE-Bidding online, an additional fee of 3 % or 5 % respectively (depending on the platform used) plus VAT is payable that we pass on directly to our LIVE-Bidding provider lot-tissimo.Vendors pay a fee of 17.85 % (incl. VAT) as well as an insurance fee of 0.5 % of the reserve. We do not charge any additional fees. The usage of our online-catalogues and archives is part of our free service. Vendors do not pay any fees for photographs and catalogue entries, advertising, Internet services, or unsold lots.

Estimates
Is the value of an object fixed?

Consigned items are valued according to current prices on the market and accordingly the reserve is set in agreement with the vendor at an appropriate height to encourage bidders. Therefore, the set reserve does not necessarily represent the ultimate value of the objects. The reserve only serves as the lowest starting point for bidding during the auction and the lowest price the vendor would like to achieve with his item.

Increments
What increments ('steps') do you use in your sales?

Normally, bidding on a lot commences at the reserve. Lots 'without reserve' start at 10,- €. If there are several commission bids on a lot, bidding will start at the second highest bid. Our increments follow 10 %-steps, but the auctioneer may deviate from those in exceptional cases. We always bid in the interest of our clients, which means that we do not take advantage of the maximum height of your commission bids. A lot is sold if no higher bid is offered after announcing the current maximum bid three times. Lots can also be sold if we receive a bid on the reserve and no further bid form a different party. Our increment practices can be seen in the following example: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, ... 170, 180, 200, 220, 240, 260, 280, 300, 330, 360, 390, 420, 460, 500, 550, 600, 650, 700, 750, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, ..., 2000, 2200, 2400, ...

Validations
What is the value of my object?

The validation of your object is only possible during the process of commissioning it for auction. If you would like to inform yourself about current auction prices and changes in value, we advise you to use the free search engine in our online archive to look for similar and comparable objects.

Auction Schedule
What time are my lots sold?

We produce a time schedule for every auction, which shows the order of the sale categories and an approximated time of sale for the lots at the different auction days. You will find a link to this schedule underneath every auction on this website. Detailed information on the date and time of sale can be found when opening the lot of interest in our online-catalogue. Please note that we sell about 140 to 150 lots per hour. Although our sale runs quickly, delays might occur. Therefore, please understand the provided information on the time of sale as an indication only.