Terminology
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- Appraisal - An estimate of an item's worth, usually performed by an expert in that particular field
- Auction block
- Bidding
- Buyer's premium - A fee paid by the buyer to the auction house; typically calculated as a percentage of the winning bid and added on to it.
- Buyout price - A price that, if accepted by a bidder, immediately ends the auction and awards the item to him/her.
- Commission - A fee collected by the auction house; typically calculated as a percentage of the winning bid and subtracted from it before the money is released to the seller.
- Consignee
- Consignor
- Dummy bid
- CMD (Caution Money Deposit)
- Dynamic closing
- EMD (Earnest Money Deposit) - A payment that must be made by prospective bidders ahead of time to indicate that they are serious about wanting to buy an item. Most often used when high-value goods such as real estate are up for auction. The winning bidder has his/her earnest money applied toward the final selling price; the non-winners have theirs refunded to them.
- Escrow - An arrangement in which the winning bidder pays the amount of his/her bid to a third party, who in turn releases the funds to the seller under agreed-upon terms.
- Hammer price - Nominal price at which a lot is sold; the buyer is responsible for paying any additional fees and taxes on top of this amount.
- Increment - The minimum amount by which a new bid must exceed the previous one.
- Job lot - A large quantity of identical manufactured goods being sold as a single item.
- Knocked down to
- Lot - A single item or group of items that are bid on as one unit.
- Minimum bid - The smallest opening bid that will be accepted.
- No reserve - An auction in which the seller must honor the winning bid, regardless of its amount.
- Outbid - To bid higher than another person.
- Opening bid - First bid placed on a particular lot.
- Proxy bid (aka absentee bid) - A bid placed by an authorized representative of a bidder who is not physically present at the auction. If the proxy is outbid, he/she may increase the bid in increments up to a pre-arranged maximum.
- Registration deposit
- Relisting
- Reserve price - A minimum acceptable price that is established by the seller prior to the auction; may or may not be disclosed to the bidders. If the winning bid is below the reserve price, the seller has the right to withdraw the lot.
- Sniping - Placing a bid just before the end of a timed auction, thus giving other bidders no time to enter new bids.
- Vendor
- Vendor bid
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