How soon do you require payment for online auction sale & rude bidders

[bnr_manager]

Hi everyone:

We're relatively new to this and so far had quite a good experience dealing with online auctions done thru Storage Treasures.

Today though when the manager called the winning bidder (after about an hour since the auction ended) the guy was rude on the phone and said that he won't be able to come in until tomorrow (as he was at work.) In the wording for the auction we allow them to pick the stuff up within 72 hours. (I think that's the norm for that auction house.)

So two part question:

1. How soon do you require a payment from the winning bidder?

2. How do you deal with a rude winning bidder?

Thanks.

[KrisinWA]

Never have done an online-but in person they pay right then and there. Did he pay on the website?

[bnr_manager]

I don't know how they pay. All I know that he hasn't paid us.

[MamaDuke]

They have 72 hours to come in and they pay in person in cash at that time. (They pay the deposit and fees directly to the online company at the end of the auction.)

I never contact them unless they haven't come in within the 72 hours. They get notifications from Storage Treasures and they know what they need to do from there.

[Orkocean]

They have 72 hours to come in and they pay in person in cash at that time. (They pay the deposit and fees directly to the online company at the end of the auction.)

I never contact them unless they haven't come in within the 72 hours. They get notifications from Storage Treasures and they know what they need to do from there.

Same as Mamaduke... I have seen some facilities put in their notice that they require payment within 24 hours and it's 72 hours to clear it out though. As long as your advertising everything as 72 hours then they have the 72 hours. We usually end up with regular winners so we know they don't need reminders but if it's a new name to us we will usually call them the day they win it just as a courtesy.

Quite a few times we've had people tell us they did not even realize they won an auction which is why we like to give them the call the day of. Also a lot of bidders don't realize the customer can still come up and pay for the unit up until the point the bidder shows and pays for it so we remind them of that as a way to motivate them to come sooner than later.

[GM - StacieJ. - BSS]

Hopefully you stated in auction and on your profile that its cash sales only. They do have the 72 hours as other members stated above. Make sure you also collect the $100 deposit clean out fee, seeing how this buyer is being rude, you don't want him just picking through what he wants and leave you with a unit of crap to clean out.

You have every right to contact storage treasures and have him banned from bidding on your auctions, they may ask why, and just tell them he is completely rude and disrespectful to the staff.

[Nick_Newk]

We require 72 hours as well. Also, the unit is not theirs until they pay the balance after the only auction fee to us plus the $100 cleaning deposit. Until that is paid, the tenant can still pay their past due balance and we will have the online auction company reimburse the buyers deposit. This typically ensures they come in a timely fashion. If any of these are violated they are then banned from any future auctions which is very ease to do in the platform.

[pacnwstorage]

I am a little tighter on the time. I post at my online service that has to be paid for within 48 hours and unit cleaned out. They have to also pay a refundable $200 deposit. All transactions in cash.

[Bella_Lindemann]

For us they have bidders have 72 hours to pay and clear out the unit they bought. All of the information is posted on Storage Treasures. We've been doing the online auctions since before the pandemic started. It was easier because we have multiple facilities spread out across 3 counties. So some bidders aren't willing to the other side of the water from where they live.

[Lisa T]

Hi everyone:

We're relatively new to this and so far had quite a good experience dealing with online auctions done thru Storage Treasures.

Today though when the manager called the winning bidder (after about an hour since the auction ended) the guy was rude on the phone and said that he won't be able to come in until tomorrow (as he was at work.) In the wording for the auction we allow them to pick the stuff up within 72 hours. (I think that's the norm for that auction house.)

So two part question:

1. How soon do you require a payment from the winning bidder?

2. How do you deal with a rude winning bidder?

Thanks.

Buyers have 72 hours to pay and to clean out the unit. If you do live auctions, you get payment immediately and then give them a certain amount of time to clean out the unit. Online auctions, however, are usually paid when the buyer shows up, not at auction close.

I wouldn't really call your bidder rude....I'd say he was probably more taken aback by being asked for immediate payment on an online auction. A lot of my buyers have day jobs, and wouldn't want to be called while at work for immediate payment of an online auction....as that's usually one of the big attractions for buying online, not having to be there in person and being able to pay when you pick up

[RMRSS]

I wouldn't really call your bidder rude....I'd say he was probably more taken aback by being asked for immediate payment on an online auction. A lot of my buyers have day jobs, and wouldn't want to be called while at work for immediate payment of an online auction.

Well, they chose to answer the phone. The OP didn't specify what was said, so I have no idea if the bidder was actually out of line or not. I also use StorageTreasures and after quite a few years haven't encountered a rude bidder, though we have had a handful of no-shows and one guy who filled our dumpster up to almost overflowing. Also, to me, the main attraction of online bidding is avoiding weather, crowds, and pressure, being able to bid from the comfort of your own home (or wherever you are).

I normally don't call the winning bidder until the next afternoon if we haven't heard from them yet. However, if I see they live a good distance from the facility, I might call them to remind them that the tenant is still able to redeem their unit until they (the bidder) pays, just so there's no surprises if they drive an hour or more with a truck to our facility and the unit is no longer theirs. We do offer tenants to pay via credit/debit card over the phone or in person for the invoice amount (of course, the cleaning deposit is cash only).

We also tell the bidder: "Any items of personal value to the tenant, such as family photographs, diplomas, awards, etc. must be left in the unit so we can return these to the tenant. Please check any closed boxes, drawers, etc. for these types of items before taking them away or discarding them."

[pacnwstorage]

Well, they chose to answer the phone. The OP didn't specify what was said, so I have no idea if the bidder was actually out of line or not. I also use StorageTreasures and after quite a few years haven't encountered a rude bidder, though we have had a handful of no-shows and one guy who filled our dumpster up to almost overflowing. Also, to me, the main attraction of online bidding is avoiding weather, crowds, and pressure, being able to bid from the comfort of your own home (or wherever you are).

I normally don't call the winning bidder until the next afternoon if we haven't heard from them yet. However, if I see they live a good distance from the facility, I might call them to remind them that the tenant is still able to redeem their unit until they (the bidder) pays, just so there's no surprises if they drive an hour or more with a truck to our facility and the unit is no longer theirs. We do offer tenants to pay via credit/debit card over the phone or in person for the invoice amount (of course, the cleaning deposit is cash only).

We also tell the bidder: "Any items of personal value to the tenant, such as family photographs, diplomas, awards, etc. must be left in the unit so we can return these to the tenant. Please check any closed boxes, drawers, etc. for these types of items before taking them away or discarding them."

So you tell them they have to return personal items? I ask them to but don't demand it. Can you do that? They bought the unit and all inside is theirs unless they voluntarily hand back items you may request. If that works for you, fine, but I am confused about making the winning bidder do that.

[RMRSS]

So you tell them they have to return personal items? I ask them to but don't demand it. Can you do that? They bought the unit and all inside is theirs unless they voluntarily hand back items you may request. If that works for you, fine, but I am confused about making the winning bidder do that.

Well why on earth would the bidder want someone's personal family photographs, college diploma, etc. things like that? It has absolutely no value to them unless they're related to the tenant or the tenant is some famous person. I've never had any bidder object to this. We just don't want them to throw those things away (which is invariably what they would do unless they were going to track the tenant down themselves...we already have the tenant's info, so we might as well give the tenant 30 days or so to pick these things up).

Now, we don't question the bidder about this, mind you. If they take everything and leave, we don't call them. The only exception would be if a frantic tenant calls (e.g. "OMG all my childhood pictures were in that unit!") - then we'd contact the bidder to let them know and then the ball's in their court if they choose to contact the tenant.

[pacnwstorage]

I understand what you are saying. I just was questioning the word "must". Some don't go thru anything till they get it home and sort thru it. Your "must" phrase sounds like they are expected to sort while loading. If it works for you, fine but telling the winning bidder they "must" do something may cause them to do just the opposite. If they don't cause you problems then "Party on Garth".

[Lisa T]

However, if I see they live a good distance from the facility, I might call them to remind them that the tenant is still able to redeem their unit until they (the bidder) pays, just so there's no surprises if they drive an hour or more with a truck to our facility and the unit is no longer theirs. We do offer tenants to pay via credit/debit card over the phone or in person for the invoice amount (of course, the cleaning deposit is cash only).

That's the first time I've ever heard of a facility not closing the sale at the end of the auction. We use Storage Auctions and they pay a bidder's fee charged to their credit card automatically when they win the auction so we wouldn't be able to do that, as they won't refund their fee..