How it works
Bid online. Win. Pick up and pay in person. That's the whole model — no online payments, no surprises.
1Bid
Create an account and verify your email, then bid on any active listing. Every item starts at $0, and each bid must beat the current price by at least $1.99. Bid 1.5 times the current price or more and it becomes a hidden bid: nobody else sees your amount, and if you win you pay just $1.99 more than the next highest bid.
Bids in the final minute extend the auction by 2 minutes, so you can't lose to a last-second snipe without a chance to respond. That includes raising your own bid while you're winning.
2Win
When the clock runs out, the highest bidder wins at the final price. You'll get an email with your invoice — it's also under My Invoices. Lost the auction? You owe nothing, ever.
Your invoice is your winning bid, plus the buyer's premium shown on the listing, plus 13% Ontario HST. Everything you win in a day comes on one invoice, emailed once that day's auctions are over (by 3 a.m. Eastern). It's due within 7 days of being issued.
3Pick up & pay
Come to Unit 5, 250 Cochrane Drive, Markham, ON L3R 8E5 during pickup hours (Mon-Fri 10am-5pm), inspect your item, then pay on the spot:
- Interac e-Transfer to payments@247bidders.com — include your invoice number (like INV-1042) in the message, or
- Cash — exact amount appreciated, or
- Credit card — Visa, Mastercard, Amex or UnionPay on our payment terminal.
Bring ID and your invoice number. All sales are final once you've paid and taken your item — see the Terms of Use.
How you'll know if you're winning or losing
While an auction is running
- Every listing you've bid on shows "Winning" (green) or "Outbid" (red). It updates by itself — no need to refresh. You'll see the same label on the auction's card when you browse, and on your My Bids page.
- We email you each time another bidder takes the lead from you, with the new price and a link to bid again.
- If your bid doesn't take the lead, because another bidder's hidden bid is higher, the listing tells you straight away. You won't get an email for that, since you're already looking at the result.
When the auction closes
- If you won, we email you your invoice, and the listing and My Bids show "Won". The invoice is also under My Invoices.
- If you lost, we don't email you. The listing and My Bids show "Lost", and you owe nothing.
The site is the official record, not your inbox. Emails can be delayed or land in a spam folder, and not getting one doesn't change the result: if My Bids says you won, the invoice is yours to pay. Check the listing or My Bids whenever you want to be sure.
Auction terms, defined
- Listing
- One item, or a group of items sold together, up for auction. Each listing has its own page with photos, a description, the current price and a closing time.
- Bid
- A binding offer to buy the item for up to the amount you enter. Bids can't be retracted.
- Current price
- The price shown on the listing right now. Every item starts at $0.
- Minimum raise
- The least a new bid has to beat the current price by: $1.99.
- Ordinary bid
- Any bid less than 1.5 times the current price. Its amount becomes the new current price, and if it wins, that amount is what you pay.
- Hidden bid
- A bid at least 1.5 times the current price. Its amount is never shown to anyone else. If it wins, you pay the next highest bid plus $1.99, and never more than your hidden amount.
- Highest bidder
- The bidder who would win if the auction closed right now. On the site you'll see this as "Winning".
- Outbid
- Another bidder has taken the lead from you. You'll see "Outbid", and you'd have to bid again to get it back.
- Soft close
- A bid placed in an auction's last minute adds 2 minutes to its closing time, so it ends only once bidding stops.
- Closing time
- When an auction's timer runs out, including any soft-close extensions. After that, no more bids are accepted and the result is final.
- Winner and winning bid
- The winner is the highest bidder at closing time ("Won"). The winning bid is what the winner pays for the item, before any buyer's premium and tax. Everyone else who bid has "Lost" and owes nothing.
- Buyer's premium
- A percentage added to the winning bid, shown on the listing before bidding opens and itemized on the invoice. A listing that doesn't show one has none.
- HST
- Ontario's 13% harmonized sales tax, added to every invoice except for items marked HST-exempt on their listing (such as investment-grade gold or silver bullion).
- Invoice
- The bill a winner gets once the day's auctions are over: everything they won that day, with each winning bid, any buyer's premium and HST. It's due within 7 days and paid in person at pickup.
- Pickup
- Collecting your item in person at our warehouse. It's where you inspect the item and pay, by Interac e-Transfer, cash or credit card.
- Past Auctions
- The page listing auctions that closed in the last 60 days and what they sold for.
- Bid ID
- The masked label, like "WA****45", that other bidders see in a listing's price history instead of your name.
- Watchlist
- Listings you're following. Bidding on an item adds it to your watchlist automatically.
- My Bids
- The page in your account listing every auction you've bid on and where you stand in each.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account to bid?+
Yes — bidding and creating listings require a free account with a verified email address. Browsing is open to everyone.
Is bidding free?+
Yes. There's no cost to bid, and losing bidders never owe anything. You only pay if you win.
What is a hidden bid?+
Any bid at least 1.5 times the current price. Its amount is never shown to other bidders — when someone bids under it, the price moves to their bid plus $1.99 (never more than your amount), and that's what you pay if you win. Example: your hidden bid is $300 and someone bids $100, so the price shows $101.99 — if it ends there, you pay $101.99. To take the lead from a hidden bid, another bidder has to beat its amount by at least $1.99 too. Any other bid is an ordinary bid: its amount becomes the current price, and that's what you pay if you win. Raising your own bid while you're winning works the same way: it's hidden only at 1.5 times the current price or more.
Why am I asked "Are you sure?"+
When a bid is $9.95 or more above the current price, we show you both numbers and ask you to confirm, so a typing slip doesn't become a binding bid. We also ask whenever you raise your own bid while you're winning, since it usually raises the price too.
What's a soft close?+
A bid placed in the last minute extends the auction by 2 minutes, so an auction only ends once bidding actually stops — no last-second sniping. That includes raising your own bid while you're already winning.
Can I cancel a bid?+
No — bids can't be retracted, so only bid what you're committed to paying. The one exception is an obvious typo, like a misplaced decimal: email us before the auction's last 48 hours and we'll fix it. Changing your mind isn't a typo, and nothing can be changed after an auction closes.
Does the price include tax?+
No — bid amounts are pre-tax. Your invoice adds 13% Ontario HST to the winning bid and any buyer's premium. Pickup is in Ontario, so Ontario tax applies wherever you live.
Is there a buyer's premium?+
Yes — a percentage of the winning bid, itemized on your invoice. It can drop as you buy more. Your rate comes from the total of your winning bids on invoices you've already paid, and applies to the whole sale:
Your current rate is shown next to the bid button, and a listing keeps the table it opened with. See the Terms of Use.
| Your paid winning bids to date | Buyer's premium |
|---|---|
| $0.00 – $19,999.99 | 12% |
| $20,000.00 – $49,999.99 | 10% |
| $50,000.00 – $99,999.99 | 5% |
| $100,000.00 and up | 0% |
Can I pay online, by card?+
Not online — there's no online payment yet. You can pay by credit card in person, though: winners pay at pickup by Interac e-Transfer, cash or credit card within 7 days of their invoice.
How long will you hold my item?+
We hold items for 30 days after the auction closes. That's not an extension of the payment deadline though — since you pay at pickup, collecting within 7 days is how you pay on time.
What if I don't pay within 7 days?+
It's overdue: a one-time late fee of 10% of the invoice is added and we email you the new total. If it's still unpaid 21 days after the due date, the invoice and the order are cancelled (nothing is owed on it any more, late fee included), the item may be sold to someone else, and we may suspend the account from bidding on future auctions. See the Terms of Use.
Do you ship items?+
Usually not — items are picked up in person at Unit 5, 250 Cochrane Drive, Markham, ON L3R 8E5. Some can be shipped: it depends on the item and is up to the seller, so an item ships only if its listing says so. Contact us after you win and we'll quote the shipping cost, which is separate from your invoice. See the Terms of Use §6.
What if the item isn't as described?+
Inspect it at pickup before paying and raise any issue then. Once you pay and take the item, the sale is final.
How do I become a seller?+
Seller accounts are granted by an admin, not self-serve — if you'd like to start selling, get in touch through the About Us page.
Ready? Browse the current auctions — every listing shows the current price, bid count, and time remaining.