This Help section gives an overview of how transactions are conducted through this website. For an overview of our live auction process, click here.

• 1. Registration
• 2. Placing a Bid
• 3. Buy Out
• 4. Item Watching
• 5. Auction Watch
• 6. Selling
• 7. Reputation/Feedback
• 8. Billing

For more questions and answers, please visit our interactive FAQ.

You must be registered to bid and submit online offers as well as to sell here. Registered users get immediate access to due diligence materials, forms, sample contracts and other important information. Registration is free.

To create an account, click here or any of the "Register” links on the site. When registering you will be asked to complete a short form which includes your contact information, preferred login credentials, etc. Mandatory fields include:

• Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• Username & Password
• E-Mail address
• Confirmation of acceptance of our Terms and Conditions

Requiring registered members to maintain complete and accurate contact information is one of the foundations of this site. We never sell personal information and only share it with third parties in accordance with our Privacy Policy (the best example being at the end of a successful auction). Once registered you will receive an Email confirmation which will include a link that must be followed in order to activate your account.

Getting ID-verified can be important. Bidding may be restriced to ID-verified users. You can get verified in 3 ways: (1) self-verification prior to making a sale or purchase through a $5.00 electronic payment to TRAC with a verified address; (2) successfully transacting business using one of our integrated payment interfaces; or (3) manually verifying by completing a short form along with a valid, government-issued ID. This can all be handled through your Members Area.

Should you have any registration difficulties please contact us at any time.

Placing a bid on an item couldn’t be easier. When viewing the item details page you will have two areas from where you can place your bid -- one next to the item details and a second at the bottom of the page.

To place your bid simply enter the amount you wish to bid, e.g. 50.00. Please note no currency symbols are required. The bid will be placed in the auction currency.

Once done you will be asked to review your bid and you will also be able to view vital item details such as shipping conditions before confirming your bid. To submit your bid simply click the “Place Bid” button.

If your bid is high enough to take the lead in the auction, a confirmation message will be displayed to you. If you have been outbid by a previously entered proxy bid, or if your bid did not meet the seller's Reserve price, you will be invited to make a further bid.

Should you decide to retract your bid this can be done via the “Current Bids” section of the Member’s area. Bid retraction can negatively affect your reputation on the site.

Bidding can be made by proxy (Auto Bid) or by Flat Bid.

Proxy bidding (Auto Bid) allows you to enter your maximum bid but items are purchased for the lowest possible price. For example, if the current bid on an auction is 500.00, but you are willing to pay up to 2,000.00, you should place your bid at 2,000.00. The system will bid for you in such a way as to keep you in the lead of the bidding. If you are the high bidder at 600.00, you will only pay 600.00 for the item. However, should the item receive other bids the system will automatically bid for you (up to 2,000.00 in this scenario) to ensure you remain in the lead.

A flat bid is like a bid made at a live outcry auction. You will be the high bidder of the auction at the exact amount of your Flat Bid unless a bidder has previously submitted an Auto Bid in excess of your Flat Bid.

If you would like to present an offer to the seller for immediate consideration, use the Make Offer feature (if enabled by the seller). Offers made in this manner can be accepted by the seller immediately. This is the method of bidding you should use if you'd like to present your highest and best offer to the seller with a view towards ending the auction early.

If an item's seller has enabled this option, you can use “Buy Out” to purchase the item immediately without having to place a bid. Some sellers permit a Buy Out even after their Reserve price has been exceeded. Others elect to have the Buy Out option eliminated once the Reserve has been met. If you really want an item and you are willing to pay the Buy Out price, this is the safest way to ensure you will be the item's new owner.

The “Buy Out” option (if available) will appear on the item detail page. You will be asked to confirm your intention to buy out the item before the sale is concluded.

Buy Outs cannot be retracted.

The item watch feature lets you keep a close eye on a particular auction without having to place a bid on it. This feature keeps you up to date on how an auction is progressing. You can watch any auction by clicking on the “Watch this item” link on any auction page. This information will then be available to you at a glance in the Members area.

You can also have the system automatically alert you by email when an auction is coming to a close. Use the Auction Alerts feature located on each auction detail page.

You must be registered in order to sell here. The listing process is split up into six main sections:

• Category selection
• Item Details
• Auction Settings
• Shipping and Payment
• Listing preview
• Listing confirmation

Step One of the process is to choose the category you wish to list your item in. This (and other entries) can be revised by clicking on the “Previous Step” navigation button. If you wish to list your item in an additional category, you can do so. If your item does not fit within one of our categories, please let us know.

During Step Two you enter your listing type, item title and description. A full WYSIWYG editor is in place to enable you to use HTML descriptions. If you have a Voucher code to redeem (for promotions, discounts, etc.), it should be entered just below the description field.

During Step Three you set the following:
Auction type:
Standard Auction: Through this type of auction you sell one unique item.
Dutch Auction: Dutch auction enables you to sell multiple items in a single auction. For example, if you have 20 dishwashers to sell, you can list all of these together in a single lot. Bidders will be able to select how many they wish to bid for.

Currency: You can select your preferred auction currency using the drop down menu available

Quantity: This field is only active if listing a Dutch auction. See above.

Auction Starts At: In this field you identify the price at which bidding on your item(s) should start. If no Reserve price is used, the item will be sold if bidding meets or exceeds this figure. See below discussion regarding use of a Reserve.

Reserve Price: Enabling a Reserve price means you will not sell the item for less than the Reserve. For example, you can set the start price at 5.00 but only accept winning bids over 50.00 (the "Reserve"). Should a bid be placed for 49.99, the item would close without a winner. So, if you would in fact accept that amount it would make sense to set a lower Reserve.

Buy Out: Buy Out allows you to set an amount you are willing to sell the item for immediately. For example you can set the start price to 10.00 but offer interested parties the option to Buy Out the item immediately for 100.00. You can also list Buy Out only auctions. These auctions remove all bidding options meaning the listing can only be purchased for a set amount.

Offer-Range: You can set a price bracket in which you are willing to consider offers. For example, if you set the price brackets from 15.00 to 100.00, interested parties will be able to offer you an amount within these brackets. You may consider whether to accept or reject these offers within the Members area. Offers are irrevocable for 72 hours after they are made.

Bid increment: This option can be used to set your own custom bid increment if preferred. If no settings are made here the system will use our default bid increments based upon price level.

Item featuring: For a fee, the following options are available to give your item more exposure: Home Page Featured; Category Featured; Bold Text; Highlighted Background

Set preview/start/end time: You can choose to have your auction in Preview Mode for a set period of time before bids are accepted. This provides some exposure for your auction prior to its commencement. You can define your own custom start and end times.

Private Auction: A Private Auction will hide the bidders' identity on the item details page. All real estate auctions are Private Auctions.

Restrict Bidding: You can choose to restrict bidding to those users who have been ID-verified.

Image upload: You can either upload images from your local computer or enter the URL of an image(s) hosted elsewhere. Each auction includes 10 free images.

Media upload: You may upload one free video file. Only .avi/.mpeg/.mov are supported.

PDF documents: These may be added later by using the Edit Auction feature.

Auto Re-List: You can opt to have your item automatically re-listed for you. Options are available to allow you to select whether the item should be re-listed even if sold as well as how many re-lists should be made.

In Step Four you set your shipping and payment preferences including any known shipping rates, available methods of delivery, and whether any of our integrated payment solutions are available to your buyers. You can choose to save any of these settings as preferences in your Members Area.

During Step Five you review the listing in its entirety. Here you can make any changes before the auction goes live.

In Step Six, you confirm that your auction is ready for posting and subject to our terms and conditions. Once the system confirms your listing you are all set. Your listing can be edited once live through the Members Area.

By default, only basic listing features are available to registered, verified Members. There are additional features available. Contact us for more information.

To the right of most every Member's username on an auction detail page is information (a number, icons (possibly) and a Reputation Rating) concerning their status on the site. This information is designed to provide insight as to the reliability and trustworthiness of the Member.

The number represents the number of ratings in the system concerning the Member. We closely monitor reports concerning other Members.

If a purple ribbon icon is visible, the Member has been ID-verified. This means that certain financial information registered with TRAC Auctions has been verified by a third party provider. Members can become self-verified through the "My Account" Section of the Members Area. This involves a $5 credit card charge. Sellers can also become verified by conducting successful transactions through one of the integrated payment systems on the site or by sending us a verification request. TRAC conducts independent verifications of Member information. This process is beneficial to all Members.

The Member's Reputation Rating is a numerical summary of the remarks made by other Members ("Feedback") who have been involved in a completed auction with the Member. The rating is based on the amount of positive comments made against negative ones. After an auction has ended and payment and delivery of the goods is made, Members are expected to leave Feedback concerning each other. Once Feedback has been left, the counterparty has the option to reply; and the original poster has the option to edit the initial Feedback. Feedback can be left through the Member's Area in the Reputation section which will display all the Members you have had dealings with.

New user accounts operate in "live" mode, which means all fees are due in advance. If you get ID-verified we can open a line of credit for you and put you in "account" mode. Invoices would then be generated once your account reaches a predetermined debit balance. Invoices are paid directly through your Members Area. Members who fail to pay invoices when due will have their accounts suspended until the invoice in question is paid.