Our auctions are currently live, so you are able to bid on any one of the 4 running auctions. Our auctions begin closing at 5 PM CST on Sundays. Our closing dates are 8/18, 8/25/, 9/1 & 9/8. For those of you who aren't familiar with HiBid or how it works, we will try to give you a simple walkthrough of the process. If you've used eBay, you will have no problem with this platform as they are essentially the same. HiBid is an auction service for regular auctions, estate sales, police auctions, and people just tired of using eBay (or as sellers call it FEE-BAY)
Let's begin...
Type hognationsales.hibid.com into your browser or click the link.
The "hamburger" and the "profile" images at the top are just like anything else you've used before. The "hamburger" dropdown will come into play later, it is where you can see what you have bid on or items you are watching. The profile is where you will sign up for HiBid or check your profile. Basic stuff.
This is the opening page.
It explains a little bit about each auction. This is an online-only auction and shipping is available for all items. You do not need to Register To Bid just to view items. If later on you choose that you want to participate, this is where you will sign up. It's exactly like eBay - name, address, and a working Credit/Debit Card to bid with. The Catalog is where you can see all the items that are for sale for this auction only. As you scroll down, you will see that there are 4 separate auctions that you can participate in.
The Catalog
Once you click on the Catalog, you will see the items, the highest bid, and the time the auction closes. We recommend that in the upper left of the screen, you see "show lots" - go ahead and change this to 100. Most auctions are under 200 items, this will save you a lot of scrolling. If you click on the photo of the item, you can see a larger photo, extra photos (if supplied), and any description of the item.
Descriptions
If you scroll down after clicking on the item, you will see a description if one is supplied (new, pre-owned, etc.).
Bidding
If you choose to decide to bid on an item, click on the button where you see Bid and an amount. Just like eBay, it's often better to pick a maximum amount, but we'll leave that up to you.
First-Time Registration/Sign-Up
If it's your first time on HiBid, you will get a pop-up to register for HiBid. This is where you will now have to enter all of your pertinent information and your credit/debit card. If you have been here before, this is where you will log in and choose the payment method you want to use. You will only have to sign up once, but you will have to register for every auction you choose to bid on. Let me be clear - Not the actual lot, just the auction as a whole. This allows you to choose different payment methods for different auctions.
From here, it will take you back to the item that you were going to bid on and you can go ahead and bid. In HiBid, all bids are in whole dollars, no cents can be added. You can either enter your maximum bid (exactly like eBay) or you can increase by the minimum bid (which it will put in by default).
This is where you need to pay attention. At the beginning, the minimum bid might be $1, but you will reach thresholds where the minimum bid may increase to $2, $5, $10, or even $20.
To make things easier for our auctions, minimum bids work like this -
- $1- $19 ($1)
- $20 - $48 ($2)
- $50 - $95 ($5)
- $100 - $140 ($10)
- $150 and Up ($20)
You can bid on as many items as you like. There is no "sniping" auctions in a traditional auction like you might see in eBay. Any bid done within the last two minutes of the auction automatically resets the clock to two minutes. This is called a "soft-close".
Watching Items/Bid Status
If you choose to simply watch an item, you can do so by simply clicking on the star. This is just like eBay's watchlist.
To see where your bid stands on each item, go back to the "hamburger" drop-down menu. Here you will see Current Bids, Watch List, and other things. We recommend you use "Watch List". This way you will be able to see not only the items you are watching, but also the items you have bid on. HiBid has a color for each status to make it easier. Each item in your list will be surrounded by a color.
- Green - You are winning this lot.
- Red - You have been outbid on this lot.
- Blue - You are only watching this lot.
- Yellow - Your bid is pending approval (extremely rare).
If you are outbid on an item, you will receive an email from HiBid. It will be titled - "OUTBID - Title Name". You can click on the item, and the email link will take you directly to the item you have been outbid on.
End Of Auction
Once the auction is over, you will be charged with the card you provided. You will receive an emailed invoice of the items you won and paid for (PLEASE CHECK YOUR JUNK/SPAM FOLDER!) usually within a few days. This invoice will not include shipping costs. You will receive a second email from Shipping Saint for the costs of shipping. You will have to provide payment and they will notify us that it has been paid. Once this happens, we will ship. Unlike eBay, where items may take 2-3 days to arrive, a traditional auction takes a bit longer. We will move as fast as we can, however, there is much more to do on our end to process 100-200 auctions.
If you have any questions about this process or anything else, feel free to contact us at info@hognationsales.com and we will be happy to assist you.
Enjoy yourself, have fun, and take advantage of these items. Once they are gone....well you know.