For guarantee of authenticity, see section 4 below.

Note:

-       Platinum Philately shall be hereafter called “the auctioneer”

-       The entire software engine of www.platinumphilately.com shall be hereafter called “the auction software”

1.   Registration and Bidding

1.1)        Completing and submitting the registration form on this website implies agreement in full with the Terms of Sale described below.

1.2)        The auctioneer reserves the right to request philatelic or commercial references from all new users and to suspend their bidding privileges until the references are received and accepted by the auctioneer.

1.3)        The auctioneer reserves the right to suspend or ban user accounts at its own discretion and does not assume any obligation of providing additional explanations to the suspended/banned user. However, such radical measures will generally be enforced only upon users against whom there is serious evidence of inappropriate activity on this website (i.e. bid rigging attempts, fake bids, etc.).

1.4)        Bids will be accepted ONLY through the software interface on www.platinumphilately.com.

1.5)        Bids for the lots offered in the auction will be accepted by the auction software until the ending date and time of the auction, mentioned on the homepage (i.e. first page of the website).

1.6)        All bids must be submitted considering the fixed increments corresponding to the intervals in which the current price falls, which are as follows:

1.7)        Bids falling outside the increments mentioned at paragraph 1.6) shall be automatically adjusted by the auction software to the next lowest bid, before being submitted.

1.8)        The starting price shall not be incremented and will be accepted as a valid bid in case of lots without any previous bids placed on them.

1.9)        The auction software will automatically reject any bid which is lower than the current price shown at the moment the bid is placed.

1.10)     The bids submitted by users constitute maximum bids. However, the auction software is programmed to function in the interest of the bidder and the algorithm behind it will try to purchase the lot at the lowest possible price, being either the starting price or an increment over the next highest bid, in case other bids have been received previously for the lot in question.

1.11)     In case of equal bids submitted by two or more bidders, the auction software will consider only the bid received first, in computing the current price of the lot, but will record and store all of them (in case the first bid gets cancelled afterwards).

2.     Adjudication of lots

2.1)        The user who holds the highest bid on a lot at the moment the auction ends shall be the buyer of that respective lot.

2.2)        The purchase price of a lot will be the price shown in the Current Price section (column) at the moment the auction ends.

2.3)        A buyer’s premium of 5% of the purchase price of each lot will be added to the buyer’s invoice.

2.4)        Shipping costs will be added to the buyer’s invoice (for details about shipping, please see section 3 below).

3.     Payment and Shipping

3.1)        After the auction ends, all bidders will be informed by e-mail about the outcome of their submitted bids.

3.2)        Successful bidders will receive an invoice together with all the necessary payment instructions by both e-mail and regular mail.

3.3)        Payment is due immediately after receipt of the invoice unless otherwise agreed with the auctioneer beforehand.

3.4)        Payment is accepted by the following methods ONLY:

-       Bank wire transfer in Euros (€) or other major currency at the international exchange rate on the day of the payment; there are no extra costs when using this method

-       Credit or debit card via our merchant account and secure web interface, at an extra cost of 3% of the total amount paid in order to cover for the commissions and fees associated with this type of payment

-       PayPal at an extra cost of 5% of the total amount paid and acceptable only for invoices with a grand total of €500 or less

3.5)        The lots shall remain with the auctioneer until full payment for them has been received.

3.6)        In case payment for an outstanding invoice is not received within 14 days from the date the invoice has been received by the buyer, the auctioneer reserves the right to cancel the transaction, re-offer the lots in another auction or sell them by any other means and suspend/ban the user’s account.

3.7)        Lots will be shipped by either registered airmail with return receipt or FedEx, at the following reduced flat rates:

-       €5 for registered airmail with return receipt sent to any destination in the world and regardless of size or weight

-       €40 for FedEx envelopes sent to Europe and not exceeding 500g in weight and the size of a standard FedEx envelope

-       €70 for FedEx envelopes sent outside of Europe and not exceeding 500g in weight and the size of a standard FedEx envelope

3.8)        Shipping by FedEx is mandatory for invoices over €1,000 in value. However, if the buyer refuses to comply with this condition and specifically requests in writing to have the lots shipped by mail, the shipment will be effected exclusively at buyer’s risk and will not be covered by the auctioneer’s insurance, whatosever.

3.9)        Shipping by registered mail as described above is free of charge for invoices over €500 in value and FedEx shipping is free of charge for invoices over €2,500 in value. Depending on the value of the lots purchased and the auctioneer’s schedule, personal delivery in Europe might be possible in some instances if the buyer so desires or agrees.

3.10)     All shipments are privately insured and in the unfortunate event that a letter would get lost, stolen or irrecoverably damaged in transit, the buyer will receive a full refund of the entire amount he has paid to Platinum Philately, as follows:

-       Between 45 and 60 calendar days after the posting date in case of lots sent by mail

-       Between 10 and 15 working days in case of lots sent by FedEx

3.11)     Buyers requesting special shipping conditions must inform the auctioneer in a maximum of 72 hours after receipt of the invoice; otherwise, their shipping instructions might not be followed, the standard shipping procedure described above being used instead, and the auctioneer cannot and shall not be held liable for this.

3.12)     All buyers requesting shipping by FedEx or whose invoice totals qualify them for free FedEx shipping must provide a valid street address (and not a P.O. Box address, as FedEx does not deliver to mailboxes); failure of doing so will cause delays in shipment until the situation gets cleared.

4.     Authenticity and Returns

4.1)        All lots sold by Platinum Philately have an unlimited guarantee of authenticity and a full refund will be issued to the buyer for any lot returned on the basis of authenticity and description issues, under the conditions described below.

4.2)        All lots are described to the best of the auctioneer’s knowledge, in good faith and as accurately as possible, and the picture(s) constitute(s) an integral part of the description.

4.3)        All of the generally accepted major flaws which are not always visible in the pictures, regardless of the resolution (e.g. thins, etc.) will be mentioned in the description if they exist. In case any such major flaw has been omitted in the description but is found on the item(s) forming a lot, the buyer can return the respective lot within 10 calendar days from the date it was received, for a full refund.

4.4)        Flaws which are clearly visible in the pictures, like missing perforations, tears, creases (especially on the back of stamps), obvious soiling/toning, short margins on one or more sides, reinforced perforations on multiples, etc. might not always be mentioned in the description and they alone do not constitute an acceptable reason for a refund in case of a return.

4.5)        Some "flaws" which are not uniformly accepted as being so because of their natural or inherent nature in most cases, like paper adhesion on the back of a stamp, off-sets, natural gum skips or wrinkles, heavy hingeing, etc. might not always be described and they alone do not constitute an acceptable reason for a refund in case of a return.

4.6)        Repaired stamps will be described as such in all of the instances where the repair(s) is/(are) detectable and further details might not necessarily be provided. Items described as repaired are not returnable on the basis of condition reasons.

4.7)        Returns on the basis of condition issues are generally accepted for lots which are found to be other than described, considering the above paragraphs of section 4.

4.8)        Buyers who want to have one or more of their purchased lots expertised must inform the auctioneer prior to submitting the items for expertisation and the chosen expert or committee must be agreed by the auctioneer beforehand. Failure of doing so on behalf of the buyer gives the auctioneer the right of rejecting the claim, regardless of the expert opinion obtained.

4.9)        The only acceptable proof for a refund in case of a return on reasons of authenticity and everything associated with this notion will be a negative certificate or letter signed by an expert or committee agreed with the auctioneer beforehand, as described at paragraph 4.8).

4.10)     All lots accompanied by certificates of authenticity at the time of sale are non-returnable whatsoever.

4.11)     The auctioneer guarantees to refund the buyer, in a maximum of 15 working days from the date the return has been signed-for, the full amount received from him at the time of the purchase and through the same payment method used initially by the buyer. The refund includes – but is not limited to – the adjudication price of the lot(s), the buyer’s premium, the initially shipping costs to the buyer and, additionally, all of the costs incurred by the buyer during the expertisation process, in case a negative certificate obtained for a lot constitutes the reason for the return.

4.12)     All lots returned for a refund must be sent back to the auctioneer by signed-for mail or courier, to the address indicated by it. However, the auctioneer will not be held liable in any way for returned lots which get lost or stolen in transit and insurance for them is the exclusive responsibility of the buyer.

5.     General Conditions of Sale

5.1)        The auctioneer has the right to withdraw one or more lots before or during the auction at its discretion, and also to cancel or re-schedule an entire auction altogether without any further explanations.

5.2)        All sales are final and no returns are accepted for any reasons other than those described in section 4.

5.3)        Some lots may have reserve prices which can be either public, case in which they will be shown below the estimate, or private, case in which the letter (R) will be shown below the estimate, without indicating the actual value of the reserve. If a lot does not show any of the aforementioned indications, it does not have a reserve on it.

5.4)        Once a bid has been accepted for a lot with a reserve price on it and the bid is higher than or equal to the reserve price, the current price of the lot becomes the reserve, until other bids are accepted for that respective lot.

5.5)        Estimates do not influence the bidding process after the auction has started. However, the starting prices (i.e. the current prices at the time the auction starts) are calculated as a percentage of the estimates (this percentage might differ for each auction).

5.6)        The auctioneer shall not be held responsible in any way for interferences and/or delays in the bidding process and/or website content caused by technical issues independent of its will and beyond its control, like power shortages, hacker attacks, etc.