Timeline of English auctions
- Auction publication: the auction overview (auction settings) is available from this date and time.
- Practice start (optional): you can enter the practice auction from this date and time – if the practice option is enabled.
- Practice end (optional): the practice auction ends and is unavailable from this date and time – if the practice option is enabled.
- Auction start: the beginning date and time of the live auction and the bidding.
- Reminder: at this date and time, an automatic system message is sent to all participants, reminding them of the live auction that is about to start.
- Auction duration: in minutes (default) / hours / days.
- Extend automatically in the last: in minutes. If a valid or rank-changing bid is received during the last X minutes (indicated here) of the auction's planned duration, the auction will be automatically extended to allow other participants to respond to the new bid.
- Extend by: in minutes. The auction is automatically extended by this amount of time if a valid or rank-changing bid is received.
- When: this setting decides what event extends the auction. Two options are available: ranks change (the auction is extended only if such a bid is received that influences participants' ranks) / valid bid received (the auction is extended if any new bid is received, whether it changes participants' ranks or not).
- Maximum: two options are available: always extend (the auction extends automatically as long as there are bids received in the extension period, the number of extensions is not limited), or the organizer has the option to specify the maximum number of times the auction can be extended.
Example: If a bid is received in the last 2 minutes of the auction that changes the participants' ranks, the auction will be extended by 5 minutes as long as there are participants that wish to keep bidding.
Timeline of ticking (Japanese and Dutch) auctions
- Auction publication: the auction overview (auction settings) is available from this date and time.
- Practice start (optional): you can enter the practice auction from this date and time – if the practice option is enabled.
- Practice end (optional): the practice auction ends and is unavailable from this date and time – if the practice option is enabled
- Auction start: the beginning date and time of the live auction and the bidding.
- Reminder: at this date and time, an automatic system message is sent to all participants, reminding them of the live auction that is about to start.
- Duration of the first round: in seconds.
Since in Japanese auctions, you have to accept the current bids in each round, the first round is usually longer, giving participants extra time to enter the auction and not miss out on accepting the starting price.
In Dutch auctions, since only the price that is satisfactory for the participant needs to be accepted, the first round does not always need to be longer. However, it is still recommended for participants to enter early, because if a participant considers a starting price suitable and accepts it, the auction will end early for that item. - Duration of further rounds: in seconds.
As all participants are already present, the consequent rounds are usually set up shorter to avoid long waiting times between rounds. Participants should be prepared: knowing the starting price and the increments will allow them to anticipate how long the auction will last for them.