ANABI

ANABI is the electronic auction platform of the Agentia Nationala de Administrare a Bunurilor Indisponibilizate, Romania's agency for the management of seized assets, which sits under the Ministry of Justice in Bucharest (Bd. Regina Elisabeta 3). Every lot is movable property frozen or confiscated in Romanian criminal proceedings, which the agency may sell only by public auction, run exclusively online in the cases the law provides for. Bidding, the deposit and the displayed prices are in Romanian lei, with a euro figure alongside in the notice; the interface runs in Romanian with an English switch.

What you can buy

• Cars: the confiscation pipeline skews premium - Porsche 911 Carrera S, Macan and Cayenne, Mercedes-Benz S 400 d 4MATIC and CLS 350 CDI, BMW M850i xDrive, Audi A8, plus the occasional Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor unit.
• Merchandise stock: whole shop inventories as single lots - furniture and shop fittings, clothing and footwear, lighting (lamps, chandeliers, ceiling fittings), flower fertiliser, cardboard packaging, and a batch of 6,237 personal-care appliances.
• Electronics: items such as a Samsung QE85Q80CAT television with an HW-Q990B audio system.
• Timber and building materials: spruce round logs and sawn timber by the cubic metre, andesite stone by the pallet.
• Gold and oddities: 585 gold jewellery batches, 995 gold bars, a MARRO generator set, a Conway electric mountain bike, R404A refrigerant tanks, bulk ephedrine and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride.

How the bidding works

Auctions are open to any individual or company, Romanian or foreign; only the owner of the goods, in person or through a proxy, is barred. You register per auction, and registration closes at least three working days before the sale date - there is no turning up on the day to bid. You must upload ID, a commercial register extract for companies, bank account confirmation, and proof of a participation guarantee worth 10% of the starting price, paid by transfer to the agency's Treasury account in Bucharest, and state an opening offer of at least the starting price. Bidding is time-limited with anti-sniping: a bid in the closing minute buys at least three more minutes. Increments are set by the auction commission at 15% of the starting price for lots up to 10,000 lei, 10% up to 50,000 lei, and 5% above that. Winners pay the balance within five working days; losing bidders are refunded once the winner has paid. Unsold lots return at cut prices, and listings marked 25% or 50% off are common.

What to check before you bid

Goods are sold as they stand, in the condition in which they were seized, but you are not bidding blind: each notice carries the ANEVAR evaluator's inspection findings - defect lists, and for cars a CarVertical damage history - and the lot can be viewed at its storage depot if you send the agency a written request by the date given in the notice and keep the appointment its inspectors set. VAT is published per lot rather than left open: the notice table and the general-information box give the rate, which runs at 0, 19% or 21% depending on the lot, and say whether it is added to or applied to the hammer price; a few lots, such as the refrigerant tanks, also carry customs duty. No buyer's premium is mentioned and registration is free. Collection is from the depot named in the individual auction notice, at your expense; there is no central saleroom, so the pickup town changes with every lot - Pantelimon and Dragomiresti Vale in Ilfov, Bucharest, Oradea, Constanta, Targoviste. The registration form is built around Romanian identifiers, asking for a CNP and an IBAN, and foreign companies must file their incorporation and registry documents translated into Romanian. Lot descriptions are published in Romanian even with the interface set to English.