Auction Rules
Live auctions are held virtually on our website every Thursday at 8pm EST. Other live sales and auctions may happen at other times during the week. We recommend subscribing to SMS text alerts so that you never miss a live sale. Most advertising for sales will be done on our Instagram account, @memoryholevintage, where you can follow us for up-to-date news and information, including a live preview the day of the sale.
By bidding in our auction, you agree to the following terms:
All items are sold as-is, in the condition they are in, inclusive of all faults and defects, errors and omissions, seen and unseen, known and unknown.
Registration
All bidders must register before live bidding in one of our auctions. This can be done here. We collect the bare minimum amount of information needed to verify bidders. If you would like to add more information to your bidder profile, you can do so here. Once registered, you will be able to sign into the live auction with your account credentials.
Bidding
Bidding takes place in the chat feed of the live video. To place a bid, please enter your bid amount into the chat, and your bid will be verbally acknowledged by the auctioneer. We reserve the right to refuse any bid and pass any item.
By bidding, you agree to pay your bid amount and any applicable shipping fees if you win. Failure to pay, or backing out of an item, may result in a permanent ban from future auctions.
Fair start bids will be announced at the beginning of each round.
Power bidding, that is bidding more than the start bid, is highly encouraged. For example, if an item is starting at $25, and you know you have a budget of $100 for that item, it can be advantageous to bid $50 or more. Often this scares away the competition, and helps us to keep a brisk pace and move the auction along.
Bid increments, that is the minimum amount the bid must be advanced with each successive bids, are as follows:
- Under $50 - $2 or more
- $50 to $100 - $5 or more
- Over $100 - $10 or more
Higher increments may be suggested, and lower increments may be accepted. Sticking to these increments helps us to keep the auction going at a fun and speedy pace.
Choice rounds will offer multiple items "on choice" at the same time. These items will be showed on screen, and bidders should not reveal which item they are bidding on. When bidding concludes, the high bidder will have first choice of as many of the items as they want, each at their high bid price. Runners up will have successive choice of remaining items, each at their high bid price.
Some items may be sold with reserve. A reserve is the minimum dollar amount bidding must reach for the item to sell. If bidding does not reach the reserve amount, the item may be passed, or offered at a buy-it-now price.
Absentee bids, also known as left bids, allow for people who cannot attend the live show to bid on an item. Bidders may contact us prior to the show to let us know their maximum bids for items they are interested in. During the live auction, the auctioneer will open bidding at 50% to 75% of the maximum absentee bid, so that absentee bidders still have an opportunity to win the items below their max bid. Absentee bids of $25 or less may be opened for 100% of the max bid. Absentee bidders will be automatically invoiced if they win.
When active bidding stops or slows, the auctioneer will do a countdown before announcing an item is sold. If no further bids come in at the end of the countdown, the auctioneer will enter a "sold" comment into the chat and verbally announce "sold." Like in any auction, if a bid comes in after the auctioneer has said sold, that bid will not be accepted. In this case, the "sold" chat comment will be the determiner. If a bid comes in before the "sold" comment, bidding will continue as normal; if it comes in after, it will not be counted.
Shipping & Handling
Winning bids do not include the cost of shipping and handling. We ship to the United States only, but may be able to accommodate international shipping with prior approval.
The billed cost of shipping is determined by the weight of the package, the size of the package, the amount of items purchased, the amount of shipping supplies used to safely pack the items, shipping insurance, and handling time.
Basic shipping rates are as follows:
- Packages under 1lb, $6 - $8
- Packages over 1b, $12 - $20
- Packages that are large, heavy, or are being shipped far from NH, $20 - $40
The cost of shipping is capped at $40 per box. In the event that an order must be split up into multiple boxes, each box will have a $40 per box shipping cap.
We ship using the United States Postal Service (USPS) and UPS, and use the most affordable service available. Expedited shipping is available for an additional charge.
Shipping typically takes place on the Saturday following each live sale. You will be automatically emailed your tracking information. Please note that although packages are shipped on Saturday, they are typically not dropped off with the carrier until the following Monday, or Tuesday in the case of holidays or other delays, so your tracking will not update until then.
Invoicing & Payment
An itemized invoice will be emailed to your email address on file directly following each live sale. Invoice payment is due within 24 hours of the end of the auction, unless otherwise specified or agreed upon. Invoice reminders may be sent via email, Instagram direct message, call, or text if payment is not received within 24 hours.
Invoices can also be viewed and paid from a bidder's account page.
Failure to pay your invoice, or backing out of any portion of it, may result in a permanent ban from future auctions and live sales.
Delayed payment may result in delayed shipping.
We accept a wide variety of payment methods, which can be seen at the footer of our website, or at the time of checkout.
Payment plans are available through Shop Pay Installments, which splits any invoice of $50 or more into four equal payments, to be automatically billed every two weeks until the balance is paid. To select this, choose Shop Pay at checkout, and then choose "Pay in Installments." We do not offer any kind of payment plan other than this method.
Returns and Refunds
All items are sold as-is with no guarantees or warranties of any kind, inclusive of all faults and defects, errors and omissions, seen and unseen, known and unknown. Returns are not accepted. The majority of the items we sell are vintage or antique and therefore will have some signs of use and wear. Pay careful attention to the description of each item, including any photographs or live video footage, before purchasing. The time to ask questions about condition is prior to purchase, and prior to bidding in a live sale. We make our best effort to accurately and completely describe the condition of all items and will never willfully misrepresent an item.
Returns will be accepted for any item that we claim is gold or silver if it turns out not to be so. Please reach out to us to for approval before returning any item.
Returns or refunds may be available if an item is damaged in shipping due to inadequate packaging. This will be evaluated on a case by case basis. It may be necessary to process an insurance claim before a refund is issued. You may be required to retain all damaged items and packaging materials until the insurance claim is processed. If you discard these items, your refund may be forfeited.
Memory Hole Vintage is not responsible for lost, stolen, or delayed shipments once they have been accepted by the carrier.