Return Policy: American Bottle Auctions guarantees that any bottle we sell is what we say it is. Every effort will be made to depict the bottle as near to the true condition as possible. If for some reason an item is inaccurately described, it may be returned within three days following the receipt of the bottle for a full refund including postage and insurance. Please notify us before returning a bottle. We will not refund a bottle due to minor manufacturer’s flaws not described in the auction description and not detracting from the value of a bottle e.g. globs of glass, slightly offset base. Any invoice paid after 14 days of receipt, as stated on the invoice, will void the return policy unless it has been previously discussed with the auction.

Bidding: You can call anytime up to closing time and find out what the current bid is. You can also give a "top bid"; meaning that is the limit you will go. If you have a "top bid" of $350.00, for example, and nobody else wants to pay more than $250.00, the item will go for $275.00 plus the 12% buyers premium. We will not disclose the amount of the "top bids" or number of bidders or consignors at any time during the auction. Bids not in correct raise amounts will be rounded down.

Callbacks: There are NO CALLBACKS FOR ANY BID LESS THAN $3,000. American Bottle Auctions will make every attempt to reach a bidder if they have made a bid that qualifies them for a callback. Every attempt means that we will call you at home, work and on your cell assuming you’ve left the appropriate numbers. We will do everything in our power to contact you but you must also try and get hold of us. We will not hold up any auction over a person or two who simply isn’t paying attention or doesn’t have the interest to contact us and see if they are wining a particular lot. This rule will be strictly enforced and if by the time callbacks are ending and we’ve made every effort to contact you and you make no effort to contact us we will "call" or end the auction at that point. We cannot and will not wait for bidders who "feel like waiting" for a callback participate after we’ve made the appropriate effort to contact you. As for a time limit, there is none. In other words, the auction ends when the callbacks end. Callbacks are as much your responsibility as it is ours

Non-payers: Any winning bidder who does not honor their bids, that is to say, does not pay for their winning lot(s), will be disqualified from bidding in any further auctions. American Bottle Auctions reserves the right to disallow anyone from bidding or participating in the auction. If you need more time to make a payment, please let us know in advance. If you need more time in paying for items you’ve won, we will work with you as long as we are notified in advance.

Reserves: There are no reserves for this  auction.

Buyer’s Premium: There is a 12% buyer’s premium on any item you purchase. This amount will be in addition to the purchase price of an item.

Terms: Full payment is required within 7 days of the receipt of the invoice. A 7.75% sales tax is required for California residents, unless they have a resale permit and submit a signed card. Shipping and insurance via either U.S. mail or UPS will be added to the total. Everyone is invited to view the items in the auction during normal business hours with an appointment. Bids below the printed minimum will not be accepted.

Visa, MasterCard or American Express: American Bottle Auctions accepts any of these credit cards for faster and easier payment at no extra cost.  We also accept checks, money orders and PayPal.

You can take two bottles, both grading a Mint 9 but one might have loads of whittle and a great color while the other is a rather plain aqua with no whittle. While we take into account the whittle and color in the estimated value, the grade would be a Mint 9 for both bottles. A bottle may be in perfect condition but have a weak strike or no whittle. Some bottles just don’t come with whittle or rarely stray from the same color. A slightly chipped bottle can have tons of whittle and a great strike but the chip really hurts it. In only the rarest and most desirable of bottles does a bit of damage not affect the value a great deal. The bottle can be professionally repaired, but in some circles repairing a bottle does just that, mark it as a repaired bottle. A small ding or flake doesn’t bother some collectors and some cringe at the thought. In addition, some people are searching out those slightly damaged or repaired bottles as they can be had for less and often you can’t tell the difference from a perfect example.

We will try and encompass everything about a particular bottle when deciding on a grade number, however as we say, a bottle can be Mint with no whittle and at the same time be Mint with loads of whittle. The whittled bottle will most likely sell for more, but it isn’t taken into account for the grade. We will talk about condition, color, crudity, and special features like a drippy top or evidence of extreme crudity, but it all comes down to stain, scratches, small chips or large chips; the entire gamut of what the bottle has or doesn’t have to offer. Essentially the grade is the degree from what a perfect 10 bottle would be. We take a bottle, start out with a grade 10 and go down from there depending on the particular flaws to that piece. The grade does not take rarity into account. Rarity can also affect a bottle price dramatically. In addition, sometimes a bottle has it all, but more likely a bottle it is going to have some good characteristics and some not so good. A perfect condition bottle might have absolutely everything going for it but have a chip off the base. In that case we’d say for instance, "a Mint 9 with chip." How can a bottle with a chip be Mint? Well it isn’t but like a baseball card, it might be a Mint 9 grade but be printed off-center. Like the grade of the baseball card, it would be a "grade 10 off-center." Without the chip the same bottle would simply be called, "Mint 9." The same grade 9 baseball card with perfect centering would work the same way and be described simply as "Mint 9." We do this as we believe it’s up to the buyer to determine the "degree of hurt" the chip causes. Just because we don’t think it’s that bad, some people would consider it a catastrophe. It’s rare that a bottle has it all and you can expect to pay more, sometimes much more than the regular book value or "going rate" of a typical Near Mint condition bottle. We suggest you read the overall description, then use the grade name and number and check out the streaming video. We will discuss as many factors as possible in determining the grade.

Average (grade 1-4)— Pretty poor to decent condition, scratches, small flakes off the glass, a fair amount of stain; not a great bottle. We rarely sell a bottle in this condition except when they are rare and or have historical or great monetary value. There’s an Average condition grade 5 and an Average grade 2. The difference could be pretty dramatic. An Average grade 5 could be a decent bottle. Sometimes if a bottle is extremely rare, a grade 5 might be the best you’ll find.

Near Mint (grade 5-6)—A very good condition bottle. Besides a couple scratches, a pinhead-sized ding on the base and maybe some minor stain, it is about perfect. It could be a bottle that should or could be cleaned to improve it, and we’ll mention that on occasion. Near Mint bottles are generally good clean bottles that don’t have any type of chip, crack or radiating potstone. Please note that some bottles, like soda or beer, tend to be in lesser grades due to the amount of original use they had. A Near Mint bottle is a good solid condition bottle.

Almost Mint (grade 7-8)—At first glance, the bottle appears Mint. Upon fairly close examination there may be a scratch or two, some minor stain or miniscule flaw. About Mint bottles won’t exhibit much wear but can have some typical light scratches or minor wear. An About Mint bottle is an extremely good condition bottle that could be very lightly cleaned. As we say, About Mint can fall in between categories. There might be a pretty decent difference between an About Mint 7 and an 8.5.

Mint (grade 9)—Super sparkling, no flaws. A virtually perfect bottle. We rarely call a bottle Mint because if you look hard and long enough, someone is bound to find a flaw of some sort. Mint bottles should be considered top specimens. Bottles in this condition are usually quickly bought up and often the only question is the price.

Attic Mint (grade 10)—Perfect, no cleaning, possibly found in an attic. Possible original label. Undisturbed by time. We virtually never call a bottle Attic Mint unless it’s been found in a house or somehow protected by the elements. Attic Mint bottles are usually an absolute top specimen strictly regarding condition. In other words, two bottles that could be considered Attic Mint could vary in crudity and color but as far as condition, they would both be considered equally Attic Mint.