How bidding works
Three steps, and the price you see is the price you pay. The rules below are printed where they apply; nothing in a terms PDF changes them.
Find an item
Browse today's auctions, or search by maker, model or ZIP. Every price you see is all-in, and the clock on each item ticks live.
Bid, or set a max
Tap Bid for the next step up. Or set the most you'd pay, and Auktia bids for you, one step at a time, only as far as it takes.
Win, then pay and pick up
Your win lands on My bids with the invoice. Pay the seller there, then collect on pickup day, or it ships to you.
What a $100 bid costs, all-in
Say you win at $100 in an auction with an 18% buyer’s fee and 8.25% sales tax, and the item ships for $15. With All-in pricing on, that item showed $142.74 all along.
- Your winning bid
- $100.00
- Buyer’s fee, 18% of the winning bid
- $18.00
- Sales tax, 8.25% of the bid and buyer’s fee
- $9.74
- Shipping
- $15.00
- You pay, all-in
- $142.74
The all-in price
Each item page shows its all-in price: the current bid plus the buyer’s fee, sales tax and shipping, worked out line by line before you bid. Pickup-only items carry no shipping. Where the seller prices shipping after the auction, the item says so, and you see the amount on your invoice before you pay. Turn on All-in pricing in the header to see every price that way.
A clock that actually ticks
The countdown runs live, every second. A bid inside the closing window (usually the final two minutes, set by the seller) resets that item’s clock to the full window, and keeps doing so until bidding stops. Last bid standing wins; nobody wins on network speed.
Max bids
Tap Max bid and enter the most you’d pay, then stop watching. You bid only what’s needed now, and each time someone outbids you, Auktia bids for you, one step at a time, until your max. Then it stops. Nobody, including the seller, can see your max. If two max bids are the same, the earlier one wins.
Shipping and collection
Each auction says how items leave it: pickup only, shipping at a price shown on each item, or shipping charged after the auction (one amount for everything you won, added to your invoice). Pickup times, the address and the remove-by date are on the auction page. When an item ships, the seller adds the carrier and tracking number, and you see them on My bids. Pickup items show the distance from you.
Buyer protection
The seller describes every item, and when they add seller’s notes, those say what is true of the one in hand. Every item shows whether it has a minimum price. Items are sold as is, so read, inspect where you can, and ask before you bid. If an item arrives materially different from its description, tell the seller and us within seven days: the seller resolves it with you, and we help. The terms have the details.