In short
- A commission bid (also called an absentee, written or order bid) is a top limit left with the auctioneer before the lot is sold.
- It is executed in increments against the room, so the bidder pays as little as possible up to their limit.
- It is not the same thing as auctioneer commission, which is a fee.
- Identical commission bids usually go to the one received first.
- The room should hear every amount, including the ones coming from the book.
A commission bid is a maximum bid left with the auctioneer by someone who can’t be in the room. The auctioneer bids for them one step at a time against the room, and stops at their limit. It has nothing to do with the commission an auctioneer charges.
I’m Kevin Durham, a professional charity auctioneer and event host. Supporters who can’t make the night often still want a shot at the lots. Here is how commission, absentee, proxy and phone bids work, and how a charity can take them fairly.
What is a commission bid?
A commission bid is an instruction to the auctioneer to bid on your behalf, up to a maximum you set in advance, because you won’t be in the room. Wiktionary defines it as a bid placed by the auctioneer for a bidder not present, up to a pre-agreed maximum.
The big salerooms have several names for it. Christie’s auction glossary says absentee bids are also called written, commission or order bids, and the Sotheby’s glossary uses the same three. “Commission” here means a task you hand to someone, not a fee.
Is a commission bid the same as auctioneer commission?
No. A commission bid is a bid. Auctioneer commission is what an auctioneer or auction house charges, usually to the seller as a percentage of the hammer price.
I cover fees in my guide to auctioneer commission. The charge some houses add to the winner’s bill is different again: that is a buyer’s premium.
How does absentee bidding work?
Absentee bidding works by the auctioneer holding your maximum and only using as much of it as the room forces them to. Christie’s says the auctioneer bids at the lowest possible price for you, taking the reserve into account, up to your maximum.
Say an absent supporter leaves £800 on a week in a holiday cottage, and the bidding goes up in £50 steps:
- The lot does not open at £800. One UK saleroom puts it plainly: the bidding will not open at your bid.
- A guest bids £300. The book goes to £350.
- The room pushes on to £500. The book goes to £550.
- The room drops out. The absent bidder wins at £550, not £800.
If a guest bids £850, the commission bid is spent and the guest wins. The person who isn’t there gets the same chance as the people who are, and no more.
A reserve price can change the starting point, because the book may open at the reserve. Nesbits Auctioneers makes no additional charge for leaving a proxy bid, though its normal buyer’s premium still applies.
Who wins if two commission bids are the same?
In most salerooms the earlier bid wins. Phillips’s London bid form says that with identical bids, the first received takes precedence.
The same form refuses “buy” or unlimited bids, and that rule is worth copying. Every commission bid at a charity auction needs a number on it. “Whatever it takes” is not a maximum.
What is proxy bidding?
Proxy bidding is bidding through someone, or something, that acts for you up to a limit. Online it is automatic: on eBay you enter a maximum and the site bids in small increments to keep you in the lead, only up to your limit.
At a live charity auction a proxy is usually a friend at the absent supporter’s table, holding their limit and raising a paddle for them. The table gets to cheer the bid, which is lovely. It still needs a written limit, and a proxy who isn’t also bidding for themselves on the same lot.
How does phone bidding work at a charity auction?
Phone bidding means a helper calls the absent bidder just before their lot and relays their bids live. Sotheby’s describes the same set-up: you register beforehand, are called as your lot approaches, and a representative relays your bids.
A phone bidder decides in real time, so they can go higher than they planned. The practical side is less glamorous:
- Test the mobile signal in the venue before guests arrive.
- Give each phone bidder one named helper and a charged phone.
- Agree the lot numbers, so nobody is rung an hour early.
- Take a fallback limit too. If the line drops mid-lot, the helper bids to that number and no further.
Phillips records its telephone lines for dispute resolution. A helper writing down each relayed amount does a similar job.
Taking commission bids at a charity auction
None of this needs software. It needs a simple form, a deadline and one person in charge of the book. Good practice looks like this:
- Use a written form. Name, phone, lot number, maximum in pounds, and a signature agreeing to pay if they win. Nesbits asks for proxy bids by 5pm the evening before its sales.
- Put one person in charge. The book goes to the auctioneer before the auction starts, not mid-lot.
- Keep the maximums private. If the tables know a limit, the room will bid to it and stop.
- Bid against the room. The book only moves when a real bidder moves.
- Confirm that night. Tell absent winners what they won, what they paid and how to pay.
My guide to live auctions covers the rest of the night.
Why the room has to hear every bid
A commission bid only works if the room trusts it. When the book bids, the auctioneer should say so and name the amount: “With me on the book at £550. Do I hear £600?” Guests can’t see an absent bidder, so the words are all they have.
The law backs this up. Under section 57 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, unless a right to bid has been reserved, the seller can’t bid or employ anyone to bid, and a buyer may treat a sale that breaks that rule as fraudulent. A commission bid has to be real money from a real person. The Fundraising Regulator’s code adds that fundraising must not mislead donors.
I learned what a room that can’t hear costs the hard way. At one big event, running late, I announced the live auction while people were still talking and didn’t stop to get them quiet. Only a fraction of the room heard the lots, and one man bid on an item he couldn’t even hear clearly. The lesson I’ve never repeated since: command the room first. Stand on a chair if you have to. Whoever holds the room holds the total, and that matters even more when some bidders aren’t in it.
Openness pays. At MS UK I told the room at the start exactly where every pound was going, and the live pledge raised £8,300, all of it to the charity. I just turned the lights on, and the money followed the transparency.
Auction terminology in plain English
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Commission bid | A maximum left with the auctioneer by someone not in the room |
| Proxy bid | A bid placed for you by a person or a website, up to your limit |
| Phone bid | A live bid relayed by a helper on the phone |
| Increment | The step the bidding goes up by |
| Reserve | The lowest price the seller will accept |
| Hammer price | The winning bid when the hammer falls |
| Auctioneer commission | A fee, usually paid by the seller |
For how bids build to the hammer, see how bidding works.
Do you need an auctioneer to handle commission bids?
A charity auction that takes commission bids from people who cannot attend needs someone who can fold them into the live sale fairly. A professional auctioneer announces absent bids openly, treats them like any other bidder and keeps the room engaged, while you get on with hosting the rest of the evening.
If you only have a few absentee bids and a quiet room, a clear volunteer can handle them. Have ready the list of absent bidders with their limits, the lot order and your auction date.
Planning for supporters who can’t be there
Keep every commission bid in writing, run it against the room, and say every amount out loud.
If you want to plan for absent bidders at your auction, call me on 07596 851647. I’d rather talk it through than trade emails, and the first fundraising consultation is free.
Kevin Durham
Charity auctioneer & event host