Dates

Set the key dates for your auction lifecycle.

Field	Description
Preview Date/Times	When bidders can view items in person before bidding. List exact dates/times and location.
Auction Date/Times	The date(s) and times of the event. For multi-day events, clearly list each day.
Checkout Date/Times	When the winning bidders must pay and pick up items. Online/Webcast events may allow multiple days; in-person is often the same day.

Payment / Shipping / Pickup

Communicate how buyers will pay and get their items.

Field	Description
Payment Information	Accepted payment types and any deadlines (e.g., “Payment due within 48 hours”).
Shipping/Pickup	Instructions for retrieving items. Include whether you offer in-house shipping, require buyer-arranged shipping, or use a scheduling tool.

Control bidder registration requirements and communication.

Authentication – Requires a credit card to register; $1 temporary authorization to validate card, CVV, and ZIP. Card token retained for post-auction invoicing.
Verification – Validates the card without retaining it for payment.
Contact Info Only – No card required.
No Registration – Listing only, no bidding.

Authentication Required Within X Days – Re-validates stored cards after a set time (common: 30–60 days).

The card type check boxes allow you to choose which credit card payment methods you accept for registration and invoice payment.

Avoid duplicates in webcast auctions:

HiBid Starting Bid Card Number - In a webcast auction where you have a live in-person audience, as well as an online audience bidding in real time, you need to set ranges to avoid bid card number duplications. The in-person bidders for example, would start at 1 and increment up. The default bid card start for online is 7000. This was chosen as a safety net to avoid bid card duplication.
Maximum Amount a bidder can spend per item (USD) - This is the default bid permission that you are using for your bidders as they register. This limits the amount they can bid per item. Any bids placed outside of your permission amount will go into “pending”. You can approve or decline those bids in My.HiBid.com.
Email Subject - This is your auction registration email. As each bidder registers, they will receive this email. The email subject should be short and concise.
- Example: “Successful Registration - Company Name”.
Email Body - This is the body of the email where you can greet your customer, give them instructions on your auction policies, and make sure that you give them contact information in case they have any questions about your event or items within that event.
- Example: “You have successfully registered for our Antiques and Collectibles sale! For more information, questions, or concerns, please contact our office at 555-555-5555 or [email protected]”.

Notices appear at the top of your auction in the information bar. These are highlighted sections that remain on each page of your catalog.

Define how bidding works for your auction.

No Internet Bidding – Catalog only.
Absentee Bidding – Accept bids online, then execute them against live bidders in person.
Internet Only Auction (Most Popular) – Timed online auction with no in-person bidding.
Webcast – Live in-person bidding combined with online real-time bidding (audio/video optional).

Public Bidding (Most Popular) – Show winning bid and up to 6 previous bids.
- This is important to have checked so potential bidders can see the current bid on the item.
Sealed Bid – Bids are hidden; bidder enters their top price.

Maximum Bidding (Most Popular) – Proxy bidding up to bidder’s max.
Fixed/Flat Bidding – Entered bid is the actual bid (often paired with sealed bids).

Time Zone – Convert the auction "close" time from Eastern to your local time.
Open Bidding – IMPORTANT: This is what determines when bidding is open on your auction
Close Bidding – IMPORTANT: This is what determines when the first Lot closes in your auction.
Soft Close Seconds – The number of seconds added to a Lot during live catalog when there is under a minute left on that Lot.
Auto Sync Grouped Lots – Any bid on a linked Lot extends all Lots in that group.

Show Immediate Bid Status (won or lost and winning amount) on Closed Lots - If a bidder wins a Lot, it will immediately tell them “You have Won”. If unchecked, it will tell the winning bidder “You may have Won”.
- Tip: If you are using hidden reserves on your items, it is best to leave this box unchecked.
Bidding is Times the Money on Lots with a Quantity Greater Than One - Used if you are dealing with quantities on certain items.
- If an item has a quantity of 10 and the bid entered is $5, then the final bid amount would be $50 ($5 x 10 items).
Show Reserve Status (Reserve Met or Reserve Not Met) - Shows on HiBid.com that the item has a reserve and if it is met or not. If unchecked, the reserve will stay hidden, and the seller will be responsible for notifying the bidder there was a reserve on that Lot.

Force Min Bid to Bid Increment Schedule - This box needs to be checked to have the system follow your bid increments.
- Description: The entered bid must be able to fit into the increment schedule set. If you have a $5 increment up to $50 and the current bid is $25 then the next bid would need to be $30, $35, $40 on up. You would not be able to bid $26. If this is unchecked, then you could enter $26 as an accepted bid, but the bid after that would need to be on the schedule, which would be $35. It would not be able to go to $31 since that is not on the schedule.
Apply Increments by Each - This box needs to be checked if you are selling quantities of an item during your sale.
- The added bid increment is multiplied by the QTY of the item.
Min Bid Amount - The default starting bid for each Lot.
- This number needs to be compatible with your current bid increment schedule.
- This can be overridden on a lot-by-lot basis.

Bid increments are the set amounts that each new bid must go up by in an auction.
They ensure that bidding progresses in consistent, predefined steps rather than small, arbitrary increases.