Bidders Registration
Currently, all our property auctions take place online.
To bid on a property auction, you must register and apply to bid online with us before the auction.
Our property auction system provides all the benefits of traditional ballroom property auctions, such as speed, transparency and certainty of sale, whilst being able to bid from the comfort of your own home or office via desktop, tablet or mobile phone.
Property Auction Process
To participate in our Online Property Auctions, you must create an account.
- Go to the relevant lot.
- Click the blue ‘Bid Now’ icon in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.
- Click ‘Register/login to bid’.
- This will take you through to the Passport system, where you can click the green button on the left-hand side that says ‘Click here to sign up for free.
- You must enter your name, email address, mobile phone number and password.
- Once completed, you will receive an activations email, where you need to click the verification button, which will then provide you with the following steps you need to complete to bid.
Once you’ve created an account, you can ‘watch’ lots that you are interested in (and stay up to date on that lot throughout the auction cycle) and access the legal packs. To place a bid on a lot, you must complete the bidder registration steps, as detailed below. When registered, you can bid on any lot within the property auction. If you are the winning bidder of a lot and want to bid on multiple other lots, then you will need to register your credit or debit card for an additional bidder security deposit.
The first time you register to bid, you will verify your mobile number and upload copies of your photo ID (e.g. driver’s licence or passport) and recent proof of address (dated within the last three months). You are required so we can easily keep in touch, and it helps us confirm your identity if you purchase a lot. Please note that registering for the legal pack is not registering to bid.
You will be registering as the authorised bidder/purchaser. If you wish to purchase in a joint or company name, you will need to provide us with sufficient identification for this to be actioned. For limited companies, we require two forms of identification for all directors, i.e. passport/driver’s licence and recent utility bill (dated within the last three months).
You will be asked to provide two separate forms of identification. We require one photographic ID and one with evidence of your address. Both must be in date, and the utility bill must be within the last three months. A passport and driver’s licence may also suffice.
Ensure you read, understand and accept the terms and conditions
Please read and accept our Online Auction Terms and Conditions. Additionally, there may be specific documentation relating to the sale of the property you’re registering to bid on that will need to be read and accepted before you can bid. Once accepted, you will receive a copy of the document(s) via email for your records.
Register your credit or debit card for the bidder deposit
You must register a credit or debit card for the bidder security deposit to bid online. Our system uses Stripe, which provides a secure online card registration facility. They will attempt to place a hold on funds on your account for the bidder security amount (often referred to as a ‘payment shadow’ and will take no money at this stage). The bidder security amount will be displayed when registering your card. The payment window will open five days before the auction. On the fall of the virtual gavel, the winning bidder’s card will be debited for the bidder’s security amount, whilst the unsuccessful bidders will have their shadow payments released (this can take up to 72 hours depending on the card provider).
Complete an online anti-money laundering check
We must carry out an anti-money laundering check on all parties wishing to bid. This check leaves a ‘soft footprint on your credit report but will not affect your credit rating.
Final Step – Auctioneer Review
Once you have completed the bidder registration steps, we will check your bidding application and notify you by email as soon as you have been approved to bid.
Auction Day
When the bidding opens, you can submit bids in line with the bid increment levels pre-set by the auctioneer, using the bid increase (+) and decrease (–) buttons provided. Once you have filled in your preferred bid amount and clicked the ‘Place Bid’ button, this will submit your bid. Every time you submit a bid, it will notify you whether it was successful, and you will be able to see a complete list of all bids on-screen at all times.
Automatic Bidding/Proxy Bidding.
You can, of course, submit your maximum (proxy) bid in the system. By submitting your maximum/proxy bid, the system will automatically bid up to your top bid level on your behalf. If you are outbid, it will notify you via email, so you can opt to increase your maximum/proxy bid if you choose. When you submit a maximum bid, the actual bid placed by the system will depend on where the reserve price is in relation to your maximum bid. If your maximum bid is below the reserve price – The system will automatically place a bid at your maximum bid amount.
If your maximum bid is at or above the reserve price
The system will automatically increase your bid to be at the reserve. It will only bid again on your behalf if you are outbid by another bidder (up to your maximum bid amount). If another bidder has already placed the same maximum bid or higher, they will be the highest bidder at your max bid level, and the system will notify you via email so you can increase your maximum bid. Your maximum bid will always be kept entirely confidential.
From the moment the bidding window opens on the property auction day at 8 am, bidders can place bids on any available lots in the auction catalogue.
The scheduled end time of each lot is shown through the bid now button.
- Each lot has a bidding extension window. The bidding window extension is activated if a bid on lot one is placed at 10:02:30 seconds. Suppose another bid is made in the bidding extension window. In that case, the countdown clock will immediately reset to 30 seconds again. The auction will only finish when an entire 30-second bidding extension window finishes without any further bids being placed, i.e. 30 seconds of ‘bidding silence. This ensures every bidder has a fair and equal opportunity to participate and place another bid.
The end time on each lot will be updated during the auction, and it is typical for the end time to be put back due to bidding in the extension window.
The lot will close two minutes later if the bidding window resets four times.
- Each lot has a bidding extension window. The bidding window extension is activated if a bid on lot one is placed at 10:02:30 seconds. Suppose another bid is made in the bidding extension window. In that case, the countdown clock will immediately reset to 30 seconds again. The auction will only finish when an entire 30-second bidding extension window finishes without any further bids being placed, i.e. 30 seconds of ‘bidding silence. This ensures every bidder has a fair and equal opportunity to participate and place another bid.
- Lot One must complete the countdown before the countdown begins immediately in Lot Two. This is the same for every lot; the previous lot must complete its countdown for the countdown to start on the next lot.
If you make a bid, the system will notify you if you are the highest bidder. If you have been outbid, it will also inform you of this. The bidding history will show how many current bidders are placing bids on each lot.
Final steps in purchasing your auction property
If you have successfully purchased a property, we will be in touch following the online auction to discuss the next steps. The system automatically takes the bidder security amount from your registered credit or debit. You will be asked to transfer the balance if there is an outstanding amount to make up the 10% deposit. The contract will then be signed on your behalf, with copies sent to both your solicitor and the seller’s solicitor.
