Online Auction Terms & Conditions

 

Thank-you for participating in the GFRC Online Auction services. GFRC hopes to extend its customer friendly business approach to the auction sales environment. Our goal is to promote competitive bidding without buyer's fees along with following the well known GFRC payment and sales policies. Bidding and buying at a GFRC Online Auction should be as simple as a regular sales purchase. The newly automated application brings the same look-and-feel of the balance of the GFRC service offerings.

Following are the GFRC Online Auction Terms & Conditions. These are unlike that of other auction firms. Please read the Term & Conditions carefully before participating. GFRC's role is not that of handholding clients and customors through the use of these Terms & Conditions. Those who read and follow the Terms & Conditions will enjoy a simplified bidding and hopefully, seamless purchasing experience.

I'm pleased to announce that my wife, Diane, will be taking an active role in managing the GFRC Online Auction email account; auctions@seateddimevarieties.com

 

Who is conducting the auction?

Gerry Fortin Rare Coins (GFRC) will be conducting Online auctions on behalf of its consignors, and in some cases, on behalf of GFRC. Auctions will be scheduled on an as needed basis for both consignor and GFRC owned inventory. When considering a GFRC consignment, please indicate if there is interest in the auction option. Clients are free to suggest the auction option if consigning no less than twenty coins and valued at no less than $25,000. Quantity exception will be made for higher valued consignments. GFRC reserves the right to reject any auction proposal when the consigned products are inconsistent with the primary GFRC product lines.

 

Is there a Buyer's Premium?

GFRC Online auctions will not charge a Buyer's Premium. The final bid price will be the purchase price plus applicable shipping and payment fees.

 

Who can bid?

All GFRC customers and clients "in good standing" can become "bidders" without registering. "In good standing" is defined as having made at least three successful purchases in the last 24 months prior to the date of the auction. Secondly, customers and clients "in good standing" will not have an order return rate of greater than 20%.

GFRC customer and clients that do not meet the "in good standing" definition must register to bid at least 48 hours prior to the start of an auction. If there are questions about your "in good standing" status, please check with Diane Fortin at auctions@seateddimevarieties.com

Persons unknown to GFRC or with less than three purchases in the last 24 months must register with GFRC, at auctions@seateddimevarieties.com, and state their bidding intentions. GFRC expects unknown person to supply sufficient dealer references.

 

Must I establish credit before bidding?

GFRC customers and clients that meet the "in good standing" definition will not need to establish credit. Those individuals that do not meet the "in good standing" definition must contact GFRC prior to placing bids. GFRC, at its sole discretion, will determine which "bidders" that must establish credit by supplying references. References are the names and phone numbers of three dealers that can validate a business history, integrity, and buying potential.

 

How is bidding conducted?

Online Auctions and the bidding process will be conducted through an automated bidding application specially developed for the GFRC portal. Auctions will be posted and conducted via auction table presentation and located at seateddimevarieties.com/auction. Bidders WILL NOT be assigned a bidder number for each auction to simplify the application's operation. Instead, bidders will supply their contact information during each bid placement. Each bid will be assigned a unique number for tracking purposes. Bidders will receive an email from auctions@seateddimevarieties.com that confirms their bid and documents the bid number. The bid number is important when checking on high bid status.

 

GFRC Online Auctions - The Online Auction Table

Following is a screen capture of the Online auction table. The format looks similar to a regular GFRC For Sale page price list table.

Please look carefully as there are three different auction statuses illustrated. The first example is an 1913-S Buffalo nickel that is queued for an upcoming auction that opens on October 12. The TPG number is available with a link back to the TPG website for checking certification. Reserves and high bids will be listed in the second to right column. The rightmost column communicates the lot's status and allows bidding.

On the seond line, the 1917-D Standing Liberty quarter is currently available for bidding as an active auction. Bidding is accomplished by clicking on the shopping bag icon.

The final line in the table illustrates an 1825 Capped Bust half dollar that was part of a prior auction that is now closed. Tha lot did not meet the reserve.

 

GFRC Online Auctions - Three Auction Statuses Example

 

GFRC Online Auctions - Using the Bidding Screen

Clicking the shopping bag icon for a lot that is part of an active Online Auction brings about a lot bidding screen. The bidding screen is unique to that lot and presents a full description and TPG serial number. Lots are identified by TPG serial numbers or with GFRC inventory number for raw coins.

The next illustration showcases the auction lot's information including full description, reserve price, current high bid and bid number. There are three panels for entering information towards placing a bid. Bidding requires three pieces of information each time a bid is placed. .

- Name

- Email Address

- Max Bid

Once these three pieces of information are entered, please hit the Enter Bid button.

GFRC Online Auctions - Bidding Screen Example

 

Bidders will accurately enter the required information and select the Enter Bid button. A bid will be first checked for being valid. If not valid, an error message will be issued on the bidding screen. If the bid is valid, the bid will be acknowledged on a separate screen along with an email sent to the inputted email address indicating such.

 

GFRC Online Auctions - Email Bid Notification

All GFRC auction emails will be issued from "auctions@seateddimevarieties.com". The email captures the submitted name and acknowledges the maximum bid. Each bid is assigned a unique bid number. Please note that there are no bidder numbers assigned to clients. Again, each bid is assigned its unique tracking number. A link is provide to allow prompt return to the lot bidding screen which allows bidders to check if their unique bid number is the high bid.

Following is an illustration of typical Bid Notification email. Please note that the lot number is the full TPG serial number as extracted via barcode.

GFRC Online Auctions - Email Bid Notification

 

GFRC will not accept bids by email, text message or phone submission. All bidding must be conducted with the automated bidding application.

 

When and how is the auction conducted?

GFRC Online Auctions are scheduled to start and end at 9:00 PM ET. Auctions will be typically scheduled for a seven day duration. On smaller or boutique auction, the scheduled period will be five days.

All submitted bids must be consistent with the following Bidding Increment table. Bids placed below the next bidding increment will be rejected. Bids must be at or greater than the bidding increment. Bids that are greate than the bidding increment and will be captured as a Maximum bid. Bidders are free to bid ANY AMOUNT as long as that amount is great than the bidding increment for the current high bid on a lot.

Bidding Increments

$1 - $299 .............. $20

$300 - $499 .............. $25

$500 - $999 .............. $50

$1,000 - $1,999 .............. $100

$2,000 - $4,999 .............. $250

$5,000 - $9,999 .............. $500

$10,000 - $20,000 .............. $1,000

$20,000 - $49,999 .............. $2,500

>$50,000 .............. $5,000

GFRC reserves the right to reject any submitted email bid if not in compliance with the GFRC Online Auction Terms and Conditions in it's sole discretion. GFRC staff will be actively administering each Online Auction to ensure the integrity of the bidding process. If cases of shill or fradulent bidding are found, GFRC reserves the right to terminate those bids in it's sole discretion. Bidders who are found to be abusing the bidding process will be banned from subsequent auction sales.

 

What are the payment terms?

Standard GFRC sales payment terms, as defined within the GFRC Sales Page, will be in effect for Online Auctions. Please note that check payments are preferred. Payments made with Paypal and/or major credit card will be charged a 3% transaction fee. GFRC does not accept American Express or cash cards.

Standard two payment or three payment Lay-A-Ways are available for auction purchases. Please contact GFRC at auctions@seateddimevarieties.com to announce the need to use Lay-A-Way payment as your required payment terms. GFRC reserves the right to accept or reject the need for Lay-A-Way payment terms at it's sole discretion.

Bidders who fail to honor their bids and make payment within three days after the auction's closing date may lose bidding privileges in subsequent auctions. Bidders who fail to make payment within seven days of the auction's closing date will be banned from bidding in new GFRC auctions. Bottomline, if bidding, please be a serious buyer else privileges will be removed.

 

What are the shipping charges?

Standard GFRC shipping charges, as defined on the GFRC Sales Page, will be in effect for Online Auctions.

 

What is the warranty and return policy?

Standard GFRC return policy, as defined on the GFRC Sales Page, will be in effect for Online Auctions except for a return restocking fee. GFRC discourages the use of a GFRC Online Auction as an approval auction. A 15% restocking fee will be assessed for returns within the standard return period. Please ensure that you are a serious buyer when bidding.

Use of the Lay-A-Way payment option results in a no return policy for auction purchases. This is consistent with standard GFRC return policy.

 

Guidance/Post Auction Administration for Snipe Bidding 

Sniping is a well-established bidding approach whereby a bidder will open a bidding screen prior to the closing time of a lot and wait until the final seconds of an auction to submit a bid.  The sniping practice is becoming more prevalent during GFRC Online Auctions as the platform's offerings and popularity expands. The usage of staged bidding screens by clients is a function of all lots closing at the same time.

The GFRC Online Auctions bid processing software has limitation during the final minute of bidding due to high volume, instantaneous processing requirements, and the practice of opening multiple bid screens with delayed bid submissions.

As a result, bidders agree to and accept the following potential outcomes consistent with their selection of bidding technique.

Due to setup of the GFRC Online Auctions platform, there may be instances were manual correction of the auction database is required either during or immediately following the auction period. Known situations include the following: 

a. A bidder submits a max bid that is higher than their previous bid when they are the current high bidder. As GFRC Online Auctions does not require bidder registration and sign-in, the software treats all bids as unique and will automatically treat this as a new bid against the current high bid. In these instances when GFRC is made aware or observes this occurence, the previous bid will be deleted. 

b. Two unique bidders open the bid page for the same lot before either has submitted a bid AND no other bid has been placed on the lot yet. This situation has the highest chance of occuring during the final minutes of bidding.

The GFRC Online Auctions platform registers all bids with a submission timestamp and automated email. All auction lots are reviewed and validated following auction close. In the event the review identifies a disrepency, including, but not limited to the two cases identified herein, a correction will be made by GFRC and the winning bid may update after the close of regular auction bidding. The update may result in the final winning bid being lower or higher than the displayed winning bid immediately upon auction close. Winning bidders may request to GFRC a log of all bids and an explaination of the correction made associated with that particular lot.

Bidders agree to the terms that GFRC is not liable for changes in final winning bid that can result from the post auction review and validation process described herein.

 

Miscellaneous Items

By participating in a GFRC Online Auction, "bidders" acknowledge that they have read the GFRC Auction Terms & Conditions and agreed to conduct purchases consistent with the stated Terms & Conditions.

GFRC will guarantee its die variety attributions but not those of Third Party Grading. Attributions made by major Third Party Grading services are subject to error and will not be guaranteed. Please bid on the GFRC die variety attribution and not the die variety attribution on the TPG holder.

Prices realized for sold Online Auction lots will be posted into the GFRC Sales Archive. Unsold lots will be immediately posted to the fixed price lists at their auction reserved prices.