Originally published by Hunters and accessible here. Despite auction houses and galleries being forced to close their doors for the time being, there will still be plenty of business transacted behind the scenes. Private treaty sales are likely to be a principal means of buying and selling artworks. Unlike public auction sales, private treaty sales offer the parties to the transaction privacy, flexibility and control. That does not mean, however, that they should be entered into without an appropriate level of due diligence and a proper written and enforceable contract in place. That contract needs to incorporate effectively any applicable terms and conditions of business. All too often, we find that terms and conditions are presented to a buyer only on the back of an invoice after a contract has already been entered into which, if a dispute were to arise, would be likely to lead to expensive and time-consuming satellite […]