Auction glossary

An online sale where each lot has a published closing time and bidding runs until it passes. The dominant format in European B2B auctions.

In practice: Lots in one sale usually close a minute or two apart, not all at once — check the closing time of your lot, not of the auction.

A rule that pushes a lot’s closing time back when a bid arrives in the final minutes, so nobody wins by bidding one second before the end.

Also: anti-sniping · extension

In practice: Extensions vary from one to ten minutes and repeat indefinitely; a contested lot can run far past its advertised close.

A traditional auction held in a room and streamed, with online bidders competing against the floor in real time.

Also: live online

In practice: You bid at the auctioneer’s pace, not your own — decide your maximum before the lot comes up.

You enter the most you will pay and the system bids on your behalf in increments, stopping at your limit.

Also: maximum bid · autobid

In practice: It bids only as high as it must, so leaving a proxy does not mean paying your maximum.

The minimum the seller will accept. If bidding ends below it the lot does not sell automatically.

In practice: Many houses hold the top bid provisionally and go back to the seller, so a "failed" lot can still become yours days later.

A lot sold to the highest bidder whatever the price, with no minimum.

Also: no reserve · absolute

In practice: Genuinely unreserved sales are where bargains and disasters both live.

The lowest bid the system will accept. In judicial sales it is set by statute or by the court, not by the market.

Also: opening bid · vyvolávací cena · startpris

In practice: In enforcement it typically steps down at each repeat attempt — a cheap-looking lot may simply be on its third round.

Bidders submit written offers by a deadline; the envelopes are opened together and the best offer wins. Common in insolvency.

Also: przetarg · offerta segreta

In practice: You get one shot and cannot react to others — this is not an auction, even when a site lists it alongside auctions.

A negotiated sale at an agreed price, outside any auction. Administrators use it when speed or discretion matters.

Also: freihändiger Verkauf · wolna ręka

In practice: No competition means no price discovery; do your own valuation.

A site that publishes auction notices but does not run the bidding. Many official state portals are exactly this.

Also: register · Ediktsdatei

In practice: You cannot bid there. The notice names the court, bailiff or administrator you actually deal with.

A percentage added to the hammer price and paid by the buyer to the auction house. In Europe it ranges from about 10% to 30%.

Also: commission · diritti d’asta · Aufgeld

In practice: VAT is usually charged on the premium as well as on the lot, so a 17% premium at 21% VAT adds roughly 40% to your bid, not 17%.

The winning bid itself, before premium, VAT or any other charge.

In practice: Every published "price achieved" figure is a hammer price. It is never what the buyer paid.

Money lodged before you are allowed to bid, refunded if you do not win. Standard in judicial sales across Europe, typically 5–20% of the opening price.

Also: wadium · varščina · kaucja · depósito · varžytynių dalyvio mokestis

In practice: Lose the auction and it comes back; win and default and you forfeit it — often along with liability for the shortfall at the re-run sale.

A VAT arrangement where tax is charged on the seller’s margin rather than the full price, so no reclaimable VAT appears on the invoice.

Also: MARGE · VAT margin · Differenzbesteuerung

In practice: A business buyer cannot deduct anything on a margin lot. At the same hammer price it is genuinely more expensive than a VAT-invoiced one.

For cross-border B2B sales inside the EU, VAT is accounted for by the buyer in their own country rather than charged by the seller.

Also: intra-Community supply

In practice: It needs a valid VAT number and proof the goods left the country — usually the VAT is taken as a deposit and refunded once you send transport documents.

Net excludes VAT, gross includes it. Business-to-business listings in much of central Europe quote net by default.

In practice: A "cheaper" Polish or Czech listing is often the same price quoted differently. Check which figure you are comparing.

A flat charge per lot on top of the premium, sometimes with a stated minimum.

Also: administration fee · per-lot charge

In practice: On low-value lots a fixed fee can exceed the premium itself — it is what makes cheap lots uneconomic.

A sale ordered by a court to satisfy a debt, conducted by a bailiff, executor or enforcement agent.

Also: bailiff auction · licytacja komornicza · Zwangsversteigerung

In practice: Terms come from the case file, not the website. Property can transfer occupied and with charges still registered.

Assets of a failed business sold by a court-appointed administrator or trustee to convert the estate into cash.

Also: bankruptcy auction · Insolvenzverwertung · fallimento

In practice: The administrator took over days ago and usually knows nothing about the asset’s history — expect no warranty and no answers.

The court-appointed professional who controls an insolvent estate and decides how it is sold.

Also: trustee · curator · syndyk · curatore · Insolvenzverwalter

In practice: They work to a court timetable, which is why insolvency collection windows are short and inflexible.

A supplier’s right to keep ownership of goods until they are paid for, even though the goods sit at the buyer’s premises.

Also: Eigentumsvorbehalt

In practice: Equipment on an insolvent company’s floor may not belong to the estate at all. The sale conditions will say if title is qualified.

A whole operating business sold as one unit — assets, contracts, sometimes staff — rather than piece by piece.

Also: productive unit · fonds de commerce · przedsiębiorstwo

In practice: You may inherit employment obligations and leases. This needs legal advice before the bid, not after.

The valuation and condition report commissioned by the court, which defines what is being sold and on what terms.

Also: perizia · operat szacunkowy · Verkehrswertgutachten

In practice: In judicial property sales this document, not the listing, is what you are bidding on. Read it before anything else.

A sale of part-ownership — a half or a seven-twelfths share of a property — rather than the whole asset.

Also: delež · udział

In practice: Common in Slovenian and Polish enforcement. You end up a co-owner with strangers, which is a very different asset.

Certified email and a qualified electronic signature, required to submit bids in Italian telematic judicial sales.

Also: posta elettronica certificata

In practice: Both take days to obtain. Arrange them well before the sale you want, not the week of it.

The lot is sold in its current condition and current location, with no warranty and no right of return.

Also: sold as seen · im Ist-Zustand · i befintligt skick

In practice: The viewing day is your only protection. In consumer law terms, auction purchases usually fall outside the normal right of withdrawal.

A scheduled window in which you may inspect the lots in person before bidding.

Also: kijkdag · Besichtigung · oględziny

In practice: Machinery bought from photographs is where most auction regret starts. If the lot is worth the trip, make the trip.

The fixed period in which you must take the lot away, usually one or two specified days.

Also: collection window · Abholfrist

In practice: On insolvency sites the deadline is set by the administrator’s agreement with the landlord and does not move. Miss it and you can lose the lot and the money.

An Incoterm meaning the price covers the goods where they stand; loading, transport, insurance and customs are the buyer’s problem.

Also: ex works

In practice: Standard in industrial auctions. Dismantling and haulage on heavy machinery routinely exceed the hammer price.

Disconnecting and removing a machine from its installation — often requiring qualified trades and lifting equipment.

Also: Demontage · rigging

In practice: Ask whether it is included before bidding. Most auction houses do not do it; a few offer it as a paid service.

A classification recording how badly a vehicle was damaged and whether it may legally return to the road.

Also: damage category · Cat N · Cat S

In practice: It follows the vehicle permanently and dictates what you may do with it. Check it before you value the car, not after.

A vehicle whose registration has been cancelled, so it cannot legally be driven on the road as it stands.

Also: abgemeldet · wyrejestrowany

In practice: Budget for trade plates or a trailer, and check what documents come with it — a missing part II is a serious problem.

The running-hours count on plant and machinery, the equivalent of mileage on a car.

Also: Betriebsstunden · MTH · motohodiny

In practice: On construction and municipal equipment, hours matter more than age. A 2016 machine with 18,000 hours is not a young machine.

Auction. Zwangsversteigerung is specifically a forced sale ordered by a court; Verwertung is realisation of assets more generally.

Also: Zwangsversteigerung · Verwertung

In practice: German consumer law (§ 13 BGB) is why many German platforms admit businesses only.

Licytacja is an open auction; przetarg is a sealed-bid tender. Both appear on the same Polish sites and they are not interchangeable.

Also: aukcja · wadium

In practice: Wadium is the deposit you must lodge before taking part in either.

Dražba is an auction, usually an enforcement one; the dražební vyhláška is the binding auction notice issued by the executor.

Also: dražební vyhláška · exekutor

In practice: Every Czech executor auction must be published on the national register — that register is the definitive source.

Auction. Faillissement is bankruptcy, curator the appointed trustee, kijkdag the viewing day.

Also: kijkdag · curator · faillissement

In practice: Watch for MARGE on a Dutch lot — it means no reclaimable VAT.

Auction sale. A huissier is a judicial officer; enchères publiques are public auctions.

Also: enchères · huissier · fonds de commerce

In practice: French listings often flag "TVA récupérable" — reclaimable VAT — which is the opposite of a margin lot.

Judicial auction. Vendita telematica is the online bidding format; diritti d’asta are the auction fees.

Also: vendita telematica · perizia · diritti d’asta

In practice: Italian judicial sales must be advertised on the Ministry of Justice register, whichever portal you found them on.

Auction. Puja is a bid, tramos the fixed bid increments, valor de tasación the appraised value.

Also: puja · tramos · valor de tasación

In practice: Valor de subasta and valor de tasación are different numbers and the gap between them matters.

Auction. Eletrónico is online, presencial is held in the room; licitar is to bid.

Also: licitar · leilão eletrónico · leilão presencial

In practice: Portuguese lot references containing a court case number tell you the sale is judicial.

Auction. Nätauktion is an online sale, konkursbo a bankruptcy estate, dödsbo a deceased estate.

Also: nätauktion · konkursbo · dödsbo · i befintligt skick

In practice: Swedish and Danish houses commonly charge VAT on both the hammer price and the premium.

Auction. Realisointi is realisation of assets; konkurssipesä a bankruptcy estate, kuolinpesä a deceased estate.

Also: realisointi · konkurssipesä · kuolinpesä

In practice: Finnish platforms often file lots by the type of estate they came from, which tells you what terms to expect.

Auction in Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian respectively. All three countries run centralised electronic enforcement auctions.

In practice: Bidding usually requires a national electronic identity, which foreign buyers cannot always obtain.

Auction. Végrehajtó is a court bailiff; the national auction register is run by their chamber.

Also: végrehajtó

In practice: Some Hungarian registrations must be completed in person at a bailiff’s office, not online.

Auction. Executor judecătoresc is the enforcement officer; insolvență covers insolvency proceedings.

Also: executor judecătoresc · insolvență

In practice: Romanian sales frequently require registration a set number of working days before the auction.

Public sale. ЧСИ are private enforcement agents, ДСИ state ones; both publish through court and chamber registers.

Also: ЧСИ · ДСИ

In practice: The scanned official notice is the binding document, not the summary table.

Auction, or public auction. Varščina is the security deposit in Slovenian sales.

Also: varščina · sodne dražbe

In practice: Slovenian enforcement often sells a fractional share of a property rather than the whole of it.

Auction, typically a judicial or mortgage-creditor sale in Greece and Cyprus.

In practice: In Cyprus, creditor-run and Land Registry auctions follow different statutes with different rules.

Tender or sale. UYAP is the national judicial IT system through which court sales are run.

Also: UYAP · e-satış

In practice: A losing party can apply to annul a Turkish court sale within days of the hammer, delaying handover.