Frequently Asked Questions

Strauss & Co does not take ownership of the items being sold, but rather auctions them on the seller’s behalf. If you would like to sell items through Strauss & Co, start by completing an obligation free valuation request form on our website, here or bring your items into one of our offices (Cape Town or Johannesburg) to receive a valuation.

A specialist will value your items based on previous auction results and will provide you with an auction estimate. If you are happy to offer your items at the proposed estimates, the items will be consigned to the most appropriate upcoming auction. Once the items are consigned, they will fall under our care and insurance.

Once the items are sold, you will be paid out the hammer price, less the seller’s commission and VAT on the commission, 28 days after the date of sale.

Live Virtual auctions are conducted by one of our auctioneers in a venue where people can physically attend. These sales will also be live-streamed via an online bidding platform accessed through our website, where one can watch and bid virtually.

There are many ways to bid on a Live Virtual auction These include: in-person, on the telephone, online or by placing an absentee bid before the auction starts. Please make sure that you are registered for the auction you wish to bid on before the auction starts, this can happen in person or online.

Once a lot is sold, it is no longer covered by our insurance. Please contact us to arrange for collection or delivery, as well as delivery cover by emailing shipping@straussart.co.za

Bidding on Live Virtual auctions 

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

Online bids can be placed through our website.

Telephone bidding must be requested at least 2 hours before the auction commences. During the auction you will receive a phone call from one of our staff members who will be your proxy in the room and assist you by placing bids on your behalf. You can place a telephone bid by clicking on the Bid button on a lot, and selecting Telephone bid. You can also place a maximum bid on a lot. This will only be used in an emergency if we are unable to contact you via telephone. However, it is not a requirement to provide a maximum bid for a telephone bid.

Absentee bids can be placed by selecting the Bid button on a lot, and setting your maximum bid.

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.

For all bidding enquires, please email bids@straussart.co.za

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

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

The auctions run for over 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 on the lot at the close of the auction. Purchasing items can only be done online or on our website.

Once a lot is sold, it is no longer covered by our insurance. Please contact us to arrange for collection or delivery, as well as delivery cover by emailing shipping@straussart.co.za

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.

Lot Bidding Extensions
Where there is bidding activity on a particular lot within five minutes prior to the lot's allocated closing time, bidding will be extended in five minute increments from the time of the last bid placed, until only one bidder remains. Extended bidding is only available to bidders who have placed a bid on that particular lot during the auction.

These extensions will continue indefinitely until there is no more bidding activity on the lot for a period of five minutes, implying that there is no further interest. This is designed to avoid the last-minute rush where bidders attempt 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.

Absentee Bids
Due to the huge surge in activity on our website during the last 60 minutes prior to the auction closing-time, we encourage bidders to leave absentee bids on lots in which they are interested, to avoid disappointment.

Absentee bids can be placed on a lot by pressing the Bid button and specifying your maximum bid. Absentee bids will only be executed on your behalf in response to any other bids placed on the lot. The system will only bid up to your maximum bid as and when necessary, and will never exceed your specified maximum. The system executes absentee bids on a first come first served basis. Lots with multiple absentee bids will be prioritised accordingly.

Push bids
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.

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

Live Virtual Auctions are conducted by an auctioneer and streamed online via our real-time bidding platform on our website. 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 through the Strauss & Co website by Strauss & Co’s automated auctioneering system. There is no physical event to attend to participate in the sale. The auction is open for bidding for a number of days, usually 1 week. All lots are closed simultaneously at a set time. The auction ends when the extended bidding period has run out on all lots.

Timed Online Auctions are conducted through the Strauss & Co website by Strauss & Co’s automated auctioneering system. There is no physical event to attend to participate in the sale. The auction is available for bidding for a number of days, usually 1 week. All lots are sold consecutively, at set intervals, usually 1 minute intervals. The auction ends when the extended bidding period has run out on all lots.

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.

Seller’s commission + VAT is deducted from 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.

Similarly, if you sell something and the hammer price is R10 000, the seller’s commission would be R1 500 and adding the 15% VAT on the commission will total R1 725. You will then be paid out R8 275.

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. First time bidders will also need to be approved before they are able to start bidding. For this reason it is important that you register timeously and do not leave registration to the last minute.

View current and upcoming auctions

All first time bidders will need to be approved before they will be able to bid. This will happen as soon as possible after registration.

For security reasons, Strauss & Co will block your account from being accessed if the password is entered incorrectly 5 times or more. To unblock your account, please contact our offices on +27 11 728 8246 or +27 21 683 6560, or email info@straussart.co.za

Your account may have been blocked as your password has been entered incorrectly 5 times or more. Please contact our offices on +27 11 728 8246 or +27 21 683 6560, or email info@straussart.co.za for assistance

Registration for an auction can only take place once the auction is 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 clients will need to be approved before you are able to start bidding. Please allow some time for this process to happen.
• 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. Please note, passwords need to be 10 characters or longer.

Current Bid - Increment 

• Under R 2 000 - R 100
• R 2 000 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 Live Virtual Auctions the auctioneer is entitled to change the increments as they consider appropriate.

How does this affect Absentee Bids? 

When placing a commission bid, the system provides a drop down of all the next available bids for you to select. This list will take into account the above bidding increments and only present valid bidding increments.

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

For Online-Only and Timed-Online Auctions, the system will send you an email and an SMS every time you are outbid on a lot.

If you are bidding on multiple lots, you can easily manage the bidding process from your '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.

An absentee bid, also known as a commission bid, is a bid left by a client before the auction which will be executed by Strauss & Co on behalf of the client in response to any other bids placed on the lot. Absentee bids are available for both Live Virtual and Online-only sales. You can place an absentee bid by pressing the Bid button on a lot and entering your maximum bid amount.

Due to the huge surge in activity on Online sales in the last day prior to the auction closing-time, we encourage bidders to leave absentee 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 lot's closing-time and risk losing the lot.

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

During the bidding process on Online-only and Timed Online auctions, you will be able to see if a bid is yours as it will say ‘with you’ in brackets next to the current bid. When the lot closes, if you are the successful bidder, there will be a green tick that appears next to the sold price. You will only be able to see this if you are logged in.

For Live Virtual sales, you need to take note of the paddle number that has bid the highest bid. If this is your paddle number when the hammer falls, you were the successful bidder.

Once the auction has closed we will send you an email with instructions on how to check out and download your invoice. 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 absentee bids are received on a lot for the same amount, the bid that was submitted to us first is the one that will be prioritised.

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 absentee 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 absentee 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 absentee bid first for R 2 000 you will hold the lot at R 2 000 until you are outbid. Should a bid of R 2 200 be made you would lose the lot unless you place a new absentee bid or a higher manual bid.

The currency conversion icon 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

When an item is imported, Customs Duties are payable on the hammer price and VAT is payable on the buyer's premium and seller's commission. For local transactions, no Customs Duties are applicable.

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 of whether we have power from the grid or not. Normally bidders don’t even realise we have gone into or out of a load shedding period during an auction. This applies both to Live Virtual 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 bids or to make use of our telephone bidding service. We provide free wifi in our auction venues 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.

Strauss & Co cannot be held responsible for a client’s failure to be able to bid, due to power outages.  We offer absentee bidding and telephone bidding service to ensure that a bidder is always able to place a bid.

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.

The Financial Intelligence Centre Act, put in place to combat money laundering, terrorism, fraud and tax
evasion. Find out more here.

The Financial Intelligence Centre Act requires certain institutions to comply, based on the nature of their business. Strauss & Co falls within the list of institutions that are bound by this act.

Payment can be made by:

* Electronic Financial Transfer (EFT)

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

* Telegraphic Transfer (TT) Remitter to bear all costs

* Debit card (for payment on collection only – not for online checkout)

If you are not able to resolve your query from the above information, please get in touch with us, we are happy to help. Please contact our offices on +27 11 728 8246 or +27 21 683 6560, or email info@straussart.co.za for assistance.