Buying at Auction

Here at Williams Auctions, we offer live unreserved auctions.  We operate with an auctioneer on site, moving from lot to lot and performing a public auction on each item. The auctioneer will dictate the starting price of each lot and the increments between bids.  All lots will be sold on the day to the highest bidder.

Signing up to bid at Williams Auctions is performed online or by contacting the office prior to auction days. In some circumstances we may ask for a bidder deposit to be paid ahead of the auction which acts as security. This is a fully refundable if no purchases are made.

All bidders are given a bidding credit limit that can be lifted by request.

There are multiple ways to bid on one of our auctions.

1. Onsite - in person at our auction site near Knutsford, Cheshire
2. Online - using our secure live webcast bidding platform.
3. Pre-bid - leave an absentee bid to be executed on your behalf during the auction.

To obtain a bidding number you must register for each auction you are interested in.

Buyer’s Commission of 10% on the first £3,000 or lower and 2.5% on the balance where applicable is added to all Hammer Prices per lot.

VAT* is charged on the TOTAL Hammer Price (Hammer Price + Buyers Commission).

*VAT is charged at 20% in the UK

Full payment for any items purchased is required within 7 days of the auction date. No items will be released until full and final payment has been received in cleared funds.  All payments must be made via BACS payment.  Once payment has been made, collection of the items can be arranged.  Storage charges of £20 per lot per day, will be applied two weeks after the auction date for any uncollected items.

You must register to obtain a bidding number for an auction (Paddle) if you wish to bid on site. You will be asked to fill out a registration form. You will need photographic ID, a Letter of Authorisation if bidding on behalf of a company, company VAT number if applicable and you may need to pay a deposit.

This will issue you with a Paddle number unique to you and the auction. This can be obtained a number of days before the auction date online and at the reception on site on the day of auction.

• £1,000 deposit will allow for a credit limit of 10,000
• £5,000 deposit will allow for a credit limit of £25,000
• £10,000 deposit will allow for a credit limit of £50,000

Your Paddle number will be printed on the cover of the auction catalogue. Winning bids are assigned to the relevant Paddle number.

All of the lots in the sale will be laid out in our auction yard. You should take some time before the auction commences to inspect the items of interest and remember where they are located in the yard as the auctioneer will be on a mobile truck moving from section to section to conduct the auction.

If it is your first auction, it is recommended you listen and watch the auction to get use to the pace and the auctioneers style. Bid catchers will be standing in front of the auctioneers van watching the audience to help signal bids to the auctioneer.

All stock is sold in lot number order. Items that are similar can be sold as a parcel lot. The winning bidder on a parcel group can choose one or more of the items, each sold at the winning bid price. Any lots not taken in the parcel group are offered to the runner-up bidder at the same price. If not taken the auctioneer will start the bidding process again on the remaining items.

The auctioneer will introduce each lot and start the bidding price, if no one bids he will lower the starting price. When a bid is placed the auctioneer will raise the asking price, this will continue until no more bids are placed.

There is a live bidding screen on the auctioneers van and in the reception office, which display the lot number and the current asking price and active bid. Note that bids can be from multiple sources and you may be bidding against internet bidders from anywhere in the world.

When ready to bid, make contact with the bid catcher. You can do this by raising your catalogue, eye contact, or nod of the head. The bid catcher will relay this to the auctioneer; if you are outbid he will let you know.

If you are the winning bidder please clearly raise the bidder number on your catalogue towards the bid catcher by holding it up. They will relay it to the auctioneer.

Once the auction has finished, invoices will be raised and emailed to the details provided. Once your invoice has been paid your equipment will be available for collection.

1. We ask for no collections on the day of the auction unless special arrangements have been made.