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This page defines terms and conditions that apply to the Virtual Auction System as well as how to use specific features of the system. You can use this page as a menu to browse the different topics.
Note that any terms and conditions applied as well as general conditions described in our disclaimer page.
While we urge you to read these conditions carefully, and act accordingly, we aim always to behave in a fair and reasonable way. If you have a problem, please tell us about it by contacting us.
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Viewing is only possible if stated in the description. |
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VEMIA are acting simply as auctioneers and the agents of the various sellers. We aim to make the catalogue completely accurate, and the lot descriptions exact and correct, but:
- Any description or attribution made by any VEMIA staff is to be taken as opinion, not fact.
- " For distance auction lots, the statements or other evidence put forward by sellers are their responsibility. VEMIA believe them to be true, but have not verified them.
- " VEMIA will act as stakeholders of the buyer's money until the goods are delivered satisfactorily.
- " VEMIA will act as intermediary in organising transport / shipping. Unless specifically agreed to the contrary:
- The buyer pays for the cost of transport and any taxes or duty payable, and for insurance in transit.
- The seller will be responsible for packing the goods to the satisfaction of the carriers and insurers. The only exception to this is with an item that needs special crating or is otherwise difficult to pack by normal methods.
- For items at VEMIA, we will be responsible for packing satisfactorily, and if there is a charge for this it will be shown in the item description. The only exception to this is with an item that needs special crating or is otherwise difficult to pack by normal methods.
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VEMIA are acting as agents for sellers in good faith, on the understanding that the sellers have legal title to the goods offered for sale, but VEMIA have not verified the fact.
Legal title will pass to the buyer on cleared payment of the bid price plus premium plus packing, shipping and insurance charges. |
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VEMIA will insure items delivered to us (from the time when they are collected by us ordelivered to us in the agreed manner and signed for, until the lot is sold) against loss or damage from accident, fire, flood or theft.
The insured value of the item will, prior to sale, be the agreed start price minus 10% commission. |
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We will, at our sole discretion, choose to produce illustrations in sound and/or vision of any items included in the auction, published electronically or on paper.
Sellers give VEMIA and its agents the right to use these sound and/or vision illustrations in any way they see fit, whether or not connected with this auction.
Illustrations remain the copyright of VEMIA |
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" Payment by buyers will be accepted by bank transfer, Visa or Mastercard, UK debit card, or (the worst option) cleared cheque ( in £ Sterling, drawn on a UK bank), but no goods will be available for removal until all payment is cleared. Inter-currency bank transfer of a small-to-medium amount is not accepted because of the proportionately high charges involved.
Paypal will only be accepted for small amounts from overseas customers, with a 3% surcharge to cover some of the 4% to 4.6% paypal charges us.
Prompt payment is essential. In the event of non-payment within a reasonable time, VEMIA reserves the right to offer the item to the next bidder, and hold the original bidder responsible for any loss.
Payment to sellers will be made in £ Sterling to UK sellers, Euros to Euro-region sellers, and in your own currency to international sellers. Payment will be made as soon as possible after items have been satisfactorily delivered or collected. If currency exchange is required we will use www.transferwise.com or equivalent organisation which ensures you reseive the money at inter-bank exchange rate with a deduction of roughly only 1% or less and receive the money in your own currency.
All payments must be in pounds Sterling (GBP). Bank details:- Lloyds Bank, High Street, Exeter
- " sort code: 30 80 37
- account VEMIA
- account number 29193262
- BIC / SWIFT LOYDGB21724
- IBAN GB94 LOYD 3080 3729 1932 62
All payments from the Euro zone can be in Euros to our French bank. Please wait for our manual invoice which will show the exact amount in euros on the day we send the invoice) with no currency exchange cost.French bank details:- Credit Agricole, Normandie, 14050 CAEN cedex
- Account: M ou Mme FORREST PETER
- BIC / SWIFT: AGRIFRPP866
- IBAN: FR76 1660 6251 1200 1593 8291 768
We can receive your card details (long card number, expiry date, and three digit security number and quoting your name and if possible invoice number) by - phone on +44 1363 530254 (01363 530254 in the UK) during British office hours, please - 09.00 - 17.30 UK time.
- text message (SMS) on +44 7977 262013 at any time.
- post (in advance, please, to avoid delay) at VEMIA, Star House, Sandford, Crediton, Devon EX17 4LR, UK.
- " If you wish to update an expiry date and security number on a card you have already used, you can email pforrest@vemia.co.uk, just quoting the last four digits of the long number.
Payment needs to be organised within five days; but it is important that, if you haven't already done so, you respond immediately to the initial automated invoice, telling us how you will proceed with payment. |
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Please remember that there is 10% buyer's premium to pay. If you buy a lot for £50, you will pay £55 excluding any packing shipping or insurance. |
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In most cases, it is necessary to make one payment for the lots themselves, and then a second payment for shipping - because shipping costs can only be worked out when the destination is known, the item is fully packed, and the possibility of making one consignment to save money, and the most economic safe shipping method have all been explored. It is often best for a credit card to be used for the shipping payment.
The only exception to this is sometimes where payment is to be made by international bank transfer, especially from outside the EC. In these cases we will attempt to work out an inclusive price, so that the expense of bank transfer only occurs once. |
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Sellers, please don't forget that in entering items into the VEMIA auction, unless it is specifically stated otherwise in the lot description, or is clear from the nature of the item such as a large organ, you are accepting the responsibility (and the cost) of packing them satisfactorily if they need to be sent to buyers.
Packing must be up to a high enough standard to satisfy the shipping companies' insurance requirements. Insurance will simply not cover an item that has been inadequately packed, or whose packaging has failed, and it will be deemed to be the sender's fault.
There aren't any specific rules that all companies follow. The only international standards available apparently have stupidly high protection requirements.
After years of organising the shipping of thousands of items worldwide, from stomp boxes to Hammonds and Mellotrons, we can at least offer advice. We believe that the vast majority of cases of damage to shipments are actually caused by inadequate packing - often enough, packing that has one weak point. And a package is only as strong as its weakest part.
That doesn't mean that packages aren't often treated more roughly than they ought to be - or that compensation is never payable. But even in a case where an insurance claim is paid, it's usually a complicated hassle claiming it. Plus, of course, one more old piece of kit has been spoilt, and will never be quite the same again.
The only good answer is to do everything reasonable to lessen the chance of damage in the first place. That briefly means five things:
- Making sure that internal parts, and mains leads, accessories, etc., are totally secure, and not going to come loose, to damage themselves or things around them.
- Isolating the item from external shock, with at least 25 mm and for medium-to-large and/or heavy items 50 mm of impact-absorbent material around every part, with no room for movement, and no reason for the material to fail - eg no unprotected sharp edges on the equipment itself. Rack ears, heat-sinks etc have to be especially dealt with so that they don't cut into the protective layer.
- Protecting this impact-absorbent material with a hard outer shell - usually of good quality cardboard of the right thickness - again with no room for movement.
- Labelling the finished package carefully and clearly, with Fragile and This Side On Top notices, and clear address information - the more a parcel gets taken around to wrong addresses or warehouses, the more chance of damage.
- Labelling with clear, accurate address information - the more a parcel gets taken around to wrong addresses or warehouses, the more chance of damage.
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Internal parts
As well as early valve equipment, kit synthesisers, etc., are prone to internal damage, either through inadequate construction techniques, or simply because the design wasn't really roadworthy. The same precautions need to be taken, checking that all things including transformers are well secured, and if necessary carefully using soft padding to fill any voids thoroughly (with a note to the buyer telling them to check inside before switching on).
External parts
We've often been sad to find damage caused completely un-necessarily by mains leads or even heavy manuals or patch leads banging around loose in the packaging of an instrument, when two minutes' work could have avoided the problem.
Mains leads
Plugs are sharp - and old ones can also be fragile! They must first be covered with tough material, before being secured in a padded bag. The lead must then be positioned where it can't do damage to the instrument. Placing it on top of a flat keyboard isn't necessarily a good idea - a heavy package then placed on top could put a lot of pressure on the keyboard. If the lead is attached to the instrument, even more care is necessary to protect it and keep it stowed safely.
Manuals
Usually better at the bottom of the package, because they can lie flat, and paper is quite heavy stuff.
Other small items
Something small like a breath controller can be difficult to find within packaging, so it's important that the recipient knows how many items to be looking for, and that the packages are clearly visible.
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There are a lot of possible materials that can be used to isolate the instrument from the rough treatment it's bound to get. Polystyrene beans, corrugated cardboard, polystyrene sheets, bubble-wrap - different people swear by different materials. But whatever is used, there are some firm rules which need to be followed.
First, think carefully whether there are any parts that need special protection.
Anything that sticks out from the whole instrument will need careful extra padding. Typical examples: joy-sticks or similar controllers; heat-sinks; projecting keys, and so on. The extra protection must be anchored around the part, not on it - otherwise the stress will still fall on it, instead of the load being spread around. A joy-stick, for example, can possibly be kept safe by having the cardboard middle of a 2" sticky tape reel secured round it.
Don't be tempted ever to tape directly to the instrument. It might come off fine if you test it immediately, but in four or five days' time, the tape can sometimes be difficult to remove.
The instrument must be protected from any little bits of foam or whatever getting under the keys, in the ventilation holes, etc· Bubble wrap, well sealed, will do that itself, but otherwise, it's important to seal the instrument with tough wrap.
Some equipment - particularly rack gear - has very sharp edges. This can wreak havoc with bubble-wrap, and make it basically useless. Once the bubbles have been broken, the stuff might as well not be there - and pressure from a sharp rack ear, or even a ninety-degree metal edge, can do that in a second.
With rack gear, at the very least cover all sharp or protruding edges with heavy duty cardboard or polystyrene. Better, use sheet polystyrene (cut to size after the first covering of the instrument) secured to the sides, so that the ears no longer stick out - and the right-angled edges are protected, as well.
For a keyboard, sheet polystyrene cut to size and taped to the (covered) sides of the instrument can help protect the keyboard, or control surfaces.
After these crucial preliminaries, the bulk of the shock-absorbing material needs adding. If it's bubble-wrap, then that's pretty straightforward - simply winding it round, quite tightly, until the right amount of coverage is reached.
With other materials, though, some will have to be put in the box before the wrapped and padded instrument is lowered in, and more material added around it. Don't skimp on the amount of material underneath - it's often the most crucial shock protection.
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Sometimes items are sold with their own flightcase - but beware. Some 'flightcases' which are part of instruments aren't anything of the sort, and offer no internal protection or shock-absorption worth speaking about. They're just solid boxes with lids, and will need proper packing outside this case. Other flightcases were once OK, but maybe the foam has deteriorated (it does seem to have a life of only a decade or so before it slowly starts turning to dust) - or maybe the flightcase wasn't actually designed correctly.
An ill-fitting or partly unpadded flightcase is far worse than no flightcase at all. If necessary, the foam may have to be replaced.
With any case or box, there's always going to be an optimum size. If the container is less than 50 mm bigger than the instrument in each of the three dimensions, it's too small, and shouldn't be used. If it's more than 125 mm or so bigger in any direction, it's too big.
With a cardboard carton that's too small, the answer is simple: get a sharp knife, and carefully cut it to the right size, by opening it right out, and re-folding if necessary at different points. Scoring the card along a straight edge on the outside of the bend makes it easier - but then make sure the outside of this scored line is securely taped.
If it's a flightcase, then the extra padding will have to be strong - such as heavy-duty foam - and completely and reliably fill the space, otherwise you're asking for trouble. Even so, because flightcases are hard and don't absorb shock, we do not advise sending them via couriers unless there is no other option. A case can fall off a conveyor belt or be dropped, still look undamaged, but transmit severe shock to the contents.
Where to find cardboard boxes? For medium-sized items, local supermarkets or other stores may be a possible source. For large things like keyboards, the best bet is a bike shop. The most important thing is that the thickness and solidity of the box should be proportional to the weight and fragility of the contents.
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Although there's a good chance any labelling will be ignored, it doesn't do any harm to try, clearly but politely, to help the carrier treat your package with the care it deserves. We've found that several separate Fragile labels are better than metres and metres of Fragile tape; and that This Side On Top labelled on the top of the package, with arrows pointing upwards on the sides of the carton, is less likely to be confused than This Way Up
And although you'll usually have to fill in or print a label for the carriers with address information on it, it is important to have a separate label with the recipient's address large, and the sender's address small. Contact phone numbers are required, too.
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Don't pack several things together without taking extra care.
Don't make packages top-heavy. Plan ahead, and make sure the heavier part is at the bottom.
Don't be tempted to try using ordinary sellotape to secure a heavy parcel. It's expensive and ineffective. Use 2-inch tape, which is stronger and much cheaper.
Size matters: for international shipments, and occasionally for inland packages, companies will charge more for a lightweight, large package. Many carriers work out this 'volumetric weight' by multiplying length by width by depth and dividing by 6000 to give the equivalent amount of kg.
Be warned that in the majority of cases with audio equipment, if something is packed well and isn't exceptionally dense, the volumetric weight will be more than the actual weight, and so the shipping will be more expensive. For international shipping, it's therefore crucial not to waste space - 50 mm padding around every surface is sufficient!
An un-necessarily big package is anyway more likely to be dropped, and is also going to weigh more than it need, so the simple lesson is: make the package only as big as it needs to be - a total of 100 mm bigger in each dimension.
The worst case scenario is a keyboard wedged into a huge cubic cardboard box at an angle. The two edges jammed against the sides aren't protected, so the whole keyboard is at risk; the package is unbalanced, and far more likely to be dropped; and the wasted space has to be filled and probably has to be paid for, as well. A typical shipping price difference between this and a well-packed Prophet 5 coming from the USA could be as high as £100 - plus the repair costs when the thing gets dropped and broken.
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Buying bubble wrap and two-inch tape from your local supplier can be very expensive. If you're likely to use larger quantities up eventually, it is probably worth ordering materials from an online supplier.
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If something is very problematic to pack, it's possible to pay commercial packers to do it. Normally, the seller will be responsible for choosing to do this and will bear the cost. Please be aware that we have had some bad experiences with items sent to us which had been packed completely inadequately by some very big packing firms.
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As you'll see, many of the items for sale aren't at our premises - or even in the UK. No problem!
All sellers are known to us from past auction dealings or from personal contact or reference.
If an item is in another country, we have several years experience of organising or helping to organise fully insured shipping at reasonable rates to and from the UK and throughout the world. Plus, most European items in this auction will be shipped very economically to VEMIA for distribution unless they're sold to a buyer who is closer to the seller than we are.
The money you pay is held securely, and remains your property until the items have arrived at your address satisfactorily. |
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Each time you try to make a bid, our system is checking that at least the correct bid step is added to the current bid. That also applies to the first bid on any item.
The bid step is defined according to the following table:
· - From £15.00 to £29.00: bids go in minimum £2.00 step
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- From £30.00 to £99.00: bids go in minimum £5.00 step
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- From £100.00 to £299.00: bids go in minimum £10.00 step
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- From £300.00 to £2999.00: bids go in minimum £20.00 step
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- From £3000.00 up: bids go in minimum £50.00 step
Bid steps are automatically checked by our system on each bid by comparing the new bid with the current one. Bid steps are also use to automatically increase any proxy bid by one bid step when needed until the proxy bid is reached. |
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All bids entered by buyers are proxy bids by default. The proxy bid is the maximum amount the buyer is willing to pay for an item.
The initial proxy bid must be higher than the current high bid plus one bid step. If you are the first bidder, your proxy must be at least the starting bid plus one bid step.
The Virtual Auction System will do the rest for you, increasing your public bid by one bid step each time someone beats your current public bid. Once you have reached the amount of your proxy, you'll be notified via e-mail if you're outbid.
You may increase your proxy at any time by clicking on the 'Bid' button from the auction detail page. When you place another proxy bid, the system will automatically adjust your current public bid accordingly if needed and remove the old one. |
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Sellers should upload up to 6 photos. These photos should be of the actual equipment and not a picture from any manufacturer's folder or catalogue.
The purpose of the upload images feature is to give a clear idea of the state of the gear and the images must therefore reflect it's real appearance and condition.
Note that our general terms and conditions applied on pictures uploaded on our servers. |
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The VEMIA lots will start to close on the final Saturday of the auction, at 14.00 UK time.
Lots are programmed to close in lot number order, every 20 seconds - with one main exception. If a bid is received in the last 20 seconds, the auction software continues to keep the lot open for a further amount of time.
This means that it is impossible to know precisely when any of the later lots will finish.
It's worth repeating that the only good way of being sure you don't miss out on an item you desperately want is to enter a proxy bid of your absolute top amount. The chances are that it won't be needed (we've had several cases of people leaving £1000 proxy bids and winning the item for a few hundred pounds - and in one case exactly £110.) And of course if someone goes higher, then you've done your best, and it would have been foolish to bid higher anyway. But it's the one sure way to avoid disasters such as a computer crash, the phone ringing at the wrong time, and all the other unlikely events that happen far too often. (And you can still enjoy the adrenaline of watching the bidding unfold before your eyes, by regularly refreshing your screen, without having to panic each time someone beats your previous bid.).
Unsold items may, if owners wish, be entered into a Second Chance Sunday auction at 10% lower start price (or greater reduction at the seller's discretion). The pattern of closure is the same, starting at 14.00 UK time.
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