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The Times and Democrat is kicking off its online auction April 20-28. Readers can bid on merchandise and services from local businesses.

Bidding for the Online Marketplace starts Sunday, April 20, at 9 a.m. at www.TheTandD.com/auction and concludes at 8 p.m. Monday, April 28. Just log on to www.TheTandD.com and click on the “Bid and Buy” auction banner ad at the top of the home page.

Using auction-style bidding, an individual can place bids on items available from local vendors and, if the highest bidder, pay for and receive a certificate to pick up the item directly from the vendor.

There are 84 participating businesses and 584 items up for auction, including automotive, clothing and accessories, dining and entertainment, home and garden, home electronics, recreation and sports, travel and accommodations, and health and wellness.

T&D Publisher Cathy Hughes said, “We are always looking for exciting things to do on our Web site and this auction should be fun and valuable for our online audience. More importantly, in these tough economic times, it’s a different and innovative means for our local businesses to reach the public and promote their businesses and their merchandise.

“It’s a new way to match product and consumer, and we see it as a benefit to both. The advertiser/business has an economical means of promotion and marketing while the Web visitor/consumer can get a good buy on valuable local merchandise and services. The Times and Democrat has a vested interest in the well being of this community, and if this online auction stimulates local business, we all benefit.”

Bidding on items is controlled by the Bidder Trust Committee, the software that accepts and places bids and oversees the whole bidding process. The Online Marketplace also features proxy bidding.

Proxy bidding means that you can submit a maximum secret bid for an item and let the Bidder Trust Committee act on your behalf to submit bids up to your maximum if your current leading bid is outbid by another participant.

Because this is not a live event, individuals cannot react instantly to someone bidding on the same item.

Under proxy bidding, you tell the Bidder Trust Committee the most you are willing to pay for an item.

The Trust Committee then places a bid on the bidder’s behalf at the lowest level possible to make you the leading bidder for the item.

If another bidder places a bid on the same item and his or her maximum secret bid is less than yours but greater than your leading bid, the Trust Committee automatically raises your bid in $10 increments (or $100 for items with a value of $10,000 or more and $1 for items with a value of less than $100) until you are again the leading bidder or your maximum secret bid is reached.

The bid will not exceed your maximum secret bid unless you submit a new, higher maximum secret bid.

The maximum secret bid allows an individual not to have to submit one bid after another when outbid, and consequently, not to have to follow the bidding minute by minute.

When the bidding is finished, the person who has submitted the highest bid will buy the item at no more than $10 over the second-place bid (or $100 more for items with a value of $10,000 or greater and $1 for items with a value of less than $100). So, how does one participate?

- First, determine the maximum amount you are willing to pay for the item you are bidding on. This will be your maximum secret bid. Your maximum secret bid may not necessarily be the price you pay if you are the successful bidder (you may pay less, but never more). However, choose a maximum carefully as you won’t be able to reduce or cancel it later and you’ll be legally bound to pay up to that price if it is the winning bid.

-Register yourself as a bidder. You must provide your name, address, phone number and email address. The unique User Name assigned to you will allow you to track the progress of your bids online and in the newspaper.

-Once bidding has begun, search or browse for the item you wish to place a bid on and enter your maximum secret bid for that item.

When the bidding ends, you will be contacted by email or phone if you hold a winning bid for any item.

The Web site shows the current status of each item, as well as personal bid history. A watch list can also be used to keep a track of desired items.

If you are outbid on an item by another bidder, you will receive a notice via email. In this case, you might want to consider placing a new, higher maximum secret bid to still try to win the item.

If you win, the item will be paid online (www.theTandD.com/auction) or by telephone, with your credit card.

The payment is to The T&D, which is collecting the selling price on behalf of the business sponsoring the item.

The payment is due immediately after the close of the auction.

As soon as the payment is complete, the auctioneer will receive a certificate to redeem at the business that sponsored the item.

For some items, such as automobiles and real estate, payment will be to the vendor directly.

Individuals are encouraged to read the winning email notice carefully for payment instructions.

As part of the auction, each item has a reserve value or the maximum amount that bidding must reach for the item to be sold.

The reserve value is usually about 50 percent of the actual value of the item. If the reserve value is not reached through bidding, the item will not be sold.

During the course of bidding, each item will display one of two reserve statuses:

n Reserve not met: the amount of the highest bid is less than the reserve value and the item has not yet sold.

n Reserve met. The amount of the highest bid is at least as much as the reserve value and the item will be sold to the highest bidder.

If the maximum secret bid is the first to meet or exceed the reserve value, the Bidder Trust Committee will automatically place your bid at the reserve value and declare reserve met for that item.

n T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached at gzaleski@times anddemocrat.com and 803-533-5551. Comment on this and other stories at www.TheTandD.com.

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