Buyer's rights

Eight pieces of information must be given before the sale: the seller's identity and contact details, the description of the work (author, title, date, technique, dimensions), its condition and known restorations, its provenance, the total price including all taxes and fees, the payment and delivery terms, the guarantees offered and the remedies.

A description must be faithful. Wording that raises doubt — "attributed to", "school of", "in the taste of" — must be explained and drafted according to the published conventions. Photographs must show the work in all its significant dimensions.

For sales concluded at a distance — online shop, platform, telephone — the private buyer has fourteen days to withdraw without having to give a reason, from receipt of the work. Return costs are at their expense unless otherwise stated.

This right is excluded for live auctions and for works made to measure or at the buyer's request. The work must be returned in the condition in which it was received: a work damaged by clumsy handling may justify a reduction in the refund.

Protection is not one-way. The buyer must read the documents supplied carefully, ask questions when information is insufficient, pay the agreed price and meet the deadlines. A buyer who failed to ask for details on an obvious point may find their remedies limited.

This reciprocity explains why mediation is often more effective than litigation: it makes it possible to restore dialogue where each side feels misunderstood.