Cape Winemakers Guild

This is a virtual live auction, with two sessions spread over two days:

• Friday, 30 September 2022 from 17:00 to 20:00
• Saturday, 1 October 2022 from 09:00 to 15:00
• You only need to register once for this auction to bid on both days.

• All wines will be offered on both days, with a larger number of smaller-sized lots on the Friday evening.
• You only need to register once for this auction to bid on both days.

• Yes, even if you are an existing client, you need to register to get a bidder number for each auction. You will only be able to bid once you have your bidder number.
• When you register, please give Strauss & Co permission to share your information with the CWG. This is vital to ensure that you receive your wine correctly.

You first need to sign up for a Bidder’s Account at www.straussart.co.za. Once you have created a Bidder’s Account, you can register to bid on all the Auctions by following the quick and easy registration process.

• Registration can only take place once an auction has gone live on the Strauss & Co website. A ‘Register to Bid’ button will appear once the auction is live.
• The 2022 Nedbank CWG Auction is scheduled to go live on 12 September 2022.

Once you have registered, you can use your email address and password to sign in by simply clicking ‘Sign In’ in the top right-hand corner of the homepage.

Virtual live bidding

• Purchasing items on our live virtual auction can be done online through the Strauss website (www.straussart.co.za) or in person at the auction venue.
• Live virtual auctions will go live when the sale opens and will be conducted by one of Strauss’s auctioneers.
• You will be able to place a pre-sale bid or a commission bid prior to the start of the auction.
• You will need to be present virtually at our live virtual auctions to ensure you don’t miss out on your lots. You do not get sent a notification if a higher bid is received before the auction or during the virtual live auction.
• On the day, you will be able to bid on an item one at a time or increase your pre-sale bid as the auctioneer opens and closes lots.

Telephone bidding

Telephone bidding is only available for our virtual live auctions. Some clients prefer to have a Strauss & Co staff member call and represent them when their lot comes up during an auction. To receive a telephone bidding form, please email bids@straussart.co.za and request a form. This needs to be completed and returned before Friday, 30 September.

Absentee bids

Absentee bids are only available for our virtual live auctions. They are also called commission bids and may be placed by filling out and submitting an absentee bidding form. To receive an absentee bidding form, please email bids@straussart.co.za and request a form. This needs to be completed and returned before Friday, 30 September. You will not be notified that you have been outbid until after the auction.

Once the virtual live auction has closed on Saturday, 1 October, Strauss & Co will send you an email confirming which lots you have purchased on both the Friday and Saturday sessions, and how to check out. Strauss & Co will invoice you for your purchases and you will pay them directly.

When you check out, you will be asked how you would like to get your wines. The options are:

• Have wine delivered by The Vineyard Connection (delivery is complimentary within South African borders).
• Collect your wine from The Vineyard Connection warehouse in Stellenbosch.
• Collect your wine from the wineries.
• Have your wine stored at Wine Cellar in Observatory.
• Export your wine*.

* Exports will still be handled by the CWG as in the past. Strauss & Co can only issue you a VAT exempt invoice on proof of export (relevant export documentation from a shipping agent).

Successful bidders are required to make payment for their purchases to Strauss & Co by no later than two days after the date of sale (being from the fall of the auctioneer’s gavel), or on such other date as Strauss & Co and the buyer may agree upon in writing.

Payment can be made by:

• Electronic funds transfer (EFT)
• Credit card (MasterCard, Visa and Diner’s Club)
• Telegraphic transfer (TT); remitter to bear all costs.

Your wine will be ready for delivery or collection from 1 November 2022.  All wine must be taken delivery of, or collected, before 30 November 2022. No wine will be delivered or released until the full purchase price has been received and cleared by Strauss & Co.

This is an online-only auction running for one week that opens on Monday, 26 September at 08:00 and closes from 19:00 on Monday, 3 October 2022

Yes, even if you are an existing client or you have already registered for the Nedbank CWG virtual live auction, you need to register to get a bidder number for this auction. You will only be able to bid once you have your bidder number for this auction.

• Registration can only take place once an auction has gone live on the Strauss & Co website. A ‘Register to Bid’ button will appear once the auction is live.
• The CWG Protégé Programme Auction is scheduled to go live on 26 September 2022.

You may bid on all items during this period with the winning bid being the highest bid at the close of the auction at 19:00. (NB: Please see ‘Lot bidding extensions’ below.)

When placing a bid, you have the option of submitting a commission bid. This will allow you to set a maximum amount on a lot which the system will bid on your behalf until your maximum bid has been reached. You will then be notified once you have been outbid. To increase your bid again, simply sign in and place a higher bid on the lot.

This happens when multiple commission bids are received on the same lot. The bid that was received first will be the bid that is accepted. All the other bids of the same value are ‘pushed’ into the bidding history so that they are acknowledged even though they have not been accepted. These are also known as ‘Push Bids’. This is the reason why it sometimes appears that a bidder is bidding against themselves.

To achieve the best possible results on our online-only auction platform, and to make the bidding process as fair and manageable as possible for sellers and all prospective bidders, Strauss & Co have implemented commission bids and lot bidding extensions (see below).

Where there is bidding activity on a particular lot within five minutes prior to the lot’s allocated closing time, there will be a five-minute bidding extension on that lot until only one bidder remains. These extensions will continue indefinitely until there is no more bidding activity on the lot for a period of five minutes, implying that there is no further interest. This extra time is designed to accommodate interested bidders and allow them to compete for a lot until their ceiling has been reached. This is also designed to avoid the last-minute rush when bidders log onto Strauss Online at the end of the auction to leave a single winning bid seconds before the sale’s closing time. This is called sniping and is considered unfair practice to both buyers and sellers. The lot bidding extension has been designed to avoid this.

Under R2 000: R100

R2 000–R5 000:  R200 and then R300 (R2 000, R2 200, R2 500, R2 800, R3 000…)

R5 000–R10 000:  R500

R10 000–R20 000:  R1 000

R20 000–R50 000:  R2 000 and then R3 000 (R20 000, R22 000, R25 000, R28 000…)

R50 000–R100 000:  R5 000

Notifications are only sent out during an online-only auction. The system will send you an email and an SMS every time you are outbid on a lot. During the last hour of the online-only auction, we suggest that you sign in and keep an eye out on your lot so as to not lose out on last-minute bidding.

If you are bidding on multiple lots and want to keep an eye on all your bids, please locate the ‘Current Bids’ tab under your account. You will be able to view all your current bids and bid directly from that page should you be outbid.

Once the online auction has closed, we will send you an email confirming which lots you have purchased and how to check out.