How to bid
Once your registration has been approved by Setdart, you can operate as a bidder on our website.
Select the lot you wish to bid for, and then place a bid by selecting the amount you are willing to pay. Remember that you need to be connected as a user in order to place a bid.
After placing your bid, a pro forma invoice will appear on screen, including commission and VAT. Only when you accept this pro forma, your bid will actually enter the system.
By using the drop down menu, you may bid for the next amount available or you may bid for a higher amount. In the latter case, the auto-bidding system is activated. The auto-bidding is an automated system in which Setdart bids for you, saving your highest bid and using it only when another user outbids your lower bids.
Lots offered at auction may have a reserve price, which is a confidential minimum selling price agreed between the consignor-seller and Setdart. If at the end of the auction the highest bid has not reached the reserve price, the lot is not sold. Before the end of the auction, the consignor-seller may lower the reserve price. Therefore, the reserve price is movable downward.
Some auction lots do not have a reserve price, which means they are sold provided there is an auction bid, whatever the value of it.
Each lot has a low and high estimate, representing the opinion of Setdart experts about the range in which the lot might sell at auction. Estimates are based on the examination of an item and recent auction records of comparable pieces. An estimate provides prospective buyers with a preliminary guide to value.
It is strictly forbidden for any consignor-seller to bid for their own lot, in the hope of increasing its selling price. Setdart reserves the right to immediately cancel the user account used for this purpose, and to cancel the auction of that consignor lots.
If a lot has not reached the reserve price before the auction ends, the bidding system will indicate “Reserve price not reached” and automatically provide a 3-minute extension, so that potential buyers can keep bidding if they want to win that lot. Only in this case, the system will accept that a bidder exceeds his/her own latest bid in order to reach the reserve price and win the lot. When the auction ends, the stopwatch will read “This auction has ended“, and all users will be able to see whether the lot has sold or it has been left unsold.
If you are the winning bidder of a lot, within the next working day, you will receive your invoice by e-mail. You then have seven days to pay.
GLOSSARY
Bid
The amount a prospective buyer signals the auctioneer he/she would pay to buy the lot during bidding.
Consignor
The owner who is transferring property to Setdart to act as agent on his or her behalf for sale.
Hammer Price
The winning bid for a lot at auction. It determines the sale price, but does not include the buyer’s premium.
Reserve Price
Never formally disclosed, the reserve price is the confidential minimum price agreed upon between the consignor and Setdart. Reserves must be set at or below the low estimate, and if bidding ends before the reserve is reached, the property will not be sold.
Buyer’s Commission
The amount above the hammer price that is paid as part of the total purchase price. The buyer’s commission represents 18% over the hammer price.
Estimate
Each lot is given a low and high estimate, representing the opinion of Setdart experts about the range in which the lot might sell at auction. Estimates are based on the examination of an item and recent auction records of comparable pieces. An estimate provides prospective buyers with an important preliminary guide to value and is generally the basis for establishing the reserve price.
Seller’s Commission
A commission paid by the consignor to Setdart, which is deducted from the hammer price. This commission is stated in the consignor contract.