Auction glossaryHard Close Auction: When the Closing Time Is Final
A hard close auction ends at a fixed time no matter how much bidding is going on. Whoever leads at that second wins, even if their bid landed one second before the end. It rewards last-second bidding and fast connections, which is why many timed auctions use a soft close instead.
How does a hard close work?
The closing time is set when the listing goes up and never moves. If a lot ends at 8:00:00 pm and a bid arrives at 7:59:58, everyone else has two seconds to react. Fixed-end listings on marketplaces such as eBay work this way.
Hard close vs soft close: what's the difference?
A soft close adds time when a late bid comes in, so the lot ends only when bidding stops. A hard close doesn't, which turns the last few seconds into a race. That race is where bid sniping comes from, along with tools that fire bids automatically at the final moment.
Does Auktia use a hard close?
No. Every item on Auktia has extended bidding (a soft close): a bid in the closing window resets the clock to the full window, which the seller sets at 1, 2, 3 or 5 minutes. Our soft close guide explains how that plays out.
Questions people ask
How do you win a hard close auction?
Enter your top price as a max bid before the end. Proxy bidding answers rival bids instantly, so a late sniper has to beat your real limit, not your visible bid.
Is a hard close fair?
The rules are known in advance, but it favors whoever bids last on the fastest connection rather than whoever values the lot most.