Terms & Conditions

Got a question? Email us [email protected]

Glossary

  1. The Site
  2. Our Terms
  3. Our Site
  4. Contacting us
  5. Records
  6. Our status
  7. Contracts
  8. Contracts with us
  9. Contracts between buyers and sellers
  10. Submissions
  11. Cancellation of listings, bids and auctions
  12. Age and territory restrictions
  13. Delivery
  14. Charges
  15. Listing goods
  16. Purchasing goods
  17. Personal Data
  18. General terms relating to our site
  19. Our Interactive Facilities
  20. Restrictions on Misuse
  21. Intellectual Property
  22. Security
  23. Third Party Sites
  24. End of the contract
  25. The limits of our Liability
  26. Variation
  27. Disputes
  28. Consumer Terms

 

1 This Site

This website (the "Site") is operated by The Grand Whisky Auction Limited ("we", "our", " us"). We are a company registered in Scotland with company number SC612333 whose registered office is at The Cellar, Old Edinburgh Road, Inverness, Scotland, IV2 3HT. Our VAT registration number is 308 6492 87.

2 Our Terms

2.1 Our Site is an auction site. These terms set out how you may buy or sell goods through our Site, what we will do, what we won't do, and what you are obliged to do in relation to your sale or purchase of goods.

3 Our Site

3.1 For the purposes of these terms, our Site includes the websites linked to the following domain names and all associated webpages:

www.thegrandwhiskyauction.com

www.tgwa.com

3.2 You should read these terms carefully before seeking to buy or sell goods via our Site, as they create binding legal obligations upon you. If you do not understand any part of them please let us know using the contact details set out below. If you do not agree with or accept any of these terms, you should not use our Site. Please note that we may update our terms & costs from time to time, so if you revisit our Site at a later date you should check these again at that time to make sure you have seen the current version.

3.3 These terms are available only in English. No other languages will apply to these terms.

3.4 When using our Site you also agree to be legally bound by:

3.4.1 our privacy policy

3.4.2 our cookie policy 

3.4.3 our counterfeit policy

3.4.4 our money laundering policy

3.5 All of the above documents form part of this contract as though set out in full here.

4 Contacting us

4.1 If you have any questions about our Site or these terms, including if you don't understand any part of these terms, please contact us:

4.1.1 by e-mail at [email protected];

4.1.2 by telephone at 01463 210 427; or

4.1.3 by post at

The Grand Whisky Auction
The Cellar
Old Edinburgh Road, Inverness
IV2 3HT, Scotland

4.2 We will endeavour to respond to you promptly. Please note that our email and telephone facilities are monitored only during the hours of 09:00 - 17:00 Monday through Saturday (excluding public and bank holidays in Scotland).

5 Records

5.1 Please also note that we may record calls and keep a record of correspondence to enable us to properly manage our Site, to deal with your query, and for quality and training purposes.

6 Our status

6.1 We act as agents for the sellers of goods listed on our Site. When you buy goods on our Site you buy them from those sellers, not from us. The contract for the sale and purchase of those goods is directly between the seller and the buyer. Sellers and buyers, by using our Site, agree to abide by these terms. These terms may be enforced by sellers and buyers directly against each other. The company reserves the right to disclose details of sellers and buyers to each other. This could be, for example, to facilitate settlement of those disputes. In the case of disputes, you must abide by any settlement procedures referred to in these terms.

7 Contracts

7.1 Below, we set out how a legally binding contract is made between you and us, and between you and other users of our Site.

8 Contracts with us

8.1 When sellers submit a request to us to list goods upon our Site, a contract between you (the seller) and us governing your use of our Site is concluded, upon these terms. When a buyer submits a bid to purchase goods through our Site, a contract between you (the buyer) governing your use of our Site and us is concluded, upon these terms. These contracts are separate from any contracts buyers and sellers have in relation to the sale of goods.

8.2 A listing may relate to several units of goods. In this event, they are sold as one consignment, and references to goods in these terms shall relate to the whole of that consignment. Otherwise, goods are sold separately.

8.3 To arrange the sale of goods upon our Site please contact us using the means set out above.

8.4 Any person(s) registered with the site agree to be contacted by means of email, telephone, SMS, What's App and Social Media. If you wish to amend the means of contact please have an email sent to [email protected] detailing your requirements.

8.5 By agreeing to sell or buy with the company you agree to remain up to date with our terms & conditions and all associated costs which the company have the right to amend at any given point. Should you have any questions prior to selling or buying with The Grand Whisky Auction Ltd you can contact us.

8.6 By agreeing to our terms, we the company, reserve the right to request a bank transfer payment as opposed to that of a credit or debit card transaction. 

9 Contracts between sellers and buyers

9.1 Our Site sets out a date and time when an auction is concluded. When the auction concludes a contract is concluded for the sale and purchase of the related goods between the seller and the highest bidder for the sale and purchase of those goods. The contract incorporates these terms, in so far as they apply to that sale and purchase.

9.2 A bid to buy goods through our Site constitutes an offer to buy the goods listed in the relevant auction. Offers may be accepted or declined by the seller at their discretion. Sellers may withdraw goods from auction at any time, in which case charges (as set out below in section 14) will apply. If the seller does not withdraw the goods placed for auction prior to the auction conclusion, on conclusion they automatically accept the offer from the highest bidder. Once submitted, bids cannot be withdrawn.

9.3 We will notify sellers and successful bidders via email when an auction is concluded.

9.4 We must receive payment from the highest bidder within three (3) days of the conclusion of the auction. Failure to comply with payment prior to the following auction will result in a card used with the site being automatically charged. You, the bidder, understand this to be true and authorise either the full payment or a deposit of payment via your card. Once charged, you agree that this cannot be disputed with your credit card provider as you have double confirmed your bid. Any claim will result in an automatic loss of the dispute and a win in TGWA favour. 

9.5 Goods that are not sold in one auction may be listed again, at our discretion.

10 Submissions

10.1 Please read and check any submissions you make through our Site thoroughly before submitting them. If you need to correct any errors you can do so before submitting it to us. Please use the "Back" button upon our Site, rather than the back button on your browser, to move back in the process and correct errors.

10.2 Prior to shipping any lot(s), members agree to take and send photographs, to the company, of their item(s) to confirm condition prior to shipping. 

10.3 All shipped items must have protective layered packaging and structured box as a minimum.

10.4 Any submitted lots can be used for advertising/photographs whereby taking photographs inside and out with The Grand Whisky Auction Ltd premises.

10.5 By consigning your bottles to The Grand Whisky Auction, you take sole responsibility for the condition in which they arrive at the premises.  This includes and is extended to any shipments arranged or carried out by the company. 

10.6 The company may offer its free collection service and this will be at our discretion. Should the bottles not reach a required reserve or be deemed unacceptable, the company retains the right to either back charge the cost of the shipment or have the seller arrange their own collection. Further to this, the cost of returning the bottles will be at the seller's expense. 

10.7 Any valuation given to the client "Seller" prior to sale is an approximation. Should a minimum price be required a reserve should be selected at the appropriate value. Any valuation given assumes bottles to be in perfect condition without damage and of a good fill level. Further to this, TGWA cannot be held responsible for any misinformation or errors in judgement given to prospective clients with regards to to the value of their bottles/collection. It is advised that a seller does their own due diligence prior to sale.  

11 Cancellation of listings, bids and auctions

11.1 We may cancel listings and bids at any time, and any contracts concluded for the sale or purchase of goods, at our discretion. This will generally be for the following reasons:

11.1.1 the goods are unavailable;

11.1.2 we cannot authorise your payments due to us or sellers;

11.1.3 you are not allowed to sell goods through our Site;

11.1.4 you are not allowed to purchase goods through our Site;

11.1.5 there has been a mistake on the pricing or description of the goods;

11.1.6 the seller or buyer has breached these terms; or

11.1.7 there has been no bid for the relevant goods

11.1.8 payment has not been received for won lots within 48 hours of next auction

11.2 Goods may be offered (at our discretion) to the next highest bidder.

11.3 Suspicious bidding has taken place on a bottle

12 Age and territory restrictions

12.1 Our Site is open to persons over eighteen (18) years old and who are resident in the UK only. If you are under eighteen (18) or not resident in the UK, please leave our Site immediately. If you continue to access the Site from locations outside the UK, you are responsible for compliance with local laws which relate to your accessing this Site, where they are applicable.

12.2 We may ask you for various information to allow us to verify your identity, age and entitlement to buy or sell goods through our Site, when registering to use our Site. Any information you provide in this respect must be true, accurate and complete.

13 Delivery

13.1 We provide collection and delivery services in relation to auctions, that is we will arrange collection of goods from sellers, hold them and arrange for them to be transmitted to buyers. We provide these services ourselves and through separate delivery providers.

13.2 Sellers must arrange for the delivery of goods to us to enable us to place a listing, by contacting us.

13.3 Once we have received goods we may then decide, in our sole discretion, to place the listing upon our site or decline to place the listing upon our Site. We may refuse to do so, for example, if we feel the goods are not authentic. We shall have sole discretion as to the information that is listed upon our Site in relation to any goods.

13.4 Sellers must pay all costs relating to any delivery to us, or (if we decline to place a listing or cancel a listing pursuant to these terms or a listing is withdrawn) collection from us, of the goods. Unless we offer to collect goods, sellers must use our specified delivery providers. Sums due to sellers shall be paid only once we have received them from the buyer, and only once any period during which the buyer could cancel the relevant contract has expired. Charges relating to our collection are set out in section 14.

13.5 Sellers must obtain and maintain insurance against loss of, or damage to, goods whilst in transit to us. Where we hold goods for a period of beyond ninety (70) days, we may levy a charge for storage. Where we hold goods for four (4) months or more, if required by us the seller must make arrangements to collect them from us, failing which the seller appoints us as its agent to dispose of or destroy of those goods by whatever means we deem appropriate.

13.6 We require that buyers use certain delivery providers to receive goods. When a buyer is successful in an auction, they must specify the means for delivery. If we offer, buyers may use us to receive goods. Charges for delivery shall be set out at this point. Your attention is drawn to section 14 where charges for delivery of goods by ourselves are set out. We shall deduct these charges from the buyer's chosen payment means.

13.7 Goods can be collected once a month on a day specified by The Grand Whisky Auction, only upon prior arrangement, at a collection point off-premises.  No visitors are allowed on site to pick up or drop off any auction items. 

13.8 The estimated date for delivery of goods to buyers will be set out following confirmation by the buyer of their preferred delivery method.

13.9 We may amend delivery dates in the event something happens which is outside of our control and which affects the estimated date of delivery. In such an event we will let the buyer know of the revised estimated date for delivery of the goods. The buyer may not cancel the contract due to such a change in the delivery date.

13.10 Delivery of the goods will take place when our delivery provider delivers the goods to the address that is set out in the email confirming the conclusion of an auction.

13.11 Delivery providers may not be able to deliver the goods if they are unable to properly identify the recipient. Please ensure that you are able to provide our provider with a form of photographic ID. Recipients must be over 18 and able to provide proof of this upon delivery. You must ensure that you are available to take delivery of goods at the appointed time. If they are unavailable delivery providers may return the goods, or may retain the goods and provide you with various options for redelivery or collection, details of which shall be provided to you by the delivery provider. If a buyer is unavailable at the appointed time, and the goods are returned to us, we may cancel the contract for the purchase of the goods. Further to this, any returns requested by the buyer will be at their expense. This includes import duties and VAT where applicable. 

13.12 We will set a delivery date which is within thirty (30) days of the conclusion of the auction should the delivery option be selected. Other options include holding bottles in storage is free for seventy (70) days which will allow for the accumulation of bottles which will in turn economise shipping for the buyer. The company reserves the right to destroy or acquire goods after a period of 6 months if the Buyer has not made arrangements to ship or collect their won lots. 

13.13 You are responsible for goods when delivery has taken place. In other words, the risk in the goods passes to you when you take possession of the goods. If goods are received damaged please raise this with us as soon as possible.

13.14 If we are charged any sales tax, customs charges or duties in relation to the delivery of goods to us, or their return to a seller, these shall be recharged to the seller. When we become aware of these we shall notify the seller. Furthermore, all users of the site are responsible for knowing their respective countries customs regulations, limits and duties whether it be receiving or shipping of goods. 

13.15 If we are charged any sales tax, customs charges or duties in relation to the sale or delivery of goods to a buyer, these shall be recharged to the buyer. We will endeavour to ensure details of the same are contained in any listing or delivery information, but we make no guarantee that this will be the case. When we become aware of these we shall notify the buyer.

13.16 Any wax seals / rosette's on bottles are classed as fragile by age/design and as such are not insured in transit. Therefore, we do not and will not accept liability should the rosette be breached, broken, split or cracked in transit. By bidding any of these lots you have understood this to be true and no claims can be made/no refunds given should an issue arise in transit. Insurance is for complete breakage of the bottle or loss in transit only.

14 Charges

14.1  The Grand Whisky Auction predominantly sells lots using the Auctioneers Margin Scheme for VAT, meaning VAT is applicable to all fees but is not applicable to the hammer price of any lot sold under auction. The exception is when the seller is either a UK VAT registered business or located outwith the UK. In these instances, the Auctioneers Margin Scheme for VAT will still apply and VAT will also be payable in Hammer Prices shown for applicable lots if the lot is being delivered to a UK address. 

We charge sellers for listing goods upon our site, and we charge buyers for buying goods through our site. Our charges are as follows:

 

Site registration charge, payable by buyers and sellers.

£5.00 

Payable on registration. This will be subject to VAT if in the UK. If an account becomes dormant (no purchases within 6 months), this charge may be required again. 

Storage of goods not accepted for listing

£5.00 per day ex VAT if applicable. 

Payable before the release of the goods from us

Seller's reserve fee, to set a reserve price on an auction

£7.50 ex VAT per auction. 

Payable when the reserve price is set & applicable to every auction the item appears in. Note: For any new releases (6 months since their release date) TGWA reserves the right to limit the maximum reserve. In addition to this, no reserve on the site can be more than a previously sold bottle within the last 6 months. For bottles that TGWA have not sold before, the reserve must be mutually agreed upon prior to shipping/listing the bottles.  

Any new releases may be subject to a no-reserve policy whereby all bottles of that kind will be listed with no reserve for the first/second time. (This can be up to 6 months).

All reserves must be agreed with [email protected] before consignment or transportation to TGWA. 

Any reserve that has not been agreed upon prior to submission to TGWA is subject to their approval. The lots reserve will then be subject to change/removal by TGWA prior to the auction commencing. These can also removed anytime during the auction if they have been added without written approval.

 Sellers listing fee  £5 ex VAT per item per auction.  Payable when the item is listed & applicable to every auction the item appears in. This charge is based on £5 per item and not on a per lot basis. Thus, for example, if there are 5 bottles and 1 piece of memorabilia and 1 glass in one lot, this is 7 items. £5 x 7 = £35 + VAT = £42
Seller Commission 5% of the hammer price.  Sellers commission is 5%. Uk Sellers will be liable for 20% VAT on this charge. 
Seller Commission for miniatures & memorabilia.  25% of the hammer price for miniatures, Sellers commission is 25% for miniatures. Sellers commission is at the discretion of the company.

Sale commission, payable by the buyer

12.5% of the sale price, where the goods are bought at auction.

Payable on sale. VAT is not applicable when the buyer is outwith the UK. 

Storage charges where goods are held by us beyond seventy (70) days (per bottle cost).

£2.00 per day.

Payable before the release of the goods from us.

Storage charges where VAT is outstanding on orders (per bottle cost).

£2.00 per day. We reserve the right to charge a storage fee from the date of the shipping order (separate from any other storage charges). Once the bottle is removed from your storage area and instructed to be shipped, there will be no further storage fee reminders, however, storage will still be due per day if VAT is outstanding. 

Payable before the release of the goods from us.

Card transaction fee, payable by buyers and sellers out with the UK

3.5% of the amount transacted

Payable at the time of the transaction

Bank charges, payable by buyers and sellers

£20, payable upon international transfers

Payable when required by us. All payments need to be paid in full prior to dispatch and be made in GBP.

Cancellation charge, where sale cancelled due to breach of these terms by the seller

£100.00

Payable before the release of the goods from us.

Cancellation or amendment of a bottle or lot listed prior or during the auction actioned by a seller.

£100 per bottle before auction commencement and 25% of the starting bid and 25% of the reserve price.

£100 per bottle during the auction along with any listing and reserve fees. 25% of the highest bid and 25% of the reserve price per bottle at the time of cancellation where auction in process, plus costs for listing, reserve, milage & insured shipping.

Payable on cancellation and or amendment request. 

Charges for delivery/collection by The Grand Whisky Auction Limited themselves

£0.45 per mile

Payable prior to commencement of delivery. Payable after collection and from sales proceeds.

Valuations

A rate dependent on the number of bottles may be invoiced if the company believes it is applicable. This invoice may be fully refundable should you go forward to selling.

Invoiced prior to any valuation taking place. 

Invoicing via payable link.

If a user of the site requires an invoice and their preferred menthod of payment is a card, 1% of the invoice will be charged. An invoice can be raised with no additional fees if it is to be settled by BACS. 

1% + any international CC fees for total value of the invoice. 

Number removal / digitally obscure. 

A charge to the seller for digitally obscuring the number from the bottle and or box.

£10 + VAT per bottle.

14.2 Further, where goods are sold at a fixed price through our "shop" facility, we charge a commission of 12% of the sale price, which is payable by the seller.

14.3 Where sums are due to us and not paid by their due date, we may instruct debt collectors to recover those sums. If we instruct debt collectors our costs of collection shall also be paid to us by the person from whom the sum is due. Late payments (after 72 hours after the close of the auction) will attract interest at 4% above the base rate of the Bank of England per day. 

14.4 We may institute promotions from time to time. These will be advertised upon our Site from time to time and will attract their own terms. We may withdraw promotions at any time, and without notice.

14.5 When registering you must provide details of your specified payment method for sums due to us, and for sums due between buyers and sellers. We may use third-party payment services providers to fulfil these payments. We, and/or these payment services providers may deduct and pay to us our charges from the sums paid between sellers and buyers. We accept the following credit cards and debit cards: Mastercard & Visa. We do not accept cash.

14.6 Communication via the Internet is not secure. While we try to make sure that the Site is secure, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you supply to us and therefore we cannot guarantee that it will be remain confidential, for example during its transmission to us. The payment services providers we use are PCI DSS compliant (see http://www.pcisecuritystandards.org). In the absence of negligence on our part, any failure by us to comply with these terms, or our Cookie Policy or our Privacy Policy or breach by us of our duties under applicable laws we will not be legally responsible to you for any loss that you may suffer if a third party gains unauthorised access to any information that you submit to us or our payment service provider.

14.7 Your credit card or debit card may be charged at any time after you submit your listing or bid. Please ensure you have sufficient funds to meet any payment due to us, including any charges and the amount of any bid and delivery charges. Sums due to a seller may not be remitted until a reasonable period after the completion of the relevant auction.

14.8 All payments by credit card or debit card need to be authorised by the relevant card issuer. Extra steps such as the following may also apply::

14.8.1 Verified by Visa (see https://www.visaeurope.com/making-payments/verified-by-visa/); and

14.8.2 Mastercard®SecureCodeTM (see https://www.mastercard.co.uk/en-gb/consumers/features-benefits/securecode.html).

14.9 Nothing in this clause affects your legal rights as a consumer, as set out below.

14.10 Any cost associated with lots being submitted by the seller for the auction, which The Company pays for, may be reclaimed if the items are not sold.  This includes, but is not limited to, the cost of shipping, insurance, customs charges, mileage and any other costs incurred. 

14.11 Payments, buying or selling, require all associated fees to be paid in full by the client. Thus we must receive the full amount in GBP before the order is dispatched. 

14.12 Should any seller update their bank account details within their account, we must be notified in writing that these details have been changed and would like paid into their new account. The company must be notified of their main account and if this has not taken place we reserve the right to pay either account. 

14.13 All sellers must confirm the bottle within their account is indeed their own. Should any bottles be missing we must be notified prior to or during the auction being live. Upon the auction closing, the bottles within sellers accounts are final and will be paid the sum owed unless otherwise decided by the company. 

14.14 Should you wish to sell bottles you have in storage this will attract the sales fees detailed in the table above. We must receive notification and confirmation via the same email from which you registered 3 days prior to the auction going live.

14.15 All deposits on orders post-auction are non-refundable. If the order is not fully paid within 28 days of the auction close of the relevant order, the deposit will be retained as an admin fee and the option to purchase the order is lost. 

15 Listing goods

15.1 We may refuse any listing for goods in our sole discretion for any reason. We will create the listings for goods. We may include whatever information within listings as we feel may be necessary in our sole discretion to give a fair description of the goods. We may ask you to confirm the contents of any listing as correct. Once we accept goods for listing, we will confirm to you the auction start date and end date.

15.2 Our Site will set a minimum selling price for goods. You cannot list any good at a price lower than that price.

15.3 Where a reserve price is set for a listing, if that reserve price is not met by the auction completion date, or if goods have received no bids, we may at our discretion relist the goods for auction unless you ask us not to. 

15.4 Sellers, or persons associated with them, must not bid upon that seller's listings. In the event that we ascertain that this has taken place we may cancel that listing, retain any listing charges, and the seller shall be liable to pay us an additional administration fee of £100.00, which we may deduct from their specified payment method.

15.5 We may extend the completion time, or start time, of any auction where we deem reasonable in our sole discretion, for example, to avoid the use of sniping software.   The company also reserves the right to open an auction early where we deem reasonable cause, such as testing of new features.

15.6 Where a listing contains multiple items, we may split that listing into two or more separate listings. Each listing shall give rise to separate contracts upon these terms. We may also combine separate listings.

15.7 Only those goods which have been lawfully acquired on the open market in the EEA may be listed upon our Site.

15.8 The following goods may not be sold through our Site:

15.8.1 Bell's decanters;

15.8.2 dimple ceramic decanters;

15.8.3 cream liqueurs;

15.8.4 unofficial samples/minis (this includes press packs which are unsealed);

15.8.5 unofficial/homemade merchandise;

15.8.6 goods (including bottles) which are unsealed or where the seal or packaging is no longer intact;

15.8.7 goods whose contents are leaking.

15.8.8 goods/bottles that are sealed only by a paper strip.  We do not accept any liability for the condition of the seal. If the seal is compromised, broken or torn when in possession of The Grand Whisky Auction or in transit, it will returned to the seller with no compensation due to the fragile nature.  If any bottle with a paper seal is accepted for sale (written acceptance must be received prior by the seller from [email protected]), the same terms apply: We do not accept any liability for the condition of the seal. If the seal is compromised, broken or torn when in possession of The Grand Whisky Auction or in transit, it will returned to the seller with no compensation due to the fragile nature. 

15.8.9 goods which are in a condition which is not suitable for sale, for example, which are mouldy; and/or

15.8.10 items that contain foodstuffs other than alcohol or whose use-by date has passed.

15.9 When you list goods upon our Site:

15.9.1 all information you provide to us must be true, correct and complete;

15.9.2 the goods must match the description of them you provide and as set out upon this Site;

15.9.3 you must be the legal owner of those goods, or authorised by the legal owner to list the goods (and provide evidence of such matters to us upon request);

15.9.4 the goods must not be subject to any lien, charge, security or encumbrance, or third party claim, or the subject of any dispute;

15.9.5 you must have, retain and provide to us all information which is of material relevance to the goods (including any information relating to any concerns expressed by third parties relating to the condition, provenance, authenticity, age, quality and origin of the goods);

15.9.6 you must have all permissions and consents in place to allow us to use any images of the goods you supply with the goods (and you must provide evidence of these to us upon request).

15.9.7 if any item is to be sent back to the seller by their request, it will be subject to a repacking charge of £15 and any larger packages of 10 bottles or more will incur a packing charge of £25. No items, whether purchased or unsold, will be returned to a member via a collection route, they must be sent by courier. 

15.9.8 Any goods consigned to the company with a reserve must be checked by the seller 48 hours prior to the auction going live. Adding and checking their reserve is in place is the sole responsibility of the seller and not TGWA. Failure to place a reserve ahead of the start of the auction will result in the goods being sold with no reserve. Email, telephone, spoken and or written communication are not acceptable means of adding a reserve. A link to your lots to add a reserve can be found here - https://www.thegrandwhiskyauction.com/members/my-lots

15.9.9 The Company may try to highlight conditions of interest of lots being sold in the auction. The majority of the items being sold are of second-hand nature and TGWA cannot be held responsible for any conditions that may not have been specified when listing the lots on the site. Thus, the bidder fully understands, prior to confirming a bid they are happy with the condition of the lot, whether it has conditions noted or otherwise.

15.10 The Grand Whisky Auction is a UK-registered digital trading platform and we are legally required to comply with the rules and reporting requirements of Platform Operators (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2023. Failure to supply the information we request as part of our obligations will result in your funds being withheld and your account closed. 

16 Purchasing goods

16.1 Where you bid upon a listing, you may set a fixed bid, or an initial and maximum bid. In the case of an initial and maximum bid we will automatically lodge additional bids for you in increments in accordance with the following increments table, to ensure that you maintain the highest bid until your maximum bid is reached.

Minimum Next Bid

Increment

£15.00 - £24.99

£2.50

£25.00 - £99.99

£5.00

£100.00 - £259.00

£10.00

£260.00 - £999.00

£20.00

£1,000.00 - £2,499.00

£25.00

£2,500.00 - £4,999.00

£50.00

£5,000.00 - £9,999.00

£100.00

£10,000.00 +

£250.00

16.2 Once bids are submitted they cannot be withdrawn. Should a lot be won and the company not receive the full amount owed within 3 days of the auction closing, the company reserves the right to charge an appropriate admin fee to allow access again. Access within the site includes, buying, selling and shipping of previously stored bottles. 

16.3 All bids should be placed in GBP. The currency converter should be used for information purposes only. Further to this, the exchange rate will move to mirror the rate every day at 00:01. Thus, a bid may in fact be the same in GBP from day - day, however, the foreign currency in view will be subject to change. Please note: you should always cross-reference the rate with a source of your own choosing. 

16.4  All lots are sold and dispatched from our HQ in Scotland. All lots are to be bought and sold using the Auctioneers' Scheme for VAT, except where the lot is shown as a ‘VAT applicable Lot’. This signifies that the lot is being sold by either a VAT registered business or by a seller from outwith the UK. If the buyer delivers a 'VAT Applicable' lot outwith the UK, the standard hammer price shown on the listing applies. 12.5% buyers commission, shipping and optional insurance are also applicable.

16.5 The Company reserves the right, to the fullest extent, to reject any new registration, remove any previously registered member, reject any bid placed, to alter reserves and to withdraw permissions for a User on our website without an explanation at any point.  

Example for a standard lot being delivered to rest of the world (ROW) - 

Hammer Price: £100

12.5% Buyers Commission: £12.50

Total before shipping & optional insurance: £112.50

Example for a VAT applicable lot being delivered to rest of the world (ROW) - 

Hammer Price: £100

12.5% Buyers Commission: £12.50

20% VAT on Commission: £2.50

Total before shipping & optional insurance: £115.00

Example for a VAT applicable lot being delivered in the UK - 

Hammer Price: £100

20% VAT on Hammer Price: £20

12.5% Buyers Commission: £12.50

20% VAT on Commission: £2.50

Total before shipping & optional insurance: £135.00

Example for a standard lot being delivered in the UK - 

Hammer Price: £100

12.5% Buyers Commission: £12.50

20% VAT on Commission: £2.50

Total before shipping & optional insurance: £115

Please Note: For international buyers, all lots must be shipped out with the UK within 90 days for VAT not to be applied. This means after 2 auctions (not 3) and prior to the 70 day free storage expiry. If their storage exceeds this, the UK VAT will be applied.

16.6 Should there be a discrepancy between the photo and the lot title/description, the photograph holds the precedent. No claim can be lodged against a misdescribed item as all lots are sold as seen in the photo and not as described. 

16.7 Buyers within the UK bidding on VAT applicable lots are subject to 20% VAT on the hammer price, 12.5% buyers commission, and 20% VAT on the commission. Shipping and optional insurance are also applicable.

17 Personal Data

You have various rights, and we have various obligations, in relation to your personal data. Please see our privacy policy at http://www.thegrandwhiskyauction.com/policies (our " Privacy Policy") for further information on how we use your personal data. We are the data controller in respect of personal data submitted through our Site. 

18 General terms relating to our Site

18.1 You agree that you are solely responsible for all costs and expenses you may incur in relation to your use of the Site.

18.2 Whilst we will try to make sure our Site is available and functions properly at all times, we do not guarantee that our Site will be available all the time, or at any particular time, that our Site will function properly, or that any functionality upon our Site will be available at all, or any, times. Further, we may suspend or terminate the operation of the Site at any time as we see fit. We may also restrict access to our Site to any person at any time whom has either breached these terms, or who is not engaged in any current auction or sale, or to protect the rights, property or safety of others. If you need to buy goods through our Site for a particular time or occasion, please do this as far in advance as possible, in case our Site is unavailable at the time you need to access it.

18.3 While we try to make sure that our Site is accurate and up-to-date, we cannot promise that it will be. Furthermore, we cannot promise that the Site will be fit or suitable for any purpose. Whilst we make certain requirements as regards those listing goods upon our Site as regards the information they submit, we have not verified that information, and shall not be liable to any buyer for any error or misrepresentation in that information. Where we provide previous sale prices for similar goods, this is for information purposes only, and does not guarantee that any sale or purchase of any other good shall be at the same or a similar price.

18.4 Where the Site allows you to login you must keep your password and other account details confidential. Please let us know immediately in the case that you suspect or know your password or other details have become known to any other person, and please do not allow any other person to use your login. You are liable for any use made of our Site via your login.

18.5 We seek to make the Site as accessible as possible. If you have any difficulties using the Site, please contact us at [email protected]

18.6 We may prevent or suspend your access to the Site if you do not comply, or we suspect you have not complied, with any part of these terms or any applicable law. This shall be without prejudice to our other rights and remedies in respect of such breach. Please note that we have the ability to trace your IP address and if necessary contact your internet service provider in the event of a suspected breach of these terms.

18.7 If your failure to comply may endanger the rights, property or interests of any other person, or we suspect that may be the case, we may disclose your details and any other relevant information we hold about you, to help prevent any damage being suffered.

18.8 Neither party shall be in breach of these terms nor liable for delay in performing, or failure to perform, any of its obligations under these terms if such delay or failure result from events, circumstances or causes beyond its reasonable control.

18.9 At the end of the auction, we use anti sniping software where if a bid is placed within the last 15 minutes of the auction of a lot, the timer for that lot will extend by a further 15 minutes. This includes and is not limited to increasing the maximum bid. These times may be subject to change in the future. 

18.10 Should the company believe an account to be inactive, we reserve the right to have the account closed without notice. Members can apply for the opening of a new account and the appropriate fees will be charged. 

19 Our Interactive Facilities

The Site may contain interactive services, including but not limited to discussion groups, news groups, bulletin boards, chat rooms, blogs and other social networking features which may allow you to post, transmit or submit information. We may or may not actively monitor the information you submit via these services. As such, you may be exposed to content upon these services that is inaccurate, fraudulent or deceptive, or that you find offensive or objectionable, and is not endorsed by us. Further, you should not post any information upon these services from which you can be identified, as this may cause you risk, for example in relation to the receipt of unsolicited correspondence or identity impersonation. We may remove any of the information upon these services, or restrict your ability to use these services, as we see fit. Your use of these services is at your own risk.

20 Restrictions on Misuse

20.1 You must not misuse our Site. The following are examples of misuse:

20.1.1 using the Site for any improper, unlawful, or immoral purpose,

20.1.2 causing any nuisance by your use of the Site or causing the operation of the Site to be jeopardised or impaired;

20.1.3 using the Site to create, host, or transmit any defamatory, offensive, or obscene material, or engaging in activities which would cause offence to others on grounds of race, religion, sexual orientation or otherwise;

20.1.4 using the Site to harm or attempt to harm other people (including children) in any way;

20.1.5 using the Site to create, host, or transmit any material that threatens or encourages bodily harm or the destruction of property, or would constitute a criminal offence or give rise to civil liability;

20.1.6 using the Site to create, host, or transmit material which infringes the copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, privacy, right of publicity, or other intellectual property or rights of any other party;

20.1.7 using the Site to create, host, or transmit unsolicited advertising material to other users;

20.1.8 using the Site to create, host, or transmit any material that harasses another person;

20.1.9 using the Site to make false, misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent offers to sell or buy products, items, or services, or to send chain letters or pyramid schemes or the like;

20.1.10 using the Site to access, or to attempt to access, the accounts of others or to penetrate or attempt to penetrate or breach anyone's security measures, computer software, hardware, electronic communication systems, or telecommunications systems;

20.1.11 using the Site to collect, or attempt to collect, personal information about third parties without their knowledge or consent, or to engage in “screen scraping,” “database scraping,” or any other activity with the purpose of obtaining lists of users or other data;

20.1.12 using the Site for any activity which adversely affects the ability of other people or systems to use the services or the Internet generally, including, without limitation, flooding and hacking;

20.1.13 impersonating any person or entity or using a false name that you are not authorised to use; and/or

20.1.14 encouraging, condoning, or glamorising under-age drinking, drunk-driving, or excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages.

21 Intellectual Property

21.1 When you submit content to our Site you grant us the right to use that content in connection with our business. This includes storing that content, and making that content available via our Site. We may permit other people to do this on our behalf. These rights shall be free (you won't be able to charge us for these rights) and irrevocable, and shall exist perpetually. You agree that we do not have to identify you as the author of that material, and that you shall have no right to object to our treatment of that material. This does not affect your rights under laws relating to personal data. However, where any personal data is contained in that content, you consent, and must have any other identified person's consent, to submit that content.

21.2 This Site and all intellectual property in it is owned by us and or licensors or both (as applicable). Intellectual property includes the copyright in our Site, our trade marks and domain names, and those of other people, design rights, for example in our user interfaces, database rights, and all other intellectual property or rights of any kind, and whether or not they are registered or unregistered, even if it were possible to register them (and we have not progressed any such registration).

21.3 We and our licensors reserve all of our and their rights. This means, for example, that we (and they) remain owners of their intellectual property and remain free to use them as we (and they) see fit.

21.4 You have the right to access and use our Site, to auction goods, and to find out information about us and goods being auctioned by sellers (and to bid upon those goods), and subject always to these terms. Nothing in these terms or otherwise grants you any other right, title or interest in or to the Site.

21.5 Where software is made available through our Site, or by us through any platform such as the Apple App Store or Google Play, please note that your download, installation and use of this software shall be subject to additional terms and conditions, which will be brought to your attention when accessing that software.

21.6 Please note that the following are trade marks owned by us or our licensors:

[The Grand Whisky Auction Limited]

21.7 If you think any part of our Site, or anything available through our Site, infringes your rights, please contact us at [[email protected]]. When contacting us please provide:

21.7.1 your address, telephone number, and email address;

21.7.2 description of the rights that you claim have been infringed;

21.7.3 a description of the alleged infringing activity;

21.7.4 a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that infringing activity is not authorised by you, the rights owner, its agent, or the law; and

21.7.5 a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are the rights owner or authorised to act on the rights owner's behalf.

22 Security

22.1 We may apply security measures and certain restrictions to our Site. You agree not to tamper with or try to circumvent, avoid or negate such security measures or restrictions, or ask or help any other person to do so, including by the submission of false information, or using means which obscure the identity of the devices or persons visiting our Site, such as using VPN providers or the TOR browsers.

22.2 Our Site contains important notices (including intellectual property notices) including in particular in any digital rights or other security technology embedded or contained within the Site. You must not tamper with or remove any of these notices, including in any printout of our Site.

22.3 Communication via the Internet is not secure. While we try to make sure that the Site is secure, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you supply to us and therefore we cannot guarantee that it will be remain confidential, for example during its transmission to us.

22.4 Further, we recommend that you have in place up to date antivirus and personal firewall software when accessing and using our Site.

23 Third Party Sites

The Site may contain hyperlinks or references to third party websites other than the Site. Any such hyperlinks or references are provided for your convenience only. We have no control over third party websites and accept no legal responsibility for any content, material or information contained in them. The display of any hyperlink and reference to any third party website does not mean that we endorse that third party's website, products or services. Your use of a third party site will be governed by the terms and conditions of that third party site, not these terms. You must not link to this Site without our consent.

24 End of the contract

If our contract with you is ended it will not affect our right to receive any money which you owe to us under the contract.

25 The Limits of our Liability

25.1 Except for any legal responsibility that we cannot exclude in law (such as for death or personal injury), we are not legally responsible for any losses that were not foreseeable when you accessed our Site, or that were not caused by any breach of these terms or any duty on our part. Our Site is provided “as is,” and your use is at your own risk. We exclude to the fullest extent permitted by law, any and all express and implied warranties and guarantees.

25.2 What we say we will do, and what say we won't do, what we and will not guarantee, and what we recommend or require you to do, in these terms is therefore very important. Please read these terms carefully and let us know if you don't understand any point.

25.3 We shall have no liability to you for any breach of these terms caused by any event or circumstance beyond our reasonable control including, but not limited to, strikes, lock-outs or other industrial disputes; breakdown of systems or network access; or flood, fire, explosion or accident.

25.4 Further, except as explicitly set out in these terms, no person other than you may enforce these terms.

26 Variation

These terms are dated 01/03/2019. No changes to these terms are valid or have any effect unless agreed by us in writing. We reserve the right to vary these terms from time to time.

27 Disputes

27.1 We will try to resolve any disputes with you quickly and efficiently.

27.2 If you are unhappy with us please contact us as soon as possible.

27.3 If you and we cannot resolve a dispute using our complaint handling procedure, we will:

27.3.1 let you know that we cannot settle the dispute with you;

27.3.2 if you are a consumer, you may also use the online dispute resolution (ODR) platform at http://webgate.ec.europa.eu/odr/ to resolve the dispute with us.

27.4 Governing law. The contract between us, and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of Scotland.

27.5 Jurisdiction. Each party irrevocably agrees that the Scottish courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with this contract or its subject matter or formation.

28 Consumer Terms

28.1 By law, as a consumer we must give you certain key information before a legally binding contract between you and us is made. The key information we give you by law forms part of this contract (as though it is set out in full here). If we have to change any key information once a legally binding contract between you and us is made, we can only do this if you agree to it.

28.2 If you are listing goods with us as a consumer, you would normally have the right to cancel the contract between you and us for listing goods within fourteen (14) days without giving any reason. However, as part of the listing process we ask you to expressly consent to the commencement of the provision of our auction services as part of our listing process. This means you retain the right to cancel but if you exercise it you must reimburse us for our reasonable costs and expenses, details of which are set out in sections 14 and 13.4. The cancellation period will expire after fourteen (14) days from the day that we send you confirmation that your listing has been accepted.

28.3 Buyers cannot cancel contracts for the purchase of goods at auction, as they have been concluded at a public auction. However they can cancel contracts for the purchase of goods set at a fixed price, and not at auction.

28.4 To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (for example a letter sent by post, a fax or an email). You can use the model cancellation form set out in the box below, but it is not obligatory. You should send it to us using the means of contact set out in these terms.

Cancellation form

To Grand Whisky Auction Limited, The Cellar, Old Edinburgh Road, Inverness, Scotland, IV2 3HT, email address [email protected]:

I/We [*] hereby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] contract for listing the following goods:

Placed on,

Name of consumer(s),

Address of consumer(s),

Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper),

Date

[*] Delete as appropriate

28.5 To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the cancellation period has expired. We advise that you retain some evidence of your dispatch of the communication, for example, a copy of your email or proof of postage.

28.6 Where you cancel the contract to purchase goods, you must return the goods to us securely packed within fourteen (14) days. If they have been damaged or opened then we will deduct from sums repayable to you our reasonable costs arising from that, which may be the whole value of the goods where they cannot be replaced.