Conditions of Sale: When the auction begins, you can view all the items being offered in our printable full-color catalog or at www.americanbottle.com and bid by computer, phone, mail or fax. You can also view the bottles in our showroom, we just ask you to call ahead to make an appointment. Usual absentee auction rules apply. No items will be mailed before full payment is received. Auction closes for each lot, or until there are no bids on that particular lot for 10 minutes at 8:00 p.m. Pacific. That is, if a bid is made within 10 minutes of the end of the auction, i.e. 7:50 p.m., a new clock starts for that item only and a new 10-minute clock will reset anytime another bid is entered. That not only prevents “sniping” an item but also gives everyone equal opportunity to make their best bid. An item will continue to run as long as a bid is made within that 10-minute time frame. Please remember to refresh your computer on your bidder page to have the exact time an item ends.
Return Policy: American Bottle Auctions has a very liberal return policy. That is, we guarantee 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 there is any variance or discrepancy from our description, an item can be returned within three days of receipt of the bottle for a full refund including postage and insurance both ways. We just ask that you please notify us before returning a bottle via email or a phone call. We will not refund a bottle if an invoice is paid after 21 days of receipt of invoice. Final say on returns on any item is the ultimate decision of the auctioneer. Invoices are emailed and sent out generally the day following the auction. As we will make every effort to present a bottle as to its true condition, we also ask that you as a bidder make every effort to know exactly what you are bidding on. With our updated grading system, multiple full-sized color photographs, streaming video and ability to see it in person, we feel it is as much your responsibility to know what you are buying as much as it is our responsibility to present it. On particularly valuable lots, we can send the bottle to you time allowing for personal inspection at no charge.
Dug Bottles: A bottle that is dug can be as pristine as a bottle found in a small towel inside a chest in an attic, in other words, perfect. We will try and mention if a bottle is dug but since most bottles are dug from the ground, we will only talk about bottles that were never in the ground if need be. We will also often mention if a bottle has been professionally cleaned.
Bidding: Each item has a $10 bid to start it out however beyond that there are no minimum bids. You must enter bids according to the “Minimum Raise Amounts” shown below. You can view current bids on the internet or call anytime up to closing. Many customers will also give a “top bid”; meaning that is the limit they will go. This can always be “upped” depending on their disposition. The difference between a “left bid or top bid, ” is that bid is the highest you will go on that item. Please be aware the box on the left is the regular bid box and the one on the right is the Left Bid box for leaving your higher competitive bid. 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 the 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. We do ask that bidders without a computer not wait until the last minute to call. We also ask that potential bidders not call in the last few minutes for descriptions or further information regarding a particular bottle or bottles. Please be aware that we can only help you if time allows. Some items have the previous owners named for reasons of provenance and a better understanding of their history are noted in the catalog and online descriptions.
Callbacks: There are NO CALLBACKS for any item in the auction.
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 reserved items in this auction number 63.
Buyer’s Premium: There is a 15% buyer’s premium on every invoice. This amount will be in addition to the purchase price of an item after the hammer price. Hammer price is the final amount it sells for in the auction.
Terms: Full payment is requested within 7 days of the receipt of the invoice. We understand people are busy so we will be relaxed about receiving payments. An 8.50% 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 Federal Express will be added to the total. Please let us know if special shipping conditions are needed. 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.
We take Visa, MasterCard or American Express and Discover: American Bottle Auctions accepts any of these credit cards for faster and easier payment at the exact cost to us. If a 2.5% charge is associated with a credit card, we will add that onto the purchase price. Some credit cards charge more e.g. Amex and Discover however we will make every attempt to keep added costs down. The bottles are expensive enough. We use all new packing materials, we insure every bottle and each bottle is sent Federal Express unless another form of shipping is requested. We don’t make money on credit cards. . Checks are gladly accepted and we process them as quickly as possible. Call us about payment via Pay Pal, there will be an additional charge of 3.5%. For all international customers with winning bids, you will be invoiced separately for additional charges. Final Shipping charges will be calculated based on number of packages, package weight and location.
Although we try and capture the color of the glass as closely to the bottle as possible in our catalogs, we do recommend viewing the bottles on our website or in person for a more accurate and detailed view.
Minimum Raise Amounts
$1.00 to $250…………$10.00 $250 to $500…………….$25.00 $500 to $1000…………..$50.00
$1000 to $2000……..$100.00 $2000 to $5000………..$200.00 $5000 to $100,000..……$500.00
Remember-We Don’t Do Callbacks on Any Item.
Everything ends at the published closing time or until no bids are made for 10 minutes on a particular lot.