Frequently Asked Questions

There is a 2-minute soft close in effect. This means every bid placed within the last two minutes will extend the close time by another two minutes. Why? This gives folks enough time to see that a bid has been placed – both an aid for folks bidding on multiple lots and a bridge for online fair warning.

In Example: Close time is 8:00 P.M. A bidder places a bid at 7:59:30 with 30 seconds to go. The New Close Time is 8:02:30 P.M. All other bidders are now offered another 2 minutes to counter bid. This continues until there are no more bids and the timer runs out.

Remember to leave enough time to bid AND confirm! Keep in mind the bid confirmation window is active which means for every bid you will have to confirm it within the bid pop-up dialogue.

In Example: You place a max bid of $180 on a lot. A pop-up dialogue will ask you to confirm your $180 bid along with the 15% buyer’s premium showing your total bid of $207.

To help keep track of items you wish to bid on make sure to favourite them by pressing the star in the lower right corner. This adds them to your watch list where you can track, follow, and bid with ease. You must be logged into HiBid to favourite a lot. It saves you time in the long run, keeps you up to date on auction times and information, and aids in prep time when bidding.

Tip: The Watch List sorts itself by Auction Sale & Lot No. therefore you can watch future auctions as well as current ones and bid directly from this page!

Tip: You can also leave yourself private notes on each lot.  These are private and only viewable by yourself.  In Example, the items value, your intended max or high bid price, shipping quote, questions you’d like to ask the auctioneer, etc…

This is highly recommended! It saves you time in the long run, keeps you up to date on auction times and information, and aids in prep time when bidding. Think of it as a ‘Watch this Space’ or ‘Save the Date’ button. There are no obligations to bid, or bid early.

see How to Register

1. Navigate to https://CanalsideAuctions.hibid.com
   Find the Latest Auction from the list
2. Click on ‘Register to Bid’ found in the middle of the grey bar
3. If you already have a HiBid account proceed to step 5.
   If you do not yet have a HiBid account click ‘Register Here’
   This button is found in the lower right quadrant.
   4a/ Type in your eMail address then click ‘Check Email’:
   4b/ Enter your Account Information while you wait for your confirmation eMail:
   > Remember to check Hide Username From Public for private bidding
   > Make sure to check ‘Send email notifications and newsletter’ to keep up to date with your own bidding activity as well as new auctions from Canalside Auctions.
   Then click ‘Create New Account’ at the bottom
   4c/ All done! (Make sure to confirm your account through eMail.)
4. Log Into your HiBid account and complete the form within the pop-up Dialogue.
   5a/ Click ‘Add a Payment Method’ (Upper Right Button)
   Note your name and address must match your credit card exactly!
   5b/ Read then Agree to the Terms & Conditions by Checking the Box on the left & Press ‘Submit Registration’
   All Ready to Go! Log In, Watch Lots and Start Bidding!

To view lot details click on the heading. A pop-up occurs with a lightbox of available photographs along with the Lot# & Description and other pertinent information.

Unfortunately the pop-up has a text limit and does not show the full description – it is important you read the full description before bidding!
To do this remember to press the little down arrow lower right! – this will expand the description and show the complete description that is found in the full listing.

This is preferred and recommended. If not in full, in parts. To max bid place your maximum (or incremented max bid) into the bid box and the computer will bid on your behalf.

In Example: The bidding increments are $2.00 per bid. The current bid is $78. You place a $400 max bid. The computer will bid in $2.00 increments until your max bid is winning or exhausted. In this scenario if there are no other max bids on the lot you would be winning at $80. Every time there is another bidder the computer will auto-bid $2.00 until you are winning or at $400. You are only charged for the final high bid (plus any applicable buyer’s premium and taxes). If another person bids $400 and your max bid is exhausted you may continue to place bids using either the single or max bid process. A combination of the two is very popular.

Additionally, you can bid in increments, In Example: The bidding schedule is $2.00 per bid. The current bid is $78. You intend to go no higher than $400. You can place an incremental max bid of $200. In this scenario if there are no other max bids you would be winning at $80. When someone outbids your $200 the system will notify you that you have been Outbid and you make another incremental-max-bid i.e. $300 and so on until you are the Winning Bidder.

As lots come up for sale they will gravitate towards the top of the page. Each catalogue mode lot listing will show a real-time count-down to the bidding close. Make sure to keep an eye on lots that might be lower down! You don’t want to miss out! Keep in mind to Close out any lots you won’t be bidding on with the ‘X’ upper right, this helps keep your slate clear for lots you are interested in bidding on as they come up for sale!

You can bid directly from your Watch List. This list keeps track of the current high bid, your status (outbid/winning), the close time, and the winning and max bid totals.

Keep in mind to watch your time – the watch list countdown only refreshes the page every minute!

Tip: Always make sure you save items all lots your interested in bidding on in your browser bookmarks. This keeps them accessible should there be a glitch / internet / or browser malfunction.

This is not recommended as there is a lot that go wrong. Only bid last minute if you are an experienced online bidder and confident in your computer set-up and internet connection.