Beginners' Guide to Bidding
You may find this guide helpful if you are not familiar with online auctions.
Our annual online fundraising auction closes on Sunday 12 November.
What's in the auction?
The auction includes all the pieces in our touring exhibition collection. All lots feature threatened wildlife, at-risk wild spaces or have a conservation story to tell.
You can see all the artworks in person at gallery@oxo, Oxo Tower Wharf, South Bank, London SE1 9PH from Wednesday 8 - Sunday 12 November 2023 (admission free; open 11am - 6pm daily except Sunday 11am - 4pm).
- Lots 1-25: On The Brink Collection
Stunning artworks created by award-winning and international artists. Some of these artworks are sold on a 50/50 basis with the artist while others have been donated 100%. Most of these artworks have been bespoke framed and are sold ready to hang - please check the descriptions. All profits from the On The Brink Collection go into the Project Fund, after artists' and campaign costs, such as venue hire and framing, have been deducted.
- Lots 26 - 140 & Lots 144-163: Finalists in our Sketch for Survival & Sketch for Survival Junior competitions
Most of these artworks are sold unframed/unmounted to make them economical to ship. Please check the description/image. You can take them to a framers to be bespoke mounted/framed (c£70+ depending on size/style) or use an off the peg frame/mount (c £20+).
ALL proceeds support our Project Fund.
- Lots 141-143: Shortlisted photographers in our Focus For Survival competition
Lustre Photographic prints on Fuji Professional DPII paper are sold unmounted/unframed with a digital certificate of authenticity from Explorers Against Extinction.
ALL proceeds support our Project Fund
- Lots 164 - 169: Celebrity and Explorer Sketches
Celebrity sketches are sold unframed. ALL proceeds support our Project Fund.
What do you mean by all proceeds?
When we say ‘all the proceeds’ we mean all – Lots 26 - 169 have been donated 100%, allowing all the money raised from their auction to go into the Project Fund.
Getting Started
Before you can browse and bid you need to register your contact details – this is very quick and easy to do.
1. Follow the link below to register:
If you have registered previously then please log-in and check your contact details are still correct!
2. Complete your contact details.
We need to know how to contact you, but we do not need your payment details at this stage.
We use your contact details for invoicing of succesful bids and delivery so it is very important that the details are correct. Your details remain confidential at all times. When you place a bid, you are only identifiable online by a number and not your name where it says 'Bidding History'.
3.Verify your Email
If you are registering for the first time, you’ll be sent an automatic verification email to confirm your email address – please look out for it and follow the instructions. It may be in your Spam folder.
4.Browse and Bid
Once you have gone through the verification process, you can browse and bid. Simply scroll through the lots, or search the catalogue by artist name or lot number.
Bidding
The online auction platform works in a similar way to eBay and is easy to use.
1.Placing a bid
The lot will say one of two things:
OPENING BID (it will tell you what the opening bid is)
or
SELLING (it will tell you what the current highest bid is and what you need to bid to exceed it)
Before you bid, you will need to agree to the terms and conditions.
Please read the lot description, view the images and establish whether the lot is sold framed or unframed before you bid.
You then enter your bid as a whole number (no currency sign required) e.g, 500 for £500
Please be careful and check the number you have entered before you press PLACE BID e.g, 500 and not 50000.
You cannot cancel your bid once it is placed.
2.Placing a maximum bid
You can also enter the max amount you are willing to pay for a lot – other people cannot see this – only you can see this when you are logged in.
Should someone else start bidding on the lot, bidding will increase by set increments up to your maximum limit. If you are outbid you will receive an email notification. You can then choose whether to review your maximum bid but will need to do this before the lot closes.
Do not assume you are the highest bidder - always check! Before a lot closes there can be a lot of last minute bidding activity.
If you bid the same highest amount as someone else then the first person to log that highest amount will take priority - the system will tell you that you need to increase your bid so make sure you refresh the page.
3.Winning a bid
Lots close at the scheduled time however please note if someone is bidding against you, the time the lot closes will automatically extend by approximately two minutes for each and every additional bid received.
This is to enable all bidders the chance to review their next/final bid, and to bid again if they wish – just like a live auction room. This can be very exciting in the final stages of the auction. You cannot 'swoop' last minute and steal a lot. There is no merit to leaving your bid to the last few seconds. Other bidders will always be offered the opportunity to reply to the highest bid.
The participant with the highest bid at the close of the lot is obligated to buy the item. If no one bids at or above the reserve/opening price, the lot will close without a buyer.
There is no buyer’s premium and no hammer fee – what you pay is what you bid, plus postage.
4.Bid History
If you are logged in to the auction site on a desktop or laptop you will see a small grey icon to the right of the lot number and name. If you click on this it will turn blue and show you a timeline of bidding on that lot. Bidders are identified by a unique number and not their name.
5.Notes
As with all auctions, some lots will sell well, reaching or exceeding their value and some will not.
Most bidding activity happens in the final weekend.
By placing an opening bid, or bidding early in the process you will give yourself a shot at securing an artwork at an attractive low price, but just try to remember how many hours of work have gone into that artwork, and the reason it has been so generously donated.
We hope you will bid generously in the knowledge you are not only purchasing a beautiful artwork for your home but you are also supporting an important cause.
THANK YOU.
Winning Bids
Payment
If your bid is successful, you will receive an automatic confirmation email on the day.
You will then receive an email notification in the week asking you to log in and view your invoice - usually by Wednesday 15 November. If you have not received this by the end of the week please do log in and check.
Delivery
Delivery options depend on where you live, and the lot(s) purchased (it’s size and weight, and whether or not it is framed/canvas etc) We work with Royal Mail, courier services as well as offering select pick up locations in central London & Norfolk. As a guide, Royal Mail secure postage costs from around £20 (UK delivery) and from £28 (International delivery). Courier charges for larger framed artworks are quoted individually. You also have the option to arrange your own courier pick-up, if that is preferable.
It is possible to group artworks together for despatch to the same address. We try to do this whenever possible.
Collection
- You can collect from Explorer HQ in Happisburgh Norfolk from Wednesday 15 November as long as the invoice has been paid - please book an appointment.
- You can collect from gallery@oxo, Oxo Tower Wharf, London on the morning of Monday 13 November* (before 12 noon) and pay on a card using our card machine. If you would like to do this then please let us know on Sunday night at the close of the auction by emailing [email protected] so we can put your artworks to one side on Monday.
**Please bring a suitable bag/box for your artwork as we will have limited packaging while on site at the gallery.
Payment
Payment should be made promptly please by direct transfer to the Real World Conservation Trust. International buyers have the option to pay by PayPal on a card. All details will be provided on the invoice.
We aim to process all payments and despatch all lots by early December. We transfer funds to our nominated projects in the New Year.
Your support is greatly appreciated!
Thank you.