Online Timed Auctions
What is a Timed Auction:
Timed auctions don’t have an auctioneer calling the bids – there’s a bidding window, with an end time, and at the conclusion of the bidding period, the bidder who has submitted the highest bid wins the lot, provided the bid exceeds the reserve price.
You’ll see your ‘current bid’ when you log in and view the lot (often it will be less than your ‘maximum bid’, as the system bids for you).
If someone bids higher than your ‘maximum’, we will send you an 'outbid alert' via email to let you know, so you can decide whether to bid more.
When the timed auction ends, the person with the highest bid wins the lot (as long as the reserve is met of course). Any winning bids that don’t meet the reserve will be taken to vendor the following day, and may still result in you winning the lot.
Good to Know:
If a bid is placed in the last 10 minutes of the defined time period, the time period will be extended to 10 minutes. Eg:
If there are 8 minutes remaining on the time and a bid is placed, the time will increase by 2 minutes to reset to 10 minutes
If there are 2 minutes remaining on the time and a bid is placed, the time will increase by 8 minutes to reset to 10 minutes
Don’t forget, just like when you’re in an auction room, bidding online is a contractual commitment to buy.
When you bid in an auction, there is no right of return, unless an item is materially different to its catalogue description.
How To Bid:
- Sign in to your account or create a new account if you are new to McTear’s
- Register for Auction and upload photographic ID to your client account (this is a McTear’s requirement)
- Find the lot you want to bid on
- Type in your maximum bid into the appropriate box and click 'place bid'
- Click 'confirm' on the page that appears
Don’t forget, just like when you’re in an auction room, bidding online is a contractual commitment to buy.
After the Sale:
If you are successful in bidding, you will receive an invoice. For auctions ending after 5pm, this will be sent the following day.
Payment can be made in person, by card via the link on your invoice or by bank transfer (full details on your invoice).
All lots should be collected within 7 days of the auction ending. Packing & shipping info can be found at mctears.co.uk/shipping.
View the current timed auction catalogues