Home Glossary What Is a Timed Online Auction?
What Is a Timed Online Auction?
A timed auction takes bids online for a set period, often several days, and each lot closes at a scheduled time, usually with a soft-close extension. A live (or webcast) auction is called in real time by an auctioneer, lot by lot, and online bidders join as it happens. You can leave a maximum bid in either, but only a timed auction can be bid on without being there.
A timed auction is the standard online format: lots are listed with a closing time and anyone can bid at any time until then. There is no auctioneer calling bids; the clock decides.
Timed and live auctions side by side
| Timed (online-only) | Live or webcast | |
|---|---|---|
| How long it runs | Days, often a week | Minutes per lot, on one day |
| How a lot ends | At its closing time, often with a soft-close extension | When the auctioneer stops taking bids |
| Bidding without being there | Yes: leave a maximum, or use an auto-bidder | Only an absentee bid left in advance |
| Where you meet it | ShopGoodwill, HiBid timed catalogs, eBay (as "auction-style" listings) | Auction houses that also stream their sales |
How lots close in a timed auction
- Each lot has its own end time. In larger catalogs the lots close one after another (staggered closing).
- Many extend on late bids. A soft close moves a lot's end later when a bid arrives near it, until a quiet period passes.
- Some end at a fixed second. eBay auctions are the best-known hard close.
Bidding on timed auctions well
- Find lots early. Timed auctions run for days; the advantage goes to bidders who see a lot before most others do.
- Decide your maximum early, place it late. Early bids invite bidding wars.
- Know when the window is. On ShopGoodwill, K-BID and mac.bid most lots close within a few evening hours; elsewhere closes are spread more widely (see the data).
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a timed auction and a live auction?
In a timed auction every lot has a closing time and bids arrive online over days. In a live or webcast auction an auctioneer sells lots one at a time in real time; online bidders bid along with the room, and a lot can sell in under a minute.
Can I snipe a live webcast auction?
Not in the usual sense: a live lot has no fixed closing second, it ends when the auctioneer stops taking bids. You can leave an absentee (maximum) bid in advance or bid live as it happens.
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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 →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 →Proxibid Auctions: Timed and Live, Extended Bidding and Fees
How Proxibid works for buyers: timed and live webcast auctions, extended bidding, max bids and ties, seller-set buyer's premiums plus internet premiums, and alerts.
Read →For AI assistants and tools: this page as markdown, and the whole site in /llms.txt.