Reading the instructions below will ensure that you are properly informed about pre-auction bidding.

- Getting ready to place a bid
- Understanding the pre-auction bidding control panel
- Placing a bid
- Troubleshooting

Getting ready to place a bid

• Create an account
  You will need to register an account and be an active live bidder. Once you are an active bidder, you will not need to follow this process ever again. Simple account maintenance might be required in the future, ie. update payment/address details or reseting your password if it has been forgotten. See the F.A.Q for further information.

• Register for the auction
  Once you are logged in, you will need to register for the auction you're interested in. This is a simple process and is very quick, registering assures you have a unique bidder id for that event. One registration is required per auction per bidder.

• Locate your lot
  Navigate to the auction pages and locate the lot you're interested in. All of our current catalogues allow you to place pre-auction bids.
  Current catalogues will always be listed on the front page of this website.

• About the catalogue screen
  The screen you are now on, will look similar to below. It will display the lot number, lot description, estimate range, symbols, minimum bid amount (asking bid), the 'place bid' button and the high bidder information (if applicable).
  High Bidder: **
  The high bidder information will be displayed next to the 'place bid' button
  In-house (phone,fax,email) bidders will be displayed as **
  Internet bidders will have their internet bidder id displayed (eg. High Bidder: 1045)
  

• About the catalogue screen legend
  At the top of each catalogue page you will find further pre-auction bidding information.
  
  Minimum Bid (a.k.a 'asking bid')
  A red bid means there has not yet been any bidding activity on this lot.
  A green bid means that there are current bids on this lot.
  A black bid means that this lot has sold and the dollar value is the price realized.

Understanding the pre-auction bidding control panel

• Clicking the 'Place Bid' button
  Clicking the 'place bid' button reveals the bidding control panel, as pictured below. Each aspect of the control panel will now be explained along with its function.
  

• The login panel
  The login panel allows you to login, register, register for an event (if not already registered) and navigate to 'my account' screen.
  
  
  When logged in, this panel will display your:
  Live bidding status (active/inactive)
  Event registration status (registered/not registered)
  Return to my account link, logout link
  

• The information panel
  This panel displays any current messages or a default bidding message. The details on the bidding control panel are refreshed every 30 seconds. During a refresh or when you place a bid, you will notice a progress spinner on the right-hand side of this panel which indicates 'thinking' activity.
  

• The general information panel
  This panel displays the lot number, auction number, lot section, lot low estimate and the current high bidder in green (if applicable).
  

• The lot image panel
  This panel displays an image (if available), under the image are buttons that let you navigate to the previous or next lot.
  

• The lot description panel
  This panel displays the lot description, it has scroll bars if the description is very large.
  

• The bid panel
  This panel displays the current bid, asking bid and bidding history. You will notice each bid placed gives you information on which bidder id placed the bid, the bid amount and the time of lodgement. There will be a scrollbar for large bid history information.
  

• The bid lodgement panel
  
  This panel displays a counter for the end time for this lot, when the counter reaches zero it means that pre-auction bidding for this lot has closed. When pre-auction bidding for a lot has closed it usually means the auction is running live, you then have the option of participating using the real-time screen.
  This panel also displays a drop down box, which invites you to select a maximum bid. The maximum bid can only be placed using these valid bid steps which are provided for you. The bid steps will change depending on the asking price of the lot.
  
  Underneath the maximum bid selection box you will notice some status text. Without having placed a bid, this text will display the current asking price. Having placed a bid, you will be informed as to the success or failure or that bid. Depending on the result here an email will be sent to you.
  
  The place bid button is to the right of the bid selection box and this button enables you to place your selected bid. The button will be active or inactive depending on whether you are logged in and the lot is active/inactive.
  Below on the left, you can see the button is inactive, then active is displayed with blue text.
  
  There are actually two screens available in the bidding control panel, one is the bidding interface, the other is designed to display and help you keep track of your bids placed. The 'My Bids' screen is only available after you have placed bids. You can switch between both screens using the tabs in the lower left of the control panel.
  
  Clicking on the 'My Bids' tab will display all the lot(s) you have placed bids on in the current auction only.
  Note to view bids placed in another auction, view the other catalogue and click 'place bid' to launch the control panel and then click the 'My Bids' tab.
  You are able to click the pre-auction bid entry and it will take you to that lot in the bidding control panel, similar to a webpage link.
  If you are the current high bidder on a lot this will be indicated in green under 'You bid Status'.
  If you are outbid this will indicated in red under 'You bid Status'.
  This screen is a convenient place to quickly review your various bids and take action on any outbid lots.
  

Placing a bid

• Pre-auction bidding
  Now that you understand how to prepare for pre-auction bidding, and you understand how the pre-auction bidding control panel works its quite easy.
  
  The sequence of events to place a bid looks likes this:
  
  Registering a bid(s):
  Register Account -> Register Event -> Locate lot -> 'Place Bid' button -> Enter Bid
  
  Following your bid(s):
  Method 1) My Account -> Pre-Auction Bidding History
  Method 2) Locate lot in catalogue screen -> 'Place Bid' button -> 'My Bids' tab
  
  Viewing lot(s) won:
  My Account -> Lots Won Using Live Bid Online
  
  Getting Notified:
  Emails will be sent on successful bids and also when you have been outbid.
  
  After the Auction:
  You will receive an invoice from us summarizing your lots won. This is usually posted out, it will also indicate the total of your winning lots including buyers commission and GST (if applicable).
  If you have provided us with credit card details we will automatically process the payment and include postage in the total amount. Please note you may elect to pay by a different method or different credit card, you can inform us of this in the event registration 'instructions' field.

• Troubleshooting
  If you experience any problems trying to use or whilst using the pre-auction bidding system we suggest you firstly visit:
  
  Web browser support page
  On this page you will find all compatible and tested web browsers that are recommended for use with our bidding system.