Cooks Hill Galleries is a provider of an online art valuation service. By submitting a photograph/s of an item to be valued, along with any related information, you (Client) accepts the Terms & Conditions as set out here and that they form part of a legally binding contract.

If you disagree with any part of these Terms & Conditions, you should not submit a valuation request.

By using any of our services you state that you are over 18 years of age and capable of entering into a contract and being legally bound by it.

1. CLIENT INFORMATION

All information provided to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, particulars about your item/s, will be kept confidential.

We may be required to retain personal information for a period of time after you have ceased your relationship with us.

2. THE VALUATION SERVICE

Unless stated otherwise, the valuation supplied will be, in our opinion as to the fair market value for the item and the price that the item might realistically achieve, if submitted for sale on the open market.

In other words, the price that might be agreed between a willing buyer and willing seller, both having reasonable knowledge of all relevant facts, and neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell, or the amount that might be achieved if the item was placed in an appropriate auction at the present time, irrespective of any commission, sale, expenses, taxes or other fees that might be incurred in achieving a sale at auction.

Unless otherwise agreed with you, the valuation is based purely on the inspection of a photograph or photographs of the item, and the consideration of any information that might be supplied by you about the item and without any physical inspection or any further research, testing or analysis of the item.

As an online valuation service, we are unable to carry out a physical inspection of all items, or carry out the kind of in-depth research that may be undertaken by professional scholars or art market experts having the opportunity to physically inspect an item. Thus the authorship, identification and valuation of the item might change upon further research or examination, either by CHG or other art market experts.

3. THE VALUATION

The valuation is a statement of reasonable opinion and not fact. We note that as the art market changes and research evolves, opinions on these matters may change as well.

The valuation supplied is consistent with other online art valuation services, based on the materials you submit. The provision of a valuation neither implies, confirms nor guarantees the authenticity of the item, nor the veracity of any details or

information supplied in relation to the item by you, such as date, age, origin, provenance, or condition of the item.

The valuation normally comprises of a high and low estimate. The provision of a valuation does not guarantee that the item would realise the valuation figure supplied if sold on the open market or at a contemporaneous or later sale or auction.

The valuation is provided as a matter of general information only and may not be used for official or formal purposes, including (but not limited to):

+ for any proposed sale of the item;

+ for insurance purposes;

+ for the purposes of obtaining a grant of probate;

+ in relation to legal proceedings, specifically, in relation to insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings, divorce proceedings; and

+ in relation to loan agreements.

We make no representation and offer no warranties as to the future use of the valuation, except as specifically agreed upon and provided for in our report.

Valuations are normally supplied within the stated delivery time. However, a valuation may be delayed slightly in the event we request further information from a you regarding your item or by circumstances beyond our control, including (but not limited to) Internet outages, etc.

4. FEES & PAYMENT

You must pay the valuation fee in accordance with our stated requirements.   

5. YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, OBLIGATIONS & UNDERTAKINGS

You warrant to us that:

+ you are the owner of the item submitted for valuation;

+ the item is free from any third-party interests, restrictions or claims of any kind; or

+ you are otherwise duly and properly authorised by the owner of the item to submit it for valuation.

You must provide clear and accurate photographs of the item to be valued, and full and accurate information regarding your item. You information must include any known authenticity issues, provenance, previous sale history, condition and condition issues or any other related information.

You warrant that all material provided to us is owned by you or you otherwise have the right to use such material and provide it to us. You indemnify us, our directors, officers, employees and agents fully in relation to any breach of your warranty.

6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

You acknowledge and agree that we own all copyright in the valuation report.

We grant to you a non-exclusive, royalty and fee-free, world-wide, non-transferable licence to use the information supplied to us for the purpose of providing a valuation of the item to you.

You must not disclose or sell the valuation to any third party.

7. INDEMNITY

You agree to indemnify us and our affiliated companies, servants, employees and officers against all liabilities and expenses incurred by us as a result of:

+ any breach of this agreement and related claims by third parties in connection with the valuation; or

+ any of your unlawful or negligent acts or omissions causing us loss or damage.

8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

You acknowledge and agree that we will not be liable for any deficiency (including but not limited to any omissions, mistakes, erroneous attributions, authenticity issues or inaccurate values) in the valuation as a consequence of:

+ external circumstances such as (without limitation) changes in the prevailing market conditions for the object, information not publicly available or changes in relevant scholarship;

+ the surrounding circumstances of the object being valued (such as, without limitation, the object’s provenance or place in a wider collection, or the existence of several similar items available for sale at the same time);

+ failure to provide full and accurate information in the knowledge or possession of the Client, his agents, employees, servants, advisers or his family; and

+ any other factors that cannot be identified by a reasonable inspection of the photographs received and information received by the Company (including but not limited to factors that can be identified only by a physical inspection of the object).

Nothing in this agreement excludes or limits our liability for:

+ death or personal injury caused by negligence; or

+ fraud; or

+ misrepresentation as to a fundamental matter; or

+ any liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

To the extent permitted by law, our liability in relation to guarantees implied by the Competition and Consumer Act 2011 (Cth) is limited as follows in relation to the valuation services (at our sole discretion to:

+ supplying the services again; or

+ the cost of re-supply of the services.

9. CONSIGNING THE ITEM FOR SALE

We will take any consignment of the valued items subject to our standard consignment terms.

10. TERMINATION OF THE AGREEMENT

We reserve the right to:

+ decline any request for appraisal or appraisal related services; or

+ terminate this agreement for any reason with reasonable notice, however without incurring any liability to you.

If we decline a valuation request, or are unable to provide a valuation for whatever reason, a full refund of the valuation fee will be paid in the same means by which you paid the deposit.

We may terminate this agreement immediately without notice to you if you breach any term of this agreement and you will not be entitled to a refund of the valuation fee paid.

11. USE OF OUR WEBSITE

You use our website subject to the Terms and Conditions.

 

12. VARIATION

We reserve the right to change this agreement without notice to you. Once posted, such changes will be effective immediately. Please check this page regularly to ensure you are familiar with the current version.

13. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

This agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and us in relation to our valuation services and supersedes all previous agreements in respect of our supply of valuation services to you.

14. OUR DETAILS

The name of our company is Art Investments Pty Limited trading as “Cooks Hill Galleries”.

You can contact us by e-mail via mail@cookshillgalleries.com via www.cookshillgalleries.com, or write to us at Cooks Hill Galleries, 67 Bull St COOKS HILL, Newcastle NSW 2300, Australia.

15. SEVERANCE

If any part of the agreement should be held to be unenforceable for any reason, that term will be deemed to be not part of the agreement, the remaining portions of the agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

16. NO RULE OF CONSTRUCTION

Neither this agreement nor any part of it is to be construed against a party on the basis that the party or its lawyers were responsible for its drafting.

17. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

The laws in force in the State of New South Wales, Australia, govern this agreement. Each of the parties to this agreement submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that State.