Floating World Auctions Shipping Procedures and FAQs

 

 

Shipping Procedures

 

Shipping, insurance, packaging and handling of purchased lots is at the expense of the purchaser. As a service to the purchaser, Floating World Auctions will ship most items to purchasers located in the continental United States via United Parcel Ground Service and to international purchasers and purchasers in Alaska and Hawaii via United Parcel Air Service.  You are responsible for providing us with an accurate shipping address and for confirming receipt of your package.  We shall not, under any circumstances, be liable for the loss, theft, or damage to property, including, but not limited to selection of a shipper, the acts or omissions of any shipper, or the acts or omissions occurring in packing for shipment by a shipper.

As a courtesy, we may provide pre-auction shipping quotes based on a prospective bidder’s postal code and their estimated package size, weight, and value. Post-sale determination of shipping costs does not constitute grounds for cancellation of any purchase made at our auction.

Shipment may take up to 21 days after payment is received, although we often begin shipping during the week following the auction. We ship in the order that payment is received.  If you are purchasing the print for a gift, and need it sent by an expedited service, you can upgrade the shipping method at your expense.

Local pick up is by appointment only on weekdays during normal business hours, beginning the Wednesday after the auction.

We will defer shipping for paid customers upon request.  If we are currently holding a prior purchase for you and your purchases from this auction can fit in the same size package, you will only be billed for the additional insurance.  If you require a larger package, then you will be charged the increased cost and additional insurance.

Frequently Asked Questions  

Q: What is new for this auction?

A: We changed the pattern for the estimates, so that now the starting bid and low estimates are usually the same, and the high estimate is double the low estimate.

In addition, Auto-Pay is now mandatory for us on the LiveAuctioneers platform.  LiveAuctioneers will automatically charge the card on file for all invoices that have not been previously paid within 72 hours after we email the invoices.  International and exempt winners may opt out, as long as they notify us prior to the point in time when LiveAuctioneers processes the automatic payment.  More information is available in our After the Auction section below.

Finally, our commission rate is reduced from 28% to 25%, and we are passing through payment processing fees to the winners

Q: When will the sale be held?

A: The auction is scheduled to begin at approximately 9 am, Chicago time, on Friday, December 8. This translates to 07:00:00 PDT using Live Auctioneers’ display format.

Q: How long will the auction last?

A: That is hard to predict. Since the auction is completely automated, and bids are collected solely on the LiveAuctioneers platform, we expect it to move at a brisk pace.

Q: Is there a  buyer’s premium?

A: Yes, the buyer’s premium is 25%.

Q: Are the prints and paintings in the auction framed?

A: No.  Nothing in this auction is framed.  The prints are shown against a grey background.

Q: What do the dimensions on your listings mean?

A: Generally, we give the dimensions of the image only, exclusive of margins, and provide the height first, followed by the width. In the cases where the dimensions are for something else, this is described in the “Comments” section of the listing.  Examples include multi-panel items, such as triptychs, or pieces without a defined plate line.

Q: How much will it cost to ship my purchases?

A: Our shipping procedures are discussed above in the “Shipping Procedures” section. The cost of shipping is a function of destination, and size and value of a shipment. If you would like to get a shipping estimate in advance, please contact us no later than 3:00 pm Chicago time on the Thursday before auction at [email protected] with the shipping destination, and we will provide a courtesy estimate, exclusive of insurance. Post sale determination of shipping costs does not constitute grounds for cancellation of any purchase made at auction.

Q: Can I leave absentee bids even if my registration hasn’t been approved?

A: Yes, you can still leave absentee bids even if we haven’t approved your Live Auctioneers registration. However, if you are not approved prior to  the start of the auction, we may not see that your registration requires approval..

How Live Auctioneers Works for an Automated Auction

Q: How can I bid through Live Auctioneers?

A: Please reviews the helpful articles and videos provided by Live Auctioneers, by Clicking Here.

Q: Why hasn’t my registration been approved?

A: You probably haven’t met our approval criteria. Bidders who were previously approved to bid in our auctions and were previously approved to bid in 5 or more other auctions are automatically approved. In that case, we would need to approve your registration manually. Once the auction starts, it is unlikely that we will be able to approve your registrations, so please consider registering prior to the day of the sale.

Q: How does the bidding work on Live Auctioneers?

A: There are two ways to bid:

Before the auction begins or even during the auction, you can place an absentee bid on any lot that has not yet opened for live bidding. These are transmitted to our auctioneer during the sale.

During the auction, you can follow everything that is happening on the Live Auctioneers auction site, including the Live Auctioneers App, for our sale and place real time bids against other live bidders on Live Auctioneers and other live bidding platforms.

Q: Do the prints in this auction have reserves?

A: Yes.  The reserve can be anywhere between the starting bid and the low estimate.

Q: How do I leave an absentee bid?

A: To leave an absentee bid with Live Auctioneers, just fill in the field with the amount of your bid, review it and submit it. For more information on how to place absentee bids, please go to Leaving An Absentee (Proxy) Bid.

Q: How can I tell if my absentee bid is winning?

A:  The amount of the current leading bid is displayed on the lot listing. When you place your initial bid, you should receive a message with either advises you that you are the current leader, and that amount, or that you have been outbid, and offering you a link to bid again.  In addition, prior to the auction, if you click on the “My Items” link at the top right of any LiveAuctioneers page you will see a little heart icon, like the one below. This will bring up all of the items that you have “favorited”.   In this instance, there are 2 bids among the favorited items.   If you do not mark the items you bid on as favorites, there is a link on the Favorites page for “My Bids”, as shown on the below.

 

Which ever page you look at, there will be images of each lot, with either a green “LEADING” or red “OUTBID” banner to let you know your status.

Regardless of the amount of the first bid that is placed by any bidder, only the starting bid will be displayed.  Subsequent absentee bidders will only have the option to place the next bid (or higher).  If it does not exceed the first bidder, the bidding will increase to one increment above the first bidder, and if it exceeds the first bidder, then the bidding will advance to one bid over the first bidder.  A tie goes to the earliest bidder.

Q: Can you give an example?

A: Sure.  Assume the starting price on a lot is $50.  Bidder 1 enters $80, and the listing shows the bidding at $50.  Bidder 2 enters a bid of $60.  Bidder 1 is still winning, and the bidding advances to $70.  Bidder 2 sees they are outbid, and enters the next bid of $80.  The bidding advances to $80, but since Bidder 1 bid first, Bidder 1 is still winning.  Bidder 2 then bids the next bid of $80, and is the winner.  Bidder 3 comes along, and bids $100.  Bidder 3 is now in the lead, and the bid showing on the lot is now $90.

Q: How can I submit real time bids through Live Auctioneers?

A: Shortly before our auction is scheduled to begin, our auction will be listed on the Live Auctioneers home page under Live Catalogs. If you are signed in to Live Auctioneers and are an approved bidder, you will see a Bid Live link to the right of our listing (If you are not signed in or are not approved to bid, you will see a View Live link). Click on the link to open the Live Auctioneers Bidding Console. The bidding console allows you to view and bid in real time with the auction house. You can place bids by clicking the Bid button on your screen. If you are using Mozilla Firefox, you may need to download a plugin to participate in the auction. For more information on how to use the bidding console, please go to Using the Bidding Console.

Q: What if I encounter technical difficulties, such as problems with loading the Bidding Console?

A: For technical assistance, please go to Live Auctioneers and click on the pull down help link located at the upper right corner of the page. We recommend testing this during weekday hours, when LiveAuctioneers has support associates available for live chats.

Q: I left an absentee bid on Live Auctioneers, and it looks like I am bidding against myself. What’s going on?

A: Your absentee bid has priority over live bidders on the Live Auctioneers platform, and their computer sends us the earliest bid at the same increment. 

After the Auction

Q: How do I know if I won the auction?

A: Winners will receive a notice directly from Live Auctioneers. We will try to to send you your invoice later on Friday, and by Monday at the latest.

Q: Why is the sales tax on my invoice?

A: LiveAuctioneers, as a “market place facilitator”, is required to collect and remit local sales tax in those jurisdictions that assess sales tax, absent an approved exemption, most frequently a purchase for resale. Accordingly, unless you register as a reseller with LiveAuctioneers, applicable sales tax will be added to your invoice, regardless of whether or not you are located outside of Illinois. It is our understanding that international bidders, however, will not be subject to the collection of sales tax as long as their packages are shipped out of the country. If you are a reseller, we strongly encourage you to register as such with LiveAuctioneers prior to the sale. The link is within your bidder profile.

Q: What are my payment options?

A: If you have sales tax on your invoice, you must pay through the LiveAuctioneers Payment System using either a credit card or a direct bank transfer. We are not accepting PayPal or any other method of credit card payment for this auction, and we are no longer accepting Venmo either.  International winners and exempt buyers can contact us for other payment options.  If you do not pay through the LiveAuctioneers Payment System within 72 hours after we send your invoice, including international and exempt winners who haven’t opted out of Automatic Payments, the debit or credit card you used to register for our auction will automatically be charged.

Q: What if I want to use a different credit card or pay by direct bank transfer (ACH)?

A: If you want to use a different debit or credit card than the one on file, you can either change the card in your LiveAuctioneers profile, or checkout before the 72 hour payment window, using your preferred card.  If you want to pay by ACH, you will need to checkout using LiveAuctioneers prior to the 72 hour payment window.

Q: How can I opt out of AutoPay?

A: You need to to notify us prior to the end of the 72 hour window.  To be safe, please notify us at least two hours before, or earlier, if it the window closes after 5:00 pm Chicago time.

Q: If I opt out of AutoPay, can I opt back in?

A: No. Unfortunately, this cannot be reversed.  However, the decision only applies to the current auction.

Q: Is there any advantage to using LivePayments to check out prior to the end of the 72 hour window?

A:  Yes.  We ship in the order that payment is received, so you will be further up in the shipping queue.  Since this is our first auction using AutoPay, we do not know how we will handle placement on the shipping queue for those payments.  Please note that ACH payments take longer to clear.  Nevertheless your place in the shipping queue will be determined preliminarily by initial payment date.

Q: Since FWG is passing through the costs of processing, what is that cost?

A:  These are the processing fees:

• LiveAuctioneers AutoPay credit or debit card: 3.75% + $0.25
• LiveAuctioneers AutoPay ACH bank transfer:  1% + $0.50
• Exempt and International Winners credit or debit card: 3%

In addition, unless  we have previously received a wire from an international winner that had no deductions, we reserve the right to add a $25-$30 fee to cover the costs of intermediary bank fees.

Q: Why do I have to use LivePayments if I have sales tax on my invoice?

A: In order to comply with the Marketplace Facilitators rules, sales tax must be collected and remitted to the proper taxing authority for the jurisdiction to which the purchase is sent.  LiveAuctioneers handles this for us, but only for payments made through LiveAuctioneers.  We are not able to handle this on our own.

Q:  How is shipping handled?

A: We plan to include a shipping charge on the initial invoice, and we should be able to include shipping for most domestic winners  later on Saturday.  Domestic packages with a sheet size of 21 x 15 inches have a base cost of $35, and those with a sheet size of 29 x 24 have a base cost of $50, plus $1/$100 for insurance. However, winning bidders residing outside the US, or in Alaska or Hawaii or the buyers larger prints will require a custom shipping quote.  Please see our Shipping Procedures at the top of this page, as well as our Terms and Conditions of Sale for additional information.

Q: Are there any other fees?

A: In addition to the purchase price, buyer’s premium, shipping and payment processing fees, US residents who are not otherwise exempt will be assessed sales tax based on their shipping address.  International bidders are responsible for all applicable customs, duties, taxes, etc., including any such items that are charged back to us.

More Questions?

• We tried to cover everything, but if you still have questions, or suggestions for other topics to cover, please email us at [email protected]
• Last updated 11.18.23