Shipping

Available Shipping Methods & Legal Compliance

Buyers can select from different transport tiers on the lot description page and during checkout, depending on the configurations set by the seller:

Normal Shipping (Standard Transit):

• Network: These shipments are handled by reputable international courier networks specialized in global transport (such as DHL, PostNL, UPS, or FedEx).
• Guideline: Sellers are simply expected to pack all bottles professionally, securely, and sturdily to entirely eliminate any risk of damage during regular transit.

Express Shipping (Premium & High-Speed):

• Speed and Security: This is the recommended tier for high-value lots from our top segment. Express transport utilizes priority logistics lines for the shortest possible transit duration.
• Customs Clearance: This method features integrated, accelerated customs processing managed directly by the carrier (in-house clearance). This minimizes the risk of an exclusive bottle sitting for days in a standard postal depot awaiting manual sorting.

Leeftijdscontrole bij Levering:

• Local Age Limits: Due to international regulations governing the distance sale of alcohol, every parcel travels under a mandatory age check framework. The recipient must meet the minimum legal age required to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages in the destination country (for instance, 18 years of age across most European countries, but 21 years of age within the United States).
• Identity Verification & Signature: Parcels will never be left unattended at the doorstep, handed to a minor, or dropped off with neighbors without explicit verification. The courier will perform a strict identity and age check at the door, and a physical signature from an adult meeting the local legal age requirement is always required.
• Failed Deliveries: If the recipient fails to meet the minimum legal age requirement of that specific country during delivery, or is unavailable after repeated delivery attempts causing the parcel to return to the seller, the paid shipping fees are permanently forfeited. All additional costs for the return transit or any associated overhead fees will be borne entirely by the buyer, unless it is proven that the seller was negligent in their follow-up or documentation, in which case those costs may be recovered from the seller.

The Escrow & Transit Insurance System (Carefree Trading)

Our platform completely eliminates financial exposure during transit through a coupled mechanism of escrow insulation and mandatory transit insurance:

• Full Value Insurance: Sellers are contractually required to calculate shipping rates inclusive of an all-risk commercial transit insurance policy. This insurance must cover 100% of the hammer price value plus the actual shipping costs against breakage, theft, total loss, or material leakage. Charging separate insurance surcharges to the buyer after the close of an auction is strictly prohibited.

Contact the Seller Before Bidding (Live Inquiries):

• Would you like extra reassurance regarding the exact condition of a bottle, the cork integrity, the liquid level (ullage), or the specific shipping setups of a lot? You can use the direct messaging features located on the lot page. Prior to placing a binding bid, you can reach out directly to the seller via our convenient chat button or WhatsApp to ask questions or request additional condition photographs.

Risk of Micro-Leakage in Vintage Corks (Air Pressure Changes):

• With rare, older, and vintage bottles, the cork or capsule may have naturally become more delicate over time. Due to extreme variations in air pressure within an aircraft cargo hold during international flights, minor micro-lekkages can occasionally occur. Provided that the seller packed the bottle upright and with proper care, neither the seller nor the platform can be held liable for this specific, natural physical phenomenon.

The 3-Day Quality Inspection Window:

• The moment courier tracking data marks a parcel as "Delivered," a strict inspection window of 3 calendar days (72 hour) automatically begins.
• The buyer must inspect the bottle immediately. In the event of damage or a material deviation from the official auction photographs, a formal dispute along with verified photographic evidence must be logged through our official email address within this 72-hour window. The platform will instantly freeze the escrow funds to protect both parties and mediate the issue. If no dispute is reported within 3 days, the funds are automatically released to the seller's account.

Pickup Conditions (Free Pickup & Pickup Only)

To bypass shipping risks completely for the most exclusive assets, our platform supports comprehensive pickup options:

• Free Pickup: If the seller has enabled this feature, the buyer can choose to collect the bottle directly from the seller's location free of charge. This eliminates all transport hazards and is ideal for highly fragile, top-tier collectibles.
• Pickup Only: In rare cases (such as extremely old bottles with fragile wax seals or critical liquid levels), the seller or our Auction Master may determine that shipping by post is irresponsible. These lots are designated as "Pickup Only" and cannot be shipped under any circumstances.

Security Protocol Against Off-Platform Activity:

• To guarantee transaction security and prevent off-platform interactions, the exact address and contact records of the seller are never disclosed upfront.
• The buyer must first complete the full invoice payment through our secure checkout rails. Once the capital is verified and locked within our escrow ecosystem, both parties instantly receive the required data to arrange a collection appointment. Upon physical pickup, the buyer remains legally obligated to verify that they meet the local legal drinking age of that country.

Combined Shipping Dynamics

• Combined Shipping Available: If you win multiple lots from the exact same seller within the same auction cycle, our core system automatically merges the logistics costs where possible. This saves significant transit expenditures by packaging the bottles together in a single insured parcel.
• Combined Shipping Not Available: If a lot displays this specific label, the shipping balances cannot be combined. This occurs if bottles are stored in separate geographical depots, or if the combined weight and value exceed the maximum all-risk insurance thresholds allowed per parcel by the carrier network.

Fiscal Regulations, Customs & Cross-Border Logistics

As an independent online intermediary, our venue utilizes an advanced tax clearing architecture to remain fully compliant with European Union VAT laws and One-Stop Shop (OSS) regulations:

• Third-Party Clearing Status: The platform does not take ownership of the bottles and acts solely as an administrative collection and escrow agent for the hammer price and shipping costs on behalf of the seller. These specific transit funds do not constitute platform revenue, completely excluding the platform from the physical fulfillment chain and its corresponding transport tax obligations.

VAT Application on Shipping Costs:

• Transactions Involving a Private Seller (C2C): The bottle and the shipping costs travel under the margin scheme regulations. Therefore, 0% VAT is calculated on the shipping lines of the buyer's invoice.
• Transactions Involving a Commercial Seller (B2C): If you purchase from an accredited enterprise, the transit represents a commercial supply. Destination VAT matching the buyer's country of residence (e.g., 21% Dutch VAT or 20% French VAT) is automatically applied across all rows of the final invoice (the hammer price and the shipping costs).

International Import Duties and Excise Fees:

• For shipments crossing external European Union boundaries (or entering the EU customs zone), the buyer acts legally as the Importer of Record.
• The buyer carries sole financial and operational responsibility for customs clearance, providing local import documentation, and settling all regional alcohol excise duties or import tariffs. Local customs delays do not release the buyer from their strict payment obligations, and escrow funds cannot be refunded due to import bottlenecks.

Flexible Payment Methods & Wire Transactions:

• We support a wide variety of secure payment methods, including iDEAL, Bancontact, major Credit Cards (Visa/Mastercard), and PayPal. While standard SEPA bank wires (EUR) within the Eurozone are entirely free of transaction fees, buyers choosing to settle invoices via a manual cross-border bank transfer from outside the Eurozone are requested to instruct their financial institution to apply the "OUR" billing code. This ensures that any international intermediary bank fees are covered upfront by the sender, allowing the exact invoice amount to arrive 100% net in our escrow account.