HOW TO BID ONLINE

Pre-Registration Process

Have you completed our two-step registration process? If so, you are all set! If not, please click on the 'SIGN UP' button and follow the on-screen instructions - you must be pre-approved by us in order to bid.

Prior to being approved to bid online you must register to bid with us and complete an online bidding form (per property you are wishing to bid on). Upon receiving the completed document, along with deposit monies (£5,000 minimum or 10% of the guide price, whichever is greater), Buyer Premium and subject to our final checks, you will receive confirmation of approval to bid on the day.

Please note, we require full registration, ID and cleared funds no later than two working days prior to the date of the online auction.

Can I bid on multiple lots?

Yes, you can bid on more than one lot if you have completed and returned the online bidding form and paid deposit/Buyers Premium on each Lot.

On the day...

The auction lots will start simultaneously at 12.00pm - you will see lots end ten minutes apart (*subject to any one minute extensions - see guidance below) - check on your lot end time.

Log in on the site and then navigate to the specific lot you are wishing to bid on whereupon you see the 'Authorise to bid' tab and press.

DURING THE ONLINE AUCTION

You will be able to bid once the auction has started - this will be in pre-determined bid increment levels using the on-screen buttons. You will able to see your own details on screen in order to aid with the process but these will remain private to you and cannot be seen by other bidders, who will be represented on screen by a bidder number, i.e., Bidder 2 or Bidder number 3, etc in order to ensure onscreen clarity. An on-screen header will also indicate if you are current highest bidder or if you have been outbid.

* Timing and Bid Extensions/sniping

'Sniping' is the practice seen on eBay and other auction sites where bidders will leave placing their bids until the last possible moment before the auction is due to finish in the hope that they are the last and highest bidder as it closes. Unlike eBay, which finishes its auctions at a set time irrespective if all bids have been placed, our system extends the end of the auction by one minute every time an additional bid is placed after the scheduled closing time (so long as there was a bid in the last schedule minute) until there has been one minute of 'bidding silence'. At this point the system will close the auction. As a result, it is pointless leaving placing your bid until the final seconds of an extension period as this will only extend the auction for another minute. It is better to get your bid in early so you will be more likely to be bidding a lower amount.

YOU ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO AVOID PLACING YOUR BID IN THE LAST FEW MOMENTS AS THERE IS THE RISK THAT THE SYSTEM MAY NOT RECEIVE THIS IN TIME AND YOU MAY MISS OUT TO ANOTHER BIDDER!

Post Auction Process

What happens now?

At the end of the auction, an onscreen notification will appear advising if you are the successful bidder or not.

If you are the successful bidder, a member of the Sharpes team will be in touch top aid you in the post auction process. You will have exchanged contracts and we will be issuing a sale memorandum to solicitors instructing a 28-day completion cycle.

If the property does not sell can I still purchase post auction?

Indeed, you can - please contact a member of Sharpes staff following the auction to discuss.