Timed auctions are a long-established reality in the USA but are now taking hold in Europe and Italy.
As with traditional auctions, timed auctions are also characterised by the fact that the buyer has a maximum price that he is willing to pay.
The way it works is easy: there is a reserve price here too, below which you cannot bid. The bids are made on the basis of a figure calculated on the percentage of the reserve that increases from the first bid.
When offers are made on a lot, the highest bidder is the successful one and will see that the lot has been assigned to him. As well as having a reserve price, the auction is open for a specific length of time, after which bidding is no longer possible.
The main difference between a traditional and an online auction is the virtual nature of bidding. The auction can be accessed anytime and anywhere thanks to the new technology.
Participation doesn’t even have to be direct, even if the online monitoring system of re-launches is active 24/24.
For the entire duration of the auction, the participants are constantly notified of the increase in bids and possible next offer, in order to be able to participate directly in real time.
How do I participate in a timed auction?
The timed auctions offer two possibilities: the section with free access and those with controlled access, after registration and profiling.
To participate in a timed auction, it is necessary to have logged in to the system using your user ID and password received during registration.
After the activation of the login codes, the individual lots can be accessed and offers made using the time-based system bidding function. 5 minutes before the lot will expire, any bids made by the user, will cause a delay of this deadline by 2 minutes.
In any case, our IT system sends automatic email messages, or push notifications if you use an IOS app, to update participants about the lot changes.
After the closing date of the bidding, the successful bidder will receive all the information necessary to pay for the lot. As with a traditional auction, a buyer’s commission equal to 25% of the hammer price will be added to the final price, as set out in the Terms & Conditions, that auction participants declare in advance to have read and to approve.The purchased lots will be delivered exclusively by courier. When the bid is confirmed as being successfully yours, it will also display the price of packaging and shipping inclusive of VAT.
If you are the successful bidder of several lots in the same auction, a single shipment will be made, and the costs will vary according to the purchased items.
AUTOMATIC BIDS GENERATED FOR ABSENTEE BIDS
To make an absentee bid, the user must enter the maximum price he is willing to offer; this amount is not disclosed to the other bidders.
By inserting an absentee bid, the system automatically generates automatic bids every time an offer is made by another user, until it reaches the maximum amount indicated by the absentee bidder.
The bid is increased only by the amount necessary to for the absentee bid to remain the highest or to reach the reserve price.
If another user makes the same offer before you or has a higher maximum bid, the system will notify you that your bid has been exceeded, so you can increase your bid if you should want to.
If, at the closure of the auction, no other user has made a higher bid, you will be the successful bidder, even if your bid has not reached the maximum amount you had specified.
Examples on what could happen with different bids on the same lot:
If a maximum bid has been made for a lot, the following cases may occur:
1) Standard bid against a maximum bid of a higher amount
A lot has a current amount of €100. User A makes a maximum bid of €1000; the system automatically re-launches by making a bid for User A of €150. B makes a standard offer of €200; the system increases for User A with an offer of €250.
|
User |
Offer type |
Maximum bid offered |
Current amount |
Bids offered |
Automatic bid with maximum bid |
|
maximum |
1000 € |
100 € |
150 € |
|
|
|
B |
standard |
- |
150 € |
200 € |
|
|
A |
automatic |
- |
200 € |
250 € |
|
2) Standard bid against the maximum bid of the same amount
A lot has a current amount of €70. User A offers a maximum bid of €90; the system automatically re-launches by making an offer from User A of €80. User B makes a standard bid of €90; the system increases for User A with an offer of €90. In the case of bids of the same amount, the system will validate the bid made first and therefore the one made by A. User B will be informed that his offer was not accepted as a maximum bid of equal amount was made by another user.
|
User |
Offer type |
Maximum bid offered |
Current amount |
Bids offered |
Automatic bid with maximum bid |
|
A |
massima |
90 € |
70 € |
80 € |
|
|
B |
standard |
- |
80 € |
90 € |
|
|
A |
automatica |
- |
90 € |
90 € |
|
3) New maximum bid against a maximum bid of a higher amount
A lot has a current amount of €200. User A offers a maximum bid of €400; the system automatically re-launches by making an offer from User A of €250. B makes a maximum bid of €350 which generates an increase to €300; the system increases for User A with an offer of €400 (maximum bid of User B plus increase).
|
User |
Offer type |
Maximum bid offered |
Current amount |
Bids offered |
Automatic bid with maximum bid |
|
A |
massima |
400 € |
200 € |
250 € |
|
|
B |
massima |
350 € |
250 € |
300 € |
|
|
A |
automatica |
- |
300 € |
400 € |
|
4) New maximum bid against a maximum bid of the same amount
|
User |
Offer type |
Maximum bid offered |
Current amount |
Bids offered |
Automatic bid with maximum bid |
|
A |
massima |
200 € |
70 € |
80 € |
|
|
B |
massima |
200 € |
70 € |
90 € |
|
|
A |
automatica |
- |
90 € |
200 € |
|
5) New maximum bid against a maximum bid of a lower amount
A lot has a current amount of €1200. User A offers a maximum bid of €1400; the system automatically re-launches by making an offer from User A of €1300. User B makes a maximum bid of €1500 which generates an increase to €1400; the system increases to €1500 for User B for the purpose of exceeding the maximum bid made previously by User A.
|
User |
Offer type |
Maximum bid offered |
Current amount |
Bids offered |
Automatic bid with maximum bid |
|
A |
massima |
1400 € |
1200 € |
1300 € |
|
|
B |
massima |
1500 € |
1300 € |
1400 € |
|
|
B |
automatica |
- |
1400 € |
1500 € |
|
N.B. In the automatic bidding system, the conditions laid out in examples 3 and 5 may not be verified: that of an increase (current bid + increase) <= maximum bid. In these cases, the increase would be equal to the maximum bid.