How do I place a bid? - Support & Knowledgebase

08 Sep 2010

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	How do I place a bid?

Solution So you have found an item you wish to bid on! Below we describe the bidding process, how you can track your bids, and important information regarding certain auction types.

BID DEPOSIT:
Import Monster requires a deposit, 50% of the bid amount, to enable you to bid. You will need to 'Add Funds' to your Import Monster balance to do this. When you make a bid, we deduct the amount from your Import Monster balance, however these funds are not passed on to Japan or the seller, they are kept in trust until either:
1) You are outbid, in which case we return your deposit to your Import Monster account
2) You win the auction, in which case the balance costs are due

WHY A DEPOSIT IS REQUIRED:
On sites like Ebay, they allow you to bid on items without any form of deposit. That is because it is individual buyers & sellers making the deal, it makes no difference to the company if the sale does not go through. With Import Monster, we are the 'middle-man' between you the buyer, and the Japanese seller. Via our website, you are using Import Monster's Yahoo Japan auction ID to make purchases, essentially using our account for yourself. The Japanese are very 'honourable' people, and to place a bid on an auction and not complete the sale is not acceptable to the Japanese people at all. In fact if this happens, our Yahoo auction ID will receive a 'negative feedback' which impacts our credibility. This often results in other sellers cancelling other auctions currently being won by Import Monster, simply because they think we are 'bad people'. So you can see that not going through with an auction is bad for all Import Monster users! Because of this we request a deposit to ensure that bidders are serious about the potential purchase they are making. If deposits were not required, there would be nothing stopping people from signing up, bidding on items they have no intention on purchasing, and ruining it for all!

WHY SHIPPING INFO IS REQUIRED:
Buying an item for the auction price is not enough to complete the transaction. There are other costs involved, which mainly relate to freighting the item from the seller to your door, which must be paid. By requesting shipping information at the time of bidding, we are able to provide you with an approximate total price for the item, inclusive of all freight & various other costs. This way you know, in advance, the potential cost of the item, delivered to your door.

BID AMOUNT / MAX BID:
You can choose to bid the very minimum (say 1Y more than the current auction price) to hopefully become the winner of the auction. Or you can place your MAX (maximum) bid, the most you want to spend on the item. If you do this, Import Monster will automatically bid the MINIMUM amount required to get you winning the auction. If somebody else bids on the auction too, we automatically counter-bid until you are winning again, or we reach your MAX. This feature is exactly the same as Ebay offers.

LIVE BIDDING:
When you confirm your bid, Import Monster will place your bid immediately on Yahoo Japan, a process that takes around 5 seconds. Once your bid is placed, you are notified if the bid was successful or not.

SUCESSFUL BID:
If you are winning the auction, Import Monster will notify you of this once the bid is placed. You can keep track of the auction via the auction page, your watch list, the bids page and via email - Import Monster will notify you via email if you are outbid, or if you win.

UNSUCESSFUL BID:
If you place a bid, and Import Monster says your bid was unsuccessful, it is because somebody else has previously bid a higher amount. If your bid is higher than the current auction price, this means that the current winner of the auction set a higher MAX amount, your bid will drive up the price of the auction though. Whenever your bid is not successful, Import Monster will give you the ability to bid a higher amount immediately.

GETTING OUTBID:
If you are outbid, Import Monster will notify you via email immediately, and the status will change on your 'bids' page. If the auction is still open, you can place a higher bid, by repeating the same process you did when you initially bid.

WINNING AN AUCTION:
If you win an auction, Import Monster will notify you via email immediately. We will then deduct the balance of the auction price, and all other associated costs (as detailed to you during the bid place process) from your Import Monster account. We will also send you an email showing you what we have initially charged you, known as a 'provisional invoice'.

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08 May 2009 09:43 PM

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