Cellartrade provides a UK-centric online platform for businesses and individuals wanting to buy and/or sell wine via timed auctions. Any quantity of wine, from single bottles up to multiple cases, can be offered for sale.
Any registered user can place bids on individual auction lots, or buy lots outright where a Buy Now price is offered. There are no Cellartrade fees for Buyers.
Prospective sellers must first sign up for one of our Subscription Packs. They can then prepare and schedule their own individual auction listings, using our highly flexible online submission form. They can also set up a Seller Profile setting out general terms & conditions applicable to all their auctions (eg. payment method(s), UK delivery charges & timescales, options for Overseas delivery, refunds policy). Sellers pay a small % commission to Cellartrade for each successful auction listing - our rates are extremely competitive.
Our auction software lets the Seller define the minimum bid increment for each individual auction listing (we generally recommend a minimum increment of approximately 5% of the anticipated hammer price). Our system will only allow new bids that add at least this minimum increment to the current auction price. The system also operates on an automatic proxy bidding basis (similar to that used on eBay). This means that bidders can enter their maximum potential bid, leaving the system software to increase their actual bid automatically, by the smallest number of minimum bidding increments necessary to secure the auction win against later competing bidders.
All auctions have a fixed end-time that is specified by the Seller and clearly identified in the auction listing (along with a live countdown timer). The one exception to this is when a very late bid is placed (in the final 2 minutes of the auction countdown). Each such late bid will delay the auction close by a further 2 minutes, ensuring that all bidders get the opportunity to place their own late bid.
Our platform allows Buyers to create and update Seller Reviews to reflect their overall experiences with each Seller. We encourage full use of this facility to help build community trust and provide constructive criticism where required.
