Contact Me / Buying / Sales Enquiries / Terms & Conditions / Customs

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The best way to contact me (and the method I prefer) to enquire about buying a sword or other edged weapon shown on this site, or if you want to contact me regarding valuing or buying a sword, is to do so by email. If you have JavaScript enabled, you will see and be able to click the link below;

If you have JavaScript disabled, you will have to type out my email address manually. Here is a photograph of my email address (you can not click it, you have to type it out yourself);

I go to such lengths to prevent automated email harvesters from getting my email address to add to pharmacy, etc. sales spam lists.

Payment Methods
I accept bank transfers, UK bank deposits, PayPal and Western Union only.

Paying by PayPal
a) Due to PayPal's high charges, I need to pass these on. I therefore apply a surcharge of 4.75%.
b) Due to PayPal's seller protection rules, I will only ship to the account holder's address on file with PayPal.
c) Payment must be in GBP (it is easy to pay in GBP even if your PayPal account is in USD or Euros).
d) First Time Customers: To protect myself against fraud, I require two equal payments of 50% each. If you provide me with your PayPal email address, I will send you two such payment requests; one marked "50% deposit", the other "50% balance". You can pay both immediately, no problem, so it will not delay your order being shipped.

Paying by IBAN (EU to EU bank transfers)
There are no surcharges for IBAN payments. Payments can be made in GBP or Euros; the later only once the exchange rate has been agreed by me.

Paying by International bank transfer
Payments are to be sent "all charges paid". However, due to the fact "all charges paid" does not cover the charges I incur at my receiving bank, I have a surcharge of 6 GBP for this payment method. Payments can be made in GBP, USD or Euros; USD / Euros only once the exchange rate has been agreed by me.

Paying by UK Direct Bank Deposit
There are no surcharges for buyers who pay directly into my Barclays UK account from any other UK bank.

Western Union
There are no surcharges for Western Union payments. I require Western Union payments in Euros however, so first the exchange rate has to be agreed.

Exchange Rates
When you pay in USD or Euros, I do not make any extra from this. I always use the market exchange rate on Yahoo finance: GBP to USD - GBP to Euro.

Discounts

I am sometimes asked for a discount. Generally I do not discount for new customers, though you are welcome to ask (just expect me to say "No" though and be pleasantly surprised if I say "Yes"). I do however offer a discount for repeat customers. Repeat customers receive a 10% discount on additional items up to the value of previous non-discounted orders; this means if you buy / have only bought a bayonet from me for £100 and then ask for a discount on a £1000 sword, I will only be able to offer 10% of £100. I also offer a 10% discount to serving officers of any NATO country, and also to those serving in the Australian or New Zealand armed forces.

Your Security / Terms & Conditions

I have sold hundreds of swords around the world both from my own sales site and eBay (see: Snr Sword - I no longer am registered with eBay because of their tightening ban on swords, amongst other things, but you can see I had 100% positive feedback from my customers).

You can pay me by bank transfer to my UK bank account or by PayPal or by Western Union. UK bank and PayPal accounts are not easily come by and do they do not tolerate unethical and / or poorly described transactions; I have held my bank and PayPal accounts in good accord for years.

I guarantee all of the items for sale here are authentic and as described, except where I include doubt ("I think", "I believe", etc.). If you buy an item which is not as described from me, I will refund the cost including return shipping as long as the item is in the same condition as it left me; the burden of proof regarding incorrectly described items is with the customer of course. I can only accept returns for refund if notified of an issue within 4 weeks of the date of receipt by you of an item; it may take longer to return the item to me, etc. but you must make a claim within 4 weeks of the delivery of the item to your specified delivery address. If you buy / pay for an item from me and then change your mind, I may take it back and refund if you are honest about the matter; I may require a restocking fee if I do accept an item back in such a scenario.

I try to include condition information in the item description but you should ask specific questions and ask for specific images if in any doubt. Remember, most of the items on my site are antiques that have seen harsh use. I keep the full sized images of the photos on this site on my PC and am happy to provide these but not for re-use (if you want a photo of a sword for a web site or anything else, please be open and ask up front).

I do not suggest writing to or calling me (as I like to have electronic / documented records of what is discussed), but for the record my registered business contact details are;

Mark Austin
Sword Sales EU
Apartado Postal 43
36450 Salvaterra de Miño
Spain

Tel: 672 143 809

Please see my shipping page - I actually ship via the Post Office in Portugal because the Spanish Postal Authority has ruled weapons of any kind can not be sent via the post in Spain; although such weapons are legal in Spain, the socialist postal authority have banned carriage as a matter of policy, not law.

Customs

The buyer is responsible for ensuring they are legally able to import whatever they buy from me. A good reference for this is the Universal Postal Union Restrictions By Country page; simply look for the country you are resident in and check Chapter 93 which covers arms under that country. I do not take any responsibility for this; I only take responsibility that exporting the items out of Spain and Portugal is legal. Some countries allow antique / collector's edged weapons but only with a import permit; it is the buyer's responsibility to check.

European Union: Shipments within the EU do not matter UNLESS the member state you are in classifies antiques weapons as literal weapons, not collector's items / antiques. The only EU state I am aware of with any issues in this respect is the Netherlands, but I will happily send items there as it is the buyer's responsibility to check. Sending goods within the EU is legally "Movement of Goods", not export / import. Many people in the UK think swords are banned there; antique and collector's swords (such as WW2 Japanese and German edged weapons) are not banned at all; only so called "Samurai" swords (cheap copies of Japanese Katanas) are banned. Of course, all countries prohibit people from carrying swords in public, but to keep at home the swords you see here are not a problem.

Outside the EU: Buyers have the responsibility of checking with their domestic Customs authority to determine if the item they are interested in is permitted / requires an import permit or not. None of my items require an export license because they fall under the financial thresholds set by EC Regulation 3911/92 which governs antiques and in particular which items can be considered restricted "cultural goods". As my items come from the UK and France (this is where I buy them and where the governments have waived the need for specific licenses for items exempt in the Annex of 3911/92), they have no legal primary historical connection with either Spain or Portugal and therefore can never be claimed as Portuguese or Spanish Cultural Goods as long as they do not exceed 50,000 Euros each in value.