Thank you for your interest in our auction, please take a moment to read the following guide which will help explain how we operate, our terms and charges, the items we can and cannot accept for auction and other important information and forms to complete to help make selling your pre-loved items as smooth as possible.

Wincanton auctions not only offers live bidding in the room we also offer live streamed video and audio internet bidding using your smartphone, tablet or PC through our online bidding partners Easy Live Auctions with over 550,000*  active bidders meaning that items sold through our Wincanton Saleroom are bid on not only locally and nationally but internationally with our online catalogue viewed by many thousands of customers each month.

Wincanton Auctions hold regular auctions which are well attended and advertised, allowing your items a good opportunity to reach thousands of potential buyers and sell for the best price through public bidding.

* Figure provided by Easy Live Auction October 2023

Why Sell at Auction

Public auctions are a fast and fair way to sell goods because participants bid openly against each other and the item is sold to the bidder who offers to pay the most.

Auctions can be a very valuable way for businesses to quickly release capital from dead stock in storage or demonstrate that a fair market price has been achieved for repossessed or abandoned goods.

The process of selling is transparent, removes the trouble of storing goods, buyer negotiations, viewing appointments and turns unwanted assets into cash, fast.

What items are suitable for our auction?

We are a ‘General’ Saleroom meaning that while we love selling antiques and collectables, we also accept all sorts of other items including vehicles, tools, plants, Appliances and Electrical, furniture and more! This can make it a little confusing as to what we are happy to accept. We don’t like saying no but for practical reasons, and laws, there are items we choose to or cannot accept. We have to consider;

The likely sale value – very simply if an item or lot is unlikely to sell for £10 or more it is not really economic to accept it. Even with our lotting fee and commission we would actually be losing money on the time taken processing, photographing, storing and marketing the item so while we are happy to do our bit with items worthy of recycling, which are fun or interesting and take a holistic view on large house clearances once sorted into lots, the item or group of items needs to stand a good chance of making more than £10. In practice we advise a hammer price of £25-30 should be aimed for.

The space taken in the saleroom – furniture, especially brown wood furniture, is generally recognised as having a very low second hand market value. Dining tables and chairs, Sideboards etc take up a lot of space and therefore must be of a condition, type and style that stands a good chance of being of interest to bidders. Mid Century design such as Ercol, Ladderax, Scandinavian design etc is extremely popular at the moment and will generally fetch many hundreds of pounds whereas we are in pain to say that an oak Barley twist table might only fetch £10-£40 however that is the market, not us!

 As a rule we do not accept beds as frames fetch very little and customers generally don’t like to sleep on second hand mattresses unless immaculate and high quality. Sofas and suites are generally too large and low value although an Oxblood Button Back Chesterfield would attract a lot of interest. ALL LARGE ITEMS OF FURNITURE WILL NORMALLY ONLY BE AGREED WITH NO RESERVE TO BE SOLD FOR WHATEVER PRICE CAN BE ACHIEVED ON THE DAY.

Below is a list of common items, not exhaustive but hopefully helpful, of items that we probably will not accept. There is additional information on the rules concerning prohibited items such as Ivory within our website on the following page links and drop down menu. If in doubt please take photographs and we can discuss.

Sorry, but we do not normally accept the following items for auction;* 

• Ivory is not generally not accepted in line with UK Rules
• Furniture (post 1950) and Soft Furnishings without 'Carelessness Causes Fire' Labels - It is against UK law to sell these even if labels have been removed.
• Guns and Firearms We do not acccept Firearms requiring a license except deactivated weaponry where they hold a new 'Certificate of Deactivation' from April 2017. We DO accept air rifles and pistols.
• Swords, Knives and Edged Weapons : Genuine militaria and edged weapons made by traditional methods pre 1954 are generally legal to sell. Reproduction and Fantasy Swords and Knives must satisfying UK laws
• Any items that may contain Asbestos ie WW2 gasmasks, Vintage hair dryers, fires etc
• Items of Fur
• Wild Birds Eggs and items that may be protected under the CITES endangered Species regulations. 
• Broken, Damaged or Dirty Items
• Satellite / Sky Boxes & Dishes
• Clothes & shoes except brand new with tags/boxes or haute couture*
• Soft Furnishings (curtains, bedding, cushions etc)*
• Children / Toddlers Items
• Cassette or Videos (VHS) Players or tapes
• DVD or Blu Ray Players unless surround sound systems*
• CRT Monitors / Televisions (old style with deep back)
• Chip Board or MDF Items or Furniture
• Boxes of Bric-a-brac (assorted items)*
• Boxes of Books; unless special sets, rare, antique or collectable
• Pictures, Paintings & Prints; unless signed ltd editions or listed artists or antique
• Jewellery unless gold, silver or precious stones*
• Scrap Building Materials, Chemicals, Paints and the like

LARGE ITEMS OF FURNITURE – SOFA’s, BEDS, DINING ROOM FURNITURE ETC – NO RESERVE POLICY and ACCEPTABLE CONDITION POLICY *Exceptions are only made where the items are of the highest quality and in excellent/as new condition or quality antiques.

Large items of used furniture will not generally be accepted with reserves due to the amount of Saleroom space required, staff required to move and assemble etc and will be advertised as sold without reserve to the highest bidder at the auctioneer’s discretion.

Sofas, Beds and Mattresses are not normally acceptable for auction.

In ALL instances furniture must be clean and unstained, without rips, tears or other damages and free from odours/pet smells etc. It is for the customer to guarantee that furniture meets these criteria before bringing or arranging delivery. Failure to meet these criteria will result in the furniture being rejected from the auction and returned or disposed of at the owner’s expense.

Delivery of items to the Saleroom

It is the sellers responsibility and cost to deliver items to the Saleroom. If help is required a list of local and national couriers are listed on the website.

Consigning items for Auction

Included with this email or pack will be a copy of our ‘Entry’ Receipt. It is helpful for us to receive as much information in advance of the arrival of items as possible. If you can complete as much of the sheet as possible – particularly item descriptions, it would be most helpful. Some of the boxes can be completed together such as estimates, reserves etc. Please send scans or photos of the forms to us at [email protected] if you can or bring them on the day. We do reserve the right to group items differently than entered but will always discuss and agree this with you.

Download wincanton auctions sellers_auction_entry_receipt_2024.docx

Seller Registration and Payment

We love paying our sellers their money and aim to do this by bank transfer no more than 14 working days after the auction in which their items sold. To do this we do need to hold some information such as Names, addresses, bank details for payment and confirmation of agreement to our terms. To this end please find attached with this email or pack copies of our Sellers Registration form and Sellers Terms and Conditions. Please complete these and either return them to us in person when bringing your items or email or photograph them and send them to [email protected].

Hopefully all this information will have helped however we appreciate it isn’t exhaustive so if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us. There is additional information on our website and answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

 Sellers Charges

All Charges will attract VAT

• 1. All charges will attract VAT.
  2. Wincanton Auctions charge a lotting fee of £3 plus VAT per lot and a Seller's Commission of 20% on the sale price (subject to a minimum fee of £3) on each lot. Please note, VAT is only charged on the commission value not the sale price.
  3. A reserve price may be agreed at the discretion of Wincanton Auctions. Items which fail to reach reserve in one sale, will automatically be sold in the next appropriate sale without reserve unless collected. Please Note: That any estimate is not a reserve price
  4. We will not normally agree a reserve on large items of furniture and low value items. Alternatively a 5% lotting fee (min £5) may be charged on the reserve price requested.
  5. Items unsold at auction may be sold by private treaty thereafter at the discretion of Wincanton Auctions subject to a minimum value of their current reserve. If no reserve applies the item may be sold at a price of the Auctioneers discretion. If an unsold item is re-entered in a second or subsequent auctions an additional lotting fee of £4 will apply on each entry.
  6. Any lots which fail to attract a bid after their second sale must be collected by the end of the following week or will be disposed of or re entered into the next auction without reserve at the Auctioneers discretion. A charge may apply on disposable.
  7. All portable electrical appliances will have their plugs removed and be sold as ‘antiques’ or be tested for safety (PAT Tested) and a £3 charge made per test (pass or fail).
  8. The porter/auction has absolute discretion to refuse items considered unsuitable for the sale. A full list of items that we cannot accept or should be approved before entry is detailed on our website. If items deemed unsuitable are delivered to the saleroom they may be disposed of without notice and charges may apply.
  9. Payment is 2 weeks (14 days) after the auction by bank transfer. The Auctioneers will withhold payment on any lot until the purchaser of that lot has settled their account. Vendors collecting proceeds will be asked to prove their identity. It is agreed that the Auctioneers take their charges on completion of the sale and may earn interest on credit balances.
  10. A seller has the right to remove their items from the auction however if work has been done to catalogue the item a lotting fee of £5 will apply for each item withdrawn.

  Right of Title:

  The Seller warrants to Wincanton Auctions and to the Buyer that he has and will be able to transfer, good and marketable title.

   

House Clearances, Probate and Estate Sales

Wincanton Auctions are pleased to offer a bespoke service to meet customer requirements including complete or partial home or office clearances with the sale to take place on site or at our own premises as appropriate.

A member of our staff will be only too pleased to visit the property and discuss, free of charge and without obligation the clearance in question. We can help appraise items and ensure that items of significant value that may be overlooked by non-experts aren’t missed.

Any items we consider unsuitable for auction will be appropriately disposed of and we can, if required, clear the whole property on your behalf and leave it clean, making the process as stress free as possible.

Estate Sales and Probate
One of the tasks of an estate executor is to responsibly dispose of the household goods left behind by a deceased homeowner.

Due to the large inventory of furniture and other goods usually involved, this can often be accomplished most efficiently by an auction house as they are used to handling a wide and diverse range of goods. Also there can be no query as to the sale prices achieved as the auction is open to all and the amounts achieved can be seen to be fair as they are witnessed publicly which may help avoid difficulties from relatives or beneficiaries.

We can also provide written valuations for Probate purposes. 

The team at Wincanton Auctions have many years experience of sensitively assisting with Estate Sales, Probate and Home and Office clearances. Please contact us to discuss your requirements.

Liquidation and Stock Clearance Sales

Auctions can be a very valuable way for businesses to demonstrate that a fair market price has been achieved for repossessed or abandoned goods or to clear surplus stock quickly. The process of selling is fast, removes the trouble of storing goods, buyer negotiations and viewing appointments and quickly converts the assets into cash. Wincanton Auctions have experience in acting for Receiver’s and Banks in the liquidation of major companies’ assets and can quickly produce proposals, mobilise onsite teams, produce effective marketing plans and compelling advertising.

Auctions can be held onsite on your own business premises or at the Wincanton Auctions Saleroom.

Please contact us to discuss your requirements for a liquidation sale or stock clearance auction.