Terms and Conditions

By registering to participate in a Rum Auctioneer auction, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions. These terms and conditions are supplementary to the website Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Money Laundering Policy and Cookie Policy and together, sets out the basis on which you may use the auctioneering services made available on www.rumauctioneer.com (“the Website”).

References in these terms and conditions to ‘RumAuctioneer.com’, ‘we’ or ‘us’ refer to Whisky Auctioneer Limited, a company registered in Scotland with company no: SC490586. References herein to ‘you’ and ‘your’ mean the person or entity registering to use the Website.

1. Our Services

1.1 We provide auctioneering services on our Website whereby sellers may sell their Rum or other alcoholic goods (“Goods”) and a buyer may purchase such Goods by online auction. These will be sold and purchased in lots, with one lot referring to the Goods made available to purchase by auction at any one time.

1.2 The auctions take place on the Website and whether you are a seller or a buyer, you will require to register with our Website.

2. Registration with Rumauctioneer.com

2.1 The cost of registration on the Website ("Registration") is £5 (which is inclusive of VAT), and online payment is required at the time of Registration.

2.2 When registering we may ask you to provide some personal information such as your name, address, email address, date of birth and mobile number. If you are a seller, we may also ask you for your bank details to allow us to pay any sums due to you from auctioning your Goods. In order to satisfy reporting obligations, we are required to collect tax identification information and may be required to report this information to the relevant authorities as legally required. If you are a buyer, we may also ask you for your details to allow us to carry out an online credit check.  All personal data held by us shall be held and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. For more information on how we handle your personal data, please read our Privacy Policy.

2.3 Once you have registered you are expected to keep your information up to date in your account and are required to keep your account details and passwords strictly confidential and you must not permit any third party to use or access your account on your behalf. You will be liable for any and all bids made using your account.

3. Age Restriction

3.1 Please note that you must be over the age of 18 years old (or the legal age within your own country of residence) to register and sell and/or buy Goods via the Website.

3.2 We reserve the right to ask buyers and sellers for identification to prevent fraud, underage purchases and/or any other legal or legitimate purpose.

3.3 All deliveries must be signed for by a person of legal drinking age in your country of residence and we reserve the right to ask for ID from the person receiving the delivery.

4. Terms Relevant to Sellers

Transferring the Goods to Us for Auctioning

4.1 Once you have registered with us, please contact us at info@rumauctioneer.com or by calling +441738 245576 to discuss putting your Goods up for auction. You must deliver the Goods to us by a certain date which we shall communicate to you or in certain cases, we may arrange for a collection of the Goods. A pick-up charge shall be payable for our collection service. Please see https://www.rumauctioneer.com/getting-started-selling-rum for further information.

4.2 Where we have offered a collection service and provided transport, we do so on the basis that we will not be responsible for any damage or loss during transportation. The seller must ensure that they have insurance in place to cover any damage to, or loss of, Goods during transportation from the seller’s premises to our premises.

Authentication of Goods

4.3 Once we have your Goods in our possession, we will review the quality and the condition of the Goods and shall thereafter send you a confirmatory email confirming whether or not we agree to put your Goods up for auction. . For the avoidance of doubt, it is our decision whether to add your Goods to our auctions and in the event we do not wish to auction your Goods, these will be returned to you at your cost or you may pick these up from our premises (in which case the terms of section 5.10 below shall apply); as if you were a buyer of the Goods. The seller must ensure that they have insurance in place to cover any damage to, or loss of, Goods during transportation from our premises to the seller’s premises and the Goods shall be at the Seller’s risk. Where we agree to put your Goods up for auction, we shall confirm the anticipated auction date as well as other relevant information. The contract between us is deemed to be concluded once we send you the confirmatory email.

4.4 We reserve the right to divide any lot, combine any two or more lots or where required, remove any lots from the auction.

4.5 Sellers shall ensure that all information submitted with the Goods they wish to sell is accurate and truthful. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Rum Auctioneer reserves the right to prepare and word any listing as they deem appropriate. Any inaccurate information provided by the seller relating to the Goods may result in a buyer rejecting the Goods, in which case the seller agrees to be responsible for any costs associated with any rejection and shall pay such sums reasonably incurred by us in handling such rejection including costs incurred in the buyer returning the rejected Goods to us.

4.6 If there is any doubt as to the authenticity of an item, it will not be offered for auction. In the event of a dispute arising over the provenance or authenticity of any bottle, if it cannot be proved to be genuine, it will be returned to the seller. If we consider an item to be counterfeit or illegitimate to that described by the seller, Rum Auctioneer reserves the right to reject and dispose of such an item. A reasonable charge will be made for the appropriate removal and destruction of any counterfeit or illegitimate items.   In the event that a buyer raises a reasonable concern after receiving Goods that they are not genuine or are the subject of an ownership claim by a third party, we reserve the right to provide your name, address and contact details to either or both of the buyer and the relevant police authorities so that the issue may be resolved.

4.7 Rum Auctioneer reserves the right to ban any seller from future use of the website and/or our services, where it is considered that the seller has attempted to sell non – authentic or stolen items.

Prohibited Bidding

4.8 Sellers are strictly forbidden to bid on their own Goods and/or have relatives or friends artificially increase the value of the Goods. This activity is prohibited and if discovered, this may result in us terminating your contract with immediate effect by serving you an email. Should we exercise our right to cancel our contract with you, we shall return your Goods to you at your cost (and the seller must ensure that they have insurance in place to cover any damage to, or loss of, Goods during transportation from our premises to the seller’s premises). Alternatively you may pick up the Goods from our premises. We also reserve the right to retain any monies paid to us for listing fees and charge you a further administration charge of £30 per lot.

When we hold your Goods in our Premises

4.9  Items which are provided to Rum Auctioneer are stored in facilities within our group. All Goods located in the EU and made available by sellers for auction are consolidated and then held in the Netherlands, at the premises of Whisky Auctioneer Limited’s Dutch subsidiary, Whisky Auctioneer Netherlands BV (“Whisky Auctioneer Netherlands”), registered with the trade register of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under number 89872169. Neither Whisky Auctioneer Limited nor Whisky Auctioneer Netherlands accepts any responsibility, to the maximum extent allowed by law, for the safe storage or preservation of any items whilst in its temporary custody for the purposes of auction or shipping. Sellers should have appropriate insurance in place for storage of items.

4.10 Where Goods are located in the Netherlands at the premises of Whisky Auctioneer Netherlands, Whisky Auctioneer Netherlands is responsible for the compliance with EU excise duty laws, rules and regulations (the “EU Excise Duty Requirements”) in relation to the auctions held by Whisky Auctioneer Limited. In order to facilitate such EU Excise Duty Compliance, you hereby – by agreeing to these terms and conditions – irrevocably and unconditionally authorise Whisky Auctioneer Limited to instruct and authorise Whisky Auctioneer Netherlands to, on your behalf, take all such actions (including to declare and pay all relevant excise duties which are payable in connection with the supply of Goods to private individuals located in the Netherlands) and do all such things required to comply with the EU Excise Duty Requirements.

Costs and Commission for Selling your Goods via Auction

4.11 Selling fees can be found here. We charge £6 per bottle entered into each auction. Reserves are optional and have an additional fee of £10 per lot. Please note that the Minimum Reserve Price is £200.00. Reserve price cannot exceed 80% of the previous most recent hammer price within 12 months, and New Release reserve prices will not exceed RRP within 12 months. All reserve prices are at the discretion of Rum Auctioneer. 

4.12 On completion of the auction, our commission is set at a percentage of the final purchase price.

4.13 VAT where applicable is charged to commission and surcharges

Payment to Sellers

4.14 We will not process a payment to you for Goods sold on your behalf until the buyer has paid us all sums due in relation to the purchase of the Goods, has received their Goods and has not exercised their rights to cancel the purchase under section 6.4 of these terms, after which we shall remit monies due to you as soon as reasonably practicable. In most cases, payment would be remitted to you within thirty (30) days of the buyer receiving the Goods.

4.16 We will collect the invoice in full on behalf of the seller in our name under a private mandate (privatieve lastgeving) and the payments will be processed via Barclays PLC. The seller will be excluded from its right to collect such invoices.

4.17 At the time of your Registration, we will ask you to confirm whether you are selling in the course of a business.  If you confirm that you are selling in the course of a business, or we come to believe that you are doing so, then different rules may apply as to VAT on the Goods you sell, and we reserve the right to request further information from you in this regard and also to apply different conditions to the proceeds of sale of your Goods in order to allow us to comply with the relevant rules we are subject to.

4.18 We may also block payments or add restrictions to your account for violations of our terms and conditions or for compliance reasons, including collecting tax reporting information.

5. Terms Relevant to Buyers

5.1 Once you have successfully registered with the Website, you will be eligible to place a bid. More information on the process can be found at https://www.rumauctioneer.com/getting-started-selling-rum

5.2 A full description of the Goods shall be given on the auction page on our Website. During an auction you can bid for a lot by clicking the ‘bid’ function. You acknowledge that you are bidding in a live auction and agree that, subject to section 6.4 of these terms, each bid submitted as provided in these terms and conditions are irrevocable and cannot be amended or corrected. Each bid shall be final and binding. You accept all liability for bids submitted via your account (including the liability to pay in full and on time in accordance with these terms and conditions).

5.3 The highest bid placed on any lot at the time the auction closes will be deemed as the winning bid. The buyer will receive a confirmatory email notification of any winning bid and you will accept all responsibility for bids placed via your account in accordance with these terms. The contract for your purchase of the Goods shall be deemed to be concluded once we send you the confirmatory email.

5.4 Rum Auctioneer reserves the right to reject any Registration, reject any bid placed, alter reserves and to withdraw permissions for users on our Website, at its discretion (acting reasonably).

Costs and Commission due when purchasing Goods via Auction

5.5 Our commission is 12.5% of the purchase price of the relevant Goods.

5.6 The successful bidder is obliged to pay to us the purchase price of the auctioned Goods under the conditions as set out in section 4.16 plus our commission as set out in section 5.5 of these terms in full, within three (3) days from the day following receipt of our confirmatory email. Once payment is received, title of the Goods will pass to the buyer. If payment is not received in full within this time, we reserve the right to (i) cancel the sale and re-auction the relevant Goods or return the Goods to the seller; and/or (ii) ban the buyer from using our Website or services in the future.

5.7 Payment to us can be made by Bank Transfer/BACS, Debit Card; or Credit Card.

5.8 VAT where applicable is charged to commission and surcharges. Please note VAT is not applicable to the price of the Goods themselves.

5.9 Monies that remain outstanding by the due date will incur late payment interest at the rate of 3% above the prevailing Bank of England’s base rate on the outstanding balance until such time as the balance is paid in full and final settlement.

Delivery to Buyer

5.10 Once payment for the Goods has been received in full, we shall deliver the Goods to you or you may collect the Goods according to the option selected by you. The buyer is able to collect their items from our office at West Building, Ruthvenfield Grove, Perth, PH1 3FN during our operating hours. 

If the preferred method of receiving the Goods is to collect them from our offices and the buyer fails to arrange for collection of the Goods within 14 days of us notifying the buyer that the Goods are ready to be collected, then, except where such a failure or delay is caused by a Force Majeure Event; 

  • delivery of the Goods shall be deemed to have  been completed at [9.00am] on the fifteenth (15th) day after the day on which we notified the Buyer that the Goods were ready to be collected;
  • the buyer shall be deemed to have nominated us as their agent to accept delivery of the Goods on behalf of the buyer, and any cooling off  period (including the right referred to in section 6.4 below) will be deemed to start on such date; and
  • we shall store the Goods until delivery or collection takes place and charge the Buyer for all related costs and expenses [including insurance] as set out above. Storage will be charged at a rate depending on the hammer price value of the Goods as set out in our “Storage Rates” section of the Website.

5.11 Our delivery charges are set out in the Shipping section of our website https://www.rumauctioneer.com/delivery. Delivery charges are inclusive of VAT. Please note that we are unable to ship or deliver to all locations. If you have any queries regarding shipping please contact us to confirm we can deliver to your location. Local taxation and customs charges may apply with Goods being shipped outside the UK.

5.12 The buyer acknowledges that due to the nature of the Goods, which due to age are sometimes fragile, there may be leakages or deterioration of the Goods during transit and we recommend that you pick up the Goods from our premises. Should you prefer us to deliver the Goods, we exclude all liability for such leakages, breakages or deterioration, which may arise while the Goods are being transported by us from our premises to your premises. In the event the buyer agrees to delivery by carrier, it is understood that risk in the Goods will transfer to the carrier on receipt by the carrier of the Goods from us, following which point we exclude all liability for any loss or damage to the Goods thereafter including during transit to the buyer’s premises. It is the buyer’s responsibility to have adequate insurance in place to cover the Goods during transit from our holding office to your desired location.

5.13 Terms Relevant to Sellers in Germany /  Contractual Partner: Agency Relationship

 By electing to use our services in Germany you agree that Rum Auctioneer and it’s subsidiaries  is an auctioneer and as such exclusively an agent . The sales and purchase contract is concluded solely between the seller and the highest bidder.

5.14 Terms relevant to buyers of casks

Title of ownership for sold lots shall be passed on to the buyer within 14 days of the receipt of funds PROVIDED THAT a Buyer meets, and can demonstrate they meet, HMRC requirements for owning duty-suspended goods.  In short: a UK resident revenue trader must have a valid Owners of Warehoused Goods Regulations Certificate (“WOWGR”).  A UK resident who is not a revenue trader does not require a WOWGR but must make arrangements with the warehousekeeper storing the cask.  Non-UK residents should appoint a UK Duty Representative to act for them.  Further details and guidance can be found via the below websites.

HMRC Excise Notice 196

HMRC Excise Notice 206

6. Cancellation Rights

A Seller’s right to cancel

6.1 Sellers have the right to cancel any lot provided for auction and receive a refund of all monies paid to us for listing or reservation fees, subject to notification being provided to Rum Auctioneer, within fourteen (14) days of the day after we send the seller a confirmatory email informing the seller we shall auction their Goods. Notwithstanding the foregoing, should the seller agree to the Goods being auctioned before the expiry of the fourteen (14) day cancellation period, the Seller acknowledges that he/she waives their right to cancel the contract without liability once the auction commences.

6.2 Should a seller wish to cancel any contract with us to auction Goods:

(a) following the expiry of the fourteen (14) day period referred to in section 6.1 yet before a bid has been placed, it is at our discretion as to whether to accept your wish to cancel the contract. Should we agree to cancel the contract, we reserve the right to charge a reasonable administration levy for the removal of the item;

(b) when an auction is underway and a bid has been placed on an item, it is at our discretion as to whether to accept your wish to cancel the contract. Should we agree to cancel the contract, we reserve the right to retain all listing fees paid to us plus a withdrawal fee of 15% of the current bid (minimum of £10).

6.3 In the event: (i) a Seller cancels a contract to auction Goods; or (ii) a buyer cancels their contract to purchase the Goods, the Seller may either pick-up the Goods from our premises or request us to deliver them back to the Seller. The Seller shall be responsible for all costs incurred by us in returning Goods to the Seller and it is the Seller’s responsibility to ensure adequate insurance is in place to cover any loss or damage to Goods while in transit from our premises to their own premises.

A Buyer’s right to Cancel

6.4 Buyers have the right to cancel their purchase within fourteen (14) days from the day after the buyer receives or collects the Goods.  If the buyer chooses to collects the Goods and does not do so within 14 days of us notifying the buyer that the Goods are available for collection, then the buyer shall be deemed to have nominated us as its agents to receive the Good and set out in section 5.10 above, and the 14 day period for cancellation shall begin from us holding the Goods on behalf of the buyer in this way.

6.5 We act as agent for the various sellers in the sale of their Goods to the buyers. However, all of the Goods which are listed for sale in the auctions on our Website have been examined by us in relation to their condition and authenticity. In the event that you receive the Goods and believe that they do not conform to the description at auction or have doubts as to their provenance or authenticity, then please advise us as soon as possible, and we will assist you in attempting to confirm the description, authenticity or provenance of the Goods. In the event that this is communicated to us within fourteen (14) days from you receiving the Goods (or being deemed to have received the Goods in accordance with section 5.10 above), then we shall give you the option to cancel your purchase of the Goods and receive a full refund. In the event that you communicate a reasonable concern to us after this period has ended, then we reserve the right to deal with your concern by either (i) at our discretion offering you a refund of the price paid for the Goods (including our commission) upon their safe return to us, or (ii) disclosing to you the identity and contact details of the seller to allow you to further pursue any issues you may have with regards to the Goods.  The terms of this section 6.5 do not affect the buyer’s statutory rights to cancel the contract for the purchase of the Goods which are covered by section 6.4.

6.6 If a buyer has received the Goods before he or she cancelled the contract then the buyer must send the Goods back to our contact address as stated above. You undertake to return the Goods to us at your own cost and risk and we cannot be held liable for any damage to the Goods incurred during transit. It is the buyer’s responsibility to ensure adequate insurance is in place to cover any loss or damage to Goods while in transit from their own premises to our own premises. 

6.7 Where you are due to receive a refund, once we have received the Goods and are satisfied the Goods have not been damaged by you or during the time you had possession of the Goods, the price of the Goods any any associated standard delivery charges will be re-credited to your nominated account as soon as possible and no later than fourteen (14) days from the day we received the Goods back from you. If the Goods have been damaged, we reserve the right to retain some or all of monies paid to us.

7. Cancellation Contact Details

If you wish to cancel a purchase of Goods in accorance with section 6.4 or section 6.5, please contact us at info@rumauctioneer.com as soon as possible. Cancellations can be made via our Cancellation Form and sent via post to;  West Building, Ruthvenfield Grove, Inveralmond Industrial Estate, Perth, PH1 3FN or email info@rumauctioneer.com. We will send you a confirmation email confirming we have received and, if appropriate,  executed your request.

8. Our Rights to Cancel or Terminate the contract

8.1 We reserve the right to terminate a contract to sell and/or purchase Goods via our Website in the event of  a material breach of these terms, ourTerms of Use, our Privacy Policy and/or our Cookie policy. For the avoidance of doubt, a material breach of these terms shall include (i) failure to deliver the Goods to us in time for the auction, (ii) a buyer failing making payment of sums due to us (either for all or part of a lot), and (iii) a buyer or seller becoming subject to administration,liquidation or any form of bankruptcy proceedings.

8.2 Where we terminate a contract with a seller or a buyer, we reserve the right to ban such parties from using our Website or our services again.

9. Liability

9.1 Rum Auctioneer does not attempt to exclude its liability for death or personal injury suffered by you and which is caused by our negligence; or fraud.

9.2 Where you are a consumer and we have failed to comply with our obligations under these terms, we will be responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breach, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, we both knew it may happen.

9.3 Subject to sections 9.1 and 9.2:

(a) Rum Auctioneer shall not be liable for indirect and consequential loss arising under or in relation to these terms;

(b) Except as otherwise stated in these terms, we exclude any warranties of any kind, implied or express, under or in relation to these terms in so far as we are able to do so under applicable law; and

(c) Rum Auctioneer limits our entire and aggregate liability to you under or in relation to these terms to the fees paid by you to us at the date of the event giving rise to the claim.

(d) Items purchased from Rum Auctioneer are sealed were possible, the contents of these containers are incidental and bought at the buyers risk.  Rum Auctioneer maintains no responsibility for the condition of the liquid as many items are aged and of an 'antique' nature.

10. Safeguarding the Integrity of Our Auctions

Although an online auction is not treated in the same way as a public auction where all of the bidders and the goods being bid on are present, we aim to maintain the integrity of our auctions so that they are as close to a public auction experience as possible.  We reserve the right to take the following actions in pursuit of that aim:

As regards buyers

We reserve the right to cancel the Registration of any person and prohibit such person from buying Goods through our Website for any reason, but some of the possible reasons are:

  • if a person seeks to withdraw from the purchase of Goods where that person has been the highest bidder at the close of the auction;
  • if we believe that person is acting as a proxy or nominee for an undisclosed third party

As regards sellers

  • We reserve the right to refuse to allow any person to offer Goods through our Website for any reason, but including if we believe that person is selling such Goods in the course of a business and not disclosing this to us;
  • Where there are potentially serious issues arising from the provenance or authenticity of any Goods, or we believe (acting reasonably) that such Goods may be stolen property, we reserve the right to retain the Goods until we have confirmation from either the authorities (including the police or HM Revenue and Customs) or any party claiming ownership that we are free to return them to you.

11. Force Majeure

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.

12. Waiver

Our failure to enforce any of the provisions set out herein, or failure to exercise any option to terminate, shall not be construed as waiver of any such provision and shall not affect the validity of these terms and conditions or of any part thereof, or the right thereafter to enforce each and every provision.

13. Severance

In the event that any of these terms and conditions are deemed invalid or unenforceable for any reason then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be severed from these terms and the remaining terms shall continue to apply.

14. Notification of Changes

14.1 Rum Auctioneer reserves the right to change these terms with immediate effect from time to time as it sees fit and your continued use of the Website will signify your acceptance of any adjustment to these terms. If there are any changes to our policies, we will announce that these changes have been made on our home page and on other key pages on our Website. If there are any changes in how we use our Website customers’ personally identifiable information, notification by email or postal mail will be made to those affected by this change.

14.2 Notwithstanding the above, your statutory consumer rights are unaffected by this section.

15. Governing Law

The Laws of Scotland shall govern these terms. By accessing our Website, using or purchasing our services you shall be deemed to have accepted said terms and conditions and in so doing you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Scotland.