Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using the Alchemy Auctions website, platform, and related services, collectively the "Services", you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service, the "Terms". If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Services.

Alchemy Auctions supports festival events by providing the online bidding experience for auctions held at those events. We do not organize the events themselves, and we do not create or select the artwork offered.

Alchemy Auctions is an independent project, built to help artists earn from their work. It brings an auction experience to the festival itself: patrons can browse the artworks up for auction from their phone, follow the ones they like, and, if they choose to, place bids ahead of time.

Alchemy Auctions is operated by Kevin Rabinowitz, an individual, referred to in these Terms as "we", "us", and "Alchemy Auctions".

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract to use the Services. By creating an account you confirm that you meet both requirements.

3. Your account

To use certain features you must create an account and give accurate, complete, and current information.

We email a one-time sign-in code to the address on your account, so keep that address current. There is no password. Keep access to your email inbox secure and never share a sign-in code with anyone. You are responsible for activity under your account. If you give us a mobile number, section 7 explains how we use it.

4. Bidding is a binding commitment to purchase

4.1 Bids are binding. By placing a bid on any piece through the Alchemy Auctions platform you make a binding commitment to purchase that piece at the bid price if you are the winning bidder. A bid is an irrevocable offer to buy, not an opening position for negotiation.

Your bid stands until the piece you bid on closes. Some auctions close at a set time. Others close piece by piece, when the event organizer closes each one during the event, which may be hours after you placed your bid.

4.2 Winning bids. If your bid is the highest when the auction closes, you are obligated to complete the purchase at the final bid amount, plus any applicable taxes and shipping costs. The sale is between you and the event running the auction. We provide the bidding platform. We do not sell the piece. Payment for it goes to the event rather than to us, except as section 5.4 describes.

4.3 No bid retraction. Once submitted, a bid cannot be retracted, cancelled, or changed, except in limited circumstances at our sole discretion, such as an obvious typing error that you report immediately.

4.4 If you do not pay. If you have not paid within the time given in section 5.3, the event will normally offer the piece to the next highest bidder. If somebody else takes it, we update the piece's record on the platform and you owe nothing further.

If the event has offered the piece onward and nobody else has taken it, you are still obligated to complete the purchase, and we may charge the card on file, but only where section 5.4 allows.

In any of these cases you may have your account suspended or closed, and be barred from bidding in future auctions on this platform.

5. Payment

5.1 Why we ask for a card. To place a bid you must provide and maintain a valid credit or debit card, which these Terms call the "card on file". We check that the card is valid, and checking it does not charge it. Holding a card does two things: it confirms you are a real bidder, and it confirms you have a working way to pay if you win. The card on file is stored by our payment processor rather than by us, and we never see or keep your full card number.

5.2 Who you pay. Payment for a winning bid is made to the event, not to us, through whatever checkout the event uses. We do not collect money for auctions, and we do not charge the card on file as a matter of course. Section 5.4 is the one case where we do both.

5.3 Paying for a piece you have won. If you are at the event, collect your piece and pay the event at its checkout. Payment is due within 24 hours of the auction closing.

If you are not at the event, the event will contact you to arrange payment and delivery, and we may pass on your contact details so it can reach you. Payment is then due within 24 hours of the event first contacting you, so a deadline never runs out while you have no way of knowing it started.

5.4 When we may charge the card on file. If you win and do not pay as arranged, and the event has offered the piece onward and nobody else has taken it, you authorize us to charge the card on file for what you owe the event, plus any applicable taxes and shipping costs, and to pass that payment on to them. We act on the event's confirmation that it offered the piece onward and that nobody else took it. That authorization is why we ask for a card. It stays in effect until the purchase is settled, and we would expect never to use it.

5.5 Refunds, and questions about a payment. A refund is the event's decision, because the sale is with the event. Where we have taken a payment, we act on the event's instruction. A question about what the event charged you goes to the event; a question about a charge from us comes to us.

6. Prices and fees

All bid amounts are in U.S. Dollars unless stated otherwise. We do not charge a buyer's premium or a service fee. Taxes and any fee charged by the event are set by the event, not by us.

The event may set a reserve price on a piece. If the reserve is not met, the piece does not sell.

7. Communications

By email. By creating an account you agree to receive email from us: sign-in codes, bid confirmations, notice that you have won, payment information, account notices, and occasional announcements about events and featured artists. Sign-in codes are necessary to use your account and cannot be switched off. You can opt out of announcements at any time. Messages about an active bid or an unsettled purchase cannot be switched off while that transaction is open.

By text message. Some events offer text updates about your bidding, and whether they are available depends on the event. If you opt in, we may text you when you are outbid, when an auction you are bidding in is about to close, and when you win.

We will always email you when you win. If the event offers text updates and you opt in, a text is the fastest way to hear it, which matters because payment is due within 24 hours of the auction closing.

Texts are always your choice. We send them only if you opt in. Opting in is never a condition of bidding or of buying anything. You can stop them at any time by replying STOP to any message, and you can reply HELP for help. Message and data rates may apply, and how often you hear from us varies by event.

If you give us a mobile number without opting in to texts, we use it only to reach you about a piece you have won, or pass it to the event so it can arrange payment and collection with you.

8. Intellectual property

Artwork images, descriptions, logos, and the design of the site are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. You may not copy, distribute, or make derivative works from platform content without written permission.

Artists keep ownership of their artwork. Work reaches the platform through the event running the auction, and by having it listed the event and the artist grant us a limited license to display and promote it in connection with that auction.

9. How you agree to behave

You agree not to place bids you do not intend to honor, give false or misleading information, manipulate bidding in any way including shill bidding and bid rigging, use the platform for any unlawful purpose, interfere with the running of the Services, or harass, abuse, or harm other users or artists.

10. Disclaimers

Alchemy Auctions provides the bidding platform for auctions held at festival events. We do not guarantee the authenticity, quality, or condition of any artwork unless we say so explicitly.

The Services are provided as is and as available, without warranties of any kind, express or implied.

We are not responsible for disputes between buyers, artists, and event organizers, although we may help resolve them at our discretion.

11. Limit of our liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, Alchemy Auctions and anyone acting on its behalf will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the Services.

Our total liability for any claim will not exceed $500.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Alchemy Auctions and anyone acting on its behalf from claims, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising from your use of the Services, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or of anyone else's rights.

13. Ending your account

We may suspend or close your account at any time for a breach of these Terms or for any other reason at our discretion. Any payment you already owe survives the account closing.

14. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict of law rules.

Disputes arising under these Terms will be resolved by binding arbitration, except where the law does not allow it. This means a dispute is decided by an arbitrator rather than in court. The arbitration will be conducted remotely wherever possible. If an in-person hearing is needed, it will take place in the county where you live.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. We will tell you about material changes by email or by a notice on the platform. Continuing to use the Services after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms.

16. Contact

If you have a question about these Terms, email us at the address on our contact page.