Meet Gabe McDonough, Partner/Executive Producer at Music & Strategy

A buyer’s premium is the additional charge on the auction hammer price or winning bid, which is paid by the winner. Buyer’s premiums on Charitybuzz currently range from 15%–20%, based on the final hammer price of the auction lot as follows:

20% up to $50,000
15% above $50,000

Charitybuzz reserves the right to change these calculations at any time.

Prospective bidders should inspect the lot page for an item before bidding to determine its condition, size, and whether or not it has been repaired or restored. If that information is not available on the site, prospective bidders assume the responsibility of contacting Charitybuzz to inquire for additional details.

Each Bidder’s decision to bid and determination of their bid amount should be based upon their own examination of the item(s) in question. In any purchase or sale, the estimated value of the item(s) is reflected by the price. The bidder hereby assumes all risks of valuation concerning any and all purchases.

We reserve the right to withdraw any lot before, during and after the sale and shall have no liability whatsoever for such a withdrawal.

All items are sold AS IS, WHERE IS with all faults without any representations or warranties by us or the Seller as to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, the correctness of the e-catalogue or other description of the physical condition, size, quality, rarity, important, medium, frame, provenance, exhibitions, literature, or historical relevance. No statement anywhere, whether oral or written, whether made in on Charitybuzz.com, an advertisement, a lot receipt, or elsewhere, shall be deemed such a warranty, representation or assumption of liability. We and the Seller make no representations and warranties, express or implied, as to whether the purchaser acquires any copyrights, including but not limited to, any reproduction rights in any property.

We and the Seller are not responsible for errors and omissions on Charitybuzz.com, glossary, or any supplemental material. Charitybuzz will not be responsible or liable for damage to frames and glass coverings, regardless of the cause. ALL SALES ARE FINAL.

A. Entering Bids

To bid, find a lot page, enter a value in the bid box, and click “Bid.” If you click “Bid” on a lot, you will be prompted to either log in to your Charitybuzz account, or create a new one if you do not have one already.

Once you’ve created an account you will be presented with the lot details, conditions of sale, and standard shipping and redemption details. Once you have accepted the Conditions of Sale, you may proceed with placing a bid on that lot. All bids placed for any lot are governed by the Conditions of Sale for that lot.

You may bid at or above the starting bid displayed as the “Current Price” in a lot page’s bid box. The current leading bid, along with a list of a lot’s full bidding history, will be visible to other users. If the status of your bid changes, you will receive notifications via email and push (if you have the Charitybuzz App installed).

B. Cancellation Rights

As soon you place and confirm your bid amount, your bid is submitted. You accept and agree that bids submitted by you are final. Charitybuzz is not responsible or liable for any problems, delays, or other issues resulting from the use of the Internet, including but not limited to transmission, execution, or processing of Bids.

Charitybuzz nor the Seller is responsible for any errors in bidding. A bidder should make certain to bid on the correct lot. The Bidder should make sure the bid price they enter (including any taxes or fees) is the price they are willing and able to pay. Once the hammer has fallen and Charitybuzz has announced the winning Bidder, that Bidder is unconditionally bound to pay for that lot, even if the Bidder has made an error.

A bid(s) entered by mistake on the part of a bidder is NOT grounds for cancellation of that bid. Each bidder is responsible for his or her own account and bids. In addition, allowing access to another who enters a bid without your knowledge is NOT grounds for cancellation of a bid.

C. Fraudulent Bidding

All Bidders must meet Charitybuzz’s qualifications to bid. Any Bidder who is not a client in good standing of Charitybuzz may be disqualified at Charitybuzz’s sole discretion and will not be awarded lots. Such determination may be made by Charitybuzz in its sole discretion, at any time prior to, during, or even after the close of the Auction. Charitybuzz reserves the right to exclude any person from the auction.

Bids will not be accepted from minor persons under eighteen (18) years of age without a parent’s written consent containing an acknowledgement of the conditions herein and indicating their agreement to be bound thereby on behalf of the bidder.

If an entity places a bid, then the person executing the bid on behalf of the entity agrees to personally guarantee payment for any successful bid.

Any bidder that represents a purchaser is personally and individually responsible for any obligations of the purchaser set forth in these terms and conditions. All purchasers purchasing pursuant to a valid resale license will need to provide appropriate documentation for removal of state sales tax.

D. Winning & Disputes

The successful bidder is the highest bidder acknowledged by Charitybuzz. In the event of any dispute between bidders, or in the event of doubt on Charitybuzz’s part as to the validity of any bid, Charitybuzz will have final discretion either to determine the successful bidder or to re-offer and resell the lot in question. If any dispute arises after the sale, Charitybuzz’s sale record is conclusive. While Charitybuzz makes every effort to guarantee accuracy, in the event of an error, and a lot is accidentally declared sold by mistake, Charitybuzz reserves the right to cancel the sale and relist the lot in its sole discretion.

By accepting the Conditions of Sale, Bidder personally and unconditionally guarantees payment.

Title to any lot remains with the Seller, any secured party of the Seller, or assignee of Seller, as the case may be, until the lot is paid for in full by the Bidder. Charitybuzz reserves the right to require payment in full before delivering any lot to the successful bidder.

A maximum bid is a secret amount you enter, that represents the maximum amount you are willing to bid. It is higher than the current price and also higher than the next allowable minimum bid amount. If you enter a maximum bid, we’ll bid on your behalf up to that maximum bid amount in response to other bids, according to Charitybuzz’s bidding tiers.

The value and status of your maximum bid will be visible only to you, unless it is the leading bid.

Charitybuzz strongly encourages the use of Max Bids to increase your chances of winning.

When an auction reaches the final 10 minutes before it closes, any bids received in that final 10 minutes push out the previous close time by an additional 10 minutes. This recurring 10 minute extension is known as “Extended Bidding,” and is signified by a banner above the auction timer on the lot page.

This dynamically extending period is designed to protect against a practice commonly known as “sniping” or “last second bidding” where bidders attempt to enter a quick bid in the final seconds of an auction to secure a win before competing bidders have a chance to counter.

Live bids lots are a special type of auction lot on Charitybuzz. Live bid lots on Charitybuzz are paired with a real world, physical auction, where that real world auction is often scheduled to occur at a later date. You can distinguish Live Bid lots by the “Live Bid” label in the title of the lot, and additional description text at the start of the lots “Overview” tab.

In a Live Bid lot on Charitybuzz, a lot is created that is similar to any other auction lot on the site. These special lots last for similar amounts of time and bidding occurs normally by our users.

Things start to differ after a Charitybuzz Live Bid lot closes. After it closes and the winning bidder is chosen, that winning bidder’s bid amount or (if it exists) the max bid amount associated with that winning bid, are taken and entered into the associated real world auction. For example, if a bidder on Charitybuzz wins at $12,000 with an unrealized max bid of $15,000, then that $15,000 dollar amount is passed on into the real world auction.

Before the winning bidders bid or max bid amount is passed on, someone from Charitybuzz contacts that winner after the Charitybuzz lot closes and before the real world auction opens. This is to confirm if the bidder would like to increase their bid or max bid amount before it’s entered into the real world auction.

What happens during the real world auction? Each individual one may vary. Charitybuzz does not own or operate any real world auctions, nor does Charitybuzz require any partners to follow a specific auction model. We make no claims to the consistency of real world auction experiences and encourage bidders to contact us for more details as needed.

In our experience, real world auctions tied to Charitybuzz Live Bid lots are typically executed by our partners in a few common ways.

In one scenario, if an auction house and an auctioneer is present, winning live bids from Charitybuzz Live Bid lots are treated as “absentee” bids. This normally means that the Charitybuzz winning bid is placed in the auctioneers books as a bid. As the auctioneer conducts the auction, they will bring up and enter the Charitybuzz winning bid during the course of the auction as the current price or next minimum bid value approaches the Charitybuzz winner’s bid amount. In this scenario, other people in the real world room are expected to bid against the auctioneer, not the Charitybuzz winning bidder. If no one is bidding in the room, the auctioneer will typically keep bidding up the price until the Charitybuzz Live Bid winner wins the real world auction.

In other models, an audience member (including, but not limited to a charity partner employee) might act as a proxy for the winning Charitybuzz bidder. They will usually bid on behalf of the winning Charitybuzz Live Bid winner during the normal course of that auction, using whatever means provided for that auction house (i.e. paddles, etc.)

After the auction is completed, someone from Charitybuzz contacts our bidder to let them know the outcome. If that Charitybuzz Live Bid bidder has won, payment occurs as usual. If that Charitybuzz Live Bid bidder did not win, they will be notified accordingly.

A reserve bid is a bid placed by Charitybuzz on behalf of the seller up to the minimum reserve (if applicable). Bids placed by Charitybuzz on behalf of the seller up to the amount of the reserve, will be counted toward the total bid count displayed on the lot page’s bid box.

Refunds are rewarded on a case-by-case basis and at the sole discretion of Charitybuzz, LLC. Refunds shall only be considered in instances where (i) the seller has failed to deliver the elements contemplated under the lot details/description within the timelines outlined in the lot details OR within 30 days of purchase, whichever is later, and (ii) where the seller/redemption contact are not showing good faith efforts to support the redemption or delivery of the purchase. No refunds shall be granted due to (i) buyer's remorse, or (ii) the bidder/buyer's lack of familiarity with Charitybuzz fees, including Buyer's Premium, or (iii) any request for reimbursement based on perceived value or emotional satisfaction where the lot was delivered by the seller in accordance with the lot details, or (iv) the bidder/buyer’s failure to diligently attempt to schedule an Experience in good faith, or (v) loss or delay of item delivery resulting from bidder/buyer’s failure to provide timely/accurate shipping information.

Experiences auctioned on Charitybuzz.com go through a specific redemption process to coordinate details and complete. That process normally involves messaging and scheduling between all parties (i.e. winners, charities, sellers, venues). Details discussed include but are not limited to experience dates, arrival procedures, airfare, hotel accommodations, restrictions, will-call requirements, and any other on-site notes. Scheduling requires an initial request sent by the customer, and a followup confirmation submitted by relevant redemption contacts.

By using Charitybuzz to bid and win lots, bidders agree to use the Redemption Center exclusively (where enabled) to message and schedule all experiences – doing so is a requirement of redeeming experiences through Charitybuzz. In addition, bidders agree that they are bound by all site terms of use and auction conditions of sale.