Bidding

Qualifying to Bid
If you are new to Rago’s, welcome. We will be glad to verify your credit. It’s a quick few steps to get the information we need so you can bid with us. Call us anytime, but always by 10 a.m. on the day prior to the sale. If you have bid with Rago’s in past sales, welcome back. We will have your information on file.

Bidding Increments
Bidding goes in lot order and according to the increments posted in the Terms of Sale, unless determined otherwise by the auctioneer. Rago’s uses set bidding increments. The higher the bidding goes, the greater the increment. For example: The increment is $100 when bidding is between $1,000 and $3,000. It is $10,000 when bidding is over $100,000.

Ways to Bid
Most of Rago’s buyers live far away from the auction house or have obligations that keep them from bidding in person. No problem.

Bidding by left bid: This is like leaving a bid on an eBay auction and it is the easiest way to bid. Left bids (also known as absentee bids) give the auctioneer permission to bid for you as if you were in the room, starting on your behalf at the lowest possible selling price and, as long as there is competition, bidding for you up to the maximum amount you have designated. We accept absentee bids by phone or fax throughout the exhibition and the morning of the sale. We will even do our best to enter bids during a sale if the call is received sufficiently in advance and from a registered bidder. That said, absentee bids are time stamped, so the earlier an absentee bid is submitted, the better. The earlier of two identical absentee bids will win the day.

Bidding online: Rago’s partnership with eBay’s Live Auctions division (ebayliveauctions.com) and Live Auctioneers (liveauctioneers.com) allows you to bid online in real time. To do so, visit either of these websites, locate the link to our sale (by search or by scrolling through the sales in date order) and follow the directions for qualifying and registering. To insure that you are qualified before the sale begins, we strongly advise you to register as soon as possible and always early on the day before the sale.

Bidding by phone: When you bid by phone, an agent from our staff will call you at the phone number you have designated. Your agent is your advocate in the room and will do everything he can to win you your lot(s). He (or she) will call a few minutes before your lot comes up for sale. He will introduce himself, tell you the number of the lot currently being auctioned and confirm the lot number(s) on which you have chosen to bid. He will tell you when your lot is up next. When the auctioneer opens the bidding, he will tell you where the competition is coming from (someone in the room, another phone bidder, online, etc) and what you need to bid to stay in the competition as the bids move up. It is your job to keep saying “Yes” firmly and quickly until you either win the lot or decide the price is too high and say “No.” It is your agent’s job to see that the auctioneer recognizes your bid. Many bidders prefer to bid by phone and there are times when we cannot accommodate later requests because the lines are full. It is best to request a phone line as early as possible. We always take phone bids from registered bidders up to 5 pm on the day prior to the sale and thereafter if possible - at our discretion.

Bidding in the room: If you have qualified to bid, just check in at the front desk. A staff member will establish your credit if you are a first time bidder, give you a paper paddle with a bidding number and you’ll be set to go.