Collect.com Auctions User Agreement

Please make sure to read the complete user agreement presented in the pages below. It includes valuable information on bidding, auction rules and will answer most of your questions. If you have further questions, please call us at 888-463-3063.

Registration

Bidders must pre-register in order to place a bid in our auction. You can do this on our website by clicking here or by phone (888-463-3063) – Our normal business hours are Monday-Friday 9-6 EST. To complete the registration process, bidders will need to provide basic information, like name, street address, etc., and a valid credit card (used only to verify your identity).

Once bidders have registered and received our confirmation e-mail, they are eligible to bid. At the time of registration, bidders will create their own user ID and password (one user ID per address), which will remain active for all of our auctions. If you have any questions during the registration process, please call or Click Here to email us.

Bidding

Please remember there is a 17% buyer’s premium on every lot. If a bidder wins a lot for $1,000, the actual cost will be $1,170, plus shipping, insurance and local sales tax.

An initial bid must be placed on an item to be eligible to win the item auctioned. Initial bidding can be done online, via fax, via phone (888-463-3063) and via e-mail (due to server problems with some e-mail systems, e-mail bids must be done 24 hours before the auction closes). All items are available for viewing up to 48 hours before the auction closes at our Iola, WI offices. Please call 888-463-3063 in advance for an appointment.

In our auctions, initial bids must be placed on a lot at any point before 10 PM EST on the closing day of the auction to be eligible to bid on the item during our extended bidding period. If a bidder is the only bidder on an auction lot when the initial bidding period ends, he/she is the winner of that auction lot. Remember, if a bidder hasn’t placed a bid on an item before the initial bidding closes, that bidder cannot bid on that item during the extended period, so it’s very important to get initial bids in quickly on all the items in which a bidder has an interest.

Extended bidding begins at 10 PM EST. The auction is closed when bidding has ceased for the entire auction for an elapsed time of 15 minutes. Whenever a bid is placed, the 15-minute timer is automatically reset. If a bidder is the current high bidder and increases his/her own ceiling bid, the timer will NOT reset. It will only reset by another straight bid or any type of bid placed by another bidder. The purpose of the 15-minute bidding window is to prevent snipers from winning lots in the closing.

The bidder will receive bid confirmations and outbid notifications via e-mail on every lot for which he/she is bidding on. Since these e-mails might be identified as spam and some e-mail systems aren’t as reliable, the bidder is responsible for keeping track of all of his/her bids. Our software is equipped with a “My Accounts”, “My Bids” and “My Watch List” to help bidders follow his/her bids. It is advised that a bidder track his/her bids and watched items on the auction site.

We strongly encourage all bidders to call or e-mail with questions before placing bids. We cannot guarantee that every lot described by us will be accepted or graded the same by yourself or a third party. In addition, we are not responsible for the grades of cards in graded holders. Finally, there are no returns on any items purchased in our auctions, all lots are sold “as is,” and all sales are final.

The bidder is responsible for all bids placed with his/her user ID and password. Retraction of bids is NOT permitted under any circumstances. By placing a bid, the bidder is agreeing to all the terms and conditions outlined herein.

Payment of Invoices

Invoices will be sent to all winning bidders via e-mail (the day after the auction closes) and via regular mail the week following the auction close. All invoices must be paid within 15 days from the end of the auction. After 15 business days, Collect.com Auctions reserves the right to charge the credit card on file for the full amount of your invoice unless other arrangements have been previously made. We do not ship lots until we are paid in full and need prompt payments in order to quickly pay our consignors. Late bidder payments (or non payment) will result in suspension of bidding privileges for future auctions and product will be sold to under bidder per terms outlined in “Other Guidelines” below.

By bidding on an item, bidders are agreeing to pay for that item, plus all other fees associated with that item, including buyer’s premium, sales tax, shipping (Federal Ground), insurance and collection agency fees if needed. Payment of 10% of the closing price (including buyer’s premium) will be levied on any unpaid lots.

We accept personal checks, business checks, money orders, cashier’s checks, cash, major credit cards and Paypal. Personal checks will be held until funds are collected, which may take up to 7-10 business days. Payments exceeding $2,500 must be made via personal check, business check, money order, cashier’s check or cash.

Other guidelines

Items are sold to the highest bidder and all bids are in U.S. Dollars.

If a winning bidder does not honor his/her bid with payment, F+W Media may, at its sole discretion, sell the item to an underbidder, re-offer the given lot in a future auction or sell the item privately. The original winner will be responsible for any losses incurred or service charges involved in the sale, and the non-paying bidder explicitly agrees to pay any and all reasonable legal fees incurred by F+W Media in the collection of these losses.

When F+W Media descriptions refer to population reports, we only reference the population of that card’s grading company at the time the description was written. These population reports are subject to change. F+W Media is also not responsible for typographical errors in descriptions.

The buyer agrees not to involve F+W Media in any disputes with the seller. In addition, the seller understands that no agency, partnership or other legal relationship is formed through the auction service. In cases where the item title or description has changed from the time the catalog has been printed to the launch of the online auction, the online portion dictates the sale of the item.

In no event will F+W Media’s liability to a purchaser exceed the purchase price actually paid for the lot. F+W Media also reserves the right to delay or postpone the auction for a reasonable period of time due a significant event, which makes it inadvisable to hold the auction as scheduled, without recourse from any consignor or bidder.

Authentication

All of our autographs sold through Collect.com Auctions come with authentication from PSA/DNA, JSA, Upper Deck Authenticated or Steiner. Some items may come with more than one LOA/COA, while some items may come with no paperwork, but are pre-certified by PSA/DNA. If you have any questions with their methods, please contact the appropriate organization.

On autographed lots with a large number of autographs, we will issue a blanket auction letter of authenticity for the entire lot. This is the original letter that we receive from the authentication company describing the offered lot. You may use this original letter to obtain individual LOA/COA. It is also worth noting that certain large lots, while accompanied by a LOA/COA, may contain a small number of clubhouse, fake and autopen signatures, which should be considered part of the lot and are non-returnable or refundable.

The provenance and authenticity of all items in our auctions have been properly researched. Where appropriate, we have employed the services of PSA or SGC for card grading and authentication; PSA/DNA or JSA for autograph authentication; and John Taube and MEARS (Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services) for game-used equipment. Other services may be used at our discretion, depending on the item and authenticator’s area of expertise. LOA/COA’s from third-party authenticators, as well as other relevant sources are indicated in lot descriptions.