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Auction glossary
Every auction term you'll meet on an auction listing or an invoice, defined in a sentence or two, with an example, and the plainer word Auktia uses where it has one.
- Absolute Auction: What Selling With No Reserve MeansAn absolute auction is a sale where every lot goes to the highest bidder, however low the price, because there is no reserve or minimum.
- All-In Price: The Real Total You Pay at an AuctionAn all-in price is the total you actually pay to win an auction lot: the hammer price plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and shipping, if the lot ships.
- As Is, Where Is: What It Means When You Buy at AuctionAs is, where is means a lot is sold in its current condition, with any faults, at its current location.
- Auction Catalog: What It Is and What Each Listing Tells YouAn auction catalog is the full list of lots in a sale, with each lot's number, title, photos, description and condition, and sometimes an estimate.
- Auction Estimate: What the Price Range on a Lot MeansAn auction estimate is the auction house's opinion of what a lot is likely to sell for, usually shown as a range such as $200 to $300.
- Auction Invoice: What It Shows and How to Pay ItAn auction invoice is the bill a winning bidder receives after a sale closes, listing every lot won with its hammer price, buyer's premium, sales tax and any shipping, plus the total due.
- Auction Preview: What It Is and How to Use ItAn auction preview is a set time before bidding closes when you can see, handle and test lots in person, usually at the auction house or sale site.
- Auction Removal Date: The Deadline to Pick Up Your ItemsAn auction removal date, or remove-by date, is the deadline for winning bidders to collect their items from the sale site.
- Bid Increment: The Smallest Amount a Bid Can RiseA bid increment is the minimum amount by which a new bid must beat the current high bid.
- Bid Sniping: What It Is and Why Soft Close Stops ItBid sniping is placing a bid in the final seconds of an auction so other bidders have no time to respond.
- Bidder Paddle Number: What It Is and Why You Get OneA bidder paddle number is the number an auction house assigns you when you register to bid.
- Buyer's Premium: Definition and How It's CalculatedA buyer's premium is a percentage fee an auction house adds to the hammer price of every lot you win.
- Consignment Auction: How Selling on Consignment WorksA consignment auction is a sale where owners hand their items to an auction house, which sells them on their behalf and keeps a commission.
- Consignor: Meaning and Role at an AuctionA consignor is the person or business that owns items and places them with an auction house to be sold on their behalf.
- FNSKU: What Amazon's X00 Barcode MeansAn FNSKU, or Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit, is the barcode Amazon assigns to track a specific seller's product inside its fulfillment centers.
- For Parts or Not Working: What the Condition MeansFor parts or not working means an item doesn't fully work, or hasn't been confirmed to work, and is sold for repair, parts or salvage.
- Hammer Price: What It Means at an AuctionA hammer price is the winning bid on an auction lot at the moment it sells, before anything is added.
- Hard Close Auction: When the Closing Time Is FinalA hard close auction ends at a fixed time no matter how much bidding is going on.
- Liquidation Manifest: What It Lists and How to Read OneA liquidation manifest is a list of the items in a pallet, box or truckload of returned or overstock merchandise.
- Live Auction: What It Is and How Bidding WorksA live auction is a sale where an auctioneer calls for bids in real time and sells lots one at a time, in a room, on a farm or streamed online.
- Max Bid: How Proxy Bidding Works at Online AuctionsA max bid is the highest amount you're willing to pay for a lot, entered once in advance.
- Open Box Meaning: What You Get When You Buy Open BoxOpen box means a product's original packaging has been opened, usually because it was returned, displayed or inspected, but the item itself is typically unused or barely used.
- Opening Bid: What It Is and How Bidding StartsAn opening bid is the first bid accepted on an auction lot, often set in advance by the auction house as the starting price.
- Reserve Price Meaning: The Seller's Hidden MinimumA reserve price is the lowest amount a seller will accept for an auction lot, agreed with the auction house before the sale.
- Shill Bidding Definition: Fake Bids That Push Prices UpShill bidding is placing fake bids on an auction lot to drive up its price, done by the seller, the auction house or someone acting for them.
- Soft Close Meaning: Why Late Bids Extend the ClockA soft close is an auction ending rule where a bid placed in a lot's final minutes resets or extends its clock, so the lot closes only once bidding stops.
- Staggered Closing Auction: How Lot Stagger WorksA staggered closing auction ends its lots one after another at a set interval, such as 30 seconds apart, instead of all at the same moment.
- Timed Auction: How Online Timed Bidding WorksA timed auction is an online auction where each lot has a set closing time and bidders place bids on a website or app, often over several days, with no auctioneer calling.
- UPC Barcode: What It Is and How It Identifies a ProductA UPC barcode, or Universal Product Code, is the 12-digit barcode printed on retail products in the US and Canada.
- What Is a Lot in an Auction? Lots and Lot Numbers ExplainedA lot is an item, or a group of items, offered for sale as a single unit in an auction and identified by a lot number.