I continue to receive complaints from individuals who consign material to Premiere Props, who then claim that they have not been paid in a timely manner following the sale of those goods.
If anyone is considering consigning pieces to ANY auction house, I cannot stress enough the importance of reading their consignment agreement prior to signing it and entering into a contract with them... just on the payment issue, here is what was contained within the agreement of the latest individual to complain to me about not being paid:
15. SETTLEMENT. Premiere will mail Consigner’s sale proceeds (not including the Buyer’s Premium, sales, use, GST, VAT or other transactional taxes, charges or duties [including but not limited to credit card fees], insurance received) from the successful bidder to Consigner, less Premiere’s selling commission, within thirty (30) days of the actual receipt of such sale proceeds. Premiere will process all payments from successful bidders and follow customary procedures for auctions in the U.S. in collection of the sale proceeds, and Consigner expressly acknowledges and agrees that Premiere will have no obligation to enforce payment by any purchaser or bidder, and has no liability for any failure by any purchaser to make payment. In the event of a failure of a buyer to pay the sale proceeds, Consigner holds Premiere harmless from liability of collection of the sale proceeds from the successful bidder. If Premiere does not receive payment from the successful bidder and the Property is still in Premiere’s possession, Premiere may in our sole discretion cancel the sale and (i) re-offer the Property or (ii) return the Property to you under the terms of this agreement.
Basically, they are saying that they will pay "you" (the consignor) 30 days after they are paid by the buyer, not 30 days after the end of the auction. And, well, if the buyer doesn't perform, well... too bad. So how one would know when the auction house is paid by the buyer, well, that would be hard to know, and a challenge to know when that clock starts ticking.
All of these contracts are of course going to be in the favor of the auction house (no matter who it is), so people really need to read these, understand them, and accept the various outcomes that might result from the terms applied to actions and circumstances outside of the control of the consignor...
Jason