How to participate in our Auction Events

Step 1: Get an Account if a New Bidder

In the upper right hand corner of the website you will see the login box.  There is a link there to "create an account." Click this link to set up your account with us.

You will be asked for your name and contact information as well as for a single credit card. WE WILL NOT BILL YOUR CARD FOR SIGNING UP.  We get your card information in order to prevent fraud on our site.  We use this card to verify your identity and verify that we can extend you the opportunity to purchase online.

NOTE: If you are an out of country bidder we can still set you up with an account. Email us at info@bluegrassauction.com and we will assist in setting up your online account.

You only need to create an account with us once. You can then register and participate in any of our online auction events.

Step 2: Register to Bid in an Auction

To participate in any of our auctions you need to register for that auction. When you click on an auction to "view details and catalog" you will see a button on the left side to click to register. If you are already registered for that auction it will show your bid number instead.

When you click to register you must scroll through and click to agree to the terms and conditions of that auction, including any buyer's premium, convenience fees, and all other terms of that auction event.

Once you click to accept those terms you will be registered for that auction, assigned a unique bid number for that event, and can then leave bids on any item in that auction.

Step 3: Bidding in an Auction

Once you register for an auction you will be able to leave bids on any item and also participate in bidding in our virtual auction live events. If these bids are prior to the auction event day they are, using auction terms, "absentee bids", and those can be made at any time in either our virtual or timed events once the catalog is posted until the item is offered in the actual auction event.

For our virtual simulcast auctions the buttons/links for bidding in real time will appear on the page for that auction just prior to the start of the auction, and you can click there to go to the virtual auction real time page and follow and bid in the auction in real time. You can bid in advance of the real time auction on any item prior to it being offered in our virtual event. Once it is offered "on the block" in real time only live bidding will be accepted.

Our timed online auctions will be marked as such on the page for that auction, with a countdown clock to show when the auction will start to close.  In this format you can bid at any time prior to the item closing or click to bid on the currently closing item, which appears at the top of the catalog page for that event.

Step by Step Instructions

We also offer a PDF which has detailed bidding instructions for setting up your account, registering and bidding in the auctions. You can Download the PDF Here.

Explanation of our Auction Event Formats

We offer two formats for online bidding in our auction events. The virtual auction events are real time auction events with audio, an auctioneer calling the items and selling them one at a time, just as with a traditional in person auction. The timed auction events are more similar to an "ebay" style event, but with some key differences noted below.

Virtual Online Auction Events (Simulcast Auctions) & How They Work

• Run by a human as if it was an in person auction event, including streaming audio, an auctioneer "calling" the item and deciding when it is sold.
• You can bid once the catalog is posted, and bidding continues until the day of the auction, usually Sunday at 1pm or Saturday at 10am.
• Until the item comes up for sale in the virtual auction you can bid on items on the item details page for each item as just described, but once the item comes up in the virtual auction you must be on the live auction page to bid in real time. Bids left prior to the item coming up in the live event will be bid on your behalf in the live event up to your maximum bid. You may win the item or you may be outbid by the real time bidders.
• Auction day, the real time virtual auction begins at the appointed time. Links show up prior to event, taking you to a dedicated page for the live virtual auction event.
• There is no requirement to bid in real time, but your bid may be outbid by those bidders, so always "bid strong" if you are bidding in advance of the live event. See our discussion on bidding strategy below for more details.
• We start at Lot #1 and work through the auction just like an in person auction.

Timed Online Auctions: How they work

• Run by our computer overlords, no audio or human involvement in the closing of the items in this event.
• You can bid once the catalog is posted, and bidding continues until that item closes in the closing event, which usually starts at 7pm or 8pm on Sundays.
• Closing happens on a timed schedule, with Lot #1 closing typically at 7pm or 8pm, and then Lot #2, etc. in sequence.
• Our system is on a 30 second close, so items will close generally 30 seconds apart.
• This is a "soft close", which means if anyone bids in the last 30 seconds the item is still open, it will extend the time to close by 30 seconds. This provides everyone a chance to bid without "sniping" of items.
• The day the auction starts to close and prior to first item closing the catalog page will update to show the current item being closed. You can bid from there or in the item details of any item prior to it closing.

Ways to Win & Bidding Strategy

There are two ways to bid in our auctions, whether they are the virtual auctions or the timed events.

1. Leave a bid prior to the close of the item. This can be at any time prior to the item closing in either the virtual or timed auction event. NOTE: In the virtual auction your bid prior to the live simulcast can be beaten out by a live bidder. In the Timed auction someone can wait for the item to be ready to close and bid and still outbid you.
2. Bid in "real time" either in the live simulcast in our virtual auction event or wait until the item is up for close in the timed auction. This method insures you can bid and win the item, but if your timing or connection is a problem at just that wrong moment you could miss your item.

Bidding Strategies to Maximize Winning

1. Leave at least a strong bid prior to the auction close. In auction terms this is an "absentee" bid, a bid left with the auctioneer prior to the auction event itself. This way you have some kind of bid on the item in case there is an issue with you getting online when the item is going through either of the two auction formats on auction day.
2. You then have the option of bidding in real time in our virtual auction event or being online for the timed auction so you can increase your bid if necessary and your "absentee" bid above is outbid on the day of the auction.
3. When leaving a bid, it is usually advisable to bid "strong", and leave a bid that is more aligned with how high you are willing to go, not how high you hope an item sells. Every auction we have bidders tell us they wish they had gone one more bid to get an item. Only you can make that decision, but we have a lot more people sorry they didn't go on or two more bid increments than we have people sorry they went too high.

Questions and Answers

• Will my bid be where the item starts?

  
  

  No. Your bid is bid competitively either by a human or the computer against the other bidders. For example, if you bid $500 on an item, and the next nearest bid is $100, then you will be in the winning position at $110 (based on how we do our bid increments). If someone else then bids for example $150, you would still be in winning position and your bid would then be $160, the next bidding increment.

  
  

  So we always encourage bidders to leave their real maximum bid for items, as you can win the item for less but once the item is sold there is no way to have a "do over."

• I was watching an item, then it moved in the catalog. Is it gone?

  
  

  Probably not. You may notice in most of our auctions that they are posted without a lot number initially. This is a function of how our auctions are cataloged and organized. We still have an open preview in our gallery for our bidders, and the nature of that process means that we will normally "set the floor" for the preview and then set the order of sale for the items to keep everything organized for pickup. This is when the lot numbers you see are assigned, typically just before the auction, but sometimes we are able to do it sooner than others.

• OK, I looked everywhere, I still don't see the item I wanted.

  
  

  There are a couple of other possibilities. First, be sure you are in the right auction event. We usually have at least two auctions active at any time, and sometimes numerous events are active at once. Be sure you are in the right catalog and auction event when looking for an item, it can become confusing.

  
  

  There are rare times that we may also "pull" an item, but this is very unusual. This typically only happens if there is an issue with an estate where an item was mistakenly consigned and it was not realized until the item was posted online, or some similar circumstance. This is extremely unusual but when dealing with estates and living estates it may happen in rare cases.

• When will Lot #x sell?

  
  

  Once we set the order of sale every item will have a "lot number", and our sales run in that lot order. Then there is the question of how fast the sale will run. We can provide some guidance and estimates, but especially in our virtual auction events, these are still real human auctions, and how long an item takes to sell depends on the amount of interest. As a general rule our 1pm auctions start fast, averaging 80-100 items per hour, but by mid-sale we are usually closer to 60-70 items per hour due to bidding activity. However we have done virtual auctions that finish 80 items an hour and sales that run 50 items an hour, so if you are bidding in real time it is important to keep track of the event so you don't miss your item.

  
  

  Our timed auctions do run faster as the computer is generally faster than us humans, and our bidders tend to leave bids in those auctions in advance. This sale can close very fast, 100 items per hour, which is part of why we strongly encourage you to bid in advance in that event especially. It is easy to miss an item going through the auction and closing in that auction event.

  
  

  This is why in both cases we encourage you to bid in advance of auction day and then participate in real time if desired. That way you run the least risk of missing out on an item due to a timing or computer issue.

Terms & Conditions

Click Here for more discussion of the auction process as well as full terms and conditions.