Liv-ex contracts standardise trading on the market, ensuring that you know exactly what to expect when your case arrives.

There are three contract types: Standard in Bond (SIB), Standard En Primeur (SEP), and Special. Of these, SIB is most common. Wines sold as SIB have no condition issues, are held in bond, and will be delivered to Liv-ex within two weeks of the trade taking place.

You can find out more about each of the trading contracts below. It is essential that you familiarise yourself with these requirements, especially when selling, to avoid disruption to your trades.

SIB (Standard in Bond)

Selling SIB

Make sure that you can meet the following criteria when selling wine as SIB:

Delivery
  • It is your responsibility to deliver the wine to Liv-ex within 14 days.
  • All wine sold in a single trade must be delivered together, at the same time
Packaging
  • The case must be original, correct, and in good condition:
      • You must deliver the pack size as described at the point of trade (i.e. two six-packs cannot be sent in place of a 12-pack.)
      • The original case size must be provided. We can’t accept six bottles in a 12-pack.
      • The case needs to be clean and undamaged, as well as free of pests including woodworm and mould.
      • The case must be the same one that the bottles were originally sold in (no bottle mixing)
  • The labels and capsules must be clean, undamaged, and firmly attached to the bottles.
  • The bottles must be free of all additional labels.
Condition, accuracy, tax status
  • Levels of wine should be at the base of the neck or higher.
  • The duty status must be In Bond.
  • Please check your wine before selling to make sure the vintage, colour and quantity of bottles are correct.
  • If stock is stored with Liv-ex before being offered for sale, you must make sure it is physical (i.e. not pre-sale or En Primeur) and is in the expected condition.
Payment
  • Liv-ex pay sellers 7 days after the end of the period in which the trade is invoiced or will send the net amount as agreed.

Buying SIB

If you are buying SIB wine, purchases should be available at your default warehouse within 30 days of trade and you will be notified by Liv-ex of an expected delivery, in the condition described above. Please note, however:

  • The case can have various labels, or markers, applied by different warehouses. The packaging might also therefore have slight imperfections, though we do not accept packaging that cannot sufficiently protect the wine.
  • If there is an issue with your delivered stock, you must alert Liv-ex within 14 days after it is made available to you.
Payment
  • Payment is due 7 days from the end of the period in which the trade is invoiced (Liv-ex will invoice trades once stock has been received in its warehouse.) There are no extended credit terms.

SEP (Standard En Primeur)

Standard En Primeur (SEP) contracts are for wines that have been released for sale but are not physically available on the market. Specific delivery and payment terms apply.

Selling En Primeur

  • If you are selling En Primeur, the SIB terms apply, however delivery is expected by the end of May two years following the producer’s initial En Primeur offer. Failing that, it should be delivered within 60 days of the bottled wine being available from the producer’s cellar.
  • For further information about permission to sell En Primeur on Liv-ex, click here.
Payment
  • Liv-ex will pay the seller on receipt of the guarantee or according to normal payment term if later.

Buying En Primeur

  • En Primeur wine is made available to the buyer by the end of June two years following the initial offering by the producer, or earlier.
Payment
  • Payment is due 7 days from the end of the period in which the trade is invoiced. Liv-ex will issue an invoice on the day of the trade for En Primeur transactions. All sales will be backed by a guarantee.

Special (including Special Now)

All other trades take place under a Special contract. Wines may be listed as Special for a variety of reasons, which are highlighted on the trading summary page. Where there is a condition issue, photos are available.

Selling Special

  • All the above SIB terms apply unless each non-compliant detail is clearly specified in the contract description or shown in the photos attached to the offer.
  • If the special contract is for a later delivery date, this date must be respected.
  • The stock must be sold under the correct duty status.
  • We cannot accept cases affected by woodworm, even under the Special contract, as we cannot risk contamination of our warehouse.

Buying Special

  • SIB terms apply except where specified
  • If purchased “as per photos”, the images provided are the best source of information about the condition of the wines. These take precedence over the description and trade terms. It is your responsibility to ask for more/better photos if the ones online are unclear. Please speak to your account manager if this is the case.

Special Now

A sub-category of the Special contract is Special Now. These wines all have one thing in common: They are available instantly in the Liv-ex London warehouse. They might otherwise be available as SIB, or as a regular Special. You can read more about Special Now here.

Payment for Special contracts

Payment
  • Normal terms (buyer pays 7 days from period end; Liv-ex pays 7 days from period end) unless specified in the special terms.
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