How our auctions work
To place a bid on loversmagic.com, you must:
- Have registered with us.
- Have logged in using your email address and password.
- Have chosen your unique username.
How bidding works
Bidding in an Lovers Magic auction is a great way to get the item you want – at a bargain price.
So here is how it works
In an auction-style listing, Lovers Magic sets a starting price and you bid against other buyers. You can watch the item to see how the bidding is going. When the listing ends, the highest bidder wins the item and completes the purchase.
Automatic bidding
Learn about how automatic bidding and bid increments work.
Automatic bidding is the easiest way to bid on an auction-style listing. Simply enter the highest price you’re willing to pay for an item, and we do the rest.
When you’re ready to bid on an auction listing, enter the maximum amount you feel comfortable with. We’ll then bid on your behalf – enough to keep you in the lead, but only up to that limit.
If someone outbids you, we’ll let you know so you can decide if you want to increase your maximum bid.
Why you’ve been outbid immediately
If you get outbid immediately after placing a bid, it’s likely another bidder is using automatic bidding, and has a maximum limit that’s higher than yours. You’ll need to bid again in order to be the highest bidder.
Bid increments
When someone else places a bid, which is lower than the maximum bid, we’ll place a slightly higher bid on your behalf. The amount the bid increases by is known as a bid increment. Bid increments are smaller when the bid price is low, and larger in higher price brackets.
Occasionally you’ll see bids increase by less. This means that someone else placed a bid just slightly higher than your automatic bid amount.
| Current price | Bid increment |
|---|---|
| £0.01 - £0.99 | £0.05 |
| £1.00 - £4.99 | £0.20 |
| £5.00 - £14.99 | £0.50 |
| £15.00 - £59.99 | £1.00 |
| £60.00 - £149.99 | £2.00 |
| £150.00 - £299.99 | £5.00 |
| £300.00 - £599.99 | £10.00 |
| £600.00 - £1,499.99 | £20.00 |
| £1,500.00 - £2999.99 | £50.00 |
| £3,000.00 and up | £100.00 |
How reserve prices work
Lovers Magic can choose to add a reserve price when listing an item in the auction. A reserve price is the minimum amount we are willing to sell for, so if the reserve price isn’t met, the item won’t be sold.
If you place a bid that’s below the reserve price, you’ll see a ‘Reserve not met’ message. This means that even if you’re the highest bidder at the end of the auction, you won’t win the item.
Lovers Magic is not obliged to reveal what we’ve set as the reserve price. Unless we state the reserve price in the listing, you won’t know what the reserve price is until you meet it, or bid above it.