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How an auction works: When you arrive at the auction house or site you must register to get a bidding number. In most cases the registration is free and just consists of getting your name and address etc. If you have a resale license and will be purchasing for resale bring your certificate and present it during registration so you won't have to pay sales tax. You can also pick up a catalog for the sale which lists the items that will be sold in their numerical order. Go ahead and look around to familiarize yourself with the layout. You will see the podium where the auctioneer will be and the items for sale set out for viewing. Don't be afraid to ask any of the helpful employees if you have any questions. They all want you to have a fun experience. There is always a 'preview' of the auction. This is the time to look at all the items you are interested in to make sure they are what you want and that they are not damaged. The preview is usually the day before the auction but may be on the morning of the sale too. You should always preview the sale and make yourself notes on the items you are interested in. Its also a good idea to note your maximum price as its very easy to get caught up in the sale and bid much more than you intended. When the auction starts the auctioneer or helpers will hold up the items in numerical order and the auctioneer will start asking for bids. The asking price usually starts high and the auctioneer asks for less and less until someone bids. At that point the bidding goes back up. When the bidding is at a comfortable level for you, you raise your card to place your bid. Pay close attention since things go pretty fast and it is easy to lose track of the bids. Don't be afraid to ask if you do lose track and yell out if they are missing your bid, they don't want to miss your bid either. Auction participants bid openly against one another, with each bid being higher than the previous bid. The auction ends when no participant is willing to bid further at which point the highest bidder pays the price. The auction employee will ask for your bidder number and write it on the items tag. One other thing to keep in mind when deciding how much to pay is the 'Buyers Premium'. The buyers premium is a standard amount that will be added to each item you purchase to help pay the auction house expenses. The buyers premium is 13% if you pay by credit card and 10% for all other payment types. I.E. if you bid $10.00 for an item your bill will be the $10.00 plus (10%) $1.00 equaling $11.00 plus sales tax. (assuming you paid cash) When the auction is over, or you are done you will go to the checkout counter and pay for your items. The clerk will ask for your number and may give you a list to check to make sure everything you bought is listed. After you pay they will give you a receipt to take to the pickup counter where you will pick up your 'Treasures'. |
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