Live Online Auctions and Timed Online Auctions: a guide to bidding at auction with Dreweatts

Bidding online with Dreweatts

Creating an online bidding account:

Before you can start bidding, you must create an online bidding account. To create an online bidding account, click here.

It is now a requirement of Dreweatts that we undertake identification and address verification from clients in order to comply with money laundering regulations and fraud prevention. As such, we advise clients to register at least 48 hours in advance of the auction as you may be asked to provide documents to verify your identity. If you have not already done so, all clients must provide two forms of identification before they can bid.

To verify your personal account, please submit:

1. a passport or photographic driving licence and
2. a utility bill or document showing proof of name and address.

Please email a copy of the following information to live@dreweatts.com or upload the required documents via the secure portal: My Acarta

Registering for an auction:

Once your online bidding account has been set up, you will need to verify your email. Once you have verified your email, you will need to log into your account, find the auction you are interested in and click the gold ‘Register to bid’ button in the top right corner of the screen.

You will then be asked to enter a payment card for your account to be allowed to bid (this will only need to be done once, not every time you register). Click the '+' button and enter your card details. Once submitted, it will take you back to the registration screen.

In order to complete the auction registration, you then need to confirm that you agree to the terms and conditions and then click 'Complete registration' at the bottom of the screen

When your auction registration has been approved, you can start placing bids. Please ensure you register at least 24 hours in advance of the auction to ensure you are approved in time. New registrants should also check the ‘Important information’ link for the relevant auction, for details on cut off times for new registrants. This is purely to allow enough time to set up and verify your account details.

To create an online account or register for an auction, please click here.

Live Online Auctions

This is an online auction with an auctioneer taking to the rostrum on the day of the auction. You can bid online, by telephone or leave a commission (absentee) bid, all from the comfort of your own home. Generally the auction catalogue will be online for 2-3 weeks prior to the day of the auction.

Bidding online:

With a live video feed from the auction room, Dreweatts’ own bidding platform allows you to watch, listen and bid from anywhere in the world with no additional online bidding fees. Simply register in advance for the auction and once you are approved, you are ready to bid both prior to the auction and live on the auction day.

The majority of our Live Online auctions now feature ‘pre-auction competitive bidding’, in other words you are able to see the ‘opening bid’ or ‘current bid’ on the item. We show you this to follow the contemporary online auction style enabling you to maximise your chance of winning. Enter your bid using our pre-determined bidding increments and when you place your bid, you’ll see on screen immediately if your bid is high enough to make you the ‘leading bid’. If you are the leading bidder, and someone bids more than you before the live auction starts, you will be sent an ‘outbid alert’ via email, so you can decide whether to bid more.  

But for the best chance of winning at a Live Online auction, please make sure that you log in to bid live when the auction starts. You’ll be joining the thrill of the event and competing against other bidders in real time. You will be able to see and hear the auction as it progresses and place your bids as the items you want to buy come up.

To create an online account or register for an auction, please click here.

Once the auction has concluded, you will receive an invoice by email with a link to our online payment page as well as collection and shipping information. Where auctions finish late in the afternoon or evening, invoices will be sent out the following day.

Timed Online Auctions

Timed Online Auctions are purely online auctions - there is no auctioneer. Similarly it is not possible to bid by telephone or leave a commission bid direct with Dreweatts.  Commission bids can be left via your online bidding account. 

Bidding period:

Each lot can be bid on ‘online’ over a defined period of time (typically 2-3 weeks). At the end of the period, the bidder who has submitted the highest bid wins the lot, provided the bid exceeds the reserve price. 

All timed online auctions have an end-time displayed on the lot page. You can bid at any point from when the auction opens to when it closes. On the final day, lots start closing at 30 second intervals. However if there are lots of last minute bids on a particular lot, subsequent lots could close before bidding has finished on an earlier lot, ie the lots might not close sequentially. See below for further details re sniping, lot extensions and how to keep track of multiple lots.

Placing a bid:

So you’ve found the lot you’d like to bid on. On screen you will see the ‘Current bid’ as well as the next bid amount (if there are no bids on the lot yet the 'Opening bid' amount will show). Enter your maximum bid, in other words the most you are willing to bid using our pre-determined bidding increments, and we do the rest. We will bid intelligently for you, bidding just enough to keep you in the lead up to your maximum bid.  

When you place your bid, you’ll see on screen immediately if your bid is high enough to make you the ‘leading bid’.  If at any point someone bids higher than your maximum bid, the on screen message will change to "You have been outbid" and we will also send you an ‘outbid alert’ via email to let you know, so you can decide whether to bid more.

If there has already been bidding activity on the lot, the bidding history is also visible by clicking the bids link next to ‘Current bid’ where you will see bid amounts and the time of bidding.

Sniping, lot extensions and how to keep track of multiple lots

If a bid is placed within the last minute of the defined time period, a ‘lot extension’ kicks in and keeps the lot open for a further 1 minute. This is to stop ‘sniping’ – a practice used by bidders to place bids in the last few seconds to prevent other bidders being able to respond before the auction closes. 

Please note that the extension of one lot’s closing time does not affect other lots’ closing times. However you can keep an eye on more than one lot by setting your screen view to display multiple lots and in order of lots closing soonest. This allows you to see bidding activity on multiple lots and bid quickly accordingly in just two clicks.

After the auction has closed

Please note, once the lot has closed, you will not see a message on screen to confirm whether you have won the lot or not, but you will have had a message to say if you were in the lead or not as the lot closed (see above).  After the auction has finished the lots you have won or lost will be showing in your online account (see "Won lots" and "Lost lots"). 

You will also receive an email with your invoice and a link to our online payment page as well as collection and shipping information. Where auctions finish late in the afternoon or evening, invoices will be sent out the following day.

To create an online account or register for an auction, please click here.

So what do you get access to on dreweatts.com?

There are lots of things you can do and access on dreweatts.com:

• View a page turning catalogue.
• Download a pdf of the catalogue.
• View the online lot listing and additional ‘detail’ images of the individual lots.
• Search for a particular item, period or make.
• Add desired lots to your ‘watch list’.
• Book a ‘Remote Viewing’ appointment where you control what you see. Click here for further details.
• Take a virtual tour of the saleroom rooms via ‘Dreweatts 360’. Click here for further details.
• View or request condition reports for any lots.
• Leave a bid in advance of the auction.
• Request a telephone bid on the day of the auction.
• Watch, listen and bid live on the day of the auction.
• Pay online for lots you’ve won. Click here for further details. 

To create an online account or register for an auction, please click here.

Top Tips

1. To avoid disappointment, please ensure you register for an auction at least 24 hours in advance. For certain auctions, bidders may be asked to provide us with two forms of identification: a) a passport or photographic driving licence and b) and a utility bill or document showing proof of name and address.
2. Bidding increments: Dreweatts uses pre-determined bidding increments. For further details, please refer to the 'Important Information' link for each sale.
3. Remember that at an auction it is up to you, the bidder, to satisfy yourself about the condition of an item. Ask for additional photos and a condition report if you need them. You can also view the objects in person at our salerooms.  Please check the relevant auction details for viewing times. 
4. Make sure you are aware of any additional charges on top of the hammer price (ie the winning bid amount) such as buyer’s premium and VAT on the buyer’s premium. In some cases there are additional fees such as ARR (artist’s resale rights) or import vat. Lots with additional fees will be marked accordingly.
5. Always read the auction Terms & Conditions before bidding.