Telephone Bids
Before an auction takes place you can organise a telephone bid with the auctioneer. A telephone bid is when a representative of the auction house bids on your behalf in the room while talking to you on the phone. There are usually a set number of lines available for a lot (eg. 5 for each lot in an auction depending on staff availability) so if you are interested in having a telephone bid you should contact the auction house early to book a slot. There is usually a threshold in place too; if this is the case the auction house will only supply a telephone bid if you will be bidding over a certain amount eg. £200. This is to ensure people don’t book out a line if they are not serious about bidding on the lot. For higher value lots the auctioneer may require you to leave a deposit before allowing you a telephone line. All auctioneers have different policies on this so read their bidding terms for more information. Most commonly the deposit amount is around 5-10% of lots over £10,000.
Similar to commission bidding and bidding in the room you will need to register with the auctioneer before booking a telephone line. You will be required to complete a form where you to enter your name, address, phone number, email, marketing preferences (GDPR) and then the lot numbers you are interested in bidding on. Your details are needed so they have a way of contacting you on the day of the auction. When submitting a telephone bid the auctioneer will allow you to leave two phone numbers with them to contact you on the day. These will be your primary and secondary number. The latter will only be used if you are not reachable on your primary number. With the new Anti Money Laundering legislation, it is also becoming more common for auctioneers to ask for ID before allowing you to bid. This is usually a photo ID (passport, driving licence etc.) and a proof of address (utility bill, bank statement etc.) You can also book a telephone line via email or by calling the auction house in question. If you do not have an account with the auctioneer then you will be required to supply the information above before leaving your bids.
When leaving a bid it may be possible for you to leave a covering bid. This is like a commission bid and informs the telephone operator what your maximum bid amount is for that lot if they are unable to reach you on the phone when the lot comes up for sale. The telephone operator will usually give you a call around 2 lots before the lot you are interested in bidding on. Please keep this in mind and make sure you are available when the lot comes up for sale (you can track the auction progress by watching a stream of the auction on the auctioneer’s website or via a live bidding provider). Most auctioneers will offer around 60-80 lots an hour so use this to calculate when your lot(s) will come up for sale.
When your lot is offered for sale the operator will give you a commentary of the auction and ask you if you would like to bid. For example, if the current bid is £500 they may say, ‘Sir the next bid is at £520, would you like to bid?’ If you say yes then the operator will raise their hand and your bid of £520 will be taken. They will then inform you that you are the current highest bidder and update you if you are outbid and so on. If you are successful they will confirm that you have won the lot and your invoice will be sent over by email at the end of the auction. Bidding over the phone is usually free and incurs no extra charges so it is a good way of bidding on high-value lots if unable to bid in person. Bidding live on the internet is another good alternative but will usually cost you a percentage of the final hammer price meaning that you will end up paying more.
This concludes my article of telephone bidding. If you wish to learn more about other methods of bidding please see the other articles on this topic in my guide.
