PicklesONLINE - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

PicklesONLINE is our exciting new online-only auction system. Auctions run over a period of several days and at any time you may indicate your maximum bid amount. The PicklesONLINE system will then bid on your behalf up to your maximum, but not beyond it. This frees you up so that you don’t have to keep watching the progress of an auction.

To participate in PicklesONLINE you will need to open a My Pickles account. Next, simply sign-in and locate the PicklesONLINE item you are interested in. All bidding takes place on the Pickles website – there are no additional software downloads required.

When you are ready, enter your maximum bid. You will be asked to provide registration details the first time you bid in a sale. If you are successful in your final bid a deposit will be deducted from your credit card.

Buy Now – in addition to being offered through online auction, some lots may be offered for immediate purchase. We call this Pickles Online Buy Now. Take the stress out of bidding – accept the Buy Now price, pay your deposit online and the item is yours today! You don’t even have to wait for the auction to end. Normal charges apply.

• Permanent Buyers do not need to register or pre-authorise a deposit to participate in Pickles Online.

Note - deposits apply only to vehicles (e.g. cars, trucks, etc) and not other items.

PicklesONLINE items may be located at any Pickles branch throughout Australia. Therefore please check each item’s location prior to bidding or choosing to Buy Now. The item’s location is listed at the bottom of the item details screen. (This is the same screen where you place your bid or click the Buy Now button).

PicklesONLINE – Drive Auction vehicles may be located anywhere throughout Australia. Therefore please check each item’s location prior to bidding. The vehicles location is listed in the vehicle description details. (This is the same screen where you view the description of the vehicle).

Buy Now allows you to purchase an item immediately, online, without having to wait for the auction to end. Items being offered for immediate purchase will always display a Buy Now price.

To purchase an item immediately using Buy Now you will first need to open a My Pickles account. After this, find the item you are interested in, and sign in.

To purchase the item,

1. Click the Buy Now button next to the Buy Now price.
2. In the next screen, confirm the purchase amount.
3. You will be asked to confirm your buyer details if you have not already registered in this sale (Permanent buyers skip this step).
4. Click the Confirm button
5. You will be asked to pre-authorise a deposit if you have not already done so (Permanent buyers skip this step).

Note: You need to enter your buyer registration details the first time you bid or Buy Now in each auction.
Note: You need to pre-authorise one deposit for each item you might win.

Take the stress out of bidding – accept the Buy Now price, pay your deposit online and the item is yours today!
You don’t even have to wait for the auction to end. Normal charges apply.

PicklesLIVE allows you to participate in our traditional auctions from the comfort of your own PC. You will hear the auctioneer’s call, see photos of the item being auctioned and be able to place bids at the click of a button. To participate in Pickles Live you will need to open a My Pickles account, register for the sale you are interested in, pre-authorise a deposit and download our PicklesLIVE software. When the auction starts, sign in and use the software to bid or to observe the auction.

PicklesONLINE auctions are online-only and run over a period of several days. The PicklesONLINE system can bid on your behalf up to a maximum amount that you specify – so you don’t need to continuously watch the auction. To participate in PicklesONLINE you will need to open a My Pickles account and then place a maximum bid on the item you are interested in. You will then be asked to confirm the bid amount, register your details and pre-authorise a deposit. Normal charges apply. All bidding occurs on the Pickles website – there are no additional software downloads.

You are able to access a wide range of online services with Pickles:

PicklesLIVE
PicklesLIVE allows you to bid online, in real-time, against our traditional physical auctions. From the comfort of your PC you can hear the auctioneer’s call, see photos of the item which is up for auction and place bids.

PicklesONLINE
PicklesONLINE auctions are online-only auctions which run over several days. You can indicate your maximum bid and the system will bid on your behalf up to – but not over – your maximum.

E-Salvage
E-Salvage auctions are also online-only auctions, specialising in salvage insurance vehicles which are located in rural and remote regions throughout Australia.

Buy Now
Some PicklesONLINE items are also available for immediate purchase. To secure your item without the pressure of bidding simply accept the Buy Now price, pay your deposit online and the item is yours. Normal charges apply.

Other Services
In addition to the above online services, Pickles can assist with all of the following:

• Finance
• Warranties
• Insurance
• Valuations
• Trade-ins
• Vehicle prices
• Selling your vehicle

When a credit or debit card is added to a My Pickles account the card details are validated by the bank charging the card with a $1 pre-authorisation. This amount never eventuates into an actual charge on the cardholders account, it will disappear within 5-7 days. Any time the credit card details are changed or updated on the My Pickles account this pre-authorisation will occur again.

An initial deposit will not be required to use PicklesONLINE. If you are successful in your final bid a deposit will be deducted from your credit card.

To bid in a PicklesONLINE auction you will first need to open a My Pickles account. After this, find the item you are interested in, and sign in.

To bid,

1. Enter your maximum bid amount in the Bid Box and click the Bid button
2. In the next screen, check your bid.
3. You will be asked to confirm your buyer details if you have not already registered in this sale. (Permanent buyers skip this step.)
4. Click the Confirm button.
5. You will be asked to pre-authorise a deposit if you have not already done so. (Permanent buyers skip this step.)

Finally, you will be taken to My Pickles where you will see the results of all your Pickles Online bidding activity including the lot you just bid on.

Note: You need to enter your buyer registration details the first time you bid or Buy Now in each auction.

Note: You need to pre-authorise one deposit for each item you might win.

A processing fee, which may vary from sale to sale, applies to all purchases made through PicklesONLINE. You can check the processing fee amount on the bid confirmation and on the Buy Now confirmation screens. This processing fee applies whether you win through bidding or through carrying out a Buy Now purchase. The fee is calculated on the final sale price of the item (and not on your maximum bid). If you win through bidding, then the final sale price is the current bid. If you win by choosing to Buy Now, then the final sale price is the Buy Now price. Remember, if you are bidding, then the fee shown to you on the confirmation screen is the most you should expect to pay and the actual fee will be less if the final sale price is less than your maximum bid.

Yes – if you are the current bid holder, you can adjust your maximum bid up to any value you like. You can also adjust your bid down to the current bid value.

For example, if you accidentally bid $100,000 but you meant to bid only $10,000 then you will probably be winning the lot. The current bid may be an amount such as $7,000. In this case you may adjust your maximum bid down to any amount which is at least equal to $7,000.

You are free to adjust your bid as many times as you like.

To adjust your maximum bid amount:

1. Return to the item details screen for the lot in question
2. Enter a new maximum bid amount
3. Click the Bid button
4. Confirm your new maximum bid in the next screen
5. Click the Confirm button

You may adjust your maximum bid as often as you like.

When bidding, you are asked to enter your maximum bid. The PicklesONLINE system will bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid but not beyond it. This means that you do not have to keep returning to the website to make sure you stay ahead of other bidders – Pickles Online does this for you.

The PicklesONLINE System attempts to win the auction at the lowest price possible. Pickles Online never bids beyond your maximum bid.

It is possible for you to win the item at far less than your maximum bid amount.

If another buyer indicates a higher maximum amount than yours, then you will be outbid. We advise you to always log in to My Pickles to check the status of your bids from My Bids page.
 

Maximum Bid
Your maximum bid is the most you are prepared to bid for an item. When bidding, you are asked to enter your maximum bid. The PicklesONLINE system will bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid but not beyond it. This means that you do not have to keep returning to the website to make sure you stay ahead of other bidders – PicklesONLINE does this for you.

It is possible for you to win the item at far less than your maximum bid amount.

If another buyer indicates a higher maximum amount than yours, then you will be outbid. We advise you to always log in to My Pickles to check the status of your bids from My Bids page.

Your maximum bid is not revealed to any other buyers. Only you and the PicklesONLINE system know the value of your maximum bid.

Current Bid
The current bid is the amount at which the item will sell if no further bidding occurs, no-one buys the item using Buy Now and if the vendor’s reserve price is met.

All buyers can see an item’s current bid. The minimum bid a buyer may place on an item is the current bid plus a bid increment. The amount of the increment depends on the current bid.

If there is no current bid on an item then the minimum bid (or starting bid) is set by Pickles.

The PicklesONLINE system attempts to win the auction for you at the lowest possible price. Pickles Online never bids beyond your maximum bid.

Each bid placed in a PicklesONLINE auction must exceed an item’s current bid by the “Bid Increment". The bid increment amount depends on the item’s current bid.

For amounts under $100	For amounts between $100 and $1000	For amounts over $1000
The bid increment is $1	The bid increment is $10	The bid increment is $50

 

Amount	Bid Increment
For amounts under $500	$1
For amounts $500 to $2,000	$50
For amounts $2,000 to $30,000	$100
For amounts $30,000 to $50,000	$250
For amounts above $50,000	$500

 

For example, if the current bid on an item is $50 then the bid increment is $1 and the next bid must be at least $51 ($50 + $1).

If the current bid is $750 then the bid increment is $50 and the next bid must be at least $800 ($750 + $50).

If the current bid is $18,800 then the bid increment is $100 and the next bid must be at least $18,900 ($18,800 + $100).

Remember – when you place a bid you are indicating the maximum you are prepared to pay. The system will bid on your behalf up to your maximum, but not beyond it. Therefore the current bid on an item may be less than the maximum indicated by the bidder. Only the bidder knows their maximum. New bids must exceed the current bid by at least the bid increment.

The minimum valid bid is always shown on the bidding form for each item.

Also – the current bid holder can adjust their maximum bid at any time, as long as their new maximum is at least equal to the current bid.

When you place a bid it is required to be an exact multiple of the bid increment.

• For amounts under $100, the bid increment is $1
• For amounts between $100 and $1000, the bid increment is $10
• For amounts over $1000, the bid increment is $50

For example, a bid of $10,000 is valid because it is an exact multiple of $50. A bid of $10,025 is invalid because it is not an exact multiple of $50. In this case the PicklesONLINE system will round your bid amount down to the nearest bid increment, i.e. $10,000.

Bids will never be rounded upwards.

The PicklesONLINE terms and conditions can be viewed here. The first time you participate in each PicklesONLINE auction you will be asked to register your buyer details. This registration includes a link to the PicklesONLINE Terms and Conditions (Permanent Buyers skip this step).

Every PicklesONLINE sale has a scheduled end time. All lots within the sale are scheduled to end at the sale’s end time.

However, if there is any late bidding activity against a lot then we will extend the end time for that lot.

Therefore individual lots within a sale may end later than the sale’s end time – and at different times than each other.

Extending a lot's end time provides all buyers with the opportunity to respond to late bidding activity.

There are two shipping options available for PicklesONLINE items

Pick-up

In most cases buyers collect PicklesONLINE items directly from the branch which is running the Pickles Online sale.

Delivery

Cartage (delivery) may be available for some PicklesONLINE items. To enquire about cartage simply contact the branch in question. Branch contact details are available on the Auction Details page for any item. Additional charges apply.

If there is any bidding activity against a lot during the last 10 minutes of the auction, then we will extend the end time for that lot. This provides all buyers with the opportunity to respond to late bidding activity.

The new end time for that lot is calculated as the time of the bidding activity, plus 10 minutes.

For example, if a lot is scheduled to end at 8.30pm and a buyer attempts to place a bid at 8.27pm then the lot’s new end time will be 8.37pm.

If there is any other bid attempt during the last 10 minutes then the lot’s end time will extend again.

For example, if there is another bid attempt at 8.30pm then the lot’s new end time will be 8.40pm.

If a lot’s end time is extended then the auction will end for that lot once there has been a period of 10 continuous minutes without any bidding activity.

It is possible to be the highest bidder on a PicklesONLINE item, but still not win the auction. This is because the vendor that owns the item may set a reserve price. If bidding reaches the vendor’s reserve then the item will be sold. However if bidding does not reach the vendor’s reserve then the item will not be sold.

If you are the highest bidder on an item and the current bid meets the vendor’s reserve, then you will win the item. We will send you an email with a statement attached but you can always find out the status of all items you are bidding on by signing in to My Pickles.

To find out if you have won a PicklesONLINE auction after bidding has ended, sign in to My Pickles and click on “Pickles Online" in the Bidding menu.

You will see four sections on the next screen:

1. My Current Bids
2. My Closed Bids
3. My Buy Now History
4. My Deposits

All items for which bidding has ended will appear in the "My Closed Bids" section. The outcome of your bid is shown alongside the item.

Apart from having the highest bid which meets reserve at the end of the auction, you can win an item outright by electing to “Buy Now". As soon as anyone elects to buy an item outright using Buy Now, it is withdrawn from bidding and the Buy Now purchaser wins the item.

Items you have bought using Buy Now appear in the My Buy Now History section in My Pickles.

In order to win a PicklesONLINE item, you need to be the highest bidder and your bid must meet the vendor’s reserve price. If bidding does not meet the vendor’s reserve then the item remains unsold at the end of the auction.

In addition, some items may be purchased outright via the PicklesONLINE “Buy Now" service. An item being offered via Buy Now will always show a Buy Now price. If any buyer accepts that price and pays their deposit online, then the auction ends immediately and that buyer wins the item. Normal charges apply.

The registration status is the status of the vehicle's registration at the time of inspection.

Registration Status;

1. Plates to all: Sold as a registered vehicle

2. Plates to dealers: Sold as an unregistered vehicle to the public, licensed Dealers receive plates

3. No Plates, No Registration: Sold Unregistered

Please Note: Registration status is true and correct at the time of Pickles inspection. Please refer to condition report for status update.

No, it’s just that PicklesONLINE lets you input your maximum bid upfront. The system will then bid on your behalf up to this amount.

For example, let’s say an asset you’re bidding on is priced at $100. Your maximum bid is $500. Put $500 in the box next to “Bid Now” and then press the button. The system will bid for you in $10 increments up to $500.
If someone else joins the auction and bids $200, PicklesONLINE will automatically bid $210 for you so you’re always in the lead.

If there’s a reserve on the item and your maximum bid is higher, the bid will go straight to the reserve. e.g. if the reserve on the lot in the example, is $450, the bid would go straight to $450.