Preparing to create an auction

An overview of the auction itself and the role it plays in your auction system.

The auction itself is the placeholder for the auction itself. It helps determine when it starts and finishes, the type of auction and how it will appear on the website. It is essentially a collection of lots. With a start and end date and forms a container for the lots inside the auction.

This is the page you see when you are adding or editing an auction. Below is an explantion of all the fields on the page.

Not all of them need to be filled out. Many of them are they to help the bidders understand key information about the auction.

Mandatory Information

These are field that you MUST include on the page when you create your auction. Without these our platform will not let you save your changes.

End Date

You must supply an end date for the auction. The end date signifies when the auction is going to finish. This end date and time is used to set the end date and time for the lots in the auction.

We use the end date to set the date for the end dates for the lots in the auction. This means you do not have to set the individual end date and time for each lot. If you change the end date in the auction, the change is reflected in the lots too. We feel this makes things nice and easy.

We default this date to be 6 weeks from now @ 2pm. You can change it to any date in the future.

Auction Name

You will need to give your auction name. This is key to providing the bidders an outline or label on which to understand the event. It might be a description of the business ("Due to the retirement of Roger Renshaw Machinery") for which assets are being sold or it might be more descriptive to outline the types of items on sale within the auction ("A monthly collective sale of CNC Lathes").

The auction name, as well as providing a title for the auction, is also used for the link to the auction page itself. You will use this in your advertising and email marketing to promote the auction itself.

Optional Information

These fields do not have to be filled in, but we recommend they are used to explain to bidders key information about the auction, viewing and collection details. These will help you answer many pof the questions you will be asked if they are not available.

Category

This determines the category or section the lot will be displayed in. Categories can be used to group similar lots together. e.g. Milling Machines. If you group all 'milling machines' in this category they can be viewed together when the buyer views the 'milling machine' category.

Full Description

This provide a descriptive outline to the buyers what the auction contains. It might talk about the background to the auction and also provide an overview on the items for sale in the auction. You might also include details about the auction rules, and any other relevant information.

Viewing Details

This will inform the buyer where and when they can view the items for sale in the auction. If you leave this blank, the section will not appear on the auction page..

Collection Details

This will provide the bidders with information about the place for pickup of the item they have purchased post-auction. It will tell the buyers where and when they can collect the items and any other information or documentation they should provide at the site at that time.

If you leave this blank, the section will not appear on the auction page..

Application Details

If you decide to ask buyers to apply to bid on each and every auction, this will provide a description of this process to those buyers. You may wish to highlight any specific terms here that apply to this auction.

Special Instructions

You may wish to provide the buyers will specific instructions about the nature of the auction, or certain lots with the auction. This may include any specific requirements regarding exports condition, lift out fees or other issues that may effect the outcome of the purchase.

If you leave this blank, the section will not appear on the auction page..

Auction Hero Image

This feature enables you to add a main image (also known as a "hero" image) for your auction. This can serve promotional purposes and attract more bidders. In may cases this may the logo of the company you are acting on bealf off, or an image of the key items for sale within the auction.