Storage fees may apply if your auction purchases remain in our care beyond the applicable shipping window and are not covered by an automatic delivery preference.
The fee
Calculated at $0.40 per bottle, per month.
When Storage fees begin
If your wines are not covered by an automatic delivery preference, Storage fees may begin from the 21st day of the month following your purchase. For example, a purchase made in March would attract Storage fees from 21 April, if not yet dispatched.
If your wines are held under consolidated shipping, the cycle runs from the oldest unshipped invoice in your account. Where that invoice is more than 30 days old, it will fall outside automatic consolidated shipping and Storage fees may apply.
How fees are charged
Storage fees are generally charged to the nominated credit card on your account, processed at 5pm on the 21st of each month. If a payment is unsuccessful, we will contact you to arrange an alternative.
If fees remain unsettled
If Storage fees remain unsettled for thirty (30) calendar days, LANGTONS may cease storing the wines and, in line with our Terms and Conditions, re-sell or otherwise dispose of them.
Avoiding Storage fees
To avoid Storage fees, you may:
- enable auto shipping or consolidated shipping in your account
- arrange dispatch or collection before the 21st of the month
For an overview of the service, see Storing your wines with LANGTONS.
How it works: A worked example
To show how Storage fees work in practice, consider a single auction purchase — a case of six bottles, won on 5 March — and follow it under two different account settings.
The key principle: a purchase is never charged storage in the same month it is made. Storage is assessed on the 21st of the following month, and only where the wines have not left our care and are not travelling under a delivery preference.
Scenario A — No delivery preference enabled
Here, the Buyer has not enabled auto shipping or consolidated shipping, and has not arranged dispatch or Pick Up.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 5 March | The case is won and settled. No storage applies in March — the month of purchase is never charged. |
| 21 March | No storage charged. The 21 March billing point does not capture a purchase made earlier that same month. |
| Up to 20 April | The wines rest in our care, still free of storage. The Buyer may dispatch or collect at any time before the next billing point to avoid fees entirely. |
| 21 April, 5pm | If the wines have still not left our care, the first tranche of Storage fees is charged — $0.40 per bottle, being $2.40 for the six-bottle case (6 × $0.40). |
| 21 May, and monthly thereafter | A further $2.40 is charged each month until the wines are dispatched, collected, or otherwise dealt with. |
In short: with no delivery preference, storage on a March purchase begins on 21 April.
Scenario B — Consolidated shipping enabled
Here, the same case is won on 5 March, but the Buyer has enabled consolidated shipping ("automatically consolidate and ship my auction stocks every 30 days"). The 30-day cycle runs from the oldest unshipped invoice in the account.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 5 March | The case is won and settled. It joins the consolidation cycle. No storage applies. |
| 21 March / 21 April | No storage charged. While the invoice remains within its 30-day consolidation window and is on track to be dispatched, storage does not apply — this is the benefit of the preference. |
| Around 4 April | 30 days after the 5 March invoice, the consolidated shipment is dispatched to the Buyer's default address. The case leaves our care, and no storage is ever charged. |
In short: with consolidated shipping working as intended, the March purchase is dispatched within the 30-day cycle and attracts no Storage fees at all.
The one exception — when consolidated shipping does not prevent storage
Consolidated shipping only protects a purchase while its invoice remains within the 30-day window. If an invoice ages beyond 30 days — for example, because it could not be grouped and dispatched, or the account settings changed — it falls outside automatic consolidated shipping. From that point:
- it will not be swept up in the automatic 30-day dispatch;
- it must be dispatched separately, or manually grouped with more recent purchases; and
- Storage fees may apply from the next 21st-of-the-month billing point, in the same way as Scenario A.
The two rules to remember
- The month of purchase is always free. Storage is only ever assessed from the 21st of the following month.
- Consolidated shipping prevents storage — until an invoice passes 30 days. While your oldest unshipped invoice is within its 30-day window, no storage applies. Once an invoice ages beyond 30 days and falls outside the consolidation, ordinary Storage fees may begin.
To avoid Storage fees in any scenario, you may enable auto or consolidated shipping, or arrange dispatch or collection before the 21st of the month following your purchase.