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. You can do so by clicking the bell icon in the top right corner of this page.
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.
New Hampshire Auctioneer's License No. 7005
By bidding in our auction, you agree to the following terms and conditions:
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.
When you submit the initial registration form, an email will be sent to your email address to set up your password and confirm your account. You must complete this step, otherwise you will not be able to log in.
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.
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.
If no bids come in for an item after a reasonable amount of time, the item may be passed. The auctioneer will enter a "pass" comment into the chat. Bids that come in after a pass comment has been entered may be rejected at the auctioneer's discretion.
Absentee Bids
Absentee bids, also known as left bids or pre bids, allow for people who cannot attend the live show to bid on one or more items. Bidders may submit absentee bids directly on the current auction hub, or via the absentee bid form prior to the show to let us know their maximum bids for items they are interested in.Please be sure that you are submitting your true maximum bid, that is, the most you are willing to pay for an item before the cost of shipping, when you submit an absentee bid. This gives you the best chance of winning. If there are no competing bids by the start of the show, we will open bidding at 65% of your maximum bid, so that you still have an opportunity to win the items below your max bid. Absentee bids of $25 or less will be opened for 100% of the max bid. If 65% of a maximum absentee bid is less than $25, we will open bidding at $25.
An absentee bid is a binding contract to complete the purchase of the item up to your maximum bid, as well as to pay any applicable shipping costs. Please do not submit any absentee bid if you are not 100% committed to following through with the purchase of all lots on which you are the winning bidder. Failure to follow through with your purchase will result in a permanent ban from our platform.
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.
Orders that are paid by 2pm the day after the auction may be shipped and dropped off with the carrier that day, though this is not guaranteed.
Pick-Up is available here in Jaffrey, NH. Please select Pick Up / Open Box on the checkout page if you would like to use this option. Buyers have as long as they like to pick up an order in person as long as the order is paid in full, though our warehousing space is limited, so please try to pick up your orders as soon as possible.
Open Boxes are available for all orders. Starting an open box means that your order will not be shipped, but will be stored here and combined and shipped with future orders to save on the overall shipping cost. To start an open box, please select Pick Up / Open Box at checkout. If you have already started an open box, and would like to add a new purchase to this open box, you may simply continue to select Pick Up / Open Box at checkout. Any auction order placed after an open box has been started will have a shipping charge applied that covers all unshipped items from previous orders. To close your box, simply choose shipping at checkout, and all of your items will be shipped. Please note that per-box shipping price caps do not apply to open boxes.
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 sending of this invoice, 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, including all applicable shipping fees, 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. Your invoice will also include instructions for how to pay by Zelle, which is our preferred payment method, and saves us significant costs on transaction fees.
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 4 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.