Is this your first Propstore poster auction, or just your first in a while? Then don’t worry, because we’ve got you covered! In addition to our full Buyer’s Guide and Terms & Conditions, here is a handy reference guide to the various ways that you can participate in the Cinema Poster Live Auction!
THREE WAYS TO BID
Here’s a quick look at your bidding options. We’ll go deeper in depth on these further down in the guide.
Online Bidding: Similar to many other online auction sites, our online bidders are able to place bids at any time between the start of bidding and the close of the sale from their computer or smart device.
Written Absentee: To bid via absentee, bidders must fill out a form with the lots they want to bid on and their max bids for each lot and submit to Propstore prior to auction day. From there, your bids will be executed in person by a member of the auction staff up to your maximum based on the other bids that are received. If two max bids of the same amount are received, the absentee bid takes priority.
Telephone Bidder: To bid via telephone, bidders must fill out a form with the lots they want to bid on and submit to Propstore prior to auction day. On the day of the live auction, you will receive a call from a member of the auction staff and bid through them as your lots come up for sale.
AUCTION VOCABULARY
Hammer Price: The price viewable in each lot and called out by the auctioneer.
Buyer’s Premium: A 25% charge added to the hammer price of each lot in all Propstore auctions.
Asking Price: The next bid available to bidders to make, one increment above the current price during a live auction.
Max Bid: A bidder’s highest hammer price bid on an auction lot. Max bids are not visible to others and your bid will not be advanced to that amount unless another bidder bids up to it.
Bidding Increments: As indicated above, the asking price for auction lots is determined by set increments. Here is a summary of the increments being used in this auction.
BID INCREMENTS
£50 – £300 £25
£30 – £500 £50
£500 – £1,000 £50
£1,000 – £5,000 £100
£5,000 – £10,000 £250
£10,000 – £20,000 £500
£20,000 – £30,000 £1,000
£30,000 – £50,000 £2,500
£50,000 – £100,000 £5,000
£100,000 + Auctioneer’s discretion
ONLINE BIDDING
The majority of our bidders choose to place their bids themselves online. This method allows bidders to place and increase their max bids at any time, on any computer or smart device.
Registration: CLICK HERE or click the REGISTER TO BID button next to every lot in the auction catalogue page. This will bring you to the Propstore Auction Registration Page.
Online Bidder Registration: Fill out the digital form and click SIGNUP. After doing so, you will receive an automated email confirming your registration and pending approval to start bidding. Bidders are approved manually, so you may not be able to start bidding instantly.
Bidding: Approved online bidders can place bids at any time in the auction by visiting the Cinema Poster Live Auction catalogue page, where you can browse and bid on all lots. Once you have selected the lot you wish to bid on, enter the amount you wish to bid and click BID NOW on the far right side of the catalogue page or the top of the lot’s listing page. At this point, you can increase your bid by single increments or place your max bid on the item.
A quick note on max bids: Much like eBay or similar online auction sites, you can enter a max bid on an item at any time during the auction. Bidding on each item will increase only when two or more bidders are actively advancing the price. For instance, if you are the only bidder and place a high max bid, the hammer price for the item will only reach that bid if another bidder bids the increment below it.
Online Absentee Bidding: Any online bid placed before the lot goes live on the 22nd April is considered an ONLINE ABSENTEE BID. Approved bidders can place bids at any time. The auctioneer will use these bids to determine the starting bid in the auction room. For instance, if a lot has two max absentee bids placed, one at £1000 and one at £500, the starting bid will be £550 and the asking price will be £600 until a new bid is placed. Then the highest online absentee bid will incrementally compete with the live and phone bidders until the lot closes. The system will automatically execute this online absentee bid only to the level needed to be one bidding increment higher than the other bidders. If in that last example, no other bid is placed, the online bidder will win the lot for £550. If your online absentee bid is outbid, don’t worry! You can continue to increase your online bid live until the lot is closed.
- PRO TIP # 1: We recommend bidders place their max bids early in the auction, as tied bids will be awarded to the first bidder. So, if two bidders place online absentee bids at £550, the person who bid earliest will win out.
- PRO TIP #2: Max bids can be increased at any time. If you decide to up your budget on a certain lot after already placing a bid, you can increase that high bid any time before the lot closes.
Live Online Bidding: Any bid placed after the lot is opened by the auctioneer is a LIVE ONLINE BID. These bids are placed in real-time against any other bidders in the auction room, online, or on the phone. Live online bids are seen by the auctioneer and auction clerks, who officially accept them as bids in the auction. During this process, Live Online Bidders will be able to see a live feed of the auctioneer on the auction catalogue page. Please note, though this is a live feed, it is best not to bid based on the auctioneer in the video, as there will likely be a several second lag. While a couple of seconds may not seem like much, they can be the difference between winning and losing, so follow the Asking Bid in the bid box and bid quickly.
Winning: When the lot is closed and you are the winner, your online bidder number will be recorded by the auctioneer and auction clerks, making you the official winner of record. In the days following the auction, you will receive an invoice email asking you to complete your purchase and “check out” your winning lots. At this time, you can update your payment type, shipping address, and select a payment plan if desired.
WRITTEN ABSENTEE BIDDING
Absentee bids are max bids submitted in advance of the auction. Unlike online bids, any absentee bidder form that is received prior to the auction will be given to a member of the auction team, who will then carry out the bids in the auction room when the desired lots are opened for bidding. In other words, we will have an actual human being in the room bidding on your behalf. Here is how to set up an absentee bid.
Registration: CLICK HERE or go to the Cinema Poster Live Auction main page and click the button that looks like an auction gavel over the title REGISTER TO PLACE ABSENTEE BID. This will prompt your computer to download our Bidder Registration Form.
Bidder Registration Form: From there, please print and fill out the form, selecting ABSENTEE BIDDER where applicable. The second page of the form is where you will specify which lots you would like to bid on and what your max bid on those items will be.
Sample Absentee Bidding Registration Form
Submitting Your Form: Once your form is complete please scan and email it to auction@propstore.com on or before April 22nd, 2021. You will receive a notification from Propstore when your form is received.
Bidding: Your max bids are completely confidential as the auction staffer who will be implementing your bids in the room will not reveal the number to anyone. Instead, they will bid in the room incrementally, only bidding again when outbid and only up to your maximum bid.
Winning: When the lot is closed and you are the winner, your absentee bidder number will be recorded by the auctioneer and auction clerks, making you the official winner of record. Please note, due to the fast pace of the auction, absentee bidders will not be notified of their auction wins until the days following the auction, when you will receive an invoice email asking you to complete your purchase and “check out” your winning lots. At this time, you can update your payment type, shipping address, and select a payment plan if desired.
TELEPHONE BIDDING
Telephone bids are bids placed live by a bidder through a member of the auction staff over the phone. Your phone bidding representative will call you for the lot you’ve registered for and will update you in real-time with the bidding activity on the room, and place bids on your behalf if requested.
Registration: CLICK HERE or go to the Cinema Poster Live Auction main page and click the button that looks like an auction gavel over the title REGISTER TO PLACE ABSENTEE BID. This will prompt your computer to download our Bidder Registration Form.
Bidder Registration Form: From there, please print and fill out the form, selecting TELEPHONE BIDDER where applicable. The second page of the form is where you will specify which lots you would like to bid on. Take your time, this is the important part!
Sample Telephone Bidding Registration Form
Submitting Your Form: Once your form is complete please scan and email it to auction@propstore.com on or before April 22nd, 2021. You will receive a notification from Propstore when your form is received.
Bidding: On the day of the auction, you will receive a call prior to your selected lots. This call is meant to introduce you to the staff member that will be bidding for you and to confirm that you will be available later in the day when your lots will likely be coming up. You will receive your second call approximately five lots before your first selected lot. When your selected lot is being sold, your staff member will update you on what the current bid is and bid for you when told to do so. Note, your auction staff bidder may ask you for your high bid at the beginning of the conversation as a precaution in case you are disconnected in the middle of bidding.
A typical exchange may be:
AUCTION STAFF
The asking bid is £400. Would you like to bid?
BIDDER
Yes, please!
The AUCTION STAFF raises their hand until the auctioneer accepts their bid.
Our BIDDER is outbid by another auction participant.
AUCTION STAFF
We’ve been outbid. The current bid is £425 so now the asking price is £450. Would you like to bid again?
BIDDER
Yes, go ahead.
The AUCTION STAFF raises their hand until the auctioneer accepts their bid.
AUCTION STAFF
It’s ours at £450. Looks like no one else is bidding. The Auctioneer is closing the lot and… You won! Congratulations.
Winning: When the lot is closed and you are the winner, your telephone bidder number will be recorded by the auctioneer and auction clerks, making you the official winner of record. In the days following the auction, you will receive an invoice email asking you to complete your purchase and “check out” your winning lots. At this time, you can update your payment type, shipping address, and select a payment plan if desired.
FAQ’s
If you’ve bid online, can you also bid via telephone?
Yes, you can submit a form to bid by telephone by April 22nd. Just be careful not to bid against yourself!
If you’ve bid online, can you also bid via absentee?
Yes, though be cautious. The auction staff member placing your absentee bids in the room has no way of knowing who the online bidder is, so you could run the risk of bidding against yourself. To avoid this, only submit absentee bids for items you have not placed bids on online.
Can I attend the auction in person at Propstore’s London office?
Unfortunately, no. In order to keep our bidders and staff as safe as possible with current restrictions, the Cinema Poster Live Auction will not be open for in-person attendance.
Is there a way for me to cancel my online bid?
No, as per our Terms & Conditions, all auction bids are final and legally binding.
How can I estimate when my lot will be coming up for sale on the day of the auction?
There is no exact science on this, but generally speaking, we will sell around 60 lots per hour, so use the start time (12Pm PST/ 4am PST) and the lot number you want to bid on to calculate. Of course, we’ll have the occasional 5-10 minute break during the sale as well, so there’s it can be difficult to calculate what time your lot will be up exactly. Check in regularly and err on the side of caution.
Who wins if two people place the same max bid?
The first person to bid will have priority in this case. Like we mentioned in one of our Pro Tips above, it’s best to bid as early as possible for just this reason.
If I’m already registered for the auction, do I need to do anything else to bid online?
Nope – bid away!
Where can I look to confirm that I won a lot?
Your winning lots will appear in your auction account once they’ve closed.
That should be everything you need to know about bidding in the Cinema Poster Live Auction. Thank you for reading and remember all 480+ lots in the auction will be going under the hammer on April 22nd at Propstore’s London location. As always, should you have any questions at all, feel free to drop us an email at auction@propstore.com. Thanks for reading and Happy Bidding to all!
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