Medical Auctions (BMA) Ltd - updated terms and conditions 01/01/2025

BUYER’S TERMS AND CONDITIONS AT AUCTION

Medical Auctions (BMA) Ltd (British Medical Auctions) is a company registered in England and Wales under number 09914912 whose registered office is at Unit 1a, Sterling Centre, Eastern Road, Bracknell, RG12 2PW. Vat Reg No: 232 4255 37

These Terms (Terms) govern the basis of the auction of Lots by British Medical Auctions and the purchase by a Buyer of a Lot or Lots and form a legal agreement between the Buyer and British Medical Auctions.

As a Buyer, by bidding you acknowledge that you have read these Terms and are bound by them. Your attention is drawn to clauses 2.2, 4.2 to 4.7, and 7.3 and 7.4.

For more information, please contact us on +44 (0) 1252 299 024 or via email at enquiries@britishmedicalauctions.co.uk .

1 DEFINITIONS & INTERPRETATION

1.1 In these Terms, the following words and phrases shall, except where the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings:

Auction means any of the auctions for the sale of Lots conducted by British Medical Auctions.

Auctioneer means the person conducting an Auction from time to time.

Buyer means any person who participates in any Auction as a bidder and potential buyer.

Catalogue means the Online Catalogue, or any other brochure, catalogue, advertisement, sales descriptor, report or any other document, whether in physical or electronic format.

Hammer Price means the last bid offered for a Lot and accepted by the Auctioneer or Auction system as the winning bid.

Lot means any item or collection of items put up for sale in an Auction as a single auction lot.

Online Catalogue means British Medical Auctions’ online catalogue to be found at auctions.britishmedicalauctions.co.uk.

Seller means the seller of the Lot.

Working Days means any Monday to Friday except any day that is a statutory bank holiday in England.

1.2 Words importing the singular shall include the plural and vice versa, words importing a gender shall include all genders and words importing persons shall include bodies’ corporate, unincorporated associations and partnerships.

1.3 Any reference in these Terms to any provision of a statute shall be construed as a reference to that provision as amended, re-enacted or extended at the relevant time and to all subordinate legislation and regulations enacted pursuant to that statute as in force from time to time.

1.4 The headings in these Terms are for convenience only and shall not affect their interpretation.

2 BASIS OF SALE

2.1 British Medical Auctions acts as agent only for the Sellers and at no time does title pass to British Medical Auctions.

2.2 The Buyer acknowledges that a sale by auction IS NOT a consumer sale for the purposes of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended by the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994 and as replaced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015) and the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the Buyer shall not seek to rely upon any conditions or warranties implied thereby or by any other legislation.

3 ACCOUNT CREATION, REGISTRATION AND DEPOSITS

3.1 Each Buyer must create an account with British Medical Auctions in order to register and participate in any auction. 

3.2 As part of the account creation, British Medical Auctions may request additional information and/or documentation in order to validate the account named individual and/or their company or organisation, if the account is created in the name of a company or organisation. Additional documentation request by British Medical Auctions may include, but not limited to: 

3.2.1 Documentation for individual: 

• Photo ID – Passport, driver’s licence or other government issued document

• Government issued document that provides the date of birth, NI or Tax number 

• Original recent utility bill or government issued document which includes an address matching that provided on the account creation. 

3.2.2 Documentation for a company or organisation: 

• Company incorporation / registration certificate or for an organisation evidence of its registration or constitution to validate it is a properly constituted and existing organisation

• Original recent utility bill or government issued document which includes an address matching that provided on the account creation 

3.3 Each Buyer must register with British Medical Auctions before each Auction in which it wishes to participate.

3.4 The Buyer will, on registration for each Auction, pay to British Medical Auctions a deposit of £250 and provide to British Medical Auctions details of a credit or debit card as security for payment of any sums due, for the first three auctions the Buyer successfully wins in an auction.

3.5 British Medical Auctions may at its discretion contact the Buyer to collect a partial invoice payment during the Auction.

3.6 If the Buyer:-

3.6.1 is registering to participate in an Auction for the first time; or

3.6.2 is unknown to British Medical Auctions; or

3.6.3 has previously been slow in paying invoices due to British Medical Auctions;

then British Medical Auctions may set a limit on such Buyer as to the value of purchases that the Buyer can make which British Medical Auctions shall notify to such Buyer at any time before the Auction.  

3.7 British Medical Auctions will refund the deposit to the Buyer to the same debit card from which the deposit was taken, within 5 working days:-

3.7.1 if and to the extent the Buyer has paid any invoice for Lot(s) bought by it by any alternative means approved by British Medical Auctions; or 

3.7.2 if the Buyer is unsuccessful in buying Lots.

3.8 A Buyer may not register to participate in any Auction if any invoices payable by it remain outstanding unless the outstanding invoice(s) are paid in full prior to the commencement of the Auction and their account status will be amended accordingly. 

4 IDENTIFICATION OF LOTS

4.1 Each Lot can be identified with a Lot number in the Online Catalogue to be found at auctions.britishmedicalauctions.co.uk.

4.2 All Lots are sold “as is, where is” where “as is” means each Lot is sold and purchased in its actual state and condition as at the point of sale, including with any faults and defects affecting the Lot.  Lots are available for inspection prior to the Auction during the allocated office hours as indicated in the Online Catalogue.  The Buyer or its agents are deemed to have satisfied themselves as to the state and condition of each Lot in respect of which they put in a bid and accept the state and condition of the Lot.

4.3 Whilst British Medical Auctions makes every effort to ensure that the quantities, descriptions, weights, measurements, dimensions, serial and machine numbers, year and model set out in relation to each Lot in any online catalogue are accurate, British Medical Auctions, the Seller and their agent(s) are not responsible or liable for any discrepancies, inaccuracies or failure of the Lots to correspond with any written or verbal representation of such information made by or on behalf of either British Medical Auctions or the Seller.

4.4 No Lot shall be sold or deemed sold by description and the Buyer shall not be entitled to rely on any descriptions provided.  All such information is given by way of identification only and no warranty, condition, representation or guarantee is made, given or is to be implied.  British Medical Auctions and the Seller are not responsible or liable for any damage or loss (direct, indirect, consequential or otherwise) arising as a result of any inaccuracy in respect thereof.

4.5 Neither British Medical Auctions nor the Seller makes or agrees to make any contractual promise, undertaking, obligation, guarantee, warranty, or representation of fact in relation to the satisfactory quality of the Lot or its fitness for any purpose.

4.6 Neither British Medical Auctions nor the Seller will be liable for any breach of any undertaking, whether implied by the Sale of Goods Act 1979 or otherwise, as to the satisfactory quality of the Lot or its fitness for any purpose. No Lot is sold as new.

4.7 Without prejudice to the generality of the previous clause, neither British Medical Auctions nor the Seller gives any warranty or guarantee in relation to any Lot which is an electrical appliance regarding its condition, quality, functionality or safety and all such Lots are “sold as is.” It is recommended that the Buyer has these items examined by a suitably qualified electrical or medical equipment contractor before use.

5 CONDUCT OF AUCTIONS

5.1 British Medical Auctions may, at their sole discretion, without reason, notice or liability of any kind, at any time prior to or after commencement of any Auction, but prior to close of bidding, alter, withdraw or vary any or all Lots, refuse to accept any bid or terminate bidding on any or all Lots, or cancel an Auction entirely.

5.2 The advances, progression, and rules in the bidding shall be regulated at the sole discretion of the Auctioneer. 

5.3 If the Buyer makes a bid, it cannot be retracted. 

5.4 The highest bidder shall, subject to any reserve, be the purchaser and if any dispute arises between two or more bidders, the Lot shall, at the discretion of the Auctioneer, be put up again at the last undisputed bid price and resold. 

5.5 Acceptance of a bid by the Auctioneer as the winning bid for a Lot is a commitment to purchase the Lot by, and legally binding on, the Buyer.  

5.6 From the time a bid is accepted, risk in the Lot passes to the Buyer.

5.7 Lots may be offered subject to a reserve price without notice to the bidders.

5.8 The Auctioneer’s decision on all matters shall be final. 

6 PRICE, COMMISSION AND PAYMENT

6.1 The Buyer shall pay in respect of any Lot for which it has successfully bid: -

6.1.1 the Hammer Price;

6.1.2 VAT if applicable; and 

6.1.3 commission (Buyer’s Premium) which will be charged at 22% of the Hammer Price plus VAT. 

6.2 British Medical Auctions will invoice the Buyer for all Lots for which it has successfully bid as soon as practicable and in most cases on the day of the Auction.  The invoice shall include all taxes arising from the sale of the Lots(s) and Buyer’s Premium. 

6.3 British Medical Auctions may refund the VAT paid by the Buyer on the production of a completed bill of lading or relevant export document exempting a Lot or Lots from VAT to the satisfaction of British Medical Auctions.

6.4 For registered Buyers with a UK billing address, the Buyer must pay all invoices within five Working Days of the Auction.  If the Buyer does not pay any invoice within five Working Days of the Auction, British Medical Auctions may: -

6.4.1 consider that the Buyer has abandoned the Lot and issue a restocking fee equal to 30% of the invoice total; and/or

6.4.2 take payment of the amount of the outstanding invoice from the credit card or debit card provided at registration.

6.5 For registered Buyers with a non-UK billing address, the Buyer must pay all invoices within ten Working Days of the Auction.  If the Buyer does not pay any invoice within ten Working Days of the Auction, British Medical Auctions may: -

6.5.1 consider that the Buyer has abandoned the Lot and issue a restocking fee equal to 30% of the invoice total; and/or

6.5.2 take payment of the amount of the outstanding invoice from the credit card or debit card provided at registration.

6.6 Payments in cash will be limited to £8,000 per invoice and subject to a handling fee of 2%.

6.7 The Buyer will not be permitted to collect any Lot for which it has successfully bid until the Buyer has paid the relevant invoice in full.

7 COLLECTION OF LOTS

7.1 The Buyer or its agent(s) must pay for, accept delivery at, and remove from, the place designated by British Medical Auctions the Lot(s) it has purchased within fifteen working days (3 weeks) of the Auction close date.  

7.2 Buyers are solely responsible for arranging packaging, loading, removing, shipping and all other costs associated with removing the Lots.  The Buyer must insure against all risks of loss, damage and personal injury caused by removing the Lots, repairing and restoring any loss or damage caused by removing the Lots from the fall of the hammer, and British Medical Auctions reserves the right to request a copy of the Buyer’s insurance policy to cover such risks at any time.

7.3 If the Buyer does not

7.3.1 pay for a Lot within ten Working Days of the Auction; and or 

7.3.2 does not collect a lot within 15 Working Days of the Auction;

the Buyer may not be allowed to collect the Lot and the Lot may be placed in the next Auction.  The Buyer will be required to pay a re-lotting fee equal to 30% of the Hammer Price plus VAT, without exception.

7.4 If the Buyer has paid for but not removed a Lot within fifteen Working Days of the auction close date, the Buyer will be liable for a Storage Fee, calculated on a daily basis at £2.50 per Lot per day. If the Buyer does not collect all Lots within 20 Working Days of the Auction, any Lots not collected will be deemed abandoned and British Medical Auctions may either: -

7.4.1 place the abandoned lots in the next Auction subject to a re-lotting fee equal to 30% of the Hammer Price plus VAT and, if sold, British Medical Auctions will pay the Buyer an amount equal to the Hammer Price less the re-lotting fee less any storage fees payable pursuant to clause 7.4, provide that if the Hammer Price is insufficient to cover these fees, British Medical Auctions may recover the balance of any unpaid fees from the Buyer; or

7.4.2 otherwise dispose of the abandoned Lots and recover any fees, including storage fees, from the Buyer.

7.5 The Buyer is responsible for checking the quantities of the Lots purchased at the time of collection.  No adjustments in quantities will be made after the Lots are collected by the Buyer or the Buyer’s agent.

7.6 If, for any reason whatsoever, British Medical Auctions fails to deliver an awarded Lot, British Medical Auction’s sole liability shall be the return of any deposit or monies paid for such Lot, and the Buyer shall have no further claim whatsoever including without limitation direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damages. 

8 PERSONAL INFORMATION

8.1 Medical Auctions (BMA) Limited trading as British Medical Auctions will collect information from the Buyer before the Buyer is able to participate in any auction. The information collected by British Medical Auctions includes, but is not limited to: First Name, Last Name, Company Name, Company Number, Vat Number, Billing Address, Shipping Address, Phone Number, Email Address.

8.2 All personal information provided to British Medical Auctions by the Buyer will be treated confidentially and shall not be passed to third parties, except where necessary to complete the sale of the items/lots. British Medical Auctions may disclose such confidential information as is required to be disclosed by law, any governmental or regulatory authority or by a court of competent jurisdiction.

8.3 Individuals can obtain access to their personal information to review, update and correct by writing to info@britishmedicalauctions.co.uk

8.4 Individuals, Buyers and Sellers may withdraw personal information by writing to dpo@britishmedicalauctions.co.uk

8.5 All privacy related inquiries are to be made to dpo@britishmedicalauctions.co.uk

8.6 Requests to withdraw personal information could prevent British Medical Auctions from being able to provide services to the Buyer or prevent the Buyer from participating in an Auction.

8.7 For a copy of British Medical Auctions’ privacy notice, please go to  https://www.britishmedicalauctions.co.uk/privacy-notice/

9 GENERAL

9.1 If any part of these Terms is deemed unenforceable, the enforceability of all other parts of the Terms shall remain unaffected.

9.2 These Terms contain the whole agreement between British Medical Auctions and the Buyer in respect of its subject matter and supersedes any prior written or oral agreement between them relating to it.  The Buyer confirms that it has not entered into these Terms on the basis of any representations that are not expressly incorporated in the Terms. 

9.3 Each party agrees that it shall have no claim for innocent or negligent misrepresentation or negligent misstatement based on any statement in these Terms or Catalogue, but nothing shall limit or exclude any liability for fraud. 

9.4 These Terms may not be changed, amended or modified except by British Medical Auctions, and may be changed and modified by British Medical Auctions at any time. 

9.5 British Medical Auctions and the Buyer do not intend that any of these Terms shall be enforceable by virtue of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 by any person who is not either British Medical Auctions or the Buyer.

9.6 The Consumer Credit Act 1974 as amended does not apply to the Terms.

9.7 All materials including images, illustrations, designs, icons, photographs, and written and other materials that are a part of any auction brochures, catalogues, any advertisements, seller information, and/or invoices or reports are copyrights, trademarks and/or other intellectual property owned and controlled by British Medical Auctions.

10 LAW AND JURISDICTION

10.1 These Terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

10.2 Each of British Medical Auctions and the Buyer irrevocably agrees that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with these Terms or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims).