|
Our philosophy of Heffel's online auctions is to make the online bidding
experience as exciting and dynamic as our live saleroom auctions. We
did not want to re-invent the auction process. We just wanted to use the
Internet as our saleroom and our online catalogue to replace our printed
catalogue. We strongly believe in the power of the Internet for us to
communicate with collectors and dealers worldwide.
It is important for bidders to understand that at any time assistance is
required, they are welcome to contact
us by telephone at 1 (800) 528-9608 toll free in North America, (604)
732-6505 or after business hours on cellular (604) 418-6505 for assistance.
The telephone can prove very useful when the pressure of last minute bidding is
on and if you feel overwhelmed by the situation. We are here to help and to
make things enjoyable and exciting. Please note that we also accept faxed
absentee bids and are pleased to arrange
bidding by telephone if you are uncomfortable with or unable to bid
with your computer.
To participate in our online sales, first you must register by going to our
signup page by clicking here. For those of you who are still
uncomfortable with using secured encrypted connections for inputting your
financial information, you can contact us by telephone or print off the signup
page and fax a completed copy to (604) 732-4245 for processing.
Once Heffel has processed your registration, you will be emailed a paddle
number for use with the password you selected for online bidding. You will also
be sent a bidding card by regular mail. You are now ready to bid as per our
published Terms and
Conditions of Business for heffel.com on the current and future online
sales.
We start our monthly online auction the first Thursday of each month and begin
to close the sale on the last Saturday of the month for each month.
Please note that we typically close our December sale earlier before the Season Holidays.
On both our home page and online pages we post a declining clock that displays the time remaining in the
sale subject to overtime.
What is overtime?
There is an automatic 3 minute bidding extension if a bid is submitted on any
lot within the last 3 minutes on the bidding clock. These time extensions will
continue to occur until there is a 3 minute period during which no bidding
takes place. We believe this feature makes our online sale emulate as
much as possible our live sales by giving everyone an equal chance to get their
bids in on the lots they wish to buy. This creates an advantage for our online
sales over our live auctions because all lots close at the same time. This is
extremely powerful if, as a bidder, there is more than one lot you are
interested in bidding on, but you can only afford to buy one. If you get outbid
on your preferred lot, then you have the option to bid on your second favourite
lot. As a consignor, you can see the minimum price that your lot is going to
sell for before you bid on the lot you are interested in bidding on yourself.
This may encourage you to bid more aggressively if your consigned lot is
selling above your expectations. Typically, overtime will last 20 to 40 minutes
in extra bidding time.
The online sale catalogue displays both a small 150x150 px image and a larger
350x350 px image of each lot. On occasion, we may supply additional detail
images. All cataloguing details and bidding histories can be seen for each lot.
We are pleased to provide prospective bidders, upon request, condition reports
and additional images.
We believe there is no real advantage to waiting to bid on a work at the last
minute. When you discover a lot that you would like to bid on, we feel it is
best to bid early because you will then be on board at the lowest bid amount.
This will also give you time to enjoy the bidding process free of any last
minute stress.
Heffel.com offers single bidding and autobidding features.
An autobid is like the live auction's absentee bid. It will allow you to bid on
the same bidding foot increment to the amount you are prepared to bid up to.
For example, if the current bidding on a lot is $500 and you are prepared to
bid up to $950, then you can input an autobid for $950. Our system will then
accept your first bid at $550. If another bidder then bids $600, then our
system will automatically submit a bid of $650 on your behalf. If there is no
additional bidding, then you will be successful at the $650 hammer price.
Our system will generate email notifications when your bids are executed or if
there are bids generated on any lots you are participating in, or on a lot that
you have selected in your preferred lots option. Please note that this service
is dependent on the current correctness of your email address in our database
and on the service of your email and Internet service provider. Please keep us
notified if you have changed or modified your email address.
We have built a number of additional deluxe bidding features into our system.
Collectors who login into heffel.com can see the current status of their
subscription services, a listing of all lots on which they currently have bids
active, a preferred lot bid watch and an ability to submit a shipping
address. It is here that you are able to increase the amount of any
previously submitted autobids.
Our Bidding Hot List
is the favourite page to watch the development of an auction, particularly
during the final minutes of a sale. This page lists all the lots and the
current bids on each one. It is important to realize that you must constantly
refresh or reload your online auction pages to receive the most current bidding
and time information. On the Bidding Hot List, we recommend you select
the 1 minute automatic refresh option of the top right of the page. This
will automate the refresh process every minute. When new bids are submitted,
they will appear in green. This is the best method to view which lots are
creating the overtime extension during the final minutes of an auction.
When the auction closes, there will be a notice that the sale is now closed for
bidding. Successful bidders will be notified by email and fax. They will be
asked to confirm shipping instruction and particulars relating to the
transactions. Please feel free to contact us with this information by
telephone, email or return fax. We accept payment by cheque, Visa or
MasterCard, or by wire transfer.
Our online Internet auctions are conducted over the public networks and are
subject to the challenges of using such a network.
Please view our Frequently
Asked Questions page for additional information regarding
bidding online at Heffel.com.
Bidding typically begins below the low estimate and generally advances in the
following bid increments:
|
$100 ~ 2,000
|
$100 increments
|
|
$2,000 ~ 5,000
|
$250
|
|
$5,000 ~ 10,000
|
$500
|
|
$10,000 ~ 20,000
|
$1,000
|
|
$20,000 ~ 50,000
|
$2,500
|
|
$50,000 ~ 100,000
|
$5,000
|
|
$100,000 ~ 300,000
|
$10,000
|
|
$300,000 ~ 1,000,000
|
$25,000
|
|
$1,000,000 ~ 2,000,000
|
$50,000
|
|
$2,000,000 ~ 5,000,000
|
$100,000
|
Good luck and enjoy the excitement of your online bidding experience.
|
