Auction Bidding – In Person
Help yourself to a complimentary catalog that lists each lot description in the order the lot will be sold. If you are joining us for the first time for one of our Multi-Sales Ring Auctions (this just means we have several auctions going on at one time), the catalog will always list Sales Ring 1 first, Sales Ring 2 second, and so on. We auction about 100 lots per hour so if you are interested in Lot 200 and the auction starts at 9:00a.m., your item will sell at approximately 11am.
Bidding TIP: If you are interested in items selling simultaneously in different sales rings, ask for a second bid card for someone you trust who can carry out your wishes in one sales ring while you are in another. Even better, you can register as an Internet bidder and place Proxy Bids online for all sales areas. Utilizing that method ensures that you don’t miss a thing! Just make sure when you are bidding live that you don’t bid against yourself from bids you placed via the Internet. We even have a bidding kiosk you can use to place bids.
Know What Item is Being Offered
Prior to bidding, make sure you are aware of which item is currently being offered. All of the sales areas will have projection screens that identify the current lot number offered. In addition, the Auctioneer will always announce the lot number prior to offering the item.
When the Item is Closed or Sold
When the auctioneer closes or sells an item and you are the winner, please feel free to see the cashier and pay for purchase as you go – a paid invoice will allow you to remove the item and put it in your vehicle, saving you time and helping you avoid waiting in line at the end of an auction.
Payment
When bidding in-person at our auction, keep in mind that you must pay for all items you win by the end of the auction. A 10% Buyer’s Premium (fee paid by the successful buyer of an item at auction) will be added to your invoice if you pay with cash. If paying with a credit card, a 14% buyer’s premium will be added to your invoice. The Buyer’s Premium is calculated on the sales total before sales tax.
Methods of payments accepted include cash, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and cashier’s checks. If you have a sales tax exemption, please provide our cashier with you sales tax license. Keep in mind, your purchases must be related to the type of business indicated on your exemption certificate.
How Load-Out Works
After you pay for your purchases, you will need to provide your own manpower to transport items from our door to your vehicle. If you buy something fragile, you should plan on bringing your own packing materials to protect breakables. You are welcome to take checkout totes and borrow our carts to assist you in getting items to your vehicles. This requires that you leave your ID during the load-out process which is returned to you once you bring back our tote or cart. If you purchased items on a pallet, with a waiver of liability we will use our forklifts to set the items in your truck or trailer.
After the last lot is sold, our doors will remain open one hour. We offer additional days and times for load out as well. The auctioneer will announce specifics regarding load-out during the announcements at the beginning of the auction or you can ask any American Auction team member.
As we are eager to make room for new product to offer you, all items won at auction must be removed from the auction location by noon on Wednesday following an auction (except when special pick up terms are posted for specialty auctions). Each lot left after the close of the scheduled load-out will incur a $5 per day per lot and $10 per pallet late fee.
Delivery service is available from some locations, check with the cashier for fees and availability.
Before bidding in an auction, we recommend that you inspect and preview the property available for bid; this is your opportunity to touch and test auction product. Preview of auction property opens one hour prior to the live auction start time. Additional previews are typically provided one and two days prior to the auction event. Check here for auction-specific preview dates and times.
