- Expertise spanning over 170 years
- Closely forged relationships with our producers
- State of the art storage and logistics facilities
Special conditions relating to Fine Wine Trading / Broking (Clause 13)
Special Terms and Conditions applicable to Fine Wine Trading / Broking
These special conditions supplement the basic terms and conditions and, where applicable supersede same, for the provision of broking and trading Services.
L&W will seek third-party purchasers for your wine. You may either offer wines for sale online using our online service at www.laywheeler.com or by contacting one of our trading team at trading@laywheeler.com, in which case all instructions must still be made and then confirmed in writing.
By agreeing to these broking terms and conditions you are authorising and granting to L&W a six (6) month exclusivity period to offer the wine for general sale. If the wine fails to sell within the six (6) month period, we reserve the right to withdraw the wines from sale, and will notify you accordingly.
Ownership and Transfer of Title
L&W will act as your agent in the sale of any wine and same will be held, pending sale, in the Customer’s name, uniquely identified, with our warehouse.
Upon the completion of the sale, and receipt of cleared funds by L&W, title in the wines will be transferred to the Purchaser.
In the event of a Customer deciding to withdraw the wines from sale, and notifying L&W in writing, they will be returned to the Customer, or transferred to another account at our warehouse according to the Customer’s instructions.
If the purchaser of wine(s) defaults on payment or cancels the purchase, then L&W will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by the Customer. The Products will revert to the Customer’s ownership. L&W will notify you via e mail in the case of cancelled sales.
When providing broking and trading Services in terms of this clause 12, L&W acts at all times as the agent for (and never as principal on behalf of) the Customer. As such the Customer warrants the provenance and condition of the Product as displayed by L&W and accepts all risks in and thereto. The Customer agrees to indemnify and hold harmless L&W and its directors, officers, agents, employees and representatives against any and all claims, demands, penalties, losses, liability or damage, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses asserted against, resulting from, or related to the provenance, condition or quality of the Product sold by the Customer through the broking and trading Services. By way of clarification, in the event that a Product is corked or otherwise faulty L&W will not be responsible. Any refund payable to a purchase by L&W in this instant, will be recoverable from the Customer upon demand.
Broking wines sold through the L&W facility are deemed to constitute a completed sale unless they are found to be in condition other than as represented as a condition of the sale and as per our requirements for the condition of wines.
Wines that L&W offers to trade or purchase must be free of any lien or encumbrance, must not currently be offered for sale by any third party, and must have been paid for in full.
Wines must be free from any associated storage charges owed either to L&W or any third party.
Until such a point in time that ownership rights are transferred the Customer will remain responsible for all storage and administrative charges incurred in respect of the relevant wine(s).
Eligibility to sell wines
Wines accepted for sale by L&W must have impeccable provenance and have been stored in optimum conditions. L&W may refuse to sell wines which, in the opinion of L&W or its agents, do not meet these requirements.
In order to sell wines via L&W’s Fine Wine Trading Service you must be an existing Customer who has placed an order for wines with L&W or has wine stored with L&W.
Wines must be booked into and physically present at the warehouse at the time you offer wines to L&W.
Wines that are offered for sale must have been stored by L&W at L&W warehouse, or another accredited bonded warehouse permanently since landing in the UK.
L&W may accept to trade duty paid wines, subject to the terms as listed below and any other of our terms and conditions.
Pricing and Payment
L&W will provide a price range based on the current market price. This valuation will be used to suggest a selling price; however, the final offer price must be agreed with the Customer.
L&W may list the same wine for sale at different prices, in accordance with different Customers’ instructions. If the same wine is listed at an identical price by two or more Customers, L&W will use its best endeavours to sell the wine that was listed first.
Following the sale of your wine, payment will be made to the Customer after receipt of payment in full by L&W from the purchaser and deduction of L&W’s fee set out below. A credit note for the agreed purchase price will be raised on the Customer account.
L&W will charge a fee as per the services price list and the payment to the Customer will be for the Net Proceeds agreed in the most recent Agreement for Sale.
Payment to the Customer, by BACS transfer will be paid within the first 10 working days of the month following the sale, provided that bank details have been provided, securely, online on the Customer’s account seven working days prior to expected payment.
Condition of Wines
All wines either purchased or offered for sale by L&W are deemed to be in a saleable condition. Should a wine be found to be in poor condition in the opinion of L&W or its agents (and its condition cannot be attributed to its storage by L&W), the transaction may be considered null and void at any point up until transfer of funds.
L&W has the right to refuse to trade wines which it considers are too old to be consumed/past their best. We may recommend an alternative means of trading such wines.
Should a condition report be necessitated for any wine, in order to facilitate a sale, the Customer will be contacted and asked to cover all associated charges, unless written confirmation to the contrary has been issued by L&W.
Condition reports
Condition reports are mandatory for any duty paid wines to be offered and for wines over a certain age or price threshold as determined by L&W for sale by L&W other than wines purchased duty paid from L&W and stored continuously at our warehouse following shipment to the UK.
Condition reports involve the case(s) being located from storage, being opened in the studio and photographs being taken so that the condition of the case, labels, closures and neck levels can be viewed. Condition reports assist L&W when selling wines as a proof of condition to potential purchasers.
Upon request to L&W condition reports are normally produced within 7 working days.
Charges for condition reports, at a cost in our services price list, are non-refundable and will be charged immediately to the Customer’s account. These will become payable as per the normal account payment terms.
Condition reports include one high-resolution photo of the case and the individual bottles (including front labels). A brief description of the case is also included.
Condition reports are associated with the Wine(s) and will be useable by subsequent owners of the Wine(s) should ownership change and the Wine(s) remain in the custody of L&W.
In respect of wine offered for sale via our Trading Service the condition report will be made publicly available at www.laywheeler.com
Condition reports are expertly produced by our warehouse partners. Great care is taken when opening the case and to reseal it back to its original condition. In the unlikely event that the case cannot be reconstructed L&W reserve the right to offer fair compensation.
A condition report does not guarantee that the wine is free from any non-visible damage (such as cork taint) or guarantee the provenance or quality of the wine therein.
Over time the condition of the contents of the case may deteriorate as a result of the natural ageing process. As such:
• L&W do not accept liability for a deterioration in the condition of the contents of the case (including liquid, labels, corks and capsules).
• L&W will not accept any liability for any missing capsules, corks or labels upon receipt checking.
• Condition reports provide a representation of the current condition of the wine and do not guarantee the future condition of the wine.