Everything people ask us,
and where it is answered

The whole of it, from opening an account to unpacking the box: how bidding works, what you pay, and what happens after the hammer falls.

• What does it cost to bid?
• Can I withdraw a bid?
• How does a maximum bid work exactly?
• Can I just bid one step at a time instead?
• How much does each bid raise the price?
• Why has my lot not closed at the advertised time?
• How do I know what condition a bottle is in?
• How and when do I pay?
• When do my bottles arrive?
• Can I buy from outside the European Union?
• Is there a minimum age to buy or sell whisky here?

Every part of the box you bid from — the reserve, your own position, the closing time — and what each of them is actually telling you.

• Can anybody see my maximum bid?
• The current bid jumped without anybody bidding. How?
• Why does the column show no bid field on this lot?
• The closing time in the column keeps moving. Is that a fault?
• Can I lower or withdraw my maximum?
• The reserve has not been met. Should I still bid?
• What is the EU + VAT mark at the top of some columns?
• What does the amount in the column not include?
• Does watching a lot do anything besides remember it?
• Can I raise my own maximum while I am already winning?

Alerts, the watchlist and the running total: the three things regular bidders set up once and then rely on.

• What is the difference between an alert and the watchlist?
• How many keywords should I put in an alert?
• When exactly do alerts run?
• Does the running total include everything I will be charged?
• Why is a lot I am winning missing from my running total?
• Is my watchlist kept from one auction to the next?
• Can I see what a bottle sold for in an earlier auction?
• Should I bid in the last seconds to keep the price down?

Photographs, fill levels, seals and condition notes — how to read a lot page and what sold as seen means for you.

• The photographs look fine. Do I still need to read the description?
• What counts as a critical issue?
• The fill level looks low. Should that put me off?
• The customs seal is cut. Has the bottle been opened?
• Can I ask for an extra photograph?
• What does sold as seen and described actually mean for me?
• I bid on the wrong lot. Can I take it back?
• Do you guarantee that a bottle is authentic?

When an auction opens, when it closes, why the closing time moves, and every deadline in between.

• How many auctions do you run in a year?
• How long is an auction open for bidding?
• What happens if I miss the bottle deadline?
• Why is there no end time on the closing evening?
• Do I need to be online on the closing evening?
• Can dates on this page still change?
• When do I pay, and when do the bottles ship?
• What time zone are all these dates in?

Age, vintage, cask strength, region: the vocabulary printed on the bottle and what it is worth knowing before you bid.

• Is an older whisky always a better one?
• Does single malt mean it came from one cask?
• Why is a bottle from a closed distillery worth so much more?
• What does cask strength actually mean for the price?
• Two bottles look identical but the prices are far apart. Why?
• The whisky went cloudy when I added water. Is something wrong with it?
• Does a dark whisky mean an old whisky?
• Does the region tell me how it will taste?

Every fee we charge, on both sides of the hammer, and the ones we do not.

• So what will a bottle actually cost me?
• Is there a commission on top of the buyer's fee?
• What does it cost me if my bottle does not sell?
• Are your fees shown with or without VAT?
• How long do I have to pay for a lot I have won?
• Why is there a registration fee at all?
• Do I pay for storage if I win in three auctions in a row?
• Can I avoid the payment surcharge?
• What happens if I win a lot and cannot pay for it?
• Do you charge more for expensive bottles?
• Is there a subscription or a monthly charge?

Payment methods, surcharges, what happens when a payment fails, and how a payout reaches a seller.

• Do you ever see my card number?
• Why can I not pay by credit card?
• When exactly does the credit card surcharge apply?
• How long does a bank transfer take to arrive?
• Is there a limit on what I can pay in one go?
• My payment failed but the money left my account. Now what?
• Can I pay for several auctions in one payment?
• What happens if I simply do not pay?
• How do I get paid when I sell?

The tax that is not ours: why it is charged, who charges it, and when it lands on your invoice.

• Why am I paying duty on a bottle that was taxed forty years ago?
• I live in the Netherlands. Why is there duty on a domestic delivery?
• Is the duty higher on an expensive bottle?
• Do I pay VAT on the excise duty as well?
• I am outside the EU. Does any of this apply to me?
• Do I pay duty on a bottle I leave in storage?
• Can I avoid the duty by relisting the bottle?
• When exactly is the duty charged, then?
• How current are the rates on this page?
• What is the € 0,50 per bottle for?