The Hour

Lots of us would love to go to auctions – but we don’t know the proper etiquette for bidding, or how to make sure we don’t get ripped off paying over the odds for items.

Well don’t worry because antiques expert and auctioneer Anita Manning has some great advice for first-time bidders.

“Unless you’re a dab hand at the bidding, auctions can be a wee bit intimidating, but I’m here to guide you through the process and make sure you’re still smiling when the hammer falls."

Anita continued: “Auction is like live theatre and the buyers are part of the action. Tomorrow the auction starts, but today the buyers come in to examine goods.

“Check your catalogue, decide your top price and more importantly stick to it!”

It's once you’ve decided to bid on an item that the hard part starts! The antiques expert continued: “So you’ve seen something you fancy that you want to bid for, what’s next? Go to the office, fill out a registration form and you get your own personal paddle number. Now you’re ready to bid!”

The next step is simply making sure that once you’ve seen something that has caught your eye, that you get the attention of the auctioneer – but how?

“Do you bid subtly, not drawing attention to yourself? Or do you use hand and eye gestures to make your bid? Do you get so excited that the auctioneer couldn’t possibly miss your bid? The answer is it doesn’t matter – just make sure the auctioneer can see you!”

There you have it - top tips from the lady in the know. All you need to do now is get along to an auction and start bidding!