Hammer auctions are the traditional kind of auction where lots are hammered at some physical location with bidding on-site.
You can of course participate by showing up in person.
Some auction houses also accept phone bids. Contact the auction house for this.
Some auctions offer live bidding – participating online as the auction happens.
You can participate online during the pre-bidding by leaving an absentee bid.
Before the hammer auction
You can participate online by leaving an absentee bid (pre-bid) before the auction starts.
As with online auctions, your bid is the maximum amount you're willing to pay. When the auction takes place, we will bid on your behalf, as favourably as possible, up to that amount.
During the pre-bidding, you and other bidders bid against each other in the same manner as during an online auction. You can see if the reserve price has been reached. You can place a higher max bid which is hidden from other bidders. The final price will be set later on the hammer auction. Note: You cannot withdraw an absentee bid and since the item is sold on a hammer auction the right to withdraw from purchase does not apply.
Try to place your absentee bid as early as possible: in the event of a tie, the first placed absentee bid wins.
Absentee bidding closes a while before the auction will take place. The time at which absentee bidding closes is shown on the item page. Before that time, you can place and change absentee bids. However, you can not lower your absentee bid below the next bid increment.
During the hammer auction
If the hammer auction offers live bidding you can participate online and place your bids as the auction happens.
If you have left an absentee bid, it will contend against absentee bids left by others and any bids called out on-site.
During certain hammer auctions, the highest bid below the original reserve price may be accepted as winning bids at the auctioneer’s discretion. So, in these cases, you may still win with an absentee bid below the reserve price, if it’s the highest bid when the lot is hammered. We will state if this may apply when you place an absentee bid.
Hammer auction ending
When the hammer auction has ended the auction house needs to verify the bids. Because of this it can take around an hour or up to a day until we send out the emails about won auctions. Usually, you can still pay and collect the item at the auction house.