Registering for an auction: If you are a NEW bidder and would like to register for our auctions, just click on the ‘Start Bidding’ Button on the home page, click ‘Login / New Bidder’, then click ‘REGISTER HERE’. This will take you through the registration process. New bidder registrations will have to be approved. This is usually done within the hour of you registering and you will receive an email confirming that you have bee approved to bid. If you have already registered, just click the Start Bidding button and enter your log-in credentials as usual.

Placing a bid: Once you have registered and have accepted the Terms and Conditions, you are ready to start bidding! You can bid by simply going up to the next bid amount, or you can put your Max bid on an item. The Max bid is the Maximum amount you are willing to bid on an item. As other bidders are bidding on that same item, the computer will automatically put you in for the next bid until that maximum amount is reached. It’s what we used to call “Absentee Bidding”.

If you are the high bidder on an item, it will display in green and say “Winning” on the item. If you are outbid on an item, you will receive an email notification indicating that you have been outbid and provide a link to the item so you can easily place another bid if you wish. On the actual auction, the item will appear to you in red and say “Outbid”.

If you place a Max bid, but someone else has already done the same before you, the system gives preference to the first bidder at that bid; first come, first serve. It will appear to you as “Outbid” and you will have a chance to then place a higher bid.

Conversely, let’s say you place a Max Bid of $100 on an item and you are currently winning it at $40. Someone else then places a Max bid of $80. You will then see that item jump from $40 to $80 still winning to you. The other bidder will see “Outbid” at $80. Let’s say they then put in a Max bid of $100, it will then jump from $80 to $100 still winning to you because you had that Max bid in first. Let’s say they then put a max bid of $150. It will put them in at the next bid of $110, and it will show you as “Outbid” on that item.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there are many, many people looking and bidding on the same items. More than one person entering the same Max bid happens ALL THE TIME. That’s just how auctions work; several people vying for the same item in a short period of time. But that’s also the fun of it!

Which brings us to our last bit of advice for bidders: Have fun! Will you feel disappointment if you are outbid or miss the closing time? Sure. But when you snag that one-of-a-kind piece you’ve been looking for forever, it’s a happy-dance all the way to the auction! And now you have a fun story to tell!