Everything You Could Ever Need to Make a Killing at Auctions | Part?9

Original Article By GAUK Auctions

Payment

Deposits

If your bid has been successful, then you may have to go to the roster immediately and pay the deposit of say, 25% of the purchase price. This percentage varies from auction to auction and sometimes can be a fixed amount, like for example ￡5 or ￡10. At another auctions, all payments are dealt with in full at the end of the sale. At some auctions, you may be allowed to return the next day and pay for the item in full without having to pay a deposit.

If deposits are required before you start bidding, make sure you have checked with the office as to the exact money they will require and that you have the cash on you. Auctions do not take kindly to someone who wins the bid and then hasn’t got the deposit. You are wasting their time and if done repeatedly they may ban you from the auction house.

Accounts

Most reputable auctions run accounts for regular customers. This method of payment will save you an awful lot of time, trouble, worry and hassle. The sooner you open an account with an auction house the better. The requirements for opening accounts vary from place to place. Some auctions ask that you have been in operation for a year and that you are VAT registered. If you are thinking about going into business, you are therefore advised to set up your business as professionally and as soon as possible.

Cash

Auction houses now fall under the new anti-money laundering laws — Basically, they have a duty under threat of prosecution to know where your cash has come from — they are duty bound to report anything suspicious and will not accept large payments in cash.

You are normally expected to pay for any item by the end of the next working day after winning a bid; otherwise you could become liable to pay a storage fee. Make sure that before you bid you have the money ready to pay for it — or that you can get it out of a bank quickly. Some building society accounts have a limit on how much a customer can withdraw in cash in any given period of time. If you are buying at the cheaper end of the market you are not going to worry unduly about carrying a few hundred pounds. However, when you get into the larger price range to carry thousands of pounds it would not be sensible to carry around that kind of money with you.

Cheque

You can pay by cheque but you may have to wait until the cheque clears before you can collect your purchases (above any cheque card limit). In the meantime, you may incur storage charges. Plus, when you have bought an item, it becomes your responsibility immediately and the auction house will usually wash their hands of it. If an item suffers from vandalism while in their possession, it is you who have to pay for any damages.

Bank Draft

You can usually pay for items at auction by Bank Draft or Building Society Draft. However, you should check with the auction house first. Upon receipt of the draft, you will be able to take away the items. In the past this method was accepted as being perfectly secure but more and more bank drafts are being stolen or forged. For this reason, the auction house may ask you to wait while they phone the branch to ask for verification.