Terms of Service

Draft scaffold for review by counsel before launch. Not legal advice.

Last updated: 2026-10-07

1. Who we are

ArtSell (“ArtSell”, “we”) is based in Sarasota, Florida, USA. ArtSell provides (a) a free database of published auction results and (b) an online venue where owners sell works of art directly to buyers by timed auction.

2. Accounts

You must be at least 18 and provide accurate information. You are responsible for activity on your account. We may suspend accounts that violate these terms.

3. Sellers

By submitting a work you represent that you own it or are authorized to sell it, that it is free of liens and claims, that your description is accurate to the best of your knowledge, and that its sale does not violate any law (including export, cultural-property and endangered-species rules). ArtSell may decline or remove any listing. The seller is the vendor of record; ArtSell acts as a marketplace venue.

4. Buyers & bidding

Bids are binding offers to purchase. The high bidder at the close of an auction that meets any reserve enters a binding contract with the seller. Buyers pay the hammer price plus the published buyer’s premium and applicable taxes within 7 days of the invoice, and buyers pay all shipping costs (see section 5). All sales are final (see section 7). Bids placed in the final two minutes extend the auction. Shill bidding and bid manipulation are prohibited.

5. Shipping and pickup

The buyer is responsible for shipping, or for arranging local pickup. Buyers pay all shipping costs, including packing, crating, insurance, duties and any other charges of the buyer’s shipper; these are not part of the ArtSell invoice. ArtSell can recommend fine-art shippers on request, but the buyer chooses, books and pays the shipper, and the contract for shipping is between the buyer and the shipper.

After the buyer’s payment clears, the seller makes the work available for collection by the buyer’s shipper, or for local pickup, within 7 days. Risk of loss or damage in transit rests with the buyer and their shipper: damage that happens after the shipper collects the work is a matter between the buyer and the shipper (or its insurance), and is not grounds for a claim against the seller (see section 7).

6. Fees

Fees are published on the Fees page and may change prospectively; the fees shown on a listing when it goes live apply to that listing.

7. All sales final; the 48-hour claim window

All sales are final. Works are sold as-is, as described in the listing (including its photographs and condition report). Please review the listing and ask questions before you bid.

One narrow exception: within 48 hours after the work is delivered to you or picked up, you may file a claim from your account, with photographs, only for:

Material misrepresentation: the wrong work, a major condition issue that the listing did not disclose, or the work not being authentic;
Damage before collection: damage that was already there when your shipper collected the work (or when you picked it up). A condition report from your shipper at collection is the best evidence.

Damage in transit is not a claim against the seller: it is a matter between you and your shipper (or its insurance), and it does not hold up the seller’s payment.

A change of mind, or any other reason, never qualifies. Your payment is held by ArtSell and released to the seller automatically when the 48 hours pass with no claim, or immediately when you confirm receipt. A claim holds the seller’s payment until we resolve it. We may approve a refund on return of the work, offer a partial refund, or deny the claim. [To be completed by counsel: dispute resolution.]

8. Price database

Auction results are compiled from publicly published sources and provided for information only, without warranty. Each record links to its original source. Trademarks and images belong to their owners; we do not reproduce auction-house photography without a license.

9. User content

You grant ArtSell a license to display comments, questions and listing content you submit. We moderate content and may remove anything that is unlawful, abusive, or off-topic.

10. Liability

[To be completed by counsel: limitation of liability, indemnity, governing law (Florida), venue.]