Terms and Conditions
- The placing of a bid by any means shall constitute the acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
- All bids are conducted in Canadian dollars. The buyer shall pay a commission of 17% on the hammer price of all lots won. Canadian buyers will be charged applicable tax(es). British Columbia merchants can provide us with a provincial sales tax exemption number.
- All lots will be sold to the highest bidder, at one increment over the next highest bid. In case of dispute, the auctioneer’s bid book will take precedence over any other source.
- All bids are per lot as numbered in the catalogue, and Garden City Philatelic Auctions Inc. (GCPA) reserves the right to withdraw any lot prior to the sale for any reason, as well as to refuse a bid, if it is deemed not to be made in good faith.
- All lots remain the property of GCPA on behalf of the consignors until paid for in full.
- Unless there is prior arrangement with the Auction Manager, all payments are due 30 days after invoice date, and can be remitted in one of many ways (see the “Payments” page on our website for more details). A 2% per month fee will be changed on delinquent balances until the full amount has been paid, and late payers agree to pay all fees incurred by GCPA to recover the money owed.
- The buyer is responsible for the insurance and delivery of their purchased lots, and will be charged actual shipping costs. Proof of mailing shall constitute delivery. GCPA will use the least expensive and most secure shipping method, unless the buyer expresses a preference at purchase time, preferably before invoicing has been sent. Purchases will be mailed only once payment has been received unless prior arrangement has been made. Buyers outside Canada are responsible for all customs duties applied by their home country, and GCPA will not modify invoices for the purpose of avoiding such fees, which are rare.
- Each lot is sold as genuine and is described to the best of our knowledge and opinion. A lot cannot be returned if it meets any of the following criteria:
- It contains 10 or more stamps or items.
- It is pictured online and a fault can clearly be seen (bidders who have not seen the material in person are responsible to carefully view our high quality online scans before bidding).
- It has been described as including faults or other problems.
- It is described as “as is” or “mixed quality” or the word “appearing” is used following an adjective, such as “fine appearing”.
- It is accompanied by a certificate from a recognised entity dated 7 years or less.
- It has been viewed in person by the buyer in advance of the auction.
- If a discrepancy in a lot description has been discovered before it is auctioned, GCPA will post a description of the discrepancy on the GCPA website and announce it verbally at time of auction. It is the buyer’s responsibility to be aware of this before bidding.
- Lots can be returned only if they are incorrectly described, within 14 days of receipt, by first contacting us with the details of the problem, and then sending it to us in its original packaging by registered mail. If an extension is requested, the 14-day time limit will be extended.
- Buyers can ask for an external opinion on a lot won (called an extension), by an authority known to us, as long as all of the following criteria are met.
- The request must be made to GCPA before invoicing of the lot
- Payment of both the lot and its certificate fees must be made in full before GCPA will send it directly to one of the approved authorities listed below (a refund will be issued in the event of an unfavourable opinion)
- The following are GCPA approved authorities: the Vincent Greene Foundation (Canada and BNA), the Philatelic Foundation (USA and worldwide) and the BPA or RPSL (British Commonwealth).
- Extension requests can include a request for a grading, but grading by itself cannot be used as a return criteria.
- Valuations. All lots are described with either a catalogue value (always stating which catalogue was used) or a face value, or estimate “Est.” which is our best estimation as to what the lot should sell for on a normal day at auction. Estimates are also used on items that are either not catalogued, or for large lots, or postal history, or items for which a catalogue value is irrelevant, etc. For Canadian stamps, we use Unitrade values for single items or sets (as long as all the items in the set are centered the same). For collections, we use the Scott catalogue value (in US$) as it only lists one centering / quality level. Each sale overview will be accompanied by a list of the specific catalogues used in that sale. The term “owner’s catalogue value” is just that, and not verified by us, and the same applies to “identified by owner as”, etc.
- Quality for a lot is usually described as fine, very fine, extremely fine, and for single items, these terms will usually apply to the centering, and faults, if present, will be described in words. Used or ungummed stamps cannot be returned for having a hinge. In the case where there are several items in a lot, or stamp multiples, we can use the term “overall” to give an idea of the predominant condition. For postal history, it is normal to see small faults on most 19th century covers, or at least one filing crease on folded letters. Significant faults will usually be mentioned, especially if we feel it will affect the desirability of an item, and therefore early postal history is not returnable for normal small faults. Items sold for the postmark are not returnable for faults (usually described if significant) on the supporting item (cover, stamp, etc.)
Bidding Increments (bids provided to us prior to the auction not conforming to these increments will be rounded down to the next increment):
| $50 – $200 | $10.00 |
| $200 – $500 | $25.00 |
| $500 – $1,500 | $50.00 |
| $1,500 – $3,000 | $100.00 |
| $3,000 – $7,000 | $200.00 |
| $7,000 – $15,000 | $500.00 |
| $15,000 – $30,000 | $1,000.00 |
| $30,000 – $100,000 | $2,000.00 |
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