Buying at Auction and General Information

Please follow these links to find the auctions you are interested in: Motor Vehicle Auctions, Salvage Auctions, Trucks, Machinery & Earthmoving Auctions, Commercial, IT & General Goods Auctions. Your major city newspapers have our most current auctions as well as some up and coming sales.

There are a number of ways to see what is for sale.

1. Go to the auction timetable that is relevant to you: Motor Vehicle Auctions, Salvage Auctions, Trucks, Machinery & Earthmoving Auctions, Commercial, IT & General Goods Auctions to find details of what is for sale. Some auctions will have a catalogue that you can print out and bring with you on the day.

2. Contact your local Pickles branch and they can assist you.

3. Search this website using the relevant product search: Motor Vehicle, Salvage, Trucks, Machinery & Earthmoving, Commercial, IT & General Goods.

4. Create a Product Alert and receive a notification as soon as items become available that match your search criteria. Simply create a search and click the ‘Create Alert’ button at the top of the search results.

The terms of selling your car depend on your location. See our information page about selling your car.

Yes. Our trade-in service is simple, hassle-free and makes you the winner. Pickles is proud to offer this innovative auction Trade-In service.

Your goods can be valued differently according to what and how much you have to sell. Our expert valuers can come out to see your goods or you can bring them to us. Contact us and we will be able to advise you on the best way to proceed.

At each auction, a deposit percentage or amount is set. As an indication a $1,000.00 deposit is required for general car sales, $1,000.00 for prestige car sales and 10% for computers. Most Salvage, Truck, Machinery or Earthmoving Plant Equipment auctions also require a deposit of $1,000.00.

Make sure that you are aware of the amount of money you will need before bidding at an auction. The deposit secures the item that you have successfully bid on. Deposits must be paid via credit card. 

This is an administrative fee charged to the buyer at the completion of sale. This varies from auction to auction. Please refer to the specific auction catalogue at the sale you are attending to find out the relevant processing fee.

Some buyers choose to export their purchases overseas and if you are not registered for GST in Australia then you are eligible for a refund of the GST paid on your purchase as long as you meet the requirements outlined by the Australian Taxation Office. These include but are not limited to:

• Goods must be exported within 60 days of purchase
• Goods must not be used in Australia before export
• Goods cannot be altered in anyway before export

Documents must be supplied to Pickles Auctions that have been issued by an international transport provider or an arranger of international transport services as evidence of the goods being exported, and should include:

1. Information that identifies the goods
2. The destination
3. The date of departure from Australia
4. The buyer as the shipper of the goods

Please advise us at the time of purchase that you intend to export your purchase and we will ask you to complete an Export Declaration Form. You will be required to pay the GST on the purchase price in full at the time of purchase, as the goods are not GST exempt until they have been exported. We will refund you the GST upon receipt of the above documentary evidence. Late notification of intention to export or notice that the export has occurred will result in a delay in the refund being issued.

There is an Export Administration Fee that applies which will be added to your invoice and must be paid prior to completing your purchase. If you notify us of your intention to export and then change your mind we will refund you the Export Administration Fee either in full or half depending on how far through the administration cycle it has progressed. Please see Administration Fees.

A ‘Reserve’ price is a predetermined minimum value a vendor wishes to realise for their asset when sold at auction.

Unless specified ‘Unreserved’, you can assume that all auctioned assets have a ‘Reserve’.

Pickles provide the vendor (asset owner) with an indication of what the asset should reach at auction, however the final ‘Reserve’ price is set by the vendor.
 

Referred is when the highest bid did not reach the reserve price and so it is referred to the vendor who will decide whether they wish to accept or decline the highest bid, or make a counter offer.

This is where the highest bid did not reach the reserve price. In this situation, the asset is held back and may be placed in another auction at a later time or, the vendor may decide to remove the asset from auction.
 

In this situation the highest bid has reached or exceeded the reserve price and the highest bidder at ‘hammer fall’ has won the asset. *Please note: If you are the highest bidder and reserve has been met or passed, you have legally entered a contract at that stage, and are responsible for the purchase of the item. Failure to proceed with the transaction could see you being banned from participating in any auction at Pickles for 12 months.
 

In a specified ‘Unreserved’ auction, one of two things will happen.

1. SOLD: in this situation the highest bid at ‘hammer fall’ has won the asset.
2. PASSED IN: this is where no bids were received. In this situation the asset is held back and may be placed in another auction at a later time or, the vendor may decide to remove the asset from auction.

N.B. An asset may appear in multiple auctions, if not sold previously.
 

In a typical auction, one of three things will happen.

1. SOLD: in this situation the highest bid has reached or exceeded the reserve price and the highest bidder at ‘hammer fall’ has won the asset. *Please note: If you are the highest bidder and reserve has been met or passed, you have legally entered a contract at that stage, and are responsible for the purchase of the item. Failure to proceed with the transaction could see you being banned from participating in any auction at Pickles for 12 months.
2. PASSED IN: this is where the highest bid did not reach the reserve price. In this situation, the asset is held back and may be placed in another auction at a later time or, the vendor may decide to remove the asset from auction.
3. REFERRED: in this situation, the highest bid may have come close to - but did not reach - the reserve price. When this happens, the highest bid is referred to the vendor, who will then decide to either accept or decline the highest bid, or make a counter offer. If no agreement is reached between the highest bidder and the vendor, the vendor may decide to place the asset into another auction at a later date or remove the asset from auction. *Please note: If you are the highest bidder and your bid has been referred, you have not legally entered a contract at that stage. Therefore, if there are other items you may be interested in (in the same auction or elsewhere), you can bid on those and you are under no obligation to accept the vendor’s negotiated offer.