Buying
How To Bid
below the different ways in which you can bid. We hope that you will find it helpful.
In-Person
If you wish to bid in person and attend a sale you will need to first register as a buyer. Sales can get very busy so please allow sufficient time before the sale to register as a bidder. At the reception counter, you will need to fill in a bidder registration form with all your details. Once the form is completed you will receive a paddle (a card printed with your personal number for that sale only).
During the sale, simply raise your paddle when you wish to bid in order to attract the auctioneer’s attention. Other bidders who wish to bid on the same lot will bid against you in exactly the same way. The auctioneer will continue taking bids from each bidder until all but one drops out. The highest bidder is the successful purchaser and the auctioneer indicates this by knocking down his hammer. He will then announce the buyer’s number and the hammer price.
If you are a successful buyer and do not wish to bid on any further lots you can make payment in full at reception, and once the sale has ended you may collect your lots.
Online Bidding
We are pleased to introduce our live online bidding system 'Auction Mobility'.
From the comfort of your home or office, you are now able to bid live on any Lot in any of our online auctions. This webcast system is extremely fast, and is in real time which allows you to experience the same excitement and ambience of the auctions as if you were here.
Best of all online bidding is free to use and comes with a fully illustrated catalogue.
All you need to do is click on 'Bid Live Online' and 'register'. You will then receive a confirmation email with your Bidders Number (paddle number) and a password. This Bidders Number is yours to keep for any auction whether in-house or online. All buyers must register no later than 4pm the day prior to the auction. If you register later than this time we cannot guarantee that your registration will be processed in time for the commencement of the auction. All buyers will only need to register once.
Or even better, down load our APP: Small and Whitfield on the app store on your smart phone.
Absentee or ‘Commission Bids’
If you cannot attend the sale, you may wish to leave an Absentee bid. We will bid on any item(s) on your behalf and bid only up to your maximum bid if necessary. On the back of the registration card simply fill out the absentee form. Mark the lot numbers you wish to bid on, a description of the item with the maximum price you wish to pay.
Alternatively you may email your bid(s) directly to our office with all the details including Lot numbers, item descriptions, your Bidders Number and the maximum price you wish to pay. We will bid on your behalf only up to your maximum bid if necessary.
If this is not convenient for you, you may wish to phone our office and speak to one of our friendly staff who will happily take your absentee bid(s) for you. We will try to contact you on the sale day if you are successful with any Absentee bid(s) or you may wish to phone us to find out if you have been successful.
Email
Absentee Form
Telephone
Telephone Bidding
If you cannot attend the sale another method of Bidding is to book a Telephone bid.
This method allows you to bid live over the telephone whilst speaking with one of our auction assistants. We will phone you a couple of lots in advance of the lot you wish to bid on and take your bids live over the telephone.
Telephone bids are reserved for lots with a minimum estimate of $100 (we can take up to 3 live telephone bids per lot, so book it early).
Telephone bids are not 100% reliable, so we do ask our telephone bidders to provide us with a cover bid, (a pre-arranged bid amount) that a member of staff may execute on behalf of a telephone bidder in the event he or she cannot be reached.
Payment Collection
Small & Whitfield Auctions are pleased to accept the
following methods of payment:
- Cash
- Credit Cards – Visa and Master Card (plus surcharge of 1%)
- Telephone payment or online EFT
- Cheques at the discretion of management (personal cheques supported by I.D.)
Payment can be made any time during the sale and collection must be carried out within 24 hours.
A storage fee will be charged for late collections unless alternative arrangements have been agreed upon by management.
The buyer’s premium is a percentage the buyer pays in addition to the hammer price. The current buyer’s premium is 15% + GST
A storage fee will be charged for late collections unless alternative arrangements have been agreed upon by management.
CONDITIONS OF SALE - Please click on link