Live Bidding
At Blackmon Auctions, we offer two types of Online Auctions:
LIVE AUCTION:
A live auction is an auction that occurs in real-time, run by an auctioneer, with both online and onsite buyers. When this occurs, the auctioneer takes online and onsite bids and has the final say on when—and to whom—the lot sells. Some sellers will offer live audio and video alongside a live auction.
Live auctions take place in Proxibid's Live Bidding Application. When an auction goes live, the "Place Bid" button will change to "Enter Live Auction." By clicking this button, you can launch the Live Bidding Application and participate in the sale in real-time.
Sellers will often allow pre-bidding on a live sale. This indicates a time period before the sale date that allows online buyers to place bids preemptively. The seller may then choose to have the Proxibid platform represent these bids during the live sale.
When participating in an auction via the Live Bidding Application, the bid button is, by default, turned off to prevent accidental bids. In order to place a bid, you must first enable bidding by clicking the "Enable Bidding" toggle in the bottom left of the screen. Once bidding is enabled, it remains enabled until it is turned off again.
TIMED AUCTIONS:
Timed auctions are online only events. In timed auctions, online buyers will place bids against one another until a specified time. At that time, the buyer with the highest bid is awarded the item.
Timed auctions are normally set to stagger the end times of lots. This means that the first item in a sale will close before the last item in a sale; this allows buyers to more easily bid on and monitor multiple lots in a single sale. When checking the end time of a sale, be sure to check the end time of any lots you may be interested in, as the stagger time can vary from event to event.
Most events will have a period during which bidding is extended. When a buyer places a bid on an item in the last moments before the item closes, the timer will extend to allow counter-bids to be placed.
Finally, when placing max-bids, please note that when two buyers place the same maximum bid amount, the high bid will be awarded to whichever buyer placed their maximum bid first.
You may see the terms instant bid, maximum bid, and pre-bid used when referring to bidding on Proxibid. Please see below for an explanation of each:
Instant Bid
Instant bids are simply bids placed at the next available increment on a lot. By clicking the "Place Bid" button on a lot to place a bid at the next available amount, you are placing an instant bid.
Maximum Bid
A maximum bid is a predetermined amount that you are willing to bid up to. When you enter a maximum bid, you are telling the Proxibid application to bid on an item on your behalf. So, if you tell the Proxibid application to bid for you during an event, live or timed, you are telling the Proxibid application to participate in that event and to place bids not exceeding your maximum amount.
Please understand that entering a maximum bid does not guarantee that you will win the item at or below the amount that you have entered.
Pre-bid
Pre-bids are bids made before an auction has gone live. Pre-bids can be instant bids or maximum bids, and are simply bids made in advance. Some sellers may refer to pre-bids as absentee bids. You may even place pre-bids during a live auction on items that have not yet entered the ring.