Your attention is drawn in particular to the provisions of clause 7 (title and risk) and clause 10 (limitation of our liability).
This page (together with the documents expressly referred to on it) tells you information about us and the legal terms and conditions (“Terms”) on which we sell books, prints, photographs and other works on paper (“Items”), including sales through our website (“our site”), by telephone orders or in person.
These Terms will apply to any contract between us for the sale of Items to you (“Contract”). Please read these Terms carefully and make sure that you understand them before purchasing any Items from us. Please note that by purchasing any of our Items, you agree to be bound by these Terms and the other documents expressly referred to in them.
By placing an order on our site, you confirm that you accept these Terms. If you do not accept them, please do not place an order.
You should keep a copy of these Terms for future reference.
We amend these Terms from time to time as set out in clause 4. Every time you wish to purchase Items, please check these Terms as available on our site, to ensure you understand the Terms which will apply at that time.
1. Information about us
1.1 We are Shapero Rare Books Ltd, a company registered in England under company number 06720898 and with our registered office at 94 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1SJ. We are part of the publicly listed group The Scholium Group PLC (company number 08833975).
1.2 Our main trading address as Shapero Rare Books is 94 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1SJ. We operate the website shapero.com. Our VAT number is GB 105 103 675.
1.3 To contact us, please email info@shapero.com or call +44 (0)20 7493 0876.
2. Authenticity, descriptions and availability
Please note that the guarantee in this clause 2 is subject to the limitation of our liability at clause 10.
2.1 You agree to purchase all Items on the basis of their description on our site or catalogues or as otherwise provided to you.
2.2 We guarantee that all Items are complete unless otherwise stated in their descriptions. All Items can be assumed to be in good condition, unless stated otherwise.
2.3 We only sell genuine antiquarian books, maps, prints and photographs. All Items carry a full guarantee as to their authenticity. A certificate to this effect can be provided on request. Dimensions are given height by width of the platemark or, if this is not possible, of the printed image. Where indicated, original or contemporary colouring (i.e. colouring applied to the print or map at or about the time of publication) will be so described. All other colouring will be colouring that, in our opinion, has been added at a later date.
2.4 The images of the Items on our site are for illustrative purposes only. Although we have made every effort to display the colours accurately, we cannot guarantee that your computer’s display of the colours accurately reflects the colour of the Items. Your Items may vary slightly from those images.
2.5 As our stock is always changing, price and availability of Items is subject to change without notice and all Items are offered subject to prior sale. For the most up-to-date information on the price and availability of Items, please contact us by phone on +44 (0)20 7493 0876.
3. Formation of a contract between you and us
3.1 These Terms apply to the Contract to the exclusion of any other terms that you seek to impose or incorporate, or which are implied by trade, custom, practice or course of dealing.
3.2 After you place an order (which may be in person with a member of our staff, by telephone, email or via the online ordering process on our site), we will check our stock and endeavour to confirm acceptance of your order by email or other means (“Order Acceptance”). If we fail to confirm acceptance, but proceed with dispatching your order, Order Acceptance will be deemed to take place when your Items are dispatched. The Contract between us will only be formed when we communicate the Order Acceptance or, if sooner, when we dispatch the Item(s) included in your order.
3.3 If we are unable to supply you with an Item, for example because that Item is not in stock or no longer available or because of an error in the price on our site as referred to in clause 8.4, we will inform you of this by email, telephone or in person and we will not process your order. If you have already paid for the Items, we will refund you the full amount as soon as possible.
4. Our right to vary these Terms and price
4.1 We may revise these Terms from time to time.
4.2 Every time you purchase Items from us, the Terms in force at that time will apply to the Contract between you and us. The current Terms in force will be available on our site.
5. Return and refund
Clauses 5.1 and 5.2 apply if you are a consumer.
5.1 You have a legal right to cancel a Contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 during the period set out in clause 5.2. This means that during that period, if you change your mind or for any other reason you decide you do not want to keep an Item, you can notify us of your decision to cancel the Contract and receive a refund. Advice about your legal right to cancel the Contract under these regulations is available from your local Citizens Advice or Trading Standards office.
5.2 Your legal right to cancel a Contract starts from the date of the Order Acceptance, which is when the Contract between us is formed, and ends 14 days after the day on which you receive the Items.
The following clauses apply to both business customers and consumers.
5.3 You may return any Item to us within 30 days of the day on which you receive it, for any reason, and we will refund you in full under clause 5.7. If you are a consumer, this is in addition to your legal right to cancel under clauses 5.1 and 5.2.
5.4 You may also return Items to us because they are faulty or mis-described.
5.5 If you return Items to us because they are faulty or mis-described, we will refund the price of the Item in full, any applicable delivery charges, and any reasonable costs you incur in returning the Item to us.
5.6 To cancel a Contract, please contact us in writing by sending an email to info@shapero.com. You may wish to keep a copy of your cancellation notification for your own records. If you send us your cancellation notice by email or by post, your cancellation is effective from the date you sent the email or posted the letter to us. If you call us to notify us of your cancellation, your cancellation is effective from the date you telephone us.
5.7 You will receive a full refund of the price you paid for the Items and any applicable delivery charges you paid. We will process the refund due to you as soon as possible and, in any case, within 14 days of the day on which we receive the Items back from you or, if earlier, the day on which you provide evidence that you have returned them.
5.8 We refund you on the credit or debit card you used to pay.
5.9 If the Items were delivered to you:
(a) you must return the Items to us as soon as reasonably practicable;
(b) we will arrange the return of the Items to us, or their collection from you, at our cost; and
(c) you have a legal obligation to keep the Items in your possession and to take reasonable care of them while they are in your possession.
6. Delivery
6.1 Shipping is free worldwide, except for framed and oversize Items, for which we will agree the delivery cost with you before dispatch. Deliveries to mainland UK will normally be sent by “Next Day Delivery” service. Overseas shipments will be sent by courier with full tracking details. Unless otherwise instructed, all shipments will be insured in transit at our expense.
6.2 Delivery will be completed when we deliver the Items to the address you gave us.
6.3 If no one is available at your address to take delivery, we will notify you that the Items have been returned to our premises, in which case please contact us to rearrange delivery.
6.4 For manuscripts and high-value individual Items, current UK and EU export licensing regulations apply.
6.5 If you order Items from our site for international delivery, your order may be subject to import duties and taxes which are applied when the delivery reaches that destination. Please note that we have no control over these charges and we cannot predict their amount.
6.6 You will be responsible for payment of any such import duties and taxes. Please contact your local customs office for further information before placing your order.
6.7 You must comply with all applicable laws and regulations of the country for which the Items are destined. We will not be liable or responsible if you break any such law.
7. Title and risk
7.1 The risk in the Items shall pass to you on completion of delivery.
7.2 Title to the Items shall not pass to you until the earlier of:
(a) us receiving payment in full (in cash or cleared funds) for the Items, in which case title to the Items shall pass at the time of payment of all such sums; and
(b) you reselling the Items, in which case title to the Items shall pass to you at the time specified in clause 7.4.
7.3 Until title to the Items has passed to you, you shall:
(a) store the Items separately from all other Items held by you so that they remain readily identifiable as our property;
(b) not remove, deface or obscure any identifying mark or packaging on or relating to the Items;
(c) maintain the Items in satisfactory condition and keep them insured against all risks for their full price from the date of delivery;
(d) notify us immediately if you become subject to actual or threatened administration, insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings or are otherwise unable to pay your debts as they fall due; and
(e) give us such information relating to the Items as we may require from time to time.
7.4 Subject to clause 7.5, you may resell or use the Items in the ordinary course of your business (but not otherwise) before we receive payment for the Items. However, if you resell the Items before that time:
(a) you do so as principal and not as our agent; and
(b) title to the Items shall pass from us to you immediately before the time at which resale by you occurs.
7.5 If, before title to the Items passes to you, you become subject to any actual or threatened administration, insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings or if you are unable to pay your debts as they fall due, then, without limiting any other right or remedy we may have:
(a) your right to resell the Items or use them in the ordinary course of your business ceases immediately; and
(b) we may at any time (i) require you to deliver up all Items in your possession which have not been resold; and (ii) if you fail to do so promptly, enter any of your premises or of any third party where the Items are stored in order to recover them.
8. Price of Items and delivery charges
8.1 The prices of the Items will be as quoted on our site or catalogues from time to time or as otherwise communicated to you by a member of our staff. We take all reasonable care to ensure that published prices of Items are correct at the time when the relevant information was entered onto the system. However, if we discover an error in the price of Item(s) you ordered, please see clause 8.4 for what happens in this event.
8.2 Prices for our Items may change from time to time, but changes will not affect any order which we have confirmed with an Order Acceptance.
8.3 The price of an Item includes VAT (where applicable) at the applicable current rate chargeable in the UK for the time being. However, if the rate of VAT changes between the date of your order and the date of delivery, we will adjust the VAT you pay, unless you have already paid for the Items in full before the change in VAT takes effect.
8.4 Our site contains a large number of Items. It is always possible that, despite our reasonable efforts, some of the Items on our site or catalogue may be incorrectly priced. If we discover an error in the price of the Items you have ordered, we will inform you of this error and we will give you the option of continuing to purchase the Item at the correct price or cancelling your order. We will not process your order until we have your instructions. If we are unable to contact you using the contact details you provided during the order process, we will treat the order as cancelled and notify you in writing. Please note that if the pricing error is obvious and unmistakeable and could reasonably have been recognised by you as a mispricing, we do not have to provide the Items to you at the incorrect (lower) price.
9. How to pay
9.1 You can pay for Items by credit or debit card, cheque or bank transfer or, on our site, using the payment options shown at checkout.
We accept all major credit cards. Credit card payments are usually processed in sterling, and invoices are issued in sterling.
We accept sterling and US dollar cheques. If paying by cheque, please make it payable to Shapero Rare Books Ltd.
Bank transfers can be made direct to our accounts at Coutts (sort code 18-00-02, account number 05877504, BIC COUTGB22):
GBP: GB35 COUT 1800 0205 8775 04
USD: GB53 COUT 1800 9110 5749 56
EUR: GB31 COUT 1800 9110 5749 64
9.2 Payment for the Items and all applicable delivery charges shall, unless specifically agreed otherwise, be made in advance of us dispatching the Items to you.
10. Limitation of our liability
10.1 Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for:
(a) death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
(b) fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
(c) breach of the terms implied by section 12 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (title and quiet possession); or
(d) defective Items under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
10.2 Subject to clause 10.1, we will under no circumstances whatever be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, arising under or in connection with the Contract for:
(a) any loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue;
(b) loss or corruption of data, information or software;
(c) loss of business opportunity;
(d) loss of anticipated savings;
(e) loss of goodwill; or
(f) any indirect or consequential loss.
10.3 Subject to clauses 10.1 and 10.2, our total liability to you in respect of all other losses arising under or in connection with the Contract, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, shall in no circumstances exceed the price of the Items.
10.4 Except as expressly stated on our site or in these Terms, we do not give any representations, warranties or undertakings in relation to the Items. Any representation, condition or warranty which might be implied or incorporated into these Terms by statute, common law or otherwise is excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law. In particular, we will not be responsible for ensuring that the Items are suitable for your purposes.
10.5 If you are a consumer, nothing in these Terms affects your legal rights, including your rights if an Item is faulty or not as described.
11. Communications between us
11.1 When we refer, in these Terms, to “in writing”, this will include email.
11.2 Any notice or other communication given by you to us under or in connection with the Contract shall be in writing and shall be delivered personally, sent by pre-paid first class post or other next working day delivery service, email, or posted on our website.
11.3 A notice or other communication shall be deemed to have been received: if delivered personally, when left at our registered office; if sent by pre-paid first class post or other next working day delivery service, at 9.00 am on the second Business Day after posting; if sent by email, one Business Day after transmission; or, if posted on our website, immediately.
11.4 In proving the service of any notice, it will be sufficient to prove, in the case of a letter, that such letter was properly addressed, stamped and placed in the post and, in the case of an email, that such email was sent to the specified email address of the addressee.
11.5 The provisions of this clause shall not apply to the service of any proceedings or other documents in any legal action.
12. Jointly owned Items
12.1 If we agree to transfer ownership of a part share in any Item that is owned by us to you, that Item will be held by us and you as tenants-in-common in the shares agreed between us but, unless otherwise specified, shall be held as to 50% by us and 50% by you.
12.2 We will submit an invoice to you for your share in the jointly owned Item and, by paying for your share of that jointly owned Item, you irrevocably authorise us to sell your share in it without further recourse to you.
12.3 If, whilst an Item is owned jointly by you and us, you become subject to any actual or threatened administration, insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings or if you are unable to pay your debts as they fall due, then, without limiting any other right or remedy we may have, we may at any time:
(a) purchase your share of the jointly owned Item for the price you originally paid for it;
(b) require you to deliver up all jointly owned Items in your possession which have not been resold; and
(c) if you fail to do so promptly, enter any of your premises or of any third party where the Items are stored in order to recover them.
13. Other important terms
13.1 We may transfer our rights and obligations under a Contract to another organisation, but this will not affect your rights or our obligations under these Terms. We will always notify you in writing or by posting on our site if this happens.
13.2 You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these Terms to another person if we agree in writing.
13.3 This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms, whether under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise.
13.4 Each of the paragraphs of these Terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
13.5 If we fail to insist that you perform any of your obligations under these Terms, or if we do not enforce our rights against you, or if we delay in doing so, that will not mean that we have waived our rights against you and will not mean that you do not have to comply with those obligations. If we do waive a default by you, we will only do so in writing, and that will not mean that we will automatically waive any later default by you.
13.6 The Contract and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England.
13.7 We both irrevocably agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with a Contract or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims).
14. Privacy
How we collect and use your personal data is explained in our Privacy Policy.
15. KYC (Know Your Client) regulations
UK anti-money laundering regulations for the art market came into force on 10 January 2020. Under them, we are required to verify the identity of our clients, both new and existing, when we sell an artwork. These checks are similar to those already carried out by banks, law firms and major auction houses.
If an Item is being invoiced to an individual, we are required to see an original or certified copy of the buyer’s passport, driving licence or national ID card which confirms their full name, date of birth, nationality and permanent residential address.
If an Item is being invoiced to a company, we will need copies of the company’s incorporation documents, details of its directors and the ultimate beneficial owner.
If an agent, adviser or any third party is acting on behalf of the buyer, we are required to obtain the same information and verification about the ultimate buyer.
We can only accept funds from a bank account held in the name of the person or entity named on the invoice, unless payment by a third party has previously been agreed and we have confirmed that we have carried out the necessary checks. We ask for your understanding while we carry out these mandatory checks before completing a sale, especially our long-standing clients, and we will do our best to make the process as quick and efficient as possible.
All personal data will be stored and processed securely in accordance with our Privacy Policy and data protection law.