The rules, in plain words
How bidding works here
Nothing on this page is a surprise you find out at checkout. The increment table is published, the premium is published, the shipping estimate is on the lot page, and the soft close means you never have to sit at a keyboard at the closing minute.
Find the lot and read the condition report
The numbered markers on the photograph are the report. Tab through them or hover the plate; the same notes appear as a list below the picture. If something is not photographed, ask — during a live sale we aim to answer condition requests within four working hours.
Work out the real number before you bid
A bid is on the hammer price. The buyer’s premium of 18% is added to it, and shipping is quoted separately and published on the lot page. A lot that hammers at $1,450 costs $1,711 before shipping. The lot page does this arithmetic for you, live, as you type.
Leave your maximum, not your next bid
This is proxy bidding. You leave the most you are willing to pay; we bid on your behalf one increment at a time and stop the moment you are in front. If nobody reaches your maximum you pay less than it — often considerably less. Your maximum is never shown to anybody, including the seller.
Let the soft close do its job
You do not need to be here at the published closing minute. If you are outbid you will always have at least 3 minutes to respond, because any bid inside the final 3 minutes pushes the close out.
Increments
The step is set by a table, not by us on the day.
Whichever band the current bid falls into decides the smallest legal step above it. This is published so that a bidder can work out the next four bids before placing the first, and so that nobody can quietly widen the increments on a hot lot.
With no bids yet, the opening bid stands on its own — you may bid the published opening figure and are not forced one increment above it.
| Current bid | Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 – $99 | $10 |
| $100 – $499 | $25 |
| $500 – $999 | $50 |
| $1,000 – $1,999 | $100 |
| $2,000 – $4,999 | $250 |
| $5,000 – $9,999 | $500 |
| $10,000 – $19,999 | $1,000 |
| $20,000 – $49,999 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 and above | $5,000 |
Anti-sniping
The 3-minute soft close, and why it has no cap
Sniping is bidding in the last few seconds specifically so nobody has time to answer. On a hard-close auction it works, which is the problem: the winner is the person with the best connection, not the person who valued the object most.
- −00:04:10
A lot is running normally. Bidding is open and the published closing time still stands. The clock is outside the soft-close window.
- −00:02:44
A bid lands inside the final 3 minutes. The closing time immediately moves to 3 minutes from that bid. The lot is now extended.
- −00:00:38
The under-bidder answers with 38 seconds to go. The clock extends again, for the second time. There is no cap on this and there never has been.
- 00:00:00
Nobody bids for 3 full minutes. The lot closes at the price the room actually reached, some minutes after its published time, and the result is published either way — sold, passed, or unsold.
You can watch this happen on this site. Find a lot inside its final minutes and place a demo bid — the clock will visibly extend. Nothing is submitted anywhere; the whole thing runs in your browser.
Questions
The things people ask before their first bid
Is any of the bidding on this site real?
No. This is a demonstration site. Every lot, seller, bid, hammer price and result on it is invented to show how the design behaves. The bid controls run entirely in your browser, nothing is submitted anywhere, and no money can change hands.
What is a bid increment, and who decides it?
The increment is the smallest step by which a bid may rise, and it is set by a published table rather than by us on the day. Below $100 the step is $10; from $100 it is $25; from $500, $50; from $1,000, $100; from $2,000, $250; from $5,000, $500; from $10,000, $1,000; from $20,000, $2,500; and from $50,000, $5,000. The next acceptable bid is always shown on the lot page.
How does proxy bidding work?
You leave the maximum you are willing to pay. The system then bids on your behalf, one increment at a time, only as far as it needs to in order to keep you in front. If nobody reaches your maximum you pay less than it — often considerably less. Your maximum is never shown to anybody, including the seller.
What happens if somebody bids in the last few seconds?
The lot extends. Every lot has a three-minute soft close: a bid inside the final three minutes pushes the closing time out by three minutes from that bid. There is no cap on extensions, so a contested lot closes only when three full minutes pass with no new bid. You never need to be at your keyboard at the published closing minute.
What is the difference between a lot that passed and one that went unsold?
A lot that passed attracted bids, but the bidding did not reach the seller’s reserve, so it was not sold. A lot that went unsold attracted no bids at all. Both appear on our results pages with the same prominence as the lots that sold, because a results page that only publishes the wins is a marketing page.
What is the buyer’s premium and what will I actually pay?
The buyer’s premium is 18% of the hammer price on most lots, and it is added to the hammer price. A lot that hammers at $1,000 costs $1,180 before shipping. Every lot page shows the hammer, the premium and the true total for the current bid, so you never have to do that arithmetic in your head at speed.
Is shipping included in the estimate?
No. Every lot carries its own packed-and-shipped estimate for domestic delivery, shown on the lot page before you bid. Fragile and heavy items cost more to send than they cost to buy surprisingly often, which is exactly why we publish the number up front rather than at checkout.
What does it cost to sell through Lot & Ledger?
Seller commission is 14–16% of the hammer price depending on category, with no listing fee, no photography fee and no unsold fee. If a lot does not sell you pay nothing. Settlement is made within 10 to 14 business days of the buyer’s payment clearing.