How to bid and buy
Four ways to buy on AuctionHub: bid in a rising-bid auction, accept a Dutch price, use Buy Now, or make an offer. Whatever the route, a successful bid, purchase or accepted offer is a binding commitment to buy at that price, and all four need a verified account.
Bidding in a rising-bid auction
- Open the listing. You see the current price, the number of bids, whether the hidden reserve has been met, the time left (in your time zone) and the bid history with anonymised bidder names.
- Enter your maximum bid: the most you are willing to pay. The field shows the minimum allowed: the start price for the first bid, afterwards the current price plus one increment.
- Click Place bid. If your maximum is the highest, the price moves only to one increment above the second-highest maximum and you lead. If someone else's maximum is higher, you are outbid immediately and the page tells you so.
Automatic (proxy) bidding
You do not need to come back and bid again. When another buyer bids, the platform raises your bid for you by the smallest increment needed to stay in the lead, up to your maximum, and never beyond it. Your maximum is never shown to anyone. You may raise it at any time by placing a new bid; a new maximum must be higher than your current one.
Bid increments
The increment grows with the price (a few cents at low prices, larger steps at high prices). The listing page always states the minimum next bid, so there is nothing to calculate.
The soft close
On most auctions a bid placed within the last 120 seconds extends the auction so that at least 120 seconds remain; the auction ends only when nobody has bid in that window. Sniping therefore gains nothing: bid your true maximum early and let automatic bidding work. A seller may switch the soft close off; the listing then says sudden death and ends exactly on time.
Reserve price
Some sellers set a hidden minimum. The listing shows reserve not met until bidding reaches it; if the auction ends below the reserve, nothing is sold. Sellers may lower the reserve while the auction runs, and the listing page updates at once.
Retracting a bid
A bid can be retracted only within 5 minutes of placing or raising it, and never during the final 12 hours of an auction. Retracting removes all your bids on that listing. Use it for a genuine mistake, such as a typo in the amount, not to test the water.
Winning
If you lead when the auction ends and the reserve is met, you have bought the item. You receive a notification, the listing shows you as the buyer and a deal room opens with the seller.
Buying at a Dutch auction
The price falls by a fixed step at a fixed interval until it reaches the seller's floor. The listing shows the current price, the next drop and the floor. Click Accept the current price when the price suits you; the first acceptance wins, so waiting for a lower price risks losing the item to someone else. With several units you choose how many to take; the first acceptance fixes the price, and the remaining units sell at that price.
Buy Now
A listing with a Buy Now price can be bought at once for that price. On an auction the Buy Now option disappears with the first bid, so if you want the item at that price, do not wait. On a fixed-price listing with several units you choose the quantity.
Making an offer
- On a listing that shows offers welcome, enter the price you propose and send it. On a rising-bid auction offers are possible only until the first bid; a bid voids any offers still waiting.
- The seller has 48 hours to accept, decline or counter. Some sellers set thresholds that accept or decline offers automatically, so you may get an answer at once.
- A counteroffer is valid for 24 hours; accept or decline it, or, where the seller allows counteroffers, counter back with a price between your offer and theirs.
- You may make up to 3 offers on one listing and retract an offer that has not been answered yet. An accepted offer is a sale: the deal room opens.
Sellers can also send you an offer: on a listing that accepts offers, to someone watching it (on an auction only before the first bid), or after an auction ended below its reserve, to its highest bidder. You see it under Account › Offers and in your notifications, and it waits 24 hours for your answer.
Second-chance offers
If the winner of an auction does not complete the deal, the seller may offer the item to the next-highest bidder at that bidder's own maximum bid. If that is you, you get a notification and 48 hours to accept; nothing happens if you let it pass.
Keeping track
Account › Bids lists every auction you bid on with your status; Watchlist keeps listings you have not decided on; Notifications tell you when you are outbid, have won, or an offer was answered. Follow categories to see new listings in My feed.