What we plan to do...

Bringing our auctions back to you safely during Coronavirus (Covid-19) 

Firstly, we would like to say thank you for your continued support and understanding throughout the past few months. Our last sale was held back in March and, in line with government advice, we have postponed our sales since.

Throughout this time, we have been busy planning for our return. Behind the scenes we have been completing our return catalogue - making it bigger and better and we have also been looking at ways to re-open with safety as priority. We are happy to announce that the auction will re-open on Monday 8^th June 2020, with an auction scheduled to happen on Saturday 13^th June 2020 - however, changes will apply…

Safety has to be our priority for all staff and customers. We also have to take into consideration medical and government advice, so we are returning but with some very necessary changes, they are as follows…

Viewing

At this time, we have made the decision to cancel ALL viewing for our upcoming sale. We understand this will be frustrating to those of you who like to personally view items and browse our saleroom. Due to very little changes being made in Scotland based on medical advice, we feel it is too early to allow for viewing to go ahead, however we do have some other options for you.

 As always, if customers are unable to view the auction personally we can give detailed condition reports of items that are of interest to you, this can be carried out via email or via phone. Additionally we are introducing video condition reports, if it is an item that you need to see in entirety.

Auction Day

NO customers will be allowed into the saleroom on auction day. The auction will run at the auction house with four socially distanced members of staff running the event.

Bidding at auction

Online

Our auctions will be live as always with thesaleroom.com and easyliveauction.com- this means you can listen to our auctions live from the comfort of your own home. Bidding via these platforms is relatively straightforward and can be carried out live or through automated bids. If you are interested in bidding via one of these platforms but need some help to get started, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will try to assist you the best that we can.

Telephone Bids

If the internet isn’t your thing or the item you are interested in requires a telephone bid, then please contact us to arrange this prior to sale day.

Commission Bids

Again, if online bidding doesn’t suit you, then we can accept commission bids directly to us.

Please note:

If you require a telephone bid or wish to place a commission bid, we will need some assurances from you first. If you are a known buyer to us, then we can confidently accept these requests for you. If you are new to bidding with us, we will need proof of successful bidding/transaction history online through your buying platform, if this isn’t an option we will require a deposit (this would be deducted from your invoice total if successful and refunded if unsuccessful).

Collection/distribution of lots successfully bid upon

As always we will be offering a post and packing service if required, however please expect delays with this service due the current circumstances. If you are local and would like to collect your items in person, this can be arranged. We are setting up a ‘call & collect’ service until further notice, this means we will require you to phone or email us to make a booking prior to collection. We ask that you make payment where possible before collection i.e. over the phone or by bank transfer, if this isn’t an option we will require cash payments to be made to the exact amount. On arrival at the auction we ask that you phone the saleroom to inform a member of staff that you are outside waiting. We will then open the container doors (in the auctions grounds) where you can collect your purchase/purchases from. This will allow you to safely collect your items, without coming into contact with any customers or staff. We ask that you only arrive for your allocated time slot if you are well- if you are displaying any signs of COVID-19, please contact us to cancel your booking and we will store your items until you are back to full health. Where collection isn’t possible due to shielding, we can arrange to store your items or we can deliver locally (free of charge) to a safe area.

Submission of items for upcoming sales

We will require you to phone the auction prior, to arrange a time for drop-off. At this point we will then explain the two metre- social distancing- drop-off system we have in place. Again, please don’t attend the saleroom if you are displaying any signs of COVID-19.

Possible delays

We always try to be as efficient as possible and will continue to be, as much as we can. We ask you to bear in mind, that where delays may be experienced, we are trying our best. The process of bidding, paying and collecting for each customer is going to be longer due to safety measures and therefore more time will have to be allocated to each individual customer, which in turn lengthens our turnaround time. We will also be working with a skeletal workforce due to shielding measures and the current situation impacting childcare. If you are trying to contact us by phone and have been unsuccessful, please email us and we will contact you as soon as we are free to do so.

If there is any further information you require, please don’t hesitate to contact us by email at [email protected]

Thank you for your continued custom and support, and please, take care. 

William Bowler, J’aime Bowler & Andrew Bowler

Bowler & Binnie Auctioneers