How to Buy

How to buy at a live auction

Prior to our live auction events, we publish the previews and auction dates so that you can call or email about any of the items in advance.

On the sale day, visit the cashier/registration table to register FREE for a bidder number and the opportunity to bid.

All terms and conditions, as well as the auction route, will be given at the beginning of the auction so you know where you will need to be.

Tip: It is best to arrive early or during the preview time period so that you can walk the auction and see the different items that my interest you. Sometimes we may have multiple rings (meaning more than one auctioneer calling bids at the same time) so you need to know where your items will be, time wise, in the sale. We welcome you to stay for the whole day and enjoy the event!

How to Bid: Once you have registered and the auction begins, you simply hold your bid card up during the solicitation for bids by the auctioneer and your bid will be accepted.

Bid Competition: If two bidders are battling for the high bid on an item, the auctioneer will always stay with the two competing bidders until one has stopped bidding, then the auctioneer will turn back out to the crowd for additional bids. This gives the honor to the competing bidders and allows them to raise the price to their highest amount prior to any additional bids being accepted.

Winning a Bid: Once you have the highest bid, and no one else is willing to bid higher, the item is SOLD to you. When you have all the treasures you want to win at the auction, go to the cashier’s station to pay for your items; you will be given a receipt ticket for each item purchased. These receipts will allow you to retrieve your items, load them up, and take them home.

How to buy at an online auction

Buying online is a simple process and the Registration is FREE!

Click the “Online Auctions” tab to view the current online auction. To purchase, you must first click the Registration button at the top middle of the page to receive a bidder number. This bid number will be good for any and all online auctions on our site. With registration, you will also set a secure password.

Once you have registered, feel free to browse the current online auctions and place bids. The auctions will be listed with a single picture to the left of the auction title. The auction title will be in bold blue letters and will summarize the items and types of items in the auction. Next just click on the auction title “Bold Blue Letters” and you will go directly to the auction and be able to see every item with pictures and descriptions. Here you will read the details of the auction such as; preview dates and times, starting bidding dates and times, ending of the auction dates and times as well as pick up date and time!

Make sure to read the details so that you can determine if there is a conflict on preview or pickup that may prevent you from bidding on any items. Once you have read and reviewed the auction terms, conditions, and details, now it’s time to bid!

Scroll down to the categories section that will be written in all blue letters. The word categories will be listed on the left hand side and a list of categories and the item count per category will be written to the right side in blue letters. You can click on an individual category or you can simply click on the “All Items” category and review each item(s) through the list with a picture(s) to preview and full description. Regardless of you wanting to see items per category or all items you will be able to view all pictures per item by clicking on the preview picture to the left of the description which will enlarge the preview picture and take you to all pictures for that item. Then if you want to see any other picture enlarged just click on that individual picture.

Next is the actual bidding process:

  1. Review the current bid. This will let you know how much other buyers are bidding on this item at this time.
  2. Review the “Next Bid Required” column; it will tell you the next minimum bid required to have for that item.
  3. The next column is the “Your Bid” and “Your Maximum.” These two columns are made for you to place bids. You can simply place a bid in the your bid column and submit or place a current bid in the “Your Bid” column and a maximum bid in the max column and let the software bid for you. Either way you then scroll to the bottom of the page and type in your bidder number and password before submitting your bid.
  4. Once you submit your bid, you will be asked if you accept the terms and conditions of the auction and then your will be given your bids again to preview and be CERTAIN that these are the bids you want to enter. Just in case you made a mistake entering a bid or forgot a decimal place this is a good review point to watch carefully.
  5. Once you have reviewed the bids for accuracy you submit them again and we will tell you if you are the high bidder.
  6. It is possible for you to be out bid immediately if someone else has a maximum bid on that item that is higher than your current or maximum bid because the software will be for them the same as it bids for you. It will indicate immediately if you are the high bidder or if you have been out bid.
  7. If you are the high bidder you can leave the item and go to another item or another auction, but remember to submit your bids per page with bidder number and password or it will not submit your bid. Meaning that if you place bids on page one and then go to page two without submitting a bid your placed bids will be deleted and you will go to the next page. So, place you bid and then enter your bidder number and password and hit “submit.”
  8. Once you have entered your bidder number and password for an individual auction you can simply hit the “enter” or “return” key on your key board to submit additional bids. Yet every time you login to a new auction you must first enter your bidder number and password to submit your first bid.

IMPORTANT: Once you have enter your bids for an auction it is better and more efficient to review your bids at a later time, such as the day of the auction ending, by clicking on the “Review Bids” tab at the bottom of any bid page next to “Submit Bids”. This tab will allow you to review the bids that you have already made and review whether or not you still have the high bid. It will also allow you to bid from this review page and not have to go through each page of the auction to find your items! This is a very useful tool when finalizing your bids on the ending day of the sale. You can go through your existing bids much quicker with less time looking and more time protecting your treasures to WIN!

Once the auction has ended, you will be emailed an invoice for the items won and a 10% buyer’s premium included as per the terms of the auction. This total is the amount due at the time of pickup which will be listed on the top of the invoice along with the address for pickup. The project manager’s contact information will be included as well for you to communicate and necessary details or information concerning your purchase.

Thank you for your interest, if you have any further questions about buying at auctions contact us at 614-877-7320 or email info@irsauctioneer.com.