Auction House T and C's: is this normal??

Sure, I agree with that. As long as you are certain that your rep sees things the same way you do. I used to have relationships with many dealers and those dealers knew just by looking at a coin if I would like it or not. That is the essential ingredient. And they knew better than to call me about a coin that I wouldn't like or about one that was over-priced for what it was. But when a gem popped up, they also knew they didn't need to call me, they could just buy it because they knew without a doubt that I'd buy it from them.

It's like I've always said - the best way there is to put together a nice, quality collection is to establish relationships with dealers. They'll see a thousand times more coins than you ever will and you get them to work for you - that's their job. And it is a HUGE advantage to you.

And that rep you want for European auctions - again you use those same dealers. They travel to Europe to buy coins all the time. Especially the kind of stuff I used to collect.