The questions and answers
in this section help provide a general understanding of humraz
and how we operate.
Please select a question to view it's answer.
humraz
auctions are exciting and highly interactive prize competitions that are without precedence.
Bidders book a seat to enter our virtual auction room and place their bids using our custom-designed auction console.
The bidder who has the lowest
unmatched bid at auction close wins
the lot.
During an auction all bid values are confidential
but bidders are given sufficient information to plan their bidding strategy.
You will need a humraz account, which means you will need to register.
Registered users can participate as a bidder by reserving a seat in an auction or simply spectate an auction by selecting its console once it is live.
The lowest bid that no one else has placed.
No we don't charge per bid.!
If you pay anything it is the pre-booking or booking seat price and this is only once the auction is confirmed. Once you have a seat you can place any or all of your bids, up to the maximum per seat.
You do not pay any of the bid values, not even if you win.
There are a number of reasons we do not run 'pay per bid' reverse auctions, these include: -
- Anyone who can afford to place only one or two bids is disadvantaged if there are others who are prepared to pay to block out complete ranges of bids;
- There is a risk of addictive bidding, which in turn could result in escalating costs;
- Bid status information is the main method of working out the current bidding range; therefore anyone hoping to apply strategy must be prepared to place multiple bids - at a cost per bid.
We are sorry we don't use Paypal on the site as, with Paypal, we have to take immediate payment for all pre-bookings.
It is against our policy to take payments unless the auction has a start date. For auctions in pre-booking the start dates are not yet confirmed, therefore we take a commitment but do not charge.
This also means you are free to cancel your seat at any time until the start date is shown.
Paypal does not allow this flexibility.
Instead we have our own Internet merchant account and we use an established secure payment processor.
These facilities are much harder to set-up than Paypal and Internet merchants are subject to far greater scrutiny.
No.
There is no randomness or element of chance in our auction model!
You apply strategy and skill to succeed and you do not wager on your success.
Additionally, your costs cannot escalate as our terms and conditions do not allow more than one account per user, and no more than one seat per account.
You may also find it useful to read Reverse
Auctions, Frequently Asked Questions, June 2008, which explains the
UK Gambling Commission's view of lowest unique bid auctions and compliance
to the Gambling Act 2005.
humraz
unique bid (reverse) auctions are legal prize competitions.
The design and development of our auction model and the underpinning software
are the result of a great
deal of creative thinking and extensive research.
- auction seat prices are based on an in-built market research phase (preview);
- the seat charge is for entry to the virtual auction room, represented by our auction console;
- for most people participating in our auctions should be an exhilarating experience;
- there is no seat charge if there is no auction;
- lots are auctioned without a reserve;
- there is a restriction on the number of seats that can be sold for each auction;
- bidders can book only one seat in each auction;
- all bidders can place up to the same number of bids;
- there is no per bid charge;
- and although bids are still confidential, our auction console provides live information to each bidder about the status and relative direction of successful bidding, therefore success is based on the skill of the bidder and not on lucky guesses.
and most
importantly from the perspective of legality
Essentially, the auction model operated by humraz
is unlike any other known auction format, unique bid or otherwise. Our auctions
were designed specifically to allow bidders to place informed, strategically
positioned and progressively higher bids in values that are precise to the
penny (two decimal places).
The UK Gambling Commission's pdf document
Reverse
Auctions, Frequently Asked Questions (June 2008) explains their view
of lowest unique bid (reverse) auctions and compliance with the Gambling
Act 2005.
Extracts: -
"To ensure that reverse auctions are compliant with the requirements in respect of prize
competitions in the Gambling Act 2005 success must be dependent on the skill, judgement
and knowledge of participants rather than chance."
"Examples of factors that may enable operators of reverse auctions to ensure they are
compliant include time limits for the submission of bids, the provision of information to
participants about previous winning bids (for similar items) and updates on the status of their
current bid(s). Operating reverse auctions of this type may make it possible for participants
to apply a strategy to their bidding (demonstrating a requirement for a level of skill or
application of knowledge)."
If the auction is not a practice acution, you win the lot being auctioned. In other words you win the prize.
Bidders pay to reserve a seat in a on-line interactive auction.
The auctions are events and the charge allows the seat-holder to be part of the event. Bidding in a live auction is fun and it could reasonably be argued that the seat price is for the entertainment of participating in an auction.
Unless it is a charity auction offering a donated item, seat charges are collected and used to pay the full value of the lot. If it the item is donated then the auction fund is donated to the charity.
If the auction start date has still to be
confirmed we indicate approximately how many seats are needed to schedule
the auction's start. This will give you a rough indication of how many
people will be competing against you when the auction goes live.
humraz
auctions are games of skill, which is why we regularly run practice auctions
to allow our users to practice and develop their skills.
Although it is not possible to draw direct comparisons
between Humraz auctions and games of chance, we believe our auctions compare
very favourably when you consider the odds and typical prizes offered by the
UK National Lottery or the Euromillion Euro Lottery.
| UK National Lottery | ||
|---|---|---|
| Numbers Matched | Odds | Typical Prize |
| 6 main numbers | 1:13,983,816 | £2,000,000 |
| 5 main numbers + bonus number | 1:2,330,636 | £100,000 |
| 5 main numbers | 1:55,492 | £1,500 |
| 4 main numbers | 1:1,033 | £62 |
| 3 main numbers | 1:57 | £10 |
|
| EUROMILLION Euro Lottery | ||
|---|---|---|
| Numbers Matched | Odds | Typical Prize |
| 5 main numbers + 2 lucky stars | 1:76,275,360 | £6,000,000 |
| 5 main numbers + 1 lucky star | 1:5,448,240 | £200,000 |
| 5 main numbers | 1:3,632,160 | £50,000 |
| 4 main numbers + 2 lucky stars | 1:339,002 | £3,500 |
| 4 main numbers + 1 lucky star | 1:24,215 | £140 |
| 4 main numbers | 1:16,143 | £85 |
| 3 main numbers + 2 lucky stars | 1:7,705 | £55 |
| 3 main numbers + 1 lucky star | 1:551 | £17 |
| 2 main numbers + 2 lucky stars | 1:538 | £17 |
| 3 main numbers | 1:367 | £13 |
| 1 main numbers + 2 lucky stars | 1:103 | £8 |
| 2 main numbers + 1 lucky star | 1: 39 | £6 |
|
Yes, the auctions are designed to comply with the various requirements of
Shariah law.
Yes.
The UK Gambling Commission's pdf document
Reverse
Auctions, Frequently Asked Questions (June 2008) explains their view
of lowest unique bid auctions and compliance to the Gambling Act 2005.
You can see from section 4.2 of this document
that humraz auctions exceed
the basic requirement of compliance for prize competitions.
Only that you need
to grasp the concept of humraz.
Conditions apply, please read our terms and conditions carefully when registering with us and
ensure you fully understand any auction specific constraints before booking auction seats.
Please refer to our terms and conditions.
We do not offer advertising on our site.
However, should you wish to promote your organisation through us, we may consider running a sponsored 'Charity' auction on your behalf.
Please contact us if this is of interest.
Our auction process and bidding consoles are innovations that are exclusive to Humraz
Apart from the fact that the winning bid is the lowest unique bid at auction close we have very little in common with other reverse auctions. Our ground-breaking auction model and software has been designed by us and is unique to our company.
We may consider licensed use of the system as a service, but only with companies that share our values and ethics.
Anyone attempting to copy our system should be aware that we reserve the right to take legal action against any party that infringes our intellectual property rights including, but not restricted to, our copyright; design rights or our trademark or attempts to pass off their auctions or business as Humraz.