Bidding online with Whiskey Bidders to acquire your favourite Whiskeys is really quite simple. We will be running a live auction around 10 times a year. These auctions will last around 9 days and you can place bids at any time during this period. Please note that if you are placing (and confirming) a bid this means that should you win that lot you are expected to be in a position to pay for it. In legal terms you are essentially agreeing to be legally bound to buy what you win.
If you cannot pay, please do NOT bid. If you bid and do not pay then this may result in you being permanently blocked from using our site which would be unfortunate.
If you are interested in buying whiskey right now visit our current
auction page, but if there isn’t an auction live at the moment don’t worry, just make sure that you are registered and ready to bid for the next auction. If you have any queries on how to bid/ win/ pay for any lots then please consult our guides and if you have any unanswered questions please email us at
info@whiskeybidders.com or call the office on +353 44 9347750 or Ian on +353 83 0126229.
View our Upcoming Auction Dates
1. REGISTER AN ACCOUNT:
If you have not done so already you will need to register with us. Registration only takes a few minutes, the registration fee is €5 payable through Stripe, our online secure payments partner. As you might expect we would need certain details from you, and once registered you can either send us your bottles that you wish to sell, or place bids in an auction, or both. Click here to
register
2. BIDDING ONLINE:
To bid on a lot in a live auction, you can either:
Make an incremental bid by selecting one of the ‘Quick bid’ buttons to the right of the € box, this will allow you to select one of the next minimum bids, these buttons display the next couple of minimum bid increments. You will then be prompted to confirm your bid. Our ‘next minimum bid’ system ensures that the next bid placed is meaningful given the current bid – for example if the current bid is say €50 then the next minimum bid could be €55, if the current bid is say €800 then the next minimum bid could be €820.
OR
Enter the ‘Maximum bid’ you would be willing to pay for the item in the € box and select 'Confirm' to confirm your bid. Our ‘Maximum bid’ system will move the current bid to the next minimum bid increment. If another bidder already has a ‘Maximum bid’ in place on that lot that is equal to your maximum bid then the current bid will move to that value, and you will be told ‘Another bidder has already bid that amount, please bid again’. You can then bid again if you wish. If you then place a higher ‘Maximum bid’ then our ‘Maximum bid’ system will move the current bid to the next minimum bid increment. If someone then bids against you, our bidding system will then automatically increase your bid incrementally until your maximum bid amount is reached. If you are outbid, we will automatically notify you by email, and if the auction has not yet ended then you can decide if you want to bid again (or not).
Please note that if a reserve is in place and you place a maximum bid that is equal to, or greater than, the reserve then the system will recognise this and move the 'Current bid' straight up to the reserve. It will also change the lot status from 'Reserve not met' to 'Reserve met'. So, for example say the current bid is €150 and the reserve is €350, if someone puts in a maximum bid of €400 then the current bid will move to €350, and the lot status will change to 'Reserve met' and you will be the winning bidder until someone outbids you (they'll have to bid more than your €400 maximum bid of course).
REMINDER: Please note that if you placing (and confirming) a bid means that should you win that lot that you are expected to be in a position to pay for it. In legal terms you are essentially agreeing to be legally bound to buy what you win. If you cannot pay, PLEASE DO NOT BID.
3. HOW DOES THE AUCTION END?
Our auctions start to close from 7pm (ROI local time) on the closing date. If there are no bids on a particular lot from 6.45pm until 7pm on the closing date then that lot will CLOSE at 7pm. If a bid is placed during that 15 minutes, then the time left
on that particular lot is RESET to 10 minutes. If another bid is then placed, it RESETS to 10 minutes again, and so on. In this way, lots will close off one by one as the bidding activity stops. The auction may start to close at 7pm but it could be up to an hour or maybe two before all the lots close.
4. PROCESS YOUR ORDER AND PAY
If you have successfully won a lot (or lots), we will notify you automatically by email. We will then send you an email with a payment link embedded in it. If you follow the link and the on-screen instructions you will be able to pay for your order using Stripe, our payment partner. You can also pay by bank transfer if you wish, please contact us at info@whiskeybidders.com for further details on this. We would ask you to make your payments
within 3 working days after the auction closes, ideally using the Stripe link sent to you on the email. Unless you will be collecting your order from our office we will be asking you to pay the relevant shipping charges as per our shipping rates. Find out more about shipping
here. If you do not pay within 3 working days then we will send you a reminder to pay, if you do not pay within 5 working days then we will be adding a 3% late-payment surcharge to your invoice.
5. BUYING CHARGES
Buyer’s commission = 10% on final selling price.
Here are a couple of buying examples to show this charge might work.
In an auction, you buy a bottle with us for say €400. There is buyer’s commission of 10% so the total fees are €40 plus VAT = €49.20. Let’s assume you are located in the ROI so your shipping cost for one bottle will be €9.99 plus VAT so your total cost will be €400+€49.20+€12.29 = €461.49
Say someone else then bought 3 bottles in the same auction, for a total of €755. There is buyer’s commission to be paid at 10% for this auction so the total fees €75.50 plus VAT = €92.87. Let’s assume this time that the buyer collects their purchases from our office so shipping charges will be zero. Total cost is €755 plus €92.87 = €847.87.
Please note that we will be charging VAT at the appropriate rate (currently 23%) on all our charges. Just to be clear there is NO VAT charge on the purchase/ hammer price of any lots.
6. COLLECT, SHIP OR STORE YOUR ORDER
Once you have paid for your order, you can choose to have it shipped as per above, or you can collect it, or we can temporarily store it for you if needed.
Shipping – find out more about
shipping.
Collection – if you wish to collect then you will need to make an appointment with our offices in advance so that we will have your order ready. Please contact
info@whiskeybidders.com.
Storage – we can temporarily store your bottles for you if required. If your parcel is still in our possession after 3 months we reserve the right to invoice you for storage charges at our discretion. Please contact
info@whiskeybidders.com and we can advise you further.
7. PLEASE NOTE IF BUYING FROM OUTSIDE THE EU
Please be aware that since January 1st 2021, the UK is now separate to the EU in terms of free movement of goods. What this means is that if you are in the UK (except for Northern Ireland) and you win a lot on our auction, you will probably be liable for UK Customs & Excise charges on your purchases as they enter the UK. This will typically involve the appropriate level of VAT and some service/ handling charges. Unfortunately these charges are outside our control and as such will be a matter for yourself and the UK Customs. Please be advised that unless you pay them you may not be able to get your purchases delivered as they could be withheld by UK Customs until payment is made.
There can be similar issues with countries such as Norway, so please do your own research to ensure that you are fully aware of these potential charges. If we can help in any way, please contact us at
info@whiskeybidders.com.
