Article 1 – Aim
The conditions to follow determine the framework for sales and other activities carried out by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert, established at 17 Galerie Véro-Dodat, 75001 Paris, and apply to all products marketed on its website.
Article 2 – Sales
1. All prices shown on our website are given by default in euros, all taxes included (incl. VAT). The prices indicated include VAT and other taxes applicable to the day of the sale, unless otherwise specified. Prices do not include any processing and shipping costs.
2. Casanova Luthier-Expert reserves the right to modify its prices at any time. The product will be invoiced based on the price in effect at the time of purchase.
3. Products shall remain in the possession of Casanova Luthier-Expert until complete payment of the price.
4. The company Casanova Luthier-Expert accepts the payment of a sum amounting to 10% of the total price of a product in order to reserve this instrument in the name of the potential buyer. The deadline for completing the payment is 7 days starting on the day the deposit is credited. The deposit is lifted when the buyer confirms their purchase and pays the remaining balance. If the buyer wishes to withdraw his reservation and obtain reimbursement of his deposit, an amount equivalent to 5% of the sum paid will be retained by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert, corresponding to the bank charges and processing costs incurred.
Article 3 – Consignements
1. The depositor shall agree to consign his property with the depositary Casanova Luthier-Expert for a minimum period of 3 months¹. Once this period has expired, he may, if he wishes, recover his property, for the cost of any setup work and/or repairs which will have been carried out during the deposit period with his prior agreement ². Otherwise, he may choose to leave his property with the depositary for an extended period, while retaining the possibility of recovering it at any time once the initial period of 3 months has expired.
2. The depositor shall agree guarantee the exclusivity of the sale of his property to the depositary Casanova Luthier-Expert during the consignment period, defined when signing the contract. They shall agree not to put their property up for sale either with a third party person or service, or on any classified sales sites. In addition, if the property had been placed on consignment by other means prior to the conclusion of this contract, the depositor shall agree to terminate these third-party consignments.
3. The commission fee due to the depositary, calculated as a percentage of the final sale price, amounts to around 36% including tax. This fee takes into account the complex verification of the instrument’s setup, the changing of the strings and the cleaning of the instrument, its presentation and being made available for potential buyers in the store, advertising via online posting on the store’s website and in some cases via social networks, and also includes room for negotiation with a potential buyer.
4. Casanova Luthier-Expert shall pay the amount due to the depositor, as defined on the contract, within 2 weeks of the sale of the instrument. Payment will be made by bank transfer.
5. Casanova Luthier-Expert shall apply a progressive decrease of the amount due to the depositor and the price displayed for a given instrument as a function of time spent in consignment: after a period of 6 months a reduction of 5% is applied, then a reduction of 10% after a year.
¹ Period beginning on the day the contract is signed by the depositor.
² Casanova Luthier-Expert only sells instruments in perfect playing condition. If the condition of the instrument placed on consignment does not meet this requirement, it will be necessary to carry any work necessary to ensure that this is the case and thus allow the sale of the instrument in the best conditions. The cost including tax of this work is at the expense of the depositor, will be determined in his presence and will appear on the consignment contract. It may be paid prior to the sale of the instrument or deducted upon sale, depending on the agreement of both parties.
Article 4 – Purchase of instruments
1. The seller certifies that the instrument they wish to sell, which will be described in detail in the contract established on the day of the transaction, is in effect they property and that they have all the necessary legal capacity to conclude the sale of said property.
2. The company Casanova Luthier-Expert shall not be held liable for possible disputes regarding the ownership of the property prior to its acquisition by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert.
3. Payment of the amount due to the seller by the company Casanova Luthier-Expert will obligatorily be made by check or bank transfer.
Article 5 – Shipping and deliveries
1. The products are delivered to the delivery address indicated during the order process, within the timeframe indicated on the order validation page.
2. In the event of a delay in shipping, an email will be sent to the address provided at the time of placing the order in order to inform the buyer of a possible impact on the delivery time which was initially indicated to them.
3. In the event of delivery by carrier, the company Casanova Luthier-Expert shall not be held liable for delivery delays due to unavailability of the customer after several delivery attempts or delays stemming from the delivery service provider.
4. In the event of an order to a destination other than metropolitan France, the customer is to be considered the importer of the product. It will therefore their responsibility to pay any applicable customs duties, import duties, state taxes and other local taxes when required. The amount and payment of these sums are not the responsibility of the company Casanova Luthier-Expert, and the customer is fully liable for handling these. Thus the company Casanova Luthier-Expert invites all international buyers to consult the conditions applicable to the import of musical instruments with their local authorities before purchasing an instrument.
5. The Casanova Luthier-Expert company shall take care to package all instruments for shipment in specially designed containers intended for shipping of guitars, in order to guarantee their full protection during transport.
Article 6 – Conservation of instruments
1. The guitars sold and restored by Galerie Casanova are old instruments, which were built following traditional processes by luthiers and manufacturers who used mainly natural materials – hide glues, alcohol-based varnish, solid wood cut to minimal thickness, all of this to ensure the instrument is able to vibrate and resonate as much as possible. At the time of construction, the only consideration was to create instruments with optimal tone and volume and for this reason, they are still extremely sought after to this day. As a consequence, they are also immensely delicate guitars and by nature very sensitive to temperature and humidity conditions.
2. Galerie Casanova regulates the air within the shop and workshops in order to conserve a constant relative humidity of around 50%. The acceptable range of variation for relative humidity is between 40% and 60%. Outside of this range, the guitar may suffer warping, glued parts may come undone, the wood may crack in places. It is therefore absolutely essential to take these elements into consideration when purchasing an older instrument. When the guitar is stored in your home, it should be kept away from heat sources (radiators, sunny windows…), in a space at constant room temperature were it will not be subjected to sudden hygrometric changes. It is also strongly recommended to acquire a thermo-hygrometer in order to monitor the environment in the room the instrument is kept in.
3. Galerie Casanova guarantees the perfect condition of instruments we sell, as they can be seen and tested while on display in our shop. Furthermore, all of our guitars are sold equipped with a humidifier when applicable, with the aim of attenuating the effect of changing environments from our shop to the buyer’s home. Therefore, Galerie Casanova may not be held liable for any of the aforementioned damage that may occur on an instrument due to lack of care regarding temperature and humidity conditions once this instrument has left our store.