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Bidding Rules

How Bidding Works at WineBid.com

Bidders at WineBid.com should be aware of the following rules that apply to bidding. These rules, listed below in order of priority, determine who will win a particular lot.

  1. Dollar Amount of Bid
  2. Bid Quantity (Please see Multiple-Bottle Lots example below)
  3. Date of Bid
  4. Time of Bid

Making Bidding Easier

Here are some ways to make bidding easier and more efficient.

AutoBid

With our AutoBid feature you don't have to keep checking to see if you still have the highest bid. AutoBid will bid for you. Here's how it works: When you place your bid, type in the maximum amount you are willing to spend, even though the lot has not yet reached that level. Our AutoBid feature will then automatically increase your bid as other bidders bid the lot up. AutoBid will never bid more than the maximum amount you have indicated.

For instance: If a wine has a reserve of $30 and you are willing to pay up to $50, type $50 in the bid box. Your bid will be placed at $30 with an AutoBid of $50, and you will win at $30 if no one else bids it up. If someone else places a bid at $35, your bid is automatically raised to $35 and you still have the winning bid because your AutoBid was in place before the competing $35 bid was placed. (The amount AutoBid increases in response to competing bids is determined by our schedule of bid increments explained in Wine and Auctions Terms). If there are no higher bids you are the winner. This process will continue until the bid amount reaches your specified maximum of $50. See the "Bidding on Multiple-Bottle Lots" section below for additional information.

Checking For Identical Lots

It sometimes happens that we have identical wines consigned from different consignors. This means that sometimes within a single auction we will have different lots containing identical wine. For various reasons, bidding may be at different levels on the lots. Before placing a bid it is a good idea to use our Search or Browse for Wine features to find other lots that might contain the wines you want. However, you should always check the full lot description to determine the condition of the wine and its provenance before placing a bid since this may explain different reserve levels or bidding activity on identical lots.

Bidding on Multiple-Bottle Lots

Example: If a lot contains ten bottles with a reserve of $50 per bottle, ten bidders may each bid $50 on a bottle during the first several days of the auction. At that point, if there are no more bids, each bidder will win a bottle at $50. But, if a bidder comes in later during the auction and bids $50 per bottle for all ten bottles, he will win all the bottles at $50 a bottle. If the late bidder bids $50 on only five of the ten bottles, he will win five bottles from the most recent five single-bottle bidders. Early bidders have an advantage over later bidders assuming the dollar amount or quantity of the bid does not increase. In this example, if your single-bottle bid of $50 is outbid by someone buying several bottles at $50, even though you made your bid first, you will have to increase your bid dollar amount or increase the quantity of bottles in your bid in order to get back into the auction.

Please note: If you have placed an AutoBid on a multiple-bottle lot and you are outbid on even a single bottle, your AutoBid will automatically increase your bid on all the bottles on which you have bid. For instance: If you have a winning bid of $50 per bottle on a lot of 5 bottles and have set your AutoBid at $70 per bottle, and someone else places a bid of $55 on one of the bottles, your AutoBid will automatically increase your bid to a winning bid of $55 on each of the 5 bottles.