Auction Rules
You must have an account to bid
Photos are part of the description for all lots.
Click on the lot photo or the title of the lot to see additional photos, which serve to further describe a piece. Note the ruler in some photos. Dimensions are recorded for larger pieces.
How to pay
Items you have won are automatically placed in your shopping cart, ready to pay. Click on the shopping cart icon in the upper right menu. Alternatively, you can go to your “My Wins” page and pay for your items there by clicking on the “Pay for all won items” button.
Please make sure all items you are bidding on have completed before paying. Popular items often end up in overtime! (See below)
Overtime bidding in place
To protect you against last second “sniping” (where someone swoops in at the last possible second and places a winning bid), we use “overtime” bidding. If a bid is placed in the last five minutes of an auction it extends the auction end time by five more minutes.
Note that the auction end time is not extended from the time of the last bid, but rather added onto the existing end time of the auction.
For example: auctions end at noon. If someone bids anytime in the five minutes before noon, the end time extends five minutes to 12:05. It does not extend five minutes from the time of the bid. If, after 12:00 and before 12:05 someone else bids, then the end time extends another five minutes to 12:10. It does not matter if someone bids at 12:00:01 or 12:04:59, the end time will extend to 12:10. Always.
Keep in mind that when an auction is in overtime that end times will always be in increments of 5 minutes, so 12:00, 12:05, 12:10, 12:15, 12:20, etc.
Auto-bidding in place
To help you with bidding (and being out-bid), we use auto-bidding. Just enter your max bid amount when bidding and the system will bid up to that amount for you.
For instance, if the current bid is $5 and you know you would spend up to $25 for the item, simply bid 25 for that item. The system will automatically bid $6 for you to beat the current bid. If someone else bids say, $10, the system will automatically bid $11 for you and you will still be the highest bidder. This prevents you from having to babysit the items you are interested in and makes sure you win without paying more than you have to.
Getting outbid right away? Then someone else has already put in a maximum bid higher than or equal to yours. Please note that if you place a bid that is equal to someone else’s max bid, they will be the winner since they placed the bid first. For instance, if you bid $30 and someone had previously entered $30 as their max bid, then they will be the current high bidder.
Your watchlist is your friend
To help you manage bidding on multiple items, you can use your Watchlist. Add items to your watchlist by clicking the “Add to watchlist” button on the auction item page.
On your watchlist page you will be able to see:
- Item name and thumbnail
- What the current bid is
- Whether you are winning or not
- What your max bid is
- What time the auction ends
Items you are winning have a green background, items you are losing have a red background, and items you are watching but have not bid on yet have a white background. Note that when you bid on an item and become the winning bidder, that item is automatically added to your watchlist for you.
You can add items to your watchlist by clicking on the “Add to watchlist” button on the item page, or by clicking on the icon in the lower left-hand corner of the picture on the list page.
You can use the watchlist to manage your bidding on items. If the watchlist shows you get outbid on an item, you can click on the item name in the watchlist and it will take you directly into the item so you can re-bid.
Zooming images on mobile
Click on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right of the image on the auction page to be able to zoom photos on mobile.
We use bid increments
| Current Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 – $100 | $1 |
| $100.01 – $200 | $2 |
| $200.01 – $300 | $5 |
| $300.01 – $500 | $10 |
| $500.01 – $1000 | $20 |
| $1000.01 and up | $30 |
The auction page auto-updates for the last ten minutes of an auction
When you are on an individual auction page, the timer will countdown automatically but the price does not change if someone makes a new bid. To see any new bids you will need to refresh the page.
However, at ten minutes before the auction ends the page will check every 30 seconds for new bids and update the bid amount. This means you can leave the page open and check periodically that you are still the winner without having to refresh the page. Since we use overtime bidding (see above), any bids placed in the last 5 minutes extends the auction another 5 minutes, so you will never be left not being able to counter a last minute bid for your item.
All won auctions must be promptly paid for
by the time listed at the top of each auction page or the item will be offered to the next highest bidder. Sorry, no exceptions!
Failing to pay for an auction that you have won may result in losing the right to participate in future auctions (see below).
Items must be picked up during the hours listed
at the top of each auction page.
In an effort to stagger the pick-up times, please abide by the following: if your last name begins with letters A-M, pick up your item on Saturday between 9 a.m. and Noon. If your last name begins with letters N-Z, pick up your items on Saturday between Noon-3 p.m. Please maintain social distance when picking items up. Our team will only be able to help 2-3 people at one time. Thank you for your patience.
If you do not pick up your item during the pick-up times, items will be forfeited. Sorry, no exceptions!
Curbside pick up is also available
We will have a sign with a number you can call if you’d like your items brought out to your car (with the exception of furniture). Thank you for your patience.
If you need help moving an item
Nebraska sales tax applies
Lowering your max bid
You cannot lower your maximum bid once entered, nor can you “stop auto-bidding” at a certain point. Bidding on an item means you are agreeing to buy that item if you win at the price you entered, so carefully decide before you bid if you are willing to buy all the items if they sell for the maximum bid amount.
For example, if you want one of three similar items but not all three, don’t bid on all three hoping to win one item. You may win them all and will be expected to pay for those items.
Abuse of this may restrict your ability to participate in future auctions (see below).
Cancelling a bid
Whenever you place a bid, you’re agreeing to buy the item if you win the auction. However, in some limited cases you can have your bid cancelled – for example if you meant to bid $20, not $200. In this case, please contact us as soon as possible by one of the methods on the Contact Us page (preferably by calling). Repeated requests to remove bids may result in losing the ability to participate in the online auctions (see below).
Restrictions apply
Auction items are not “carried in stock”. We are providing a service for individuals that need to clear out of a living arrangement in an abbreviated time period. All auction items absolutely must be sold and moved out of the current location at the end of the auction period, so cancelling a bid at the last minute or failing to pay for won auctions promptly has a sizable impact on our ability to provide this service to our clients.
Because of this, failing to pay for items or repeated cancelling of bids may lead to removing your ability to participate in future auctions. Thank you for understanding!