Introduction to Webcast Pre-Bidding

5 min readUpdated October 18, 2025

Pre-Bidding For A Webcast Auction

Turning on pre-bidding for your webcast auction allows you to accept bids on items prior to the start of the live auction.

There are two types of bids that a User can place during pre-bidding:

1. Standard Bids – Bidders can place a standard bid (or Bid on the Increment) on a Lot by clicking on the Bid Button. 

2. Auto Bids – Bidders can also place an Auto Bid on a Lot, which is a maximum bid amount that they are willing to go up to on that Lot. If another Bidder places a Bid or sets an Auto Bid on that Lot, your Portal will bid on the original Bidder’s behalf up until that amount (if bidding goes that far) in order to keep them as the Highest Bidder on that Lot.

During the Live Bidding phase of a Webcast Auction, Auto Bids are referred to as Commission Bids, as the Clerk is responsible for accepting Commission Bids on the current Asking Price/Increment.

We use Absentee Bids as the umbrella term to describe both Bids on the Increment and Auto Bids set during Pre-Bidding.

Auto Increments and Auto Bids – Placing an Auto Bid changes in both appearance and functionality depending on if Auto Increments is enabled or disabled. Click here to open our Auto Increments and Auto Bids Explained guide.

Opening Bids and Increments

During pre-bidding, bidding on a Lot will progress according to the Opening Bid and Bid Increments you set for each Lot.

The Opening Bid can either be 0 or it can be set to a specified amount, as below:

If set to 0, your Lots will use the Increment for the Opening Bid, e.g. if the Opening Bid is 0 and the Increment is 250, the Bid button will display “Bid 250” and accept 250 as the first Bid on that Lot. Opening Bids and Increments* can also be set on a per-Lot basis.

*Auto Increments – If Manual Increments is disabled, your Auto Increment table will control the Increment on each Lot based on the Opening Bid or Current Highest Bid. You cannot make changes to Increments on individual Lots whilst Manual Increments is disabled.

When does Webcast Pre-Bidding Start and End?

The next guide covers enabling and disabling Pre-Bidding, but in a nutshell, Pre-Bidding can begin as soon as you tick the Enable Webcast Pre-Bidding checkbox in your Auction settings and hit Save Auction (Granted, your Auction and Lots must also be in Live status first as well).

Pre-Bidding can then run right up until the Webcast Start Time (when your Auction transitions from the Pre-Bidding phase to the Live Bidding phase) or until manually disabled by unticking Enable Webcast Pre-Bidding.

Your Bidders will still have the option set a Commission Bid on any upcoming Lots during the Live Bidding phase:

FAQ – Webcast Pre-Bidding

Q: Can I schedule Pre-Bidding to open or close at a certain date/time?
A: Not at this stage, Pre-Bidding is currently a simple toggle on, toggle off feature.

Q: Is Pre-Bidding required or optional?
A: 100% optional, but we do heavily recommend it so you don’t miss out on any absentee bids.

Q: When can I enable Pre-Bidding?
A: At any stage before your Webcast Start Time, as long as both your Auction and Lots are in Live status.

Q: Can I hide the Commission Bid bar from my Portal?
A: Yes, but you will have to email us to request it, as it is a custom feature. Please Note, if disabled, the Commission Bid bar will not appear on any of your Webcast Auctions until re-enabled, it is not a per-Auction feature.

Q: Can I hide the Place Auto Bid button during Pre-Bidding?
A: No, Auto Bids are a core function of Pre-Bidding and cannot be disabled.

Q: Can I cancel someone’s Commission Bid?
A: Yes, as long as that Lot hasn’t reached or passed through the Ring during the Live Bidding phase of your Webcast. Disabling Commission Bids is exactly the same as Disabling Auto Bids, as they are the same type of bid just with a different contextual name. Click here to open our Cancelling Bids and Disabling Auto Bids guide to see how.

Q: Can someone place an Auto Bid or Commission Bid on the next increment?
A: Potentially yes, due to the fluid nature of Increments during a Live Webcast, Bidders can set their Auto Bid and Commission Bid as equal to the next Increment, but whether the Clerk drops the Increment amount to accept their Commission Bid is Auctioneer’s discretion.

Q: Why can’t the clerk accept a Commission Bid if that Commission Bidder is also the Current Highest Bidder?
A: The Clerk cannot accepts Bids that would essentially put a Bidder in the position of Bidding against themselves, i.e. Bid on Bid. The Clerk can drop the Increment and accept the Commission Bidder at a different amount if someone outbids them, but that is entirely at the Auctioneer’s discretion.