# Sales & auction types

> Run auctions, offer sales, eBay-style timed sales and fixed-price sales, each with its own sessions, catalogues, dates, fees and bid increments.

- URL: https://www.selloff.auction/features/auction-types
- Language: English
- Domain: Sales & bidding
- Last updated: 2026-10-07
- Français: https://www.selloff.auction/fr/fonctionnalites/types-de-ventes.md

## At a glance

- Four sale types: auction, offers, eBay-style timed sale and fixed-price retail
- Sessions with their own lot range, date, currency and internet bid closing time
- Buyer's premium, buyer's insurance and bid increment scheme set per sale
- Viewing, pickup and consignment deadline dates, and the sale location on a map
- Sale name and description in each client language

## Four ways to sell

When you create a sale, you choose its type, and Selloff adapts bidding rules, screens and invoices accordingly:

- **Auction**: collects absentee, phone and online bids until the live sale, then records hammer prices in the room or through a connected live bidding platform.
- **Offers**: collects offers until a closing date, then assigns lots automatically or after manual review.
- **eBay style**: each lot has its own closing time, extended by a configurable number of minutes when a bid arrives in the final minutes.
- **Retail prices**: a fixed-price sale on behalf of consignors, at the starting or reserve price plus commission.

## Everything a sale needs

A sale holds its dates (start, end, consignment deadline, viewing and pickup slots), its location with a map, its branch and time zone, and the user responsible for it. Name and description can be entered in each client language, with a slug for readable web addresses. You set the buyer's premium, the buyer's insurance and the bid increment scheme, and bids entered by staff can be checked against the increments.

## Sessions and catalogues

An auction can be split into sessions, each with a lot range, date and time, currency and closing time for internet bids. Lots are organised in one or several [catalogues](https://www.selloff.auction/features/catalogue-building.md) per sale.

Options per sale include publishing the sale through the API, showing the current bid publicly, accepting [offers on unsold lots](https://www.selloff.auction/features/after-sale-offers.md) after a live auction, and requiring a second user to confirm bids that were imported or entered manually.

## Who uses it

Auction managers create and configure sales. The Auction Manager role can edit sale settings without full administrator rights, while the rest of the team works in the sale once it is set up.

## Related features

- [Catalogue building & numbering](https://www.selloff.auction/features/catalogue-building.md): Assign lots to a sale, order them by category or any field, number them automatically or by scanning, and check the catalogue for errors before it goes live.
- [Absentee & phone bids](https://www.selloff.auction/features/bid-recording.md): Record absentee, phone and OR bids in the book, check them against your bid increments, confirm them to clients by email and print the bid book for the room.
- [Live auctions & online bidding](https://www.selloff.auction/features/live-auctions.md): Run the room from the auctioneer's console and take live online bids through Selloff Live Auction, with every hammer price recorded in Selloff.
- [Offers & after-sale](https://www.selloff.auction/features/after-sale-offers.md): Collect offers on unsold lots or in offer sales, decide lot by lot with the consignor's figures at hand, and notify bidders by email.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which types of sale can I run in Selloff?

Four: a classic auction that collects absentee and online bids before the live sale, an offer sale that collects offers until a closing date, an eBay-style timed sale where each lot closes on its own and is extended when a late bid arrives, and a fixed-price retail sale on behalf of consignors. The type is chosen when the sale is created.

### Can one sale be split into several sessions?

Yes. For an auction, each session covers a range of lot numbers and has its own date and time, currency and closing time for internet bids. The bid book and the phone bid summary can be printed per session.

### Can the buyer's premium differ from one client to another?

The buyer's premium and buyer's insurance are set as percentages on the sale and added automatically to buyer invoices. A different commission can be set on a client's record, and it then overrides the sale value for that client.