Registering and bidding online, step by step

What you need before you start

Registration takes a few minutes if you have everything to hand. Some of it is required by law: the Consumer Protection Act regulations say a bid taken from an unregistered person is invalid, and for an online auction registration has to capture your full names, ID or passport number, age, physical address, IP address and login details, plus how you will pay. The regulations also require every bidder's identity to be recorded in a bidders' record and verified before the auction, so we check your identity documents before we approve you. The rest, such as a proof of address not older than three months, is our own verification standard.

The broader picture of buying on auction, from viewing to transfer, is on our buying on auction page.

Step 1: create your account

Go to Create Account in our online auction room. It is our own auction room, not a marketplace, so the only lots in it are ours.

1. Enter your email address, a password of at least six characters, your first and last names, your ID number (or passport number if you are not a South African citizen), mobile number and physical address.
2. If invoices should be made out to a company or another name, tick the box for billing information that differs from your account details, and add the entity type, registered name and, where the company is VAT registered, its VAT number.
3. Accept the terms and conditions and create the account.
4. Open the confirmation email and follow the link to activate the account, then log in.

If the email does not arrive, the log-in page has a link to resend the confirmation instructions, and another to reset a forgotten password. Use your details exactly as they appear on your ID, because they have to match the documents you upload next.

You can bid from a phone's browser, and there is a Dynamic Auctioneers app for Android and iPhone, linked at the foot of the auction room.

Step 2: upload your FICA documents

Once you are logged in, open Verification in the top menu and upload your ID or passport and your proof of address. A company can add its registration documents and VAT certificate. You are notified by email once the account has been verified.

The documents stay on your profile, so you do not upload them again for every auction. Keep them current, though: we accept a proof of address only while it is less than three months old, and an older one holds up your next registration.

Bidding for a company, a trust or someone else

• A company. The regulations require a letter of authority on the company's letterhead, with a certified copy of the resolution authorising you to bid for it.
• A trust. Trustees act under Letters of Authority issued by the Master of the High Court. Have those, the trust deed and a resolution naming who may bid and sign for the trust.
• Another person. You need a letter of authority expressly authorising you to bid for them, and both of you have to meet the identity requirements.

For property, the conditions of sale often carry a fuller FICA list for the transfer itself, such as your tax number, marital status and, for an entity, documents for each director or trustee. Check the list in your auction's documents now, so the conveyancer is not waiting on you later.

Step 3: register for the auction and pay any deposit

An account is not a registration for any particular sale. Find the auction on upcoming auctions or in the auction room, click Register for this auction, accept the terms and submit. The registration shows as pending until your documents and any deposit have been checked. When it is approved you are notified by email, and only then can you bid.

Read the auction information on the auction page first. These details change from sale to sale:

The registration deposit

Some auctions ask for one and some do not, and the amount varies with what is being sold. Pay it exactly as that auction's terms say and keep your proof of payment. If the terms ask you to quote your bidder number as the reference and you cannot find it, phone 086 155 2288 for the reference to use rather than paying without one.

The regulations do not allow a fee for taking part in an auction; what they allow is a refundable deposit. If you do not buy, it is refunded as that auction's terms provide. If the terms do not say how long that takes, ask us before you pay, and be ready to confirm your banking details. On some sales the terms provide that it counts towards your deposit if you win.

Pay only into the account in that auction's own documents. If an email ever tells you our banking details have changed, phone 086 155 2288 before you pay anything.

Read the documents before you bid

The documents on the auction page are where the binding terms are. Expect the rules of auction, which govern how the sale is run, and the conditions of sale (for property, often an offer to purchase), which become your contract if you win. Many sales add an information pack.

Before you register, find:

• the deposit due if you win, and when it and the commission are payable;
• whether the sale is subject to confirmation by the seller, and for how long;
• whether the prices shown exclude VAT;
• for movables, the collection deadline; for property, the period for delivering guarantees.

The conditions of sale usually provide that assets are sold as they stand (voetstoots), so use the viewing dates. Our guides to voetstoots and the buyer's premium explain both in detail. If anything on the auction page and in the documents does not seem to match, ask us before you register, not after you win.

How bidding works on the day

The auction room runs two formats, and each auction card says which one it is.

Timed auctions

Most of our online sales are timed. Bidding runs over a period, and each lot closes at its own time, shown on the lot. Lots in the same auction can close a minute or so apart, which suits multi-lot sales of movable assets and vehicles.

• Each lot shows its opening bid or current bid, and how many bids it has.
• The Bid button shows the amount of the next bid. That is the figure you are offering when you use it.
• A message on the lot tells you whether you are the highest bidder, and you are emailed if someone outbids you.
• A bid near the close extends that lot by the bidding extension on the auction page, so a lot keeps running while bids are still coming in, and a bid in the final second does not stop anyone answering it.

Webcast auctions

Some sales run live. The auctioneer calls each lot in real time, with bidders in the room and online at once, and you follow the webcast and bid from your screen. On some webcast sales we run a practice lot first, so everyone is comfortable with the process before anything real is sold.

Online bids can reach the room with a short delay, so bid early in the round rather than at the auctioneer's last call, and check the rules of auction for how a bid that arrives after the lot is knocked down is treated. If you cannot follow the webcast, ask before the sale whether you can leave a maximum bid.

In both formats, bid only what you are prepared to pay. The regulations make the highest bidder the purchaser when the auctioneer announces the sale complete, subject to any reserve and to the seller's acceptance, and an auction run online has to meet the same requirements as one in a room, adapted to the platform.

Auto Bid, pre-auction bids and proxies

Auto Bid

On a timed lot, if you cannot watch the close, open Auto Bid on the lot, choose your limit from the list and confirm it. The system then bids for you one increment at a time, only as far as it needs to keep you in the lead, and never past your limit. The lot shows that your auto bid is active, and you can stop it while bidding is open.

Set the limit at the most you will pay for that lot before premium, VAT and costs. Every bid the system places for you is your bid.

Pre-auction bids on property

For property, our property portal takes offers and pre-auction bids online. Ask how a pre-auction bid on that property will be dealt with before you make one. Current property sales are on the property auctions page.

Bidding through someone else

If you want a person rather than software to bid for you, they register with their own identity documents and carry your signed letter of authority, and both of you must meet the identity requirements. On property, section 16 of the Transfer Duty Act also requires them to give the seller or the seller's agent (on an auction, usually the auctioneer) your name and address, and a copy of the document appointing them, on the day the auctioneer accepts the bid. If they do not, they are presumed to have bought for themselves, which can mean transfer duty twice.

When the lot closes

When bidding ends, the platform tells you whether you were the highest bidder. If the lot was marked STC (subject to confirmation), or bidding stopped below the reserve, your bid is put to the seller, who can accept or decline it within the period in the conditions of sale. Look for ‘STC’ in the lot description before you bid. Our reserve price guide explains how that works.

If you have bought, the conditions of sale set when you sign, when the deposit and commission are due and how the balance is paid or secured. What happens after you win takes you through it for property, and buying a vehicle on auction covers vehicles. If you have not bought, your registration deposit is refunded as that auction's terms provide.

Tips for first-time bidders

• Register days ahead. Approval is not instant, and you should be registered before bidding opens.
• Log in the day before. Check that your password works and that the lot shows a Bid button for you. Reset a forgotten password then, not at the close.
• Work out your ceiling first. Add the buyer's premium, VAT where it applies and, for property, transfer duty and transfer costs. Each lot is generally treated as a separate transaction, so budget lot by lot.
• Do not leave it to the last second. The extension takes away any advantage, and a dropped connection costs you the lot. An Auto Bid at your limit is safer.
• Use the watchlist and lot search. On a big sale, add lots to your watchlist and search by lot title or number.
• Remember the opening bid is not the reserve. A lot can open well below the price the seller will accept.
• Arrange finance first. If you need a bond, get pre-approval before you register; see buying on auction with a bond.
• Ask. Watch the short how-to videos in the auction room, phone 086 155 2288 (weekdays, 08:00 to 17:00) or send us a message.