5 Things You Should Absolutely Understand Before Closing Day
Jun
8
Written by:
08/06/2012 8:46 AM
Whether you are a fresh new bidder or not this might be helpful.
When we get closer to the end of an auction, we usually receive many questions regarding the closing procedure and other important points.
We decided to write this post to make sure everyone truly understands Classic Auctions closing procedures. We chose 5 important things we believe every collector should know before the closing day.
(In order to better visualize the closing process in our auctions, we did an infographic that you will find at the end of this post.)
1. Why does the auction continue after 9pm?
If you are used to bidding on classified/auction websites such as EBay, you probably think that our auctions close at the date and time we advertise. Well this is not totally true and there is a good reason for that!
Auctions usually close at 9:00 PM (Eastern Time) on Tuesdays. This means that in order to place a bid after 9:00 PM on closing night, you must ABSOLUTELY have recorded at least one bid before 9:00 PM. In other words, placing a bid on any one lot before 9:00 PM will allow you to bid on any other lot during the extended bidding period (after 9:00 PM).
We keep every auction running for approximately one month so collectors have plenty of time to research and ask questions on items and place at least one bid. Everyone gets comfortable and ready for the big closing adventure.
By doing this [continuing after 9:00 PM], we make sure that the item will be sold to the highest bidders and not necessarily to the perfect snipers. Doing this also gives a chance to collectors to react when they feel they might lose an item and start bidding on something else.
2. What’s the 10-minute rule?
As soon as we reach the 9:00 PM (EST) mark, the auction switches to 10-minute rule mode. This means that the entire auction will stay open as long as there is at least 1 bid (any lot in the auction) every 10 minutes, every bid resetting the countdown. If there are no bids on all lots for 10 minutes, the auction closes. The 10-minute rule is valid until 1:00 AM (EST). This rule applies to all lots in the auction and not individual lots.
3. What’s the 5-minute rule?
At 1:00 AM (Eastern Time), if you haven’t placed a bid on a specific lot, you will not be allowed to bid on that specific lot anymore. This obviously means that if a lot hasn’t received any bids at 1:00 am, it is now closed and unsold.
Now that no new bidders are allowed on individual lots (you can bid on as many different lots as you want as long as you placed a bid on them before 1 am), the final battle starts.
The 5-minute rule obviously means that the entire auction will stay open as long as there is at least 1 bid (any lot in the auction) every 5 minutes, every bid resetting the countdown. The auction finally closes as soon as they are no bids on all lots registered for 5 minutes. This rule applies to all lots in the auction and not individual lots.
4. How much will shipping cost me?
As soon as the auction closes, our shipping department will manually calculate shipping costs for every single invoice. This is why you should only expect your final invoice approximately 48 hours after the auction's closing.
Shipping is calculated using the dimensional weight of the final package(s) and may vary according to the destination and shipping method. By doing this, we make sure that collectors are not overpaying when multiple lots are included together. This is why you will not find shipping costs on lot descriptions. However, we will be happy to provide to you with shipping estimates and guidelines. You may email us at shipping@classicauctions.net or call us at 1-450-638-7058. Simply provide us with the lot(s) number(s) and your destination postal/zip code.
Please note that shipping cost does not include insurance. Such insurance, if available, can be added to your invoice upon request by email or phone.
For more information regarding shipping methods, please refer to our auction catalogue or online auction listings.
5. What is absentee bidding and will it allow me to go to bed earlier?
Yes! We encourage early and absentee bidding if you are unable to bid by phone or internet and do not want to stay up late on the final day of the auction. Absentee bids can be left on our web site at classicauctions.net. We at Classic Auctions Inc. will place bids on your behalf up to these amounts only as they are bid against competitively by other bidders.
All absentee bids will be treated on a first in, first served basis. If we receive two absentee bids of the same amount, the first one received will be the standing bid. For exampler, assume you have the current high bid at $5,000 and you have placed an absentee bid of $10,000. If another bid comes in ($6,000), your absentee bid will automatically kick in and raise the high bid to $6,600. This will continue until your absentee bid has been outbid. If there are no other bids, you will win the lot for $6,600, plus buyer’s premium. A 19.5% buyer’s premium will be added to all winning bids. All absentee bidding will remain confidential.
Here you go. We now hope that Classic Auctions’ closing procedures are clearer than before and that you will feel more comfortable bidding. Don’t hesitate to contact us at any time for more inquiries.
Please feel free to leave us your comments below!
Cheers,
Math Morin
Classic Auctions
