Auction Procedure - Traditional Sales

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On arrival at the auction site, you will normally need to register your name and address in order to obtain a bidding number. Proof of identification is usually required and many auctioneers will require a returnable cash or credit card deposit on registration, so do check in advance

If you have not had time to view your prospective purchases before auction day, allow plenty of time to conduct a thorough inspection prior to the sale. At some "catalogue auctions" you may not be allowed to view the lots once the auction is under way, so just because the items you are interested in are at the end of the sale, do not assume that you can turn up and inspect them half an hour before they are due to be sold

When the lot you intend to bid for comes up for sale, the auctioneer will announce the lot number, give a brief description from the catalogue and then suggest a starting bid. Bidding will often start some way below this point, so don't assume that this is the minimum price the lot will be sold for. If there is a reserve price on an item the auctioneer will often try and start the bidding above that price. Indeed, some auction catalogues give a guide price and these items will often have a reserve price some way below that.

If no one else is willing to bid, you are free to start at whatever price you wish. Remember that many auctions (particularly liquidations and receiverships) have no reserve prices, and if you are the only one interested in a particular lot, your initial bid could be the price you end up paying

Where a number of similar lots are listed consecutively in the catalogue, the auctioneer may announce that the buyer of the first lot will have an "option" on the rest. This means that the successful buyer will have the choice to purchase as many similar lots as he requires at the same price as the first.

When starting a bid, either raise a hand, or make some other clear gesture to the auctioneer to grab his attention and call out the amount you wish to bid. Once he has taken a bid from you, he will keep returning to you to see if you want to up the offer each time the bid is against you. When you wish to drop out a clear shake of the head will indicate that you have finished bidding

Bids will progress in steps dictated by the auctioneer, and often he will not take bids of less than this amount until he considers he has almost reached the final bid price

If you are successful in your bidding, you will normally need to make an immediate deposit. This is to prevent less scrupulous individuals bidding and then disappearing once they realise they have paid over the odds. See the "Conditions of Sale" in the catalogue to determine what deposit is required

Traditionally, auctioneers like to deal in cash, which is fine for small purchases but hardly practical when hundreds or thousands of pounds are involved. In these cases, bank drafts, building society cheques and debit and credit cards may be acceptable (check prior to auction). Personal cheques are normally acceptable if supported by a cheque guarantee card. For amounts above the card limit and for business cheques, prior arrangements should be made with the auctioneers

The length of time allowed to pay for and then clear the goods will be stipulated in the catalogue. It is worth bearing in mind that once the hammer has fallen the goods become the responsibility of the purchaser.

At auctions where substantial quantities of heavy plant and equipment is for sale, representatives of machinery removal companies are normally present and will be happy to give you a quote for relocation and installation. The auctioneers should be able to advise you further on matters regarding insurance, transport, packing, etc.

Know The Seller

There are several ways in which you can check out a seller:

Does the online auction site have the ability to view the seller's other auctions? By looking at this you can decide whether they are traders or not.

Does the online auction site have a seller feedback area? If so check out what other buyers have said about the seller. Sometimes buyers can rank a seller, so if the seller has bad feedback and ratings do the sensible thing and avoid them or your negative feedback will be joining the others.

Does the seller have a history of selling items? If a history and feedback were always required there would be no new sellers, however, you can still gain confidence for your first few buys by taking these into account.

Is the seller using an anonymous email account ? They could be completely honest, but generally dishonest sellers will not have traceable email addresses.

Before bidding send the seller an email, especially if they are a new seller. Just think of a simple relevant question to ask that is not covered in the description of the item. Good sellers are serious about their sales and will respond quickly, fully and politely. After all do not forget YOU ARE THE CUSTOMER!

Does the seller appear to be knowledgeable about the item they are selling? this can go a long way to avoid buying fakes, because it is less likely the seller bought fakes in the first place.

How does the seller want to be paid? If they want cash, the chances are you won't see your item or your cash. For reasons of traceability and some recourse you should try and pay by credit card

When does the seller require payment? If its a short fixed period you may wish to look elsewhere as making payments other than by credit card can be delayed. Remember, YOU ARE THE CUSTOMER and you should be allowed to pay within a reasonable amount of time.

What is the return policy for the item? If it's not good then don't bid. You are relying on a photo and a description - the item may arrive and not be what you thought.

What is the shipping rate? Has the seller inflated the rate to make more money? If so you need to decide whether the item is worth it and if the seller is worth doing business with when they resort to this sort of practice.

Hidden Costs

Check out these costs before you bid to assess whether the item is worth it:

What is the shipping rate? Do your sums, add up the shipping costs, you may need to email the seller to find out the weight and dimensions of the item (a good excuse to get in touch).

Is delivery type specified? Does the item really need to go by the most expensive or fastest way?

Does the item require insurance for its journey? If so how much will this cost?

Make sure multiple items are shipped and charged as one bulk delivery, not as many separate small deliveries, which will inevitably be more expensive

If you are using an escrow service how much will it cost?

Are there any taxes to pay? Import duties may apply for international buyers Various payment methods cost and should also be added to your hidden costs equation.

Know The Item

Check out the item before you bid:

What would the item cost new from a retailer? Is the saving worth it?

Always print out the item's description, you may need a hard copy later if a dispute arises Images are most important for many items. They should be clear, well lit and of a size that is easy to view. They should not be a professional stock picture and should not show any signs of tampering such as retouching. Always print them out as they may be required if a dispute arises.

Do some research. You may have plenty of time to research the item before bidding. Online auctions can run for weeks Search the online auction site for similar items before bidding

Common Auction Scams

Understand these scams before you bid:

Shilling

The most frequent scam. The sellers and their cohorts bidding the price of an item higher so that the winning buyer (you) ends up paying for the item at a higher price.

Bid Shielding

A buyer places a low bid and is then followed by other buyers (partners) who take the bidding up very high compared to the real value of the item. At the last moment the high bidders withdraw their bids and leave only the initial low bid remaining. Basically you end up selling the item for a lower than expected price and no one else has bid because of the high bids that have been withdrawn.

Faked Photos

It's so easy to make something look good or even replace it entirely and take a picture. Once the image is digitized further enhancements can be made. Look at the picture carefully. Does it look like a stock shot? Does it have any areas of blur or fuzziness? (a sure sign it has been tampered with) Does it match the description? Print it out and also save it to disk, you may need it later.

Untrue/Misleading Descriptions

Again anything can be written about anything. When you last bought a car, was that dent, rust, bad paint job in the description of the ad? Of course not. Sellers may fail to mention things they see as minor but you see as major faults and of course the same goes for auctions. Does the description match the picture? Is it a detailed description or just the make and model? Sellers should give detailed descriptions and even point out faults. If you contact a seller before bidding and find that faults have have been left out of the description, ask yourself whether you want to do business with this person.

Failure to Deliver Merchandise

Usually, online auctions require the buyer pay for the merchandise before receiving the goods. So if you have paid, the cheque has been cashed and you have not received your goods, first contact the seller. If you get no response contact the site hosting the auction. Inform them of the situation and request any details they may be able to provide. Be sure to keep a record of all conversations, correspondence and cancelled cheques. Many auction sites now require sellers to give credit card details for identification before they can sell. For obvious reasons choose your auction site carefully. If the item is expensive use an Escrow service. Does the auction site provide insurance, if so it can save you money.

False Feedback

Visit the online auction's buyer feedback page where sellers are rated by past buyers. The feedback systems can be easily manipulated by the seller using false user accounts or by their partners. If a seller has a perfect feedback rating, this can mean they are either totally honest and timely with their sales or they are dishonestly posting false feedback. There is no easy way to spot false feedback, although an average rating is probably a good thing - after all very few people are perfect. If you get burned be sure to let others know by using the feedback sections.

Switch and Return

You as a seller have sent your goods to the buyer. The buyer then switches your goods for older, copied or broken goods of the same nature and contacts you saying they are not satisfied with the goods and demanding a refund. You do not know this until the goods have been returned to you, so what do you do? Do not give refunds until you have the goods back. Before sending the goods take photos of them, describe them and note any model numbers, serial numbers or unique identifying marks. Contact the buyer and let them know you know and the evidence you have, then offer to return the goods to them when you receive payment for re-shipping.

Pirated or Stolen goods

If you think the goods may be pirated or stolen, contact the seller and ask for details of where and how they acquired the goods. Then contact the original supplier to confirm. Software is particularly susceptible to this.