Getting Started: Online Bidding for Beginners

Once you’ve registered on B-Stock, you can start bidding on most storefronts right away. But before you do, it’s best to spend some time getting familiar with the online bidding process. We use several key features throughout our auction process to simulate a fair “live” auction model (but without the fast-talking auctioneer!).

We’ll walk you through:

• Common auction terms
• Basic steps of placing a bid
• Proxy bidding in action (with explainer video!)
• Bidding increments and notifications
• What to expect after an auction ends

Online Bidding for Beginners, Explained

An auction-style format means potential buyers compete against each other to win the item being sold — in this case, lots of liquidated goods. Online bidding can be a fun and exciting way to shop for bulk amounts of inventory across a wide range of product categories like apparel, home & garden, consumer electronics, and more.

If you’re just getting started, don’t worry. We’ll teach you exactly how to place a bid and secure the inventory you’re looking for.

Common Auction Terms

• Auction: This is our most common buying format on B-Stock. It allows bidders to compete for inventory from a particular seller and the highest bidder wins.
• Popcorn Bidding: If a bid is placed in the last five minutes of an auction, the auction end time will automatically extend for an additional three minutes.

Buyer Benefit: This prevents other bidders from coming in and “sniping” an auction at the last second and gives bidders an equal chance of winning.

• Proxy Bid: All bids placed on B-Stock storefronts act as “proxy” bids. Our system uses your proxy bid (typically the highest amount you are willing to pay) to automatically bid incrementally on your behalf.

Buyer Benefit: You don’t have to be online during the length of the auction–your bids get updated in real-time as competing bids are placed. Easily participate in multiple auctions at once without overspending.

• Buyer’s Premium: In this case, the “B-Stock Fee” helps cover the costs of running the marketplace and is calculated based on transaction size. This amount will be added to the final winning bid.

How to Place a Bid

Each auction will have a box where you can enter your maximum bid. Your maximum bid will need to be equal to or greater than the minimum allowable bid amount listed below the box.

 Bid Button Example

Once the amount has been entered, click the Bid Now button. The system will have you confirm your bid amount. Be sure to double-check the amount before confirming your bid.

Important: B-Stock considers all bids to be binding legal contracts. Please bid very carefully. If you wish to cancel a bid, please know that a cancellation fee may apply and can impact your eligibility to purchase on B-Stock.

Not interested in bidding? Check out other buying formats on B-Stock.

Breaking Down Proxy Bids and Bidding Increments

While you’re certainly welcome to continually log in and manually increase your bids, we suggest letting our auto-bid system do that work for you. Remember, once you’ve entered that maximum bid, our system will automatically increase your bid incrementally for you.

Just because you enter your maximum amount doesn’t mean that’s the final price you’ll pay. The final cost is based on the maximum amount the second-place bidder would pay, plus one increment higher. That’s the power of proxy bidding! See the example below.

Proxy Bidding In Action

Let’s say the auction you’re interested in has a starting bid of $1000. You decide the highest you would pay for the auction is $5000, so you enter that as your maximum bid. You are now winning the auction at $1000.

If another bidder comes in and bids $1100 as their maximum, then your bid of $5000 will automatically outbid them by one increment higher as your proxy. You are now winning the auction at $1125 without ever having to bid a second time to make sure you stay the highest bidder.

The system–acting as your proxy– will automatically continue to outbid other bidders, but will never exceed your maximum bid of $5000.

If another bidder inputs a maximum bid over $5000, then you will be outbid. At this point, you will receive an email notification and can choose to input a new maximum bid to act as your proxy or move on to another auction.

Pro Tip: Don’t get swept up in the heat of the moment! Once you’ve committed to a max bid, it’s generally recommended that you stick to it to ensure you stay within desired profit margins.

“You have two choices. You can buy with math, sell with emotion, make a lot of money, or you buy with emotion, and the math doesn’t work, and you lose money.” –Shannon, Reseller Mastermind & Founder of ReBound Trading

Bidding Increments

So what are the bidding increments? We’ve broken it down like this:

Most lots* selling for less than $10,000 increase in increments of $25; while anything fetching between $10,000.01 and $50,000 will increase in increments of $50. Lastly, lots going for more than $50,000.01 will increase incrementally by $100.

*Increments may vary between select listings and sellers.

Bidding Notifications

To ensure a fair and transparent bidding experience, real-time information is always available on the auction page and within your Buyer Profile. If you wish to increase your bid, you can do so at any time during the auction.

Increase and View Bids Example

You will be notified every step of the way. Including:

• Every bid you place manually
• If an auction you were bidding on previously gets relisted
• If you’re currently winning an auction
• If you’ve been outbid, lost, or won an auction.

Pro Tip: Sign up for our B-Stock SMS text alerts to stay up to date in real time and never miss a bidding notification. (My Account > Notification Preferences > SMS Preferences)

What Happens After You Place Your Bid

Once an auction closes, here’s what you can expect to come next:

1. You will receive a Bid Won or Bid Lost email
2. If you win, follow the payment instructions found in your Bid Won email–you have two days to pay for your order. Learn more about accepted forms of payment here.
3. Once the order is paid, you will receive another email confirming payment
4. Expect shipping instructions to follow

Bid Won Email Example

View your orders, as well as Order Status (Open, Closed, Canceled) and Payment Status (Unpaid, Processing, Partially Paid, All Paid) by heading to Account > Orders.

Start Your Online Bidding Journey

You have the bidding basics down–now it’s time to browse available inventory! Be sure to also review B-Stock Inventory Types and Conditions so you know what to expect before bidding/buying. Online bidding doesn’t have to be hard! If you’re a beginner, we’re here to help. Got questions? Contact us!