Auction Terminology
Whether you are buying or selling at auction, these terms may help you.Absentee Bid - An absentee bid is a bid left by a registered bidder who is unable to attend the auction.
Absolute - Absolute or No Reserve is a term used quite frequently by auctioneers to describe a sale with no minimum bid price. At an absolute auction, the item up for bid sells to the highest bidder regardless of price.
Bid - As the auctioneer is selling he is asking for the next highest bid. If a bidder is willing to pay the asking price, they would indicate to the auctioneer or a ringman usually by raising their bidder card in the air.
Buyer's Premium - An additional percentage charged to the buyer on the final bid price.
Choice - When selling choice, the auctioneer is offering more than one item up for auction at a time. The winning bidder then has the choice to take one item or multiple items. If the bidder wishes to take more than one item, the bid price will be multiplied by the amount of items the bidder chooses.
Estate Sale - Estate sales are very common. An estate sale is an auction where a person has passed away and the belongings of that person are sent to auction by the executor of the estate.
Live Call - An auction where the auctioneer calls out bids in front of a live crowd. This is the most common type of auction
On-site - An auction which takes place on the seller's property.
Preview - The preview is the time set aside before the auction for bidders to view the items available for auction. Preview is usually the day before an auction.
Reserve Auction - An auction with a set minimum bid price the seller will accept for the sale of an item. FlyBoysToys usually only accepts a reserve price on items valued more than $10,000.00 .
Subject to Seller's Confirmation - An auction with no set reserve, where the seller has the opportunity to review the final bid and determine whether or not to accept the best bid. This method is usually reserved for big ticket items.