Admission
- Membership is by application. The House reads every application itself and usually calls before admitting anyone.
- The House admits members at its discretion and need not give reasons for declining an application.
- Membership is personal. One person, one membership, one paddle number. You may not share your account or bid on someone else’s behalf without the House’s written agreement.
- You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract under Indian law.
- What you tell the House in your application must be true, and you must keep your details up to date.
Membership fee
- Membership is ₹2 L a year, invoiced by the House with GST where it applies.
- For the House’s first 50 members (“Founding Members”) the fee is waived for two years from admission. After that, it is payable each year like any other membership.
- The fee is separate from the refundable bidding deposit, and is not refunded if a membership ends part-way through a year.
Before your first bid
An admitted member receives a paddle number. Before bidding, a member must:
- confirm their email address;
- accept the current Terms of Sale, these rules, the Deposit & Refund Terms and the Privacy Policy;
- have their identity verified from their PAN and a PAN card or passport; and
- place a refundable deposit, currently ₹2 L.
When the House revises these documents, members are asked to accept the new version before their next bid.
Conduct in the room
- Bid only when you intend and are able to pay. Every bid is a binding offer.
- Do not bid on your own lots, or arrange for anyone to bid on them, to push up the price.
- Do not agree with other members to hold bidding down.
- Keep your password to yourself. You are responsible for bids placed from your account.
- Treat the House, sellers and other members with courtesy, in person and in writing.
Discretion
- Other members see you only by your paddle number.
- Sellers see the names of members bidding on their lots. Buyer and seller are introduced when a lot sells.
- What you learn about another member, a seller or a lot through the House is to be kept confidential and used only for the sale.
Consigning a lot
Members may offer lots to the House. You must own the lot, or be authorised to sell it, and describe it honestly. The House may decline any consignment and need not give reasons. Consigning is also governed by the Terms of Sale.
Suspension and ending membership
- You may end your membership at any time by writing to the Registrar, once any sale you have won or consigned is complete.
- The House may suspend or end a membership if a member breaks these rules or the Terms of Sale, gives false information, or does not complete a purchase. The House will tell the member why, unless the law prevents it.
- Ending a membership does not undo a sale already made. Your deposit is returned as the Deposit & Refund Terms describe.
Changes to these rules
The House may change these rules. Each version is dated above, and you will be asked to accept a new version before your next bid.