Auction glossaryOpening Bid: What It Is and How Bidding Starts
An opening bid is the first bid accepted on an auction lot, often set in advance by the auction house as the starting price. It is public, unlike a reserve price, and every later bid must beat it by at least one bid increment. A low opening bid invites early bidding.
How is an opening bid different from a reserve?
The opening bid is the visible floor where bidding starts. A reserve price is a separate, usually hidden minimum the seller needs before the lot will sell. A lot can open at $10 with a $200 reserve, which means bids under $200 are accepted but won't win it.
What happens after the opening bid?
Each new bid has to clear the last one by the bid increment. On Auktia, the opening bid is shown as the starting bid, and on Auktia's standard steps of $1 under $100, an item starting at $20 moves to $21, then $22, and to $2.50 steps once it reaches $100. Our guide to bid increments has the full table.
Should you place the opening bid?
Being first doesn't win you anything, because the lot is decided at the end. A max bid does the work instead: enter the most you'd pay and let the system bid up only as far as it needs to.
Questions people ask
Is the opening bid the same as the starting bid?
Yes. Minimum bid usually means the same thing too, though some houses use it for a disclosed reserve, so check the terms. On Auktia, the minimum price always means the reserve.
Can a lot sell at its opening bid?
Yes, if nobody else bids and there's no reserve above it. That's how bargains happen at quiet sales.