Auction House

Help
This section offers help on all aspects of buying, from finding the item you want to placing a bid on it.

How Do I Find An Auction?

There are several ways to find an auction: by browsing, searching, or going directly to the auction using its lot number. Generally speaking, the latter method is only used by auction owners to view auctions of theirs that have closed. For this reason, we will not cover that section extensively here. Browsing and Searching are covered in the following two sections.

How Do I use the Browse function?

The Browse function is listed in the sidebar menu, and is generally used when you don't have a perfectly clear idea of what you're looking for; or for when you just want to get an idea of what's out there.

You can think of the browse function like you think of your computer's hard drive: the hard drive contains folders and files; the Browse function uses categories and auctions. Just like a hard drive, folders (categories) may contain additional folders and/or files (individual auctions). And just like a hard drive, we call the upper-most level root.

When you click on the browse button you will find yourself navigating the category tree, starting at the root level. Clicking on a category will show the categories and auctions contained in that category. If you click on an auction, you will be brought to the auction view page. It's as simple as that!

How Do I use the Search function?

The Search function is also listed in the sidebar menu, and is designed to let you locate auctions matching a variety of criteria, from product names to closing dates.

What do the settings on the auction view page mean?

Quite a bit of information is displayed on the auction view page. Each field is summarized below:

Owner
This is the name the owner of the auction has listed. It may not be his or her real name if they wish to remain anonymous.

Complaints Against Owner
When a user neglects to honor his bid or sell items on which winning bids were placed, other users have the option of reporting the incident. This field reflects the number of confirmed reports against the user.

Open Date
This is the date on which the auction opened. Be aware that the auction owner can change this value.

Close Date
This is the date on which the auction will close and winning bidders notified (if there are any). The auction owner can change this date as well.

Email
This is the email address that the auction owner has listed and which you may direct auction-related inquiries toward. However, if you have a question, the answer to which you think would be useful to others, we encourage you to submit it using the Q&A function at the bottom of the auction view page.

Payment Options
The means of payment that the auction owner has listed as acceptable for bids on this auction. Please do not submit a bid if you are not prepared to pay through one of the methods listed here.

Shipping Options
The arrangements for shipping. Please be aware of them before you place a bid.

Shipping Location
The physical location of the auction owner. Although it is not required that the owner list this field, it is encouraged so that bidders can get an idea of shipping costs.

Minimum Bid
The smallest bid that can be submitted.

Closing Price
If specified, the closing price is the amount set by the auction owner above which bids will immediately and automatically be accepted.

Bid Increment
The increment allowed in bidding. This prevents auctions from being won by only a few cents, although the owner is free to specify any value as the increment.

Reserve Price
The reserve price, if one has been specified, is a value that is not shown to normal users. Users are only notified if the reserve price has been exceeded by the current highest bid. Bids below the reserve price are not processed.

Secret Auction
If the auction is a secret auction, there will be a message to that effect where the submitted bids would normally be shown. In a secret auction, no bids are shown. This can be changed by the auction owner at any time.

What auctions can I bid on?

You may bid on any auction that meets the following three criteria:

The auction has not yet closed.
The quantity of lots available is greater than zero.
You are not the auction owner.

The last provision is necessary to prevent auction owners from driving up the price of their own lots by bidding on them.

How do I place a bid?

If you are allowed to bid on the auction, you will see a link called "Place a Bid" under the large header reading "Bids" on the auction view page. Following that link will bring you to a log-on screen; you must have a Baking Network membership account to bid on auctions. If you do not have one, you may set one up at this point.

Once you are successfully logged in, you will see a bid submission dialog. Fill in the fields and press the "place bid" button. That's it! The form will automatically adjust your input if it does not conform to acceptable values (i.e., the amount you specified is not divisible by the bid increment value, you have bid below the minimum value, or you have entered an invalid quantity).

You may list whatever name you would like for the bid to be listed under, but you must submit a valid email address at which you can be notified if you win the auction. Also, please bear in mind that while the information you submit for placing a bid is limited, it is linked to your Baking Network membership account transparently.

How do I tell if my bid has won?

If your bid wins you will automatically be sent an email by the auction application notifying you of your win and summarizing the relevant details of the auction. A similar email is sent to the auction owner.

Please note that this email is sent to the email address you specify when bidding, not the email listed under your Baking Network membership account information.

What do I do if the auction owner doesn't adhere to his end of the bargain?

You may report the problem by following the appropriate link in the sidebar.
Contact us for assistance. We would be pleased to support your interests.

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