Chinese Auction Agreements

I recently made some comments on the AW blog about new regulations and business practices of mainland Chinese auction houses.  Asian expert Daphene Rosenzweig, Ph.D. send me a copy of a Conditions of Business page from the Chinese Auction House Beijing Hanhai listing some of the restrictions and caveats involved when dealing with the auction house.  It shows the Chinese are very good at small print as we are here in the US.

Daphne only sent me a single page of the Conditions of Business, and it appears to go on for pages, the one page I have includes only articles 11-25.

Here is a small excerpt on what the insurance package does not cover. Interesting to see they dont cover losses in the event of many nuclear events.

Article 18 Uninsured

We will not be liable for the damages or losses of the Lot caused by natural wear, inherent flaws, inherent or potential defects, inherent material changes, self-combustion, self-warming, oxidation, rust, leakage, rate-bite, woodworm, changes in atmospheric (climate, temperature or humidity) conditions, changes in normal water level, or other reasons of natural changes or caused by earthquake, tsunami, war, actions similar to war, hostile actions, armed conflicts, terrorism, rebellion, coup, strike, riots, or nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, nuclear weapon, nuclear radiation, or radioactive pollution. We will also not take responsibility for any dames to or any losses of frames, glass, drawer, bottom mat, trestle, mounting, insert pages, roller or other similar accessories caused by any reason.

Click HERE if you wish to read the one page of Conditions of Business that I have from the catalog. The text is small in the PDF.  You may wish to use the zoom slide at the bottom of the page to increase the text size.  (Note: I had to scan from a photo-copy, and the lower portion of the page is blurred.)