Bidding at auction: a step-by-step guide for buyers

Bidding is binding. A winning bid is a commitment to buy at that price, and your deposit is at risk if you do not complete. Read the lot terms and do your checks before you bid, not after.

Step 1 — Create an account and log in

You need an account to post a deposit or place a bid. Browsing lots and watching the bid history is open to everyone.

Step 2 — Do your due diligence

Once the hammer falls the price is fixed, so everything you want to know has to be known first:

• Inspect the property, or send someone you trust. Book a viewing from the listing.
• Check the title deed type and confirm the seller's ownership.
• Confirm the boundaries and the actual land size against the documents.
• Arrange your financing in advance. Winning is not conditional on a loan being approved.
• Read the lot's buyer's premium — it is added on top of your bid.

Step 3 — Post your refundable deposit

You cannot bid until your deposit is confirmed. The amount is fixed by the lot — between 2% and 5% of the reserve price, with a $100 minimum — and it is shown on the lot page.

1. Open the lot and choose to post the deposit.
2. Transfer the exact amount shown, quoting the payment reference you are given. A transfer without the reference cannot be matched to you.
3. Wait for confirmation. An administrator confirms receipt, usually within a few working hours during the week.
4. Bidding unlocks on that lot as soon as the deposit is confirmed.

Do this a day or more before the lot opens. Deposits confirmed manually are not instant, and a lot that is already live will not wait for your bank transfer to clear.

Your deposit covers one lot only. To bid on three properties you post three deposits.

Step 4 — Place your bid

The lot page shows the current price, the minimum next bid, the number of bidders, whether the reserve has been met, and the live countdown.

• Your bid must be at least the minimum next bid — the current price plus the increment. You may bid more than the increment.
• You cannot raise your own bid while you are already the highest bidder.
• If two bidders submit the same figure at the same instant, only one is accepted; the other is asked to bid again.
• Bids cannot be withdrawn.

Every bid appears immediately in the public history with the bidder's name masked.

Step 5 — Watch the closing window

The advertised end time is not necessarily the real one. Any bid placed inside the anti-snipe window — usually the last 2 minutes — pushes the close back by the extension period. This repeats for as long as bidders keep responding.

To win, you have to outlast the competition, not out-click it. Decide your maximum figure before the closing window and stop there.

Step 6 — Buy now, if you would rather not wait

If the lot has a buy-now price, paying it ends the auction immediately and wins the lot. You still need a confirmed deposit first. The option disappears as soon as bidding passes the buy-now figure.

Step 7 — After the close

If you won: you have 7 days to complete. We contact you about settlement; your deposit is applied to the purchase price. Missing the deadline forfeits your deposit and the sale passes to the next highest bidder.

If you did not win: your deposit is released for refund automatically as soon as the lot closes — including when the reserve was not met and nobody won. You do not need to ask.

Why a bid gets rejected

• Your deposit has not been confirmed yet.
• The lot is not open — it has not started, or it has already closed.
• The amount is below the minimum next bid.
• You are already the highest bidder.
• Another bidder reached that exact figure first.
• The property is your own listing. Owners cannot bid on their own lots.