Auction rules, in plain English.
Everything you need before you bid: registration, increments, proxy bidding, anti-snipe extensions, reserves, payment and disputes. Eight short sections, no legalese.
Registration and ID verification
Bidding is open to registered account holders only, and registration is free. Before your first bid we verify your identity — name, address and one form of ID. This keeps the room clean: no shill bids, no anonymous runners, no bidding against yourself. Verification is a one-time step and usually takes minutes.
Bidding and increments
Every domain opens at £25. Bids rise by a set increment that grows with the price, so the next valid bid is never a guess. The current bid and the minimum next bid are shown on every domain page.
| Current bid | Minimum increase |
|---|---|
| Under £100 | £5 |
| £100 to £499 | £10 |
| £500 to £999 | £25 |
| £1,000 to £4,999 | £50 |
| £5,000 to £24,999 | £250 |
| £25,000 and above | £1,000 |
Proxy bidding
You bid by proxy. Enter the most you are willing to pay and we bid for you, one increment at a time, only as far as needed to keep you in front. If nobody outbids your maximum, you win below it. Your maximum is private and is never shown to other bidders or to the seller.
Anti-snipe extensions
A bid placed in the final two minutes resets the closing time to five minutes from the moment of that bid. The clock resets rather than adds, and it repeats with no cap — a domain keeps extending for as long as bids keep arriving in the final two minutes. The hammer waits for no one, except a higher bid.
Reserves
Some domains carry a reserve — the lowest price the seller will accept. If bidding does not reach the reserve, the domain does not sell and no money changes hands. Where a reserve applies, the domain is marked, and you are told once bidding has met it. Selling a name? You set the reserve with our guidance — get a free valuation, and see the full fee schedule (nothing to pay if the reserve is not met).
Winning and the payment window
When the hammer falls, the highest bidder has won. You then have three working days to pay in full. Payment goes into independent escrow, not to the seller. Once your funds clear, the transfer begins — most complete within 24 hours.
Non-payment
If a winning bidder does not pay within the window, the sale is void. We may offer the domain to the next highest bidder or return it to a future catalogue, and the non-paying account is suspended from bidding. Because funds sit in escrow, a seller is never left chasing a buyer.
Disputes
If something goes wrong — a transfer stalls, or a name is not as described — tell us, and the funds stay in escrow until it is resolved. Money is released to the seller only once the domain is confirmed in your account. Most issues are settled within a working day, and a person handles it, not a ticket queue.