Run an auction

An auction suits anything whose value is hard to guess — collectibles, tools, a car, anything you expect several people to want. Start it from Post an auction, or turn an existing listing into one with Convert to auction.

1. 1Starting price — where the bidding opens. A low start attracts more bidders early, which is usually what pushes the final price up; protect yourself with a reserve rather than with a high start.
2. 2Buy now (optional) — a price that ends the auction immediately. Useful when you would happily take a fair number today rather than wait for the clock.
3. 3Reserve (optional) — the least you will accept. Bidders see that a reserve exists but never its amount; if the auction ends below it, you are not obliged to sell. Leave it empty to sell to the highest bidder whatever it reaches.

1. 1Start — leave it as now to go live immediately, or schedule it. A scheduled auction is visible as upcoming, which lets interest build before bidding opens.
2. 2End — when bidding closes. Ending on a weekday evening usually catches the most people; a few days is long enough to be found and short enough to keep the pressure on.

You can edit an auction — or start it early — only while it has not opened yet. Once it is live the details are locked, because people are bidding on what they read. If something must change after that, write to us and we will sort it out.

If someone bids in the final minutes, the clock is extended automatically so the auction cannot be won by sniping it at the last second. When it closes, the winner is announced and you both get a message to arrange the handover.

If a winner disappears, cancel the sale and relist the item once for free — and everyone who bid on the original auction is told it is back, without you ever seeing who they are.