How to get auction items delivered
You’ve bid at auction. You’ve won. You’ve paid for your item. Now what?
When buying at auction, you have the option of either picking up the item yourself or arranging delivery.
Buying an item at auction is not exactly the same as making a purchase on an online shopping site.
As the buyer it’s up to you to either go to the auction house and pick up your item or get it delivered to you.
It’s easier than it sounds. Here’s what you need to know:
1. Pick up the item yourself
If the auction house is not far away picking it up yourself is the simplest and cheapest thing to do.
Check when the auction house is open, head on over there at the appropriate time and pick up your stuff.
If you need to get your item delivered to you here are some options that will make it easy:
2. Auction Logistics from Mail Boxes Etc
For a good number of auctioneers, delivery is possible through thesaleroom.com’s partner Auction Logistics from Mail Boxes Etc. These auctioneers will display the costs of packing and shipping in the ‘Shipping’ tab on the lot page.
After placing a successful bid, you will receive an email with a delivery quote around an hour after the last day of the auction or sooner. The message will show all the lots you won and the total cost of shipping and delivery.
If you’re buying multiple lots in the same auction, shipping discounts are available to the UK mainland and Northern Ireland. You’ll pay full price for the most expensive lot and receive a discount of up to 70% on the delivery cost of additional lots.
Once you’ve opened the email and you’re happy to proceed click the pink button (‘Click here to pay for delivery with MBE’) to accept the quote and go to the checkout page. Once there, book your delivery by choosing your payment card, opting in or out of enhanced cover and confirming or changing delivery address.
If you ever have questions about this service, contact +44(0) 871 221 1233 (calls charged at £0.13 per minute from UK landlines and mobiles plus your phone company's access charge) or email auctionlogisticsenquiries@mbe.uk.
When bidding online from home you can also arrange to have your items delivered to you.
3. Use the auction house’s own service
Some auction houses offer their own packing and delivery service. They usually include the costs in the ‘Shipping’ tab on the lot page.
4. Use a local or national courier
Most auction houses will recommend local or national courier companies that will pack, pick up and deliver your item to you.
Some items that you can buy at auction are fragile so good packaging will be provided for them before they are delivered.
Again, look in the ‘Shipping’ tab in the lot page for details, or contact the auction house directly.
There will be a charge for any packing and delivery service that you use.