Auctions and bidding

An auction sells one item to the highest bidder when the time runs out. Only verified shops can run auctions, and only in categories where Ahiuwa allows them (vehicles, for example). An auction lasts 1, 3, 5, 7 or 10 days, counted from when the listing is approved.

When you win, you pay through checkout like any other order, so your money is held until the item is delivered. Find auctions with the Auctions filter, and sort by Ending soonest.

To bid you need a verified phone number. Enter the most you are willing to pay — your maximum. You do not have to keep coming back to raise it: Ahiuwa bids for you, only as much as it takes to keep you in the lead, up to your maximum.

• Other people see the current price, never your maximum.
• Each new bid must beat the current price by a step of about 2.5%, rounded to a tidy number.
• If two people bid the same maximum, the one who bid first leads.
• Bids cannot be withdrawn — only bid what you are ready to pay.
• Bidders are shown with part of their username hidden.

You are told when someone outbids you, so you can decide whether to raise your maximum.

Reserve price

A hidden lowest price the seller will accept. Until a bid reaches it, the auction shows “reserve not met”, and nobody wins if it ends below it. A maximum that reaches the reserve lifts the price straight to it.

Buy It Now

A fixed price to end the auction at once. It is offered until the first bid — or, if there is a reserve, until the reserve is met. While a Buy It Now buyer pays, bidding pauses for up to 15 minutes.

A bid in the last 2 minutes moves the end to 2 minutes after that bid, so everyone gets a fair chance to answer it. Last-second bids gain nothing.

If you win, you have 48 hours to pay. After that you get a strike, and 2 strikes within 180 days stop you from bidding.

When a winner does not pay, the seller can offer the item to the next highest bidder at that bidder's own maximum. That is a second-chance offer: you can accept it or decline it, and declining never gives you a strike.

If you have a shop, you can sell any listing in a category that allows auctions this way.

1. Choose Auction as the format when you post the listing, or open My listings and tap Auction it on a live one.
2. Set a starting price, and if you want, a hidden reserve and a Buy It Now price.
3. Pick the length: 1, 3, 5, 7 or 10 days.
4. Set up delivery the same way as for products.

The clock starts when the listing is approved. A listing sold by auction has no products.

When it ends, the winner pays through checkout and you fulfil it like any order. If they do not pay in time, you can make a second-chance offer to the next bidder.