MWSAuction
Become a seller

How bidding works

An auction is a sequence of vehicles crossing one stage. This page explains what happens at each point, and what your choices are.

The bidder’s journey

  1. Browse the catalogue

    Vehicles appear in the catalogue days before the sale, with photographs, a condition report and the seller’s terms. Add the ones you want to your watchlist.

  2. Set a maximum, or wait

    Before the sale you can leave a maximum bid on any vehicle. The system will bid for you up to that amount, one step at a time. Or leave it and bid live.

  3. The sale goes live 30 minutes early

    Half an hour before bidding starts, the auction switches to live. Pre-bids, offers and buy-now close, and every window shows a countdown to the first bid.

  4. The stage

    Vehicles cross the stage one at a time, in the order the auction set. The current bid, the bid button and the last few bids are on the stage side; the vehicle and its photographs are on the other.

  5. The result

    When the timer runs out the vehicle leaves the stage. You are told immediately whether you won, were outbid, or whether the seller still has to approve the price.

The five ways a vehicle can be sold

A seller picks one main type, and can add an offer or a buy-now option on top of it. The light on the vehicle card tells you which one is in force.

Pure sellSells to the highest bidder
The vehicle sells to the highest bidder when bidding ends, whatever the amount. Nothing else has to happen.
Minimum bidThe seller has the last word
The seller has set a minimum price. You are never shown what it is — only whether it has been reached. Once it is, the vehicle sells like a pure sell; if bidding ends below it, the seller decides.
On approvalThe seller has the last word
There is no minimum, but the seller approves the final price whatever it is. If they decline, you are told and nothing is owed.
OfferSells to the highest bidder
Before the sale goes live you may submit an offer. An offer cannot be withdrawn, and it is automatically declined if it is below the seller’s minimum or if a higher offer arrives.
Buy nowSells to the highest bidder
A published price that ends the matter. Buy-now closes when the sale goes live, and a vehicle bought this way leaves the run list immediately.

Pre-bid and live bid are not the same thing

A pre-bid is a maximum. You name the most you will pay, and the system bids the smallest amount it can on your behalf, whenever somebody else moves. You may be the leading bidder at a price far below your maximum, and that is the point of it.

A live bid is a single click while the vehicle is on the stage. It raises the price by exactly one increment and is recorded immediately.

Once a sale is live you can still leave a maximum on a vehicle that has not reached the stage. It is invisible to everyone, and when that vehicle arrives the system bids it for you like any other bidder.

The starting bid

A seller may set the price bidding starts from. Unlike a minimum, it is public and it is shown on the vehicle. It is the first bid itself, not one step below it: a vehicle starting at 10,000 is won at 10,000 by a single bidder.

No maximum below the starting bid is accepted — including a pre-bid left days earlier. You will be told at the moment you set it, not quietly ignored.

Watching costs nothing

An account lets you follow every auction: the stage, the current price, the countdown and the upcoming vehicles. Bidding is a separate permission your account is granted once your documents are verified.

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