Frequently Asked Questions

We do not sell works but auction them off on the seller's behalf.

If you would like to sell artworks, start by completing a  valuation request form on our website, on our mobile app or bring your artworks into one of our offices to receive a valuation.

If you are happy with the valuation and estimates provided by one of our specialists, we will consign it to an upcoming auction.

Once consigned, your work will fall under our care and insurance.

Once sold, we will pay you out, less the seller's commission and VAT, within a month of the closing date of the auction.

Virtual Live Auctions

Virtual Live Auctions are conducted by one of our auctioneers in a physical auction room. Lots are sold consecutively.

Purchasing items can be done in-person, telephonically, online on our website,  via our mobile app or by placing absentee bids before the auction starts.

Please make sure that you have registered for the auction. This can be done online or in-person.

Once a lot is sold it is no longer covered by our insurance. Please contact us to arrange for collection or delivery.

Bidding

In-person bids can be placed by attending the auction event.

Online bids can be placed through our website or the mobile app.

Telephone bidding must be requested before the auction opens. During the auction you will receive a call from one of our staff members who will assist you with placing bids on your behalf. Telephone bidding can be requested by contacting our office.

Absentee bids can be placed by calling us or emailing bids@straussart.co.za before the auction opens.

Push bids are executed when multiple absentee bids are received on the same lot. The bid that was received first will be the bid that is accepted first. The remaining bids of the same value are “pushed” into the bidding history so that they are acknowledged even though they have not been accepted. This is the reason why it sometimes appears that a bidder is bidding against themselves.

Buyer's Premium

Buyer’s premium is the fee that is added to a item’s purchase price. It is calculated as a percentage of the hammer price + VAT on the premium.

Payment

Payment can be made by

* Electronic Transfer (EFT)

* Credit cards (Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Diner's Club)

* Telegraphic Transfer (TT) Remitter to bear all costs

Online-Only and Timed Online Auctions

Online-only and Timed Online Auctions are conducted by Strauss & Co’s automated auctioneering system. It happens completely online and there is no physical event to attend.

The auction runs for a number of days, usually 1 week, and all lots are open for bids during this time. The auction ends when the extended bidding period has run out on all lots.

The winning bid is the highest bid at the close of the auction.

Purchasing items can only be done online on our website or via our mobile app.

Once a lot is sold it is no longer covered by our insurance. Please contact us to arrange for collection or delivery.

To reduce the likelihood of being outbid please start monitoring your bids an hour before the auction closes. If you have placed bids on multiple lots you will be able to place further bids and monitor your lots from your 'Auction Favourites' tab under 'My Account'.

Bidding

Lot Bidding Extensions: Where there is bidding activity on a particular lot within 5 minutes prior to the lot's allocated closing time, there will be a 5 minute bidding extension on that lot until only one bidder remains. These extensions will continue indefinitely until there is no more bidding activity on the lot for a period of 5 minutes implying that there is no further interest. This extra time is designed to accommodate interested bidders and allow them the     time to compete for a lot until their ceiling has been reached. This is also designed to avoid the last-minute rush where bidders log onto Strauss Online at the end of the auction in an effort to leave a single winning bid seconds before the sale's closing time. This is called sniping and is considered unfair practice to both buyers and sellers and the lot bidding extension has been designed to avoid this.

Only bidders that have placed at least one bid before the lot’s advertised closing time will the option to continue bidding during the extended bidding period. It is not possible to place your first bid during this period.

Commission Bids: Due to the huge surge in activity on Strauss Online in the last 60 minutes prior to the auction closing-time, we encourage bidders to leave commission bids on lots in which they are interested to avoid the possibility of being unable to access the site or a particular lot shortly before the sale's closing-time and risk losing the lot.

Push Bids: Push bids are executed when multiple commission bids are received on the same lot. The bid that was received first will be the bid that is accepted first. The remaining bids of the same value are “pushed” into the bidding history so that they are acknowledged even though they have not been accepted. This is the reason why it sometimes appears that a bidder is bidding against themselves.

Buyer's Premium

Buyer’s premium is the fee that is added to a item’s purchase price. It is calculated as a percentage of the hammer price + VAT on the premium.

Payment

Payment can be made by

* Electronic Transfer (EFT)

* Credit cards (Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Diner's Club)

* Telegraphic Transfer (TT) Remitter to bear all costs

Virtual Live Auctions are conducted by a human auctioneer and streamed online via our real-time bidding platform. It is a physical event which can be attended in-person at the auction venue. Lots are sold consecutively and the auction opens at the indicated time and ends when the last lot is sold.

Online-only Auctions are conducted by Strauss & Co’s automated auctioneering system. There is no physical event to attend. The auction runs for a number of days, usually 1 week, and all lots are open for bids during this time. The auction ends when the extended bidding period has run out on all lots.

Both Online-only and Timed Online auctions are conducted by the Strauss & Co automated auctioneering system.

Online-only auctions close all lots simultaneously. All lots are open for bidding until the closing time.

Timed Online auctions close lots consecutively starting from lot 1. Every lot has a different closing time, and every lot is open for bidding until its closing time. There is a fixed delay, normally 1 minute, between two consecutive closing times.

Both the seller’s commission and buyer’s premium are calculated as a percentage of the hammer price as shown in the table below.

VAT of 15% is charged on the seller’s commission and the buyer’s premium.

Buyer’s premium + VAT is added to the hammer price.

For example, if you purchase an item for R 10 000, you will need to add a buyer's premium of 15% on the R 10 000 (R 1 500) plus 15% VAT on the premium of R 1 500 (R 225). In total, the purchase price will amount to R 11 725.

Yes, even if you are an existing client, you need to register for each auction independently. Once you have completed the registration process you will be provided with your bidder number. You will only be able to bid once you have your bidder number.

View current and upcoming auctions

Registration can only take place once an auction has gone live on our website. A ‘Register to Bid’ button will appear once the auction is live. 

• On the home page select the auction you wish to bid on. 
• Click ‘Register to Bid’.
• Existing clients can sign in and register.
• If you are a new client please complete the registration form.
• Once registered, you will receive your bidder number. New clientswill need to be approved before you are able to start bidding. Please allow some time for this process to happen. You will receive an SMS once you have been approved.
• You are now ready to bid! 

Once you have registered you can use your email address and password to sign in by simply clicking ‘Sign In’ in the top right-hand corner of the home page. 

To create your password click on 'Sign In' and then click on 'Forgotten Password'. You will receive an email with a link to create or reset your password. 

Current Bid - Increment 

• Under R 2 000 - R 100 
• R 2 000 to R 3 000 - R 200 
• R 3 000 to R 5 000 - R 200 / R 300 (R 2 000, R 2 200, R 2 500, R2800, R 3 000) 
• R 5000 to R 10 000 - R 500 
• R10 000 to R 20 000 - R 1 000
• R 20 000 to R 50 000 - R 2 000 / R 3 000 
• R50 000 to R 100 000 - R 5 000 

* and so on in multiples of 10  

Please note that for Virtual Live Auctions the auctioneer is entitled to change the increments as they consider appropriate. 

How does this Affect Commission Bids? 

Commission bids are aligned with our bidding increments, so should you enter a Commission Bid that is not a valid bidding increment for that lot, it will automatically be reduced to the closest bidding increment.  

For example: 

A lot currently has a bid of R 2 000, you are prepared to go to R 2 500 so you enter a Commission Bid of R 2 500. However, according to the table, R 2 500 is not a valid bidding increment so your Commission Bid will automatically be reduced to R 2 400. 

Notifications are only sent out during an Online-Only and Timed Online Auctions. Due to the nature of Virtual Live Auctions, you need to actively follow the auction, either in-person or online, to know when you are outbid. 

For Online-Only Auctions, the system will send you an email or SMS every time you are outbid on a lot. During the last hour of an online auction, we suggest that you sign in and keep an eye out on your lots so as to not lose out on last minute bidding. 

If you are bidding on multiple lots, please locate the 'Auction Favourites' tab under your account. You will be able to view all of your current bids and bid directly from your favourites page should you be outbid 

When placing a bid you have the option of submitting a Commission Bid. This will allow you to set a maximum amount you are willing to spend on a specific lot. The system will bid on your behalf until your maximum bid has been reached. You will then be notified once you have been outbid. To increase you bid again, simply sign in and place a higher bid on the lot. 

Due to the huge surge in activity on Strauss Online in the last 60 minutes prior to the auction closing-time, we encourage bidders to leave commission bids on lots in which they are interested to avoid the possibility of being unable to access the site or a particular lot shortly before the sale's closing-time and risk losing the lot. 

When two competing bids are submitted for the same amount, the bid first submitted will take precedent over any other bids received.

Once the auction has closed we will send you an email with instructions on how to check out. On checkout please select where you would like to collect your works, or enter a delivery address. If you choose the delivery option, a member of our shipping department will contact you with a quote.

When multiple commission bids are received on a lot for the same amount, the bid that was submitted to us first is the one that will be used. 

For example: 

A lot currently has a bid of R 1 600 and you are prepared to bid up to R 2 000. You enter a commission bid of R 2 000. Therefore, your bid would be R 1 700 with a commission bid of up to R 2 000. Should someone else bid they would bid R 1 800 which would be countered by your commission bid. This would bring your bid to R 1 900. Should the other person wish to bid, they would have to bid R 2 000. However, because you placed a commission bid first for R 2 000 you will hold the lot at R 2 000 until your are outbid. Should a bid of R 2 200 be made you would lose the lot unless you place a new commission bid or a higher manual bid. 

This happens when a lot goes into an extended bidding period. Please see Lot Bidding Extensions under Buying (Online-Only and Timed Online Auctions) for an explanation. 

Currency conversion  

Currency conversion is available wherever you see the lot thumbnail or on the lot details page. Only lots that are current or forthcoming can be converted – lots from previous auctions cannot be converted. 

The currency converter icon is a stack of coins in the top menu and only appears if there is something on the page that can be converted. 

The currency list (updated once daily) is as follows:  

• US Dollar
• Euro
• British Pound
• Australian Dollar
• Canadian Dollar 
• Chinese Yuan 

And the crypto currencies (updated every 5 minutes) are as follows: 

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum 

A lot is daggered when the buyer is required to pay VAT on the hammer price in addition to the VAT on the sales commissions. Lots that are not daggered do not have VAT on the hammer price. 

Lots are daggered when they are imported into South Africa for the purpose of the sale or when they originate from VAT registered sellers. 

VAT registered South African buyers may be able to claim VAT back, including the VAT on hammer price for daggered lots. 

International buyers may be able to get a VAT refund on both the commission and the hammer VAT if the item is exported upon purchase. 

Please contact a registered tax advisor for advice or consult the SARS website.

Where buyer and seller are both VAT registered and an item is purchased containing gold or traces thereof, there will be additional administrative requirements on both the supplier and recipient of these goods. These instances are rare, but it is important to take note. 
 
For more information, please refer to the SARS website at this link: 
https://www.sars.gov.za/types-of-tax/value-added-tax/vat-regulations-on-domestic-reverse-charge-relating-to-valuable-metal

Strauss & Co is set up with uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) and generators to run our auctions regardless if we have power from the grid. Normally bidders don’t even realise we have gone into or out of a load shedding period during an auction. This applies both to Virtual Live Auctions and Online Auctions. 

Whilst we have the infrastructure in place to continue the auctions, it may not be the case for our clients who bid remotely. One of the biggest reasons for losing Internet access is that the cellphone towers go off or data rates slow down to unusable levels during load shedding. 

The surest way to bid during load shedding is to leave absentee / commission bids or to make use of our telephone bidding service. If you prefer to use the mobile app to participate in the Virtual Live Auctions, please consider coming to the auction venue. We provide free wifi that stays connected throughout load shedding. 

Please contact us for any assistance required that will ensure that you are able to participate in our auctions. 

If a lot is unsold after the first attempt, we will commit to re-offering it once again on a platform appropriate for the lot in question, at a reduced estimate. If it is unsold a second time, sellers will be required to collect their lot/s within 14 days of the date of the sale. Uncollected lots will be sent to storage at the risk and expense of the seller.