Frequently asked questions

Yes, signing up on the website is completely free. After signing up, you need to confirm your email address, fill in your contact details in your account and apply to take part in an auction.

To sign up, go to this page. On that page, fill in the form: email, password and password confirmation. To protect registration from bots, you will also need to solve a simple captcha — and that's it!

After that, your account will be registered and you will receive an email at the address you provided with account activation. In that email, follow the link provided and your account will be activated.

Account activation is the process of confirming your access to the email address you used to sign up.

1. You register an account by entering your email address and password
2. The account is registered on the website but not yet activated
3. We send an activation email to the address you provided
4. You open our email at the email address you provided and follow the link in the email back to this website
5. Once you follow the link in the email, the account will be activated

An unactivated account has the same level of interaction with the website as a user without an account. To get the full range of features on the website, activation is required.

Feature	Without an account	With an account
Viewing news	Yes	Yes
Viewing the auction catalogue	Yes	Yes
Viewing the auction archive	Yes	Yes
Viewing the auction schedule and announcements	Yes	Yes
Taking part in auctions	No	Yes
Adding lots to favourites	No	Yes
Bidding in auctions	No	Yes
Receiving notifications about auctions, bids, etc.	No	Yes
The ability to watch an auction in live bidding mode	No	Yes

Signing up for an auction is completely free.

To take part in an auction, you need to have an account on this website. You can find information about signing up for an account on this page in the "Signing up and your account on the website" section. If you have an activated (confirmed) account, make sure that your contact details are filled in in your account:

• First and last name
• Current phone number
• Address details

Go to any auction that interests you (a list of current auctions can be found on the home page or in the website header). On the auction page, you will be asked to agree to the auction rules. Once you submit your agreement to the rules, your application will be reviewed by our team shortly. Depending on whether or not you have taken part in our auctions before, your application will be reviewed in one of two ways:

• You are taking part in an auction for the first time. A representative of the company will then contact you (using the phone number provided in your account). The call will not take long: we will get to know you and give you a brief introduction. Based on the call, a decision will be made on your admission to the auction.
• You have already taken part in at least one auction. You then go through a simplified registration procedure, which consists of reading the auction rules. Once you submit your agreement to the auction rules, access to the auction will be granted automatically.

Please note that, when you go to the auction page, the rules acceptance form contains only the main auction rules. A link to the full list of auction rules and information about the course of bidding will be available on that form. You can also read all the rules right now on this page

Yes, you can submit applications and take part in several auctions at once if they are open for registration.

Bidding limit is a cap on the total amount of a client's leading bids and unpaid transactions.

Example: a client has a bidding limit of $50,000. At an auction, they won several lots for a total of $15,000. These lots were combined into a transaction that the client has not yet paid for. The next day, another auction started and the client wanted to take part in it. The client placed a bid of $2,000 on one lot in the second auction and became the leader on that lot.
They still have a limit of $50,000 - $15,000 - $2,000 = $33,000. The client can now place bids on other lots totalling no more than $33,000. However, they can increase the overall limit or the current remaining limit.

The overall limit is the maximum amount of restrictions on bids and purchases. Ways to increase the limit:

• Submit a request to increase the limit on the auction page (a dedicated feature on the bidding page)
• Submit a request to increase the limit by contacting our team (in any way)
• Obtain a new status in the loyalty programme. Clients with the "Silver" status have a higher limit than clients with the "Standard" status

The current remaining limit is the actual remainder of the overall limit, taking into account leading bids and unpaid transactions.

The current limit decreases when:

• The client has an unpaid transaction (that is, lots they won earlier that have not been paid for)
• The client places bids and is the leader on a lot

The current limit increases when:

• The client pays for their transactions, that is, finally buys out the lots they won
• The client loses the lead on lots on which they had previously placed bids

No. The limit does not "reset" to lower values from one auction to another. The maximum limit value can only increase: through requests to increase the limit or by obtaining the next status in our loyalty programme.

Auctions on the website take place in several stages:

1. Auction publication: the auction lots become available for bidding, users receive notifications about the start of the auction, and the date and time of live bidding become known.
2. Bidding on lots. Participants registered for the auction can place bids on lots.
3. Live bidding. At the specified date and time, the auction lots take turns to start bidding in real time (become the live lot). During live bidding, the current live lot accepts final bids and finishes its bidding. When bidding on the live lot ends, the next lot in order becomes the live lot. When live bidding on all lots ends, the auction results are recorded and transactions are created for buyers.
4. Post-sale. After the main bidding, you can buy unsold lots at a fixed price. The post-sale end date is shown on the auction page.

This is an auction mode in which lots take turns (in numerical order) to accept final bids in real time and finish their bidding. When the last lot finishes live bidding, the auction records the results and moves into post-sale mode.

At the moment, two types of bids are available on lots

• Regular bid (ordinary bid / autobid / locked bid). This is a bid that is available to participants on lots before live bidding starts. A participant can enter any bid amount in a dedicated field in the bid card. The main requirement for the bid is that it must be no less than the lot's current price + the bid increment (in accordance with the increment grid). The only exception is if the lot has no bids yet and is up for bidding at the starting price, in which case you can place a bid equal to the starting price.

  A regular bid is the maximum bid that the system will place on your behalf on that lot. To make the bidding process beneficial for participants, the system will place bids on your behalf at the minimum amount depending on the current price, the bid increment and the bids placed by other participants.

  Example. Lot #10 in the auction has no bids yet and the starting price is $15,000. Participant A placed an autobid of $30,000. They became the leader, but the lot's current price did not change (participants can place the starting price if there are no bids). Other participants can see that the lot is up for bidding. Participant B placed a bid of $18,000 on this lot. Immediately after the bid, participant B will see that they are losing the bidding. The auction will simulate the bidding. If there are no further bids on the lot, participant A will remain the leader and the lot's current price will be no higher than $18,000 + the bid increment (in accordance with the current increment grid). Even though participant A was prepared to pay $30,000 for the lot, in this case they will win it on more favourable terms.

• Live bid. This is a bid that is available to participants only in the current live lot. Participants cannot change the live bid amount. The live bid amount is determined by the system using the formula:
  live bid amount = the lot's current price + the bid increment

  After a live bid is accepted, the system updates the lot's current price and extends bidding on the current live lot (usually by no more than 7-20 seconds).

No. We put all participants on an equal footing so that pricing on lots is market-driven.

Once live bidding on the auction ends, transactions are created for all lots won in the auction. You will also receive an email with your purchases. You can view your transactions in your account in the "Purchases" section.

There are two ways:

• Go to your account, to the "Purchases" section, and find the transaction for the auction you are interested in. You can download any document for the transaction. It contains the full breakdown of the transaction
• Go to the auction (while it is still available in post-sale mode) and enable the "Purchased" filter.

When an error occurs while placing a bid, there is no need to panic. The website interface is designed so that any bidding error shows a message with the error text. You should read it. Most bidding errors are caused by network delays and are not critical. That is why a second attempt at placing a bid usually goes through without an error.

Example. Consider the following situation:

• Live bidding on a lot is under way
• The current price of the live lot is $250,000
• The bid that participants can place (taking into account the bid increment) is $260,000
• There are 7 seconds left until the end of bidding on the lot

Suppose participant A decided to place a bid on the lot and clicked the "Bid" button. They received the response: "Bid rejected. The bid cannot be lower than or equal to the lot's current price". Participant A is confused, because they cannot change the bid amount and can only place what the system offers.

The reason is that when participant A clicked the button and sent a bid of $260,000 to the website, participant B performed the same action half a second earlier. Because participant B was faster, the auction system:

• Accepted their bid
• Made participant B the leader on the lot
• Set a new current price for the live lot
• Calculated the next permitted bid for the lot, taking into account the new price and the increment grid
• Sent all participants the message: "The lot has a new price and a new permitted bid", which redraws the relevant price elements in the interface (*)

The last stage of sending the new price (*) depends directly on network delays, including delays on the client side (a weak Wi-Fi or mobile internet signal, etc.). Participant A did everything correctly but was just a moment too late. At the same time, the entire exchange of information with the website took less than 1 second. The new price and bid amount will arrive at the same time as their error message. They can therefore continue bidding and place an up-to-date bid, as there is still time left until the end of live bidding on the lot.

The bid increment is the minimum difference between the lot's current price and the permitted bid. The increment grid is a list of price ranges for a lot and the bid increment within those ranges

You can find the current increment grid in the rules, in clause 5.12.1.

If a lot already has a leader (at least one bid), any participant cannot place a bid lower than the lot's current price + the bid increment (according to the increment grid for that lot price).

If a lot has no bids, a bid equal to the lot's starting price is accepted. In this case, the increment grid does not affect such a bid.

If you have won something at an auction, the lots you won are combined into a transaction, which will be shown in your account in the "Purchases" section. You can view the transaction details: the number and composition of lots, the amount payable, the status and its documents.

The transaction must be paid for. You can pay for the transaction in the following ways:

• Payment in cash at the company office
• Payment by bank transfer (see the documents in the transaction)

As soon as the funds are credited to our account, we will prepare the lots for dispatch using the method you specified and carry out the dispatch, or prepare the lots for collection from the office.

Yes, you can. To visit the office, you need to call us in advance (+852 7074 4050) and arrange a meeting (date and time, visitor pass, parking, etc.).

You should check the current information about payment deadlines and penalties for non-payment on the terms and conditions page. At present, if a transaction is not paid within 10 days, the commission on it increases. If a transaction is not paid within a month, it is cancelled and the client is blocked.

The post-sale is the phase of an auction after live bidding. It usually lasts 1-2 weeks. The exact post-sale end date is shown on the auction lots page. During this period, participants can buy lots that were not sold at the auction at a fixed price.

Taking part in the post-sale is no different from taking part in auctions during the bidding stage: registering and activating an account, going to the auction page, agreeing to the rules and submitting an application to take part.

You can buy lots at the post-sale in the following way:

• Direct purchase. The sale price is shown on the lot card. You click the "Buy" button and agree to the purchase terms. Once you agree, the lot is added to the post-sale transaction for that auction.
• Price offer. This option is not available for all lots. You can offer an amount for the lot that is lower than the one shown on the lot card. Your request is sent to the owner of the item and they receive a corresponding notification. If the owner of the item accepts your request, the lot is automatically added to the post-sale transaction for that auction.

A direct purchase is a guaranteed purchase of the lot at the full stated price. A price offer is a chance to get the lot for less than the stated price and, at the same time, the risk that someone else will buy the lot earlier or at a higher price.

Some lots have a reserve price - this is the minimum price at which the consignor of the item is prepared to sell the lot. If this price was not reached during bidding, the lot will be listed at the post-sale at the reserve price.

During bidding, the reserve price cannot be disclosed. However, lots without a reserve are marked with a special icon and label in the lot card interface. Participants can therefore take into account whether or not a lot has a reserve during bidding when deciding on bids.