Conditions of Sale

1. Who we are

Teals Auctions (“Teals”, “we”) is operated by Whitestone Capital Holdings Pty Ltd (ABN 37 643 764 096). These conditions apply to lots offered through Teals. Nothing in these conditions excludes, restricts or modifies any right or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded, including applicable rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

2. Registration and eligibility

You must register an account and be at least 18 years old to bid. You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping your sign-in email secure. We may decline a registration, and may suspend or close an account that breaches these conditions, at our discretion.

3. Bids are binding

Every bid is a binding offer to buy the lot at that price. Once the lot closes with you as the winning bidder and any reserve has been met, you are required to complete the purchase and pay the invoice. Bids cannot be withdrawn simply because you change your mind. This does not limit any cancellation, refund or other right available under Australian Consumer Law or another applicable law. If you set a maximum bid, you authorise Teals to bid on your behalf in increments up to that maximum. Your maximum is private, but it can become the visible price when another bidder reaches it.

4. How lots close

Lots close in run order during a live session. An accepted bid that changes the current price during the closing window resets the countdown. Raising your maximum without changing the current price does not extend it. The lot closes when its server countdown expires. A bid placed before the live session remains active and can win if it is not surpassed. The auction clock is our server's clock, which is authoritative over anything displayed on your device. Allow time for your bid to reach the server.

5. Reserves

Some lots carry a reserve - a minimum price below which the lot will not sell. Where a reserve applies it is shown as met or not met, and for some lots the reserve figure itself is displayed. Reserves are fixed before a lot opens and are never raised during bidding. If a lot does not reach its reserve, it is passed in and no sale occurs.

6. No vendor or dummy bidding

Teals does not bid on lots offered through the platform. Our operators and staff are barred from bidding, and the platform enforces that bar. We do not place bids to increase sale prices. Automatic maximum bids are placed only on a buyer's instructions.

7. Price - no buyer's premium, GST included

The winning bid is the price you pay for the lot. Teals charges no buyer's premium and adds no commission. All prices are in Australian dollars and are inclusive of GST. Delivery and transit protection are added at checkout, charged once per auction however many lots you win in that auction, and are also GST-inclusive. The charge is $19 plus 2.5% of your winning total in that auction. The percentage does not apply to the delivery charge itself. If you win in more than one auction, a separate charge applies to each.

8. Payment

We group your wins from each auction onto an invoice and email a secure payment link after the auction ends. You can also choose to check out earlier from your account. Wins from different auctions are invoiced separately. Payment is due within 72 hours after your invoice is sent. This period runs from the original invoice being sent. A reminder or replacement copy of the same invoice does not restart that period. We send payment reminders before the deadline. If you encounter a payment problem, contact us before the deadline so we can review it and agree any appropriate arrangement.

9. How you pay

All payments are made through our online checkout using the payment methods displayed there, except a charge to a card you have saved with us under clause 10A. We do not accept cash or cryptocurrency, and we never ask for payment by any other means. Refunds, where due, are returned to your original payment method through the same checkout.

10. Non-payment, forfeiture and recovery

If your invoice remains unpaid after 72 hours and no payment arrangement has been agreed, your wins will be forfeited, the sales cancelled, and your account suspended from bidding for 90 days. The lots may be offered again or returned to stock. If you believe payment has already been made, contact us immediately so we can check it. Non-payment may also result in debt recovery action. Where an amount remains legally owed to us, we may refer it to a debt collection agency or commence legal proceedings. Before any referral, we will send written notice explaining the amount claimed, its basis, the proposed action, and how to pay or dispute it, and give you a reasonable opportunity to respond. We will investigate a genuine dispute before proceeding with collection of the disputed amount. If a sale has been cancelled or the goods resold, we will not continue to demand the cancelled invoice as though the sale were still proceeding. Any subsequent claim will be limited to loss or costs we are legally entitled to recover, taking reasonable steps to reduce that loss and accounting for payments already received and any resale proceeds. We will not recover the same amount twice. No automatic late fee or fixed collection fee applies. Recovery or legal costs will only be claimed to the extent permitted by law or awarded by a court. Nothing in this clause restricts your statutory consumer rights.

10A. Payment by your saved card if an invoice is unpaid

You may save a card with us for this purpose when you bid. If you do, and an invoice for purchases made under these conditions is still unpaid 72 hours after it was sent, and no payment arrangement has been agreed, we may charge that card once for the invoice total. The invoice total is your winning bids plus the delivery and transit protection charge on that invoice, including GST. We will never charge more than the invoice total, and we charge only purchases made after you saved the card and agreed to this clause.

We tell you before we charge. The final payment reminders, sent at 48 and 60 hours, name the card and the amount. You can pay the invoice another way at any time before the deadline, and if you do, the card is not charged. Once you save a card under these conditions, an active account keeps a card on file. You can replace it through Stripe from your account; the previous card stays in place until its replacement is confirmed. You can close your account and remove its saved cards once your active bids and outstanding purchases are resolved, subject to clause 18. If you need to withdraw a payment authorisation or dispute a payment, contact us before the deadline so we can review the request. This does not cancel an existing purchase or limit a right provided by law. Any removal right granted under earlier conditions continues to apply to purchases and authorisations made under those conditions.

If your card issuer asks for authentication that you are not present to give, we may try the charge once more, about six hours later. If the charge is declined, or the second attempt also needs authentication, clause 10 applies: your wins are forfeited and your account is suspended from bidding for 90 days, exactly as for any unpaid invoice.

A charge under this clause is a payment of your invoice, and the sale then proceeds as any paid sale does. Card details are held by our payment processor, Stripe; we keep only the card brand and its last four digits. A refund of a sale paid this way is made to the same card. If you believe a charge was made in error, contact us and we will investigate it. Nothing in this clause restricts your statutory consumer rights.

11. Second-chance offers

If a win is forfeited, we may offer the lot to the next-highest bidder at their own highest bid. A second-chance offer is genuinely optional: accept it and a normal sale proceeds at that price; decline it (or let it lapse after 24 hours) and you owe nothing, with no effect on your account.

12. Title and risk

Title to the goods passes to you on receipt of full payment. The goods remain at our risk until delivered to your address. We bear some transit risk ourselves and use carrier cover where applicable; this does not reduce our responsibility to you. From delivery, the goods are at your risk, without limiting your statutory consumer rights.

13. Description, certificates and condition

Review each lot's description, condition, photographs and any supporting documents before bidding. For gemstones, descriptions include any treatments we are aware of. Where a lot carries an independent laboratory report, it records the lab's opinion and is identified by lab and number. Colour reproduction varies between screens. A listing is not an appraisal, valuation, or statement of resale or investment value. These conditions do not exclude, restrict or modify your Australian Consumer Law rights, including applicable rights about description and acceptable quality.

14. Problems, returns and disputes

If a lot is not as described, arrives damaged, or does not arrive, report it from My Wins or contact us. Where a product has a major problem under the Australian Consumer Law, you can choose a refund or replacement, or keep it and seek compensation for its reduced value. For a minor problem, we may provide a repair or another remedy required by law. Other statutory rights, including compensation for reasonably foreseeable loss, are not limited. We do not accept change-of-mind returns on auction purchases or offer an additional voluntary refund guarantee. Refunds are made to your original payment method unless we agree otherwise with you. See our Returns page for the practical steps.

15. Delivery

Teals ships within Australia only, to the address you provide at checkout. Every order ships by Australia Post Express Post with Signature on Delivery. We do not authorise delivery without a signature. Teals bears the transit risk, whether we cover that risk ourselves or arrange eligible carrier cover. Delivery times are estimates. If a shipment is lost or damaged before delivery, contact Teals. The transit risk remains ours and your statutory remedies apply.

15A. Uncollected parcels and redelivery

Please provide a correct delivery address and current contact details, and monitor the tracking information we send you. If a parcel is taken to a collection point, collect it within the period notified by Australia Post. Notifications may be electronic or by a delivery card. If a parcel is returned to Teals, we hold it securely and contact you to arrange redelivery. Where the return resulted from incorrect details you supplied or failure to collect after valid notification and a reasonable opportunity, we may require payment of reasonable additional postage before sending it again. We confirm the charge with you first; we do not apply the auction delivery formula again or add an automatic penalty or storage fee. A return alone does not cancel your purchase or create an automatic refund entitlement. If Teals or Australia Post caused the failure, or it was outside your reasonable control, we assess the circumstances before applying any charge. Nothing here limits your Australian Consumer Law rights or our responsibility for delivery.

16. Live sessions and technical matters

We may pause a live session (for example, to resolve a technical issue) and resume it, in which case the current lot gets back the time it had remaining. In exceptional circumstances we may cancel the remainder of a session: lots already sold stand as binding sales and will be invoiced; unsold lots are withdrawn and no sale occurs. We take care to run a reliable room, but we are not liable for a bid that fails to register because of your device or connection, and we may refuse or annul a bid that was accepted in error.

17. Room conduct

Keep interactions with other users and our team courteous. Do not harass, impersonate, abuse or defame others, share another person's private information, or attempt to manipulate the bidding process. We may restrict access where reasonably necessary to address misconduct, subject to your statutory rights.

18. Your account and privacy

Your public presence in the room is an anonymous bidder name - your legal identity is never shown to other bidders. Our handling of your personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy. You may close your account from the account page once you have no active leading bids or outstanding wins or payments. Closure removes saved cards from Stripe and signs you out. It does not cancel an existing purchase, and records required for financial, legal or dispute purposes may be retained. If self-service closure is unavailable, contact us for help with your request.

19. Liability

Nothing in these conditions excludes, restricts or modifies any consumer guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot lawfully be excluded. Subject to that, our liability to you in connection with a lot is limited to the amount you paid for it, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss.

20. Changes, severability and governing law

We may update these conditions from time to time. Material changes will be presented for your acknowledgement before you bid in a subsequent auction. Revised conditions do not retrospectively change bids or purchases already made. An existing purchase continues under the conditions applicable to that purchase, including where its payment deadline is extended by agreement. If part of these conditions is found unenforceable, the rest still applies. These conditions are governed by the laws of Western Australia and the Commonwealth of Australia. Disputes are subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Western Australia.