Auction Rules
1. Buyer’s Premium – A 17% (seventeen percent) buyer’s premium will be added to the winning bid of all lots (a $100 winning bid will thus be charged $117).
2. We honor a 10 (ten) Minute Rule. The 10-minute rule is in effect at 10:50 PM EST the night of the auction. Items will close individually starting at 11:00 PM EST. Once the time remaining on the clock is under 10 minutes, the 10-minute rule kicks in. The 10-minute rule pertains to each lot individually. If a bid is placed on an item when there are less than 10 minutes remaining on the clock, the clock will reset to 10 minutes remaining for that item. This will continue until there are 10 consecutive minutes without a bid on that item. The item will close at that time.
3. Autograph Authentication & Card Grading
All autographed items in auction will be accompanied by authentication from a trusted third- party authentication company. Eligible third-party authenticators include JSA, Beckett, PSA/DNA, Fanatics, MLB, Tri-Star, Upper Deck, Steiner Sports, Schwartz Sports, Radtke Sports, Leaf, Stacks of Plaques, Hollywood Collectibles, Total Sports Enterprises, Online Authentics, Panini, USA Sports Marketing, SGC, CAS, Pro Player, AI Verified, Mead Chasky Sports, Prova, New England Picture and the Patriots Alumni Club/Diamond Legends. We WILL NOT offer any items that are not accompanied by authentication from one of the above companies. We will also never offer an item with an Auction House Letter of Authenticity. Matching COA cards are not required, the authentication hologram on the item is the authenticity. Game used items must have authentication from MLB, PSA, Steiner, Mears, Dave Miedema or John Taube.
Please note: Authentication company online databases may not be updated to reflect the online verification of the authenticity by the time the auction item is listed. After private signings or authentication sessions, companies like JSA, Beckett, PSA, etc. do not update their databases right away. Sometimes it may take months for an authenticated item to appear in their online database. Please be patient when trying to verify an items authenticity online.
Cards graded by the following companies are accepted: PSA, BGS, SGC, CGC, CSG, Arena Club, HGA, WCG, TAG, DGA, WCG. Raw cards are also accepted. Cards graded by companies not listed above can be auctioned but they will be listed as “encapsulated”, the grade nor the company will be mentioned in the listing.
4. All sales are final. Only items damaged during transit or items inaccurately described will be eligible for return and credit within 30 days from the auction ending. Mystery items are not eligible for return.
5. If payment is made via credit card, your credit card will be held on file. Having a valid credit card on file for all bidders protects both our bidders and consignors and to help maintain the integrity of the bidding process.
6. Bidding: Bidders may request a bidding limit increase if they reach their limit, please contact us in order to do so. Auction of Champions reserves the right to refuse to accept any or all bids by a registered user.
All new users will have a $300 threshold on their account. Once a new users cart reaches $300, their bidding ability will be turned off until their first payment is completed. After the first payment is made, reach out to us and we will turn the bidding ability back on and the restriction will no longer apply to your account.
7. Placing a bid is a legal contract. Once a bid is placed, it cannot be retracted. Placing a bid constitutes acceptance of all conditions and our terms of use. In the event of a dispute involving litigation, the bidder agrees to pay any and all attorney fees as well as the costs involved for the collection of funds for the auction company. Any legal action against the auction company shall be brought in the State of Arizona, Maricopa County.
8. Bids can only be placed on the internet (auctionofchampions.com). Bidding on items that you have consigned is a violation of our policy. Violaters will have bidding privileges revoked.
9. Bids are placed by choosing an amount via the drop-down menu of bid increments on a per item basis.
10. Payment is due within 10 days after the auction ends. If you win items on multiple days, all items must be paid within 10 days of the oldest item in your cart. Example: If you win an item on March 1st and another item on March 9th, payment is due on both items by March 11th (10 days after the first item won). If your cart is unpaid after 10 days your bidding privileges will be temporarily revoked until the past due items are paid. After 14 days we will attempt to charge your credit card on file. If the card is declined, the items in your cart will be canceled (NO EXCEPTIONS). Failure to pay for items in full will result in bidding privileges being revoked and a personal lien will be placed on the non-paying bidder. Auction of Champions will notify all other auction companies of the non-paying bidders liability.
11. Payments can be made via credit card, PayPal or account credit. We reserve the right to refuse credit card payments on any lot. All payments must be made online at auctionofchampions.com.
12. If in the instance that multiple bidders place the same bid amount which ends up being the winning bid, the bidder who placed the bid first will be declared the winner.
13. There are multiple auction formats. The All-Star Auction, all Daily Auctions, the Card Auction, Mystery Auction, and any other specialty auction features items with no reserve price. The MVP Auction is the only format that features items that will have a reserve price. If an item has a reserve price, it will be noted in the description of the item that states whether or not the reserve price has been met. Reserve prices are not disclosed.
14. Please refer to all pictures for details of each item. We provide high resolution pictures and scans of every item. We will show details of any flaw or damage in the pictures of the listing. If we fail to mention a flaw in the description, there will still be a picture showing the details so always refer to pictures for all details. Auction of Champions will not be held responsible for any typographical, photographic, print or technical errors within the auction. After the auction goes live, it is the bidder’s obligation to get updated information about an item from the website, by phone or by email. It is at our discretion to change information, suspend or remove an item from the auction at any time.
15. All winning bidders’ invoices will be available via your accounts cart once the auction closes. Winning bidders can access their cart and pay online by logging in to their account as soon as the auction ends.
16. All shipping costs will be paid by the winning bidder. Shipping is calculated by quantity, size and weight of the item(s) won. Shipping and insurance will be added to all invoices. Insurance will be charged at a rate of 1% of the subtotal. A $3 Signature confirmation charge will be added to all invoices with a subtotal of $250 or more. Auctions of Champions will ship via USPS, UPS or FedEx based off of the value, size and weight of the items. Items will be shipped as soon as the payment has cleared. Local pickup is available at our office in Phoenix, Arizona. For other shipping options, please reach out to us directly. We will NOT ship out of the United States except for Canada. If you are having items shipped to Canada, please keep shipping costs in mind and that we will only ship via USPS Priority, FedEx or DHL all depending on the value and size of the package. If you would like a shipping estimate on an item shipped to Canada, please email us. We will always ship to the shipping address on file on your account. If you have a different shipping address, you must change it on your My Account page. If you change your address on PayPal when making a PayPal payment, we will not see that, you must change it on your auctionofchampions.com account. If the tracking for a package says delivered and you claim you did not receive it, we will do everything we can to help locate the package or file a claim but we WILL NOT issue a refund or replace an item for a package that says delivered in the tracking information.
17. Winning bidders in the state of Arizona will be charged appropriate local sales tax unless the bidder has provided a current and valid Arizona tax exempt resale certificate.
18. Registration with Auction of Champions gives us permission to contact you with auction notifications and/or promotions via email, text message or telephone.
These rules were last modified on September 18th, 2024.