FAQ

Several days before the auction, all objects will be on display at our auction house where experts are available for any questions. These viewings are free of charge and open to the public, but prior registration is required. You can find dates, times, and locations in the auction section.

Your options for participating in our auctions:

• Online Live: Register at least 48 hours before the auction via our website. After verifying your registration, we will enable you to bid online live, allowing you to follow and bid on the auction comfortably from anywhere.

• Bidding Instructions: Submit your bids to us in writing using our [form] or via our Rapp auction platform [specific link]. Your bids will be represented by the auctioneers confidentially and in your interest.

• In-Person Auction Attendance: Visit us on the auction day directly at Rapp auction house. Please arrive in a timely manner before the auction and register at the reception to receive your personal bidder number.

• Telephone Participation: Register at least 48 hours before the auction via our website. After successful verification of your registration for telephone bidding, you will receive a detailed confirmation from us with all necessary information for your participation.

If you are considering selling your collector’s items, we recommend that you take advantage of the excellent market conditions at our international auctions.

• Worldwide connections: For more than 50 years, we have been maintaining excellent relations with collectors, dealers, investors, institutions and private customers all over the world.
• Outstanding selection: In the course of more than 50 years, we have sold collections and individual pieces worth more than half a billion Swiss francs in total.
• Online and hall auctions: By offering auctions both in our auction hall and online via live stream, we are able to reach a maximum of potential buyers.
• Excellent returns: Our choice selection makes for excellent prices. We’ve held the turnover record of 33 million Swiss francs for a stamp auction for decades now.
• Quality of service: We foster business relationships built on trust by offering top quality, both in terms of services for our customers and selection.
• Credit rating, security, independence: We are a fully independent, owner-managed family business with enough equity to secure your items.
• Personal commitment: We, that is Peter Rapp, Marianne Rapp Ohmann and team personally look after each and every customer, tailored to their individual needs.
• Tradition: We have been a leading auction house with unwavering success over the past 50 years.

To bid via our auction platform (Online Live, bidding instructions), you must first register on our website www.rapp-auktionen.ch with your personal login. Once your personal customer account is activated, you can register for your desired method of bidding.

Please note that for online live bidding, a new registration is required for each auction week. However, the registration is valid across different categories.

Your customer account remains active and allows you easy access to future auctions.

Our estimates in the auction catalog are always set very conservatively. The lower estimate corresponds to the starting price and is also the minimum price at which an object will be auctioned. Bids below this amount unfortunately cannot be considered.

In online auctions (without audience participation), you can bid exclusively through Online Live. After unlocking your account, you will receive a confirmation email with a link. This link will lead you directly to the bidding platform shortly before the auction begins.

Important: To participate in Online Live bidding, you must be logged in with your personal customer account. During the auction, you will see buttons on the right side of the platform through which you can place bids. Clicking the appropriate button will submit your bid immediately.

Click on “I forgot my password” in the login area. A new window will open where you need to enter the email address you used to register. Then click on “Reset password.” You will receive an email that allows you to reset your password.

When bidding via Online Live, you will be asked for your bidding limit during registration. Providing this limit is mandatory. Rapp auction house carefully checks all registrations and reserves the right to adjust the specified bidding limit if necessary. For higher bidding limits and new customers, it may be necessary to submit additional documents such as an ID, proof of address, a commercial register excerpt, or references. Only after successful verification of these documents will you be enabled to bid.

You have the option to follow all of our auctions online on your computer, tablet, or mobile phone via livestream. Click on the button “Follow Auction as Guest” in the auction calendar on our website as soon as the auction begins. Please note that as a guest, you will not have bidding capabilities.

A buyer’s premium of 25% will be added to the hammer price at every auction. Additionally, value-added tax may apply, depending on specific regulations for each lot (please refer to the respective notes in the catalog). Furthermore, postage and insurance fees may be added, if applicable.

All stamp lots are fully subject to Swiss VAT. For these lots, Swiss VAT of 8.1% is charged on the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, as well as any shipping, insurance costs, and additional services.

For coin lots, all lots marked with an asterisk (*) in the auction catalog are fully subject to VAT. For these lots, Swiss VAT of 8.1% is charged on the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, as well as any shipping, insurance costs, and additional services.
Coin lots without an asterisk (*): no Swiss VAT is charged on government-issued gold coins minted for payment purposes, nor on the buyer’s premium, shipping, insurance costs, or additional services for these lots.

In all other categories (jewelry, watches, designer bags, wines, and whisky), Swiss VAT of 8.1% is charged only on the buyer’s premium, as well as any shipping, insurance costs, and additional services. All lots marked with an asterisk (*) in these categories are fully subject to Swiss VAT. For these lots, Swiss VAT of 8.1% is charged on the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, as well as any shipping, insurance costs, and additional services.

If we ship your purchased lots to an address outside Switzerland, the Swiss value-added tax will be waived. However, please be aware that any applicable import taxes and fees in your country must be borne by you, and we have no influence over them.If you collect the lots in Switzerland, you will be required to pay the Swiss value-added tax. If you subsequently provide us with an official export certificate from Swiss customs, we will refund the Swiss value-added tax previously paid.

Bids received by us are binding, and receiving a hammer price obligates you to take possession of the lot. A complaint period of 20 days applies; however, please be sure to observe the corresponding auction conditions.

After the auction ends, you will receive an automatic result email (provided that we have your email address in our system), where you can see which lots you have successfully bid for. In the days following the auction, you will receive the auction invoice via email.

Within Switzerland, most shipments are sent via registered mail using Swiss Post. Packages sent abroad are dispatched using the shipping service provider UPS. Shipping cost flat rate:

• CH:                                     CHF 20.-           Delivery time 1-2 days

• EU:                                     CHF 75.-           Delivery time 3-6 days

• Rest of the World:        CHF 95.-            Delivery time 4-8 days

Please be aware that shipments with bulky content, high weight, or multiple packages per shipment may incur additional shipping costs.

Auction invoices are usually sent via email to the registered email address 1-2 days after the auction. We ask for a bank transfer within 7 days. There is also the option to pay for lots directly at Rapp auction house in cash or by debit card at the specified times.Please note that payments by credit card cannot be accepted.

Fully paid auction lots can be collected at Rapp auction house during the specified times. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Unsold lots go directly into a post-auction sale, which generally lasts about three weeks. In the post-auction sale, auction lots can be acquired at the starting price (lower estimate) plus 25% buyer’s premium and any applicable VAT and additional service costs. Viewing of these lots is possible at the specified times. Please note that lots purchased in the post-auction sale cannot be returned.