Annual Consignment Auction

The 2021 auction will be on LiveAuctioneers.com. You must make an account on LiveAuctioneers.com and register to submit bids for the auction. The auction will begin Saturday, September 25 at 7PM EST. Absentee bidding or “pre-bidding” will be open Friday, September 3. Please review the information available from the LiveAuctioneers.com help section as it explains in detail the registration and bidding process.

Conditions of Sale: (1) All interested buyers, whether present or absentee, must register to participate in the auction. (2) All property is sold “as is” and the auctioneer/auction house makes no warranty or representation of the correctness of the catalog or other description of the physical condition, size, quality, rarity, importance, provenance, exhibitions, literature or historical relevance of the property, and no statement anywhere, whether oral or written shall be deemed such a warranty or representation. (3) The auctioneer reserves the right to reject any bid or raise not commensurate with the value of the lot, to withdraw the lot, or to reoffer the lot in the event of a disputed bid. In all cases, the auctioneer’s decision and record of final sale shall be conclusive. (4) At the conclusion of the bidding, as the gavel falls/bidding times out, the highest bid becomes final sale. Title to and full risk and responsibility for the lot shall pass to the buyer. (5) All lots are subject to a 6.25% Massachusetts Sales Tax unless buyer has a Massachusetts Sales Tax Exemption Number. (6) All lots are subject to a 25% Buyer’s Premium in addition to the hammer price. (7) PAAM’s liability to the purchaser will not exceed the actual purchase price. (8) Bidding on any article indicates your acceptance of these terms and any others which may be announced from the block at the time of the sale.

Bid Increment:
Bidding takes place in predetermined increments that increase as the bid amount increases as follows: $100-500, $25 increments; $500-1000, $50 increments; $1000-3000, $100 increments; $3000-5000, $250 increments; over $5000-$10000, $500 increments.

Buyer’s Premium:
A charge of 25% of the “hammer price” paid by the buyer to PAAM. The “hammer price” plus “buyer’s premium” equals the final sale price.

Buy-Back:
If a reserve is set by the consignor and that price is not met, the consignor is required to pay a fee of 15% of the unmet reserve in order for PAAM to release the consignment back to the consignor.

Hammer Price:
The amount of the final bid when the hammer falls (literally or figuratively). Consignors receive 80% of the hammer price, PAAM receives 20%. PAAM also charges the buyer a 25% “buyer’s premium” on top of the “hammer price”. For example, a piece that sells for a hammer price of $1,000 pays $800 to the consignor, $200 to PAAM, and the buyer pays PAAM and additional $250 (25% of $1,000). This equals a final sale price of $1,250.

Reserve:
The minimum price that a seller is willing to accept for an item to be sold at auction. This amount is not disclosed to the public.

Resale Number:
If you have a MA tax resale number or ID, it must be submitted prior to bidding so PAAM can adjust the invoice accordingly.

If you have works you are interested in consigning, you can begin the process by emailing descriptions and images to PAAM Registrar Seth Abrahamson at seth@paam.org. This year’s deadline for consignments is Friday, July 23, 2021.

Consignors to the auction receive 80% of the “hammer price” for lots sold, and PAAM receives 20% or a minimum of $50. It is in the best interest of PAAM and the consignor to sell high, so every effort is made to ensure the best possible price at auction for every consignment. The auction is advertised digitally and in print through major antique and fine arts publications both locally and nationally, and all lots will be on view at the museum from September 3 through September 25. The auction is officiated by Auctioneer and Provincetown art expert James R. Bakker (MA Lic. #154). The 2021 consignment auction will be held online via one of the premier fine art and object auction sites, LiveAuctioneers.com. PAAM reserves the right to remove any consignments from the auction lineup up to one week before the auction preview exhibition opens to the public.

Consignments must meet the following criteria:
Created by a deceased artist with a strong connection to Cape Cod
Must be framed unless sculpture
Cannot have been previously sold by PAAM in the past 5 years
Have a minimum estimated value of $500

Consignments to the PAAM Annual Consignment Auction will be delivered to PAAM at the sole expense of the consignor. Consignor receives 80% of the “hammer” price, PAAM (consignee) receives 20% of the “hammer” price, or a minimum of $50.00. The buyer of any given lot is then charged an additional fee of 25% of the “hammer” price (called a “buyer’s premium”) which is paid to PAAM. The “hammer” price, plus the “buyer’s premium”, is the final recorded price of the lot. For example, a lot selling for a “hammer” price of $1,000.00 will pay $800.00 to the consignor, $200.00 to PAAM, and the buyer pays PAAM an additional $250.00 (25% of the “hammer price”, called the “buyer’s premium”), resulting in a recorded auction price of $1,250.00. Bidding will start at half of the low estimate. PAAM reserves the discretionary right to remove any lot from the auction lineup up until the date of the auction preview exhibition.
The lot estimate generated by PAAM is not a guarantee that the lot will sell for a minimum of the low estimate. Since it is in the best interest of PAAM and the consignor to sell high, every effort is made to ensure the best possible price for every lot. If bidding is deemed insufficient by the auctioneer, a lot will be “passed” rather than sold at an inappropriately low price.

Auction lots are usually sold without a reserve (minimum selling price), but will be honored if specified by the consignor. Reserves are not published or divulged to anyone outside of the Auction Committee. If a lot does not meet a set reserve, a buyback fee of 15% of the unmet reserve will be charged to the consignor before the unsold lot is released.

The PAAM Consignment Auction is advertised in print and online to help promote respectable prices for the lots. An auction preview exhibition will be on view for at least two weeks before the auction, and is also posted to the PAAM website.

Every effort is made to ensure good care of each auction lot, however, PAAM will not be responsible for loss due to buyer default, inherent vice, or other factors beyond our control. It is the sole responsibility of the consignor to collect any unsold lot(s) no later than 30 days beyond the auction date. Consignments left beyond 30 days will be shipped back to the consignor at their expense. Payments will be mailed to consignors within 30 business days after the auction. A party’s signature on this receipt/contract indicates acceptance of these terms.

PAAM will ship lots are the request of the buyer using Mail Spot Express here in Provincetown, unless the work requires a courier due to size, weight, or condition concerns. Any shipping and packing costs will be the sole responsibility of the buyer. The shipping and payment information will be handed off to Mail Spot Express, and they will contact the buyer with shipping estimates and charge the buyer directly. Estimates for pricing and insurance can only be given by Mail Spot Express. PAAM will deliver artworks to Mail Spot Express for shipping within ten (10) business days of the receipt of your payment for the auction. If a courier is necessary, PAAM will put the buyer in touch with the independent courier we use. At the conclusion of the bidding, title to and full risk and responsibility for the lot shall pass to the buyer. In no event will PAAM be liable for damage, regardless of cause.