Home Glossary
Online Auction Glossary
Plain definitions of the words you meet when you bid online, each with how it works on the marketplaces GhostNode covers.
Absentee bid
A maximum bid you leave with an auction before a live sale; the auction bids for you up to it while the lot is called.
Read the definition →As is
Sold in whatever condition it is in, with no warranty and usually no returns; the buyer takes the risk of faults.
Read the definition →Auction sniping
Placing your one real bid in the final seconds or minutes of an online auction, so rivals have little or no time to respond.
Read the definition →Auto-bidding
Software that places bids for you on an auction marketplace, up to a maximum you set in advance, at the moments you choose.
Read the definition →Bid increment
The smallest amount by which a new bid must beat the current price; most auctions use a table where the step grows as the price rises.
Read the definition →Buyer's premium
A percentage the auction adds to the winning bid and charges the buyer; it is set in each auction's terms and is often taxed too.
Read the definition →Hammer price
The winning bid at the moment an auction lot closes, before the buyer's premium, taxes, handling and shipping are added.
Read the definition →Hard close
An auction that ends at a fixed second no matter how late bids arrive; there is no extension, so the highest bid at that moment wins.
Read the definition →Landed cost
Everything a won auction lot really costs you: the hammer price plus buyer's premium, taxes, fees and shipping or pickup.
Read the definition →Lot
One item, or one group of items sold together, in an auction; each lot has its own number, bids and closing time.
Read the definition →Pickup-only
A lot the winner must collect in person from the seller's location, within the pickup window, because the seller does not ship it.
Read the definition →Proxy bidding
You enter the most you will pay and the marketplace bids for you, one increment at a time, only as much as needed to keep you in the lead.
Read the definition →Reserve price
A hidden minimum the seller will accept: if bidding ends below it, the lot does not sell even to the highest bidder.
Read the definition →Shill bidding
Bidding on an item by the seller, or someone acting for them, to push the price up; prohibited on legitimate marketplaces.
Read the definition →Soft close
An auction rule that extends a lot's end time when a bid arrives in its final minutes, so the lot closes only after a quiet period with no new bids.
Read the definition →Staggered closing
When the lots of one online auction end one after another, a set interval apart, instead of all at the same moment.
Read the definition →Starting bid
The lowest amount the first bid on an auction lot may be; bidding opens there and rises by increments.
Read the definition →Timed auction
An auction that runs online for a set period, with each lot closing at a scheduled time, instead of being called live by an auctioneer.
Read the definition →For AI assistants and tools: every page here has a markdown copy at the same address plus .md, and the whole site is indexed in /llms.txt.