This is a pre-auction phase.

It can be viewed as a 'market research' phase as we use it to assess the level of interest in a potential lot.

If there isn't enough interest then the lot is NOT offered for auction.

If there is enough interest, we use the weighted average of the votes to help us set the seat price, the maximum number of seats and the maximum number of bids per seat.

In simple terms, and from the perspective of our users, voting for a seat price will:-

• increase the likelihood of an auction taking place
• mean that you are informed when you can book a seat for the auction
• ensure you get a discount on the price you pay for a seat

There is a strong correlation between seat prices and the number of seats available for each auction, i.e. a lower seat price will mean more people bidding against you, a higher seat price will mean fewer people bidding against you.

You simply login and go to the preview page for the lot; select your preference from the drop down and press the submit button. This is referred to as a 'vote'.

Voting for a seat price is free and there is no obligation to purchase a seat.

Your interest in this lot is recorded against your humraz account and you will be able to benefit from any seat price discount if the lot is auctioned.

If you have voted for a seat price then you will be sent an email if the lot is offered for auction and if it moves from the pre-booking to booking phase.

Otherwise you will need to check our website to monitor the progress of the auction.

The auction's start date and time has not yet been confirmed.

Seat prices are offered at a greatly reduced rate and you also benefit from any preview discount you may have.

Additionally, you will not be charged until the auction transitions to the booking phase.

The auction's start date and time has been confirmed.

Seat prices are offered at their full price and you can benefit from any preview discount you may have.

If preceded by the 'pre-booking' phase, the 'booking' phase will last at least 10 days.

Also, during this phase you can access the auction's console and queue bids in advance of the auction start.

This simply means that you can position some or all of your bids in advance of the auction's start.

These bids are processed by the bidding engine as soon as the auction is locked (prior to going live) and before all other bids are accepted.

No, we are sorry but once a bid is queued or placed it cannot be retracted.

These bids have not yet been processed and will not be processed until the auction is live.

Your bid status icons will be visible as soon as the auction goes live.

This phase is just before an auction goes live.

During this phase no more seats are sold and no more bids can be queued.

Bidding has started.

If you have a seat you can login and participate in the auction by selecting the auction's console.

If you do not have a seat you can login and watch the progress of the auction by selecting the auction's console.

This means the auction has finished.

The console will no longer be available in the auction console list, but you can view its results by selecting the auction from the list on the auction results page.